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Donner time again? Already?

I have had many potential posts floating around in my head about things like cynicism, addiction, having reasonable expectations for ourselves and our lives, choosing one's battles, cycling with watts, and how much I love summer fruit. But I'm having a hard time turning any of them into anything coherent.

So for now I'll just say that today I am wearing jeans that I haven't fit into for two years. Go me.

Also, I am racing this weekend up at the Donner Lake Triathlon. This will be my seventh consecutive year racing up there in the thin Sierra air. Again, go me.

Every time I do this race, I am amazed that another year has passed and amazed to find myself on that beautiful race course once again. It means that I have survived (indeed, thrived) another year. It means that I'm still racing and doing what I love. And it reminds me that life is great. The course is like a little piece of heaven for me.

That's kind of a funny thing to say, because it's really a very difficult race. As it should be, considering that the lake is named after the ill-fated pioneer group that may or may not have resorted to cannibalism after being trapped by 30-foot snowdrifts in the winter of 1847, giving goofy smart alecks fodder for a stupid joke to be played on unwitting restaurant hostesses a century and a half later. (Or maybe that's just a California thing? Does "Donner party, your table is ready" make anyone else think of their dad?)

Time for me to dust off the wetsuit and get my race gear together... I haven't raced (or even swum in open water) since September. I'm sure it'll be fine! The wetsuit should fit a little better this year, anyway.

July 13, 2007 5:29 PM