did it for my mama: mother’s day duathlon

May 14, 2007 at 8:19 am | In (multi)sports, Cycling, race results |

“…take off the blazer/loosen up the tie/step inside the booth/the [finisher's] alive” jay z - kingdom come [mr.cee's old school @ noon promo]

well not exactly, but sean carter’s lyrical clark kent-to-superman reference was apropos for my morning’s state of mind. determined to do much better than my first duathlon - having dedicated this race to my mom, emah, nana, grandma, sisters (crys, tiff, simcha), aunties -i had to come out of the proverbial phone booth. of course i had to get pysched (see the ‘music in my mind’ playlist to the right). this the first competition of the year; the first one for which i actually trained on the bike for).

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getting smoked/humbled last year inspired a plan - a) join a cycling club b) start training. well the mtir’s took care of both. joined with them in march and did what i could to keep up with them on the saturday rides. in addition, i enter into the new york cycling club’s renowned c-sig class late march (graduation’s coming up). putting in miles @ prospect park in the morning and riding pace line with the pack that shows up anyhwere between 9-9:30 got my cycling fitness out of the infancy stage. alot more improvements to to undergo, however here are the results: overall time 1:31:51.0 (1:45:58.0 last time) placing 35th out of 80 competitors (59 out of 79 last time). all of this after completing a 70 mile c-sig ride to tarrytown yesterday. next race: ~~queens biathlon~~ van cortlandt 5k cross country run. next event c-sig graduation ride

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maurice thank you for the most beautiful, unique, heart-warming gift that could be received by a mother. the honor! the true spirit brought back memories of your races at thomas boyland. wow, as i traveled that flash back, the same warmth and joy ignited and joined the feelings that i was feeling on sunday. thank you! i am very greatful to God for allowing me to birth you and for allowing me to nurture you and leave space for your growth - which was not always easy! (smile) sometimes nurturing can get entangled with smothering (smile) but, i was able to see and recognize the difference. i really felt in a special place sunday. i was there for an event that was important to you and your athletic improvements. thank you! i saw growth and endurance, courage, ability, joy, perseverance and loyalty. thank you for the honor and love and the memories for today and yesterday and tomorrow. shaimiq called and sang me a mothers day song that he created. the words included: love, you are the best, i love you and wishes of a happy mother’s day. you and crystal are so much incorporated in him that only blessings will follow even through the trials of life, sensitivity, and caring. he also made a mother’s day card for crystal and he expressed why she should be “mother of the year”; and to top it off he said that she deserves a crown and a ring. wow !that blew me away he has recognized his mother as a queen and that will be his future female guide. thank you again and again. much love, peace and joy and of course increasing those cycling muscles smile love mommie

Comment by mommy — May 15, 2007 #
Congratulations! I’ve been thinking of entering a triathlon.

Comment by Opal: Vegan Momma — May 16, 2007 #
opal, thanks for the congrats. a triathlon is an excellent idea. i think i will be ready for one (even a short one) in a few years. i need to work on my swinmming. not since my boyhood “self-imposed” near-fatal diving experience - who knew you needed to really know how to swim before doing a superhero flip off of a diving board - have i taken a bold step towards swimming. i will look into a program at the “y” this summer to get the basic i.e. floating, bubbles, etc. lol.
but i really think entering into a triathlon is great idea. you are already eating right and it would be great to see how that translates into a multisport. i used to compete in high school and college for track & cross country, but i find participating in these multisport challenges much more fulfiling. everyone seems to be there to challenge themsleves and not so much to compete against someone else. it feels really good to finish and you can feel progress immediately.
i’m not sure exactly how far along in your training or decision making process, but i would suggest taking a look at a local club that is affiliated with the united states america triathlon (usat). any club affiliated with them should be a wealthy resource for training tips, nutrition, “horror”/success stories, and comraderie. also, i’m doing my best to stay abreast to vegan sport nutrition ideas. all kinds of minerals get depleted during training and i’m not one for many process foods. i have used miracle reds powder as a recovery drink during rides and source of life shakes as a protein mix. the raw revolution bars from raw indulgence has made an impact are how much energy i have during my last race. of course nothing takes the place of a warm bowl of oatmeal or quinoa in the morning but they sure do well to support an active lifesyle. you may know about these already but i thought these may be useful in gaining additional info for your journey: beginner triathlete, vegan fitness, organic athlete.
(p.s. i love the new look of your blog, especially the pictures. how could anyone turn down eating garlic with such a beautiful bloom..hmmm)

Comment by blactivegan — May 18, 2007 #
blactivegan,
Thanks so much for the info. Yep I have the nutrition down I don’t take any supplements, but I do make a lot of my own stuff I’ve found my energy levels haven’t diminished, and I find that impressive.

I went to a private school and they didn’t offer track otherwise I definitely would have been on the team I did play basketball, volleyball, and softball I did fairly well. In college I didn’t play practiced martial arts (Wing Chung Kung Fu) and I worked out with free weights several days each week.

My daily life is fairly active I cannot sit in one place for too long so I toss in plenty of exercise into my daily routine. I’ve found that transitioning to mostly law has increased my energy levels I was surprised my energy has always been high, but I’m not going to complain about that.

I need to work on swimming I’ve let that slide for a while. Perhaps I should start out with biking or running first and then add the triathlon.

Thanks for the compliments my website really needed a change I still have many things that I’m working on with aesthetics and the content that will be added. It will take some time, but it will be done.

I love garlic I usually eat it daily so of course, I had to recognize it.

I’m glad that your posting more it’s always nice to see other black vegans out there. I haven’t encountered too many black male vegans on the blogosphere.

Comment by Opal: Vegan Momma — June 3, 2007 #