I haven’t written much about the election here. But I don’t think it is any secret that I was a Hillary girl. I have always loved her, I always will. I was sad when she didn’t win the Democratic nomination. But I can’t begrudge the Obama supporters. I honestly believe that he is a good guy, that he has surrounded himself with the right people. And when Hillary asked, “Are you in it for me? Or are you it in for Barney Smith?” — the answer was a no-brainer. In it for Barney Smith. (And for those of you who didn’t see this at the DNC, Barney Smith was a “regular person” who got up and spoke and made a reference to helping Barney Smith, not Smith Barney).

At any rate, I licked my wounds a bit after Hillary lost the nomination and have move forward in full support of Obama. I’ve contributed money to his campaign. I have my button and lawn sign. I do enter into debate when appropriate. And I honestly want to believe that we are on the right side of history this time. Our country is a mess. We have the largest national deficit our country has ever seen and I do not know many people first hand at all who have benefited from the current administration in the past 8 years. Our economy is a mess. We are in a war that we shouldn’t be fighting (and honestly, what does “winning” it even mean? They say we’re close to “winning” but I’ve yet to find a definition of what “winning this war” is). Our health care costs continue to soar. And I’m awestruck by those who are taking the brunt of this current climate yet still in support of the Republican regime. I’m also sicked by the way the McCain/Palin campaign has hyjacked the “change” message — like they are going to bring it. In fact, I actually fear what Palin and her socially conservative platform could do to our country. Not to mention the fact that she is essentially Dick Cheney with lipstick. She’ll bring a new generation of cronism to the White House. And if you think that is the just the liberal Heather spouting her rhetoric on that one, you really need to read this article: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/us/politics/14palin.html?ex=1379217600&en=fb638360c988b24e&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink.

Whew. I honestly didn’t mean to get that into it all, but there you go.

No, the whole point of this blog entry is that something peculiar and pleasant happened today. I happened to pick up an Obama/Biden t-shirt yesterday and I wore it today. And with that, a funny thing happened. All the quiet, closed-up Minnesotans I’m used to walking past on any given Sunday, actually looked up and acknowledged me today. A number of them even smiled. More surprisingly, an impressive number actually connect with me by verbal recognition, thumbs up, high-fives and yes-we’re-going-to-do-this. The most common, “I like your t-shirt” with a glimmer in the eye.

It was actually funny. I’ve lived in this state for almost 7 years now and I’ve only just begun to accept the way the people are here. They don’t talk to strangers at the gym or in the grocery store. They stick to their circles. Making friends is hard. There isn’t a lot of eye contact and while they might be polite to you, they certainly aren’t going to invite you to happy hour.

But today, I felt I penetrated that vibe with a simple t-shirt and a message of change.

It felt good. And it made me optimistic.

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More later, but here are the numbers for the 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.2 mile run:

Total time:

6:11:57

175th out of 210 overall
24th out of 35 females overall
6th out of 10 females age 35-39

Stats:
Swim:

41:29 (avg. 1:58/100 yards)
T1: 2:32
Bike:

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3:07:03 (18.0 mph)
T2: 2:29
Run: The Terrorist Next Door movie 2:18:25 (10:30/mi pace)

Just a few notes:

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• These races are humbling. The caliber of athletes is always higher and it’s tough to see your rankings fall in overall percentile. I’m used to finishing sprints & olympics in the top third, but with Half IM distance, I’m consistently in the bottom third.
• This year’s swim course was longer than last year. I was looking at last year’s numbers and noticed both the run and swim times are longer this year. Could have been the weather (at least for the run), but it also looks like it went from a 1 mile swim to a 1.2 mile swim.
• I’m sore as HELL today. I was under trained going into this and my body is paying for it now. Steps = pain which is totally fun in the land of the escalators where I work.
• I’m actually pretty pleased with my 6:11:57 finish. I was guesstimating a finish of 6-1/2 – 7 hours because of my current fitness level. But finishing just off of Racine’s pace (with a longer swim course and a much hillier bike & run) have me pretty pleased — not to mention I did all of this in crazy conditions of cold and rain. So, yay!

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Complete irony that this song just came up in my iTunes. I haven’t heard it in years, yet the lyrics are oh so appropraite this time of year (and ESPECIALLY with the cracks about Community Organizers).

I dunno. Maybe I’m just one of those freaks, but I love election years and I especially love these last few months leading up to the big vote (minus all the negative ADs on TV, of course. But if you don’t watch TV — problem solved The Shoes of the Fisherman dvd

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!). I love the feeling of being part of something. Something big. And of knowing why it is important.

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They were happy to pay taxes
For the schools and roads
Happy to be here
They took it seriously
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My mother went campaigning door to door
And holding to her hand was me

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So, my boy has been working 12 – 12 shifts since Saturday because the RNC is in town. Which means, I’ve been kind of off to myself these past six days. This can be a good thing when you’re looking to catch up on work. Or needing some downtime. But I’m starting the miss the guy — if not for the fact that I’ve spent the past four nights shouting at the TV screen by myself (or too frequently on Twitter.)

But tonight, I hit an all time low. My dinner was pizza rolls and a single serving size of broccoli & cheese sauce. James would be appalled and I’m totally going to lose my reputation for being healthy. Of course, the rest of the week, I ate the same dinner 3 nights in a row. How bachelor is that?

I’ve been home most evenings because of Dora. She’s in a crate all day and needs someone home in the evening to play with and keep her active. She’s really starting to come out of her shell. She’s playing with Sienna & me. She’s chewing the shit out of her toys. She’s also chewing on everything else, but I’ve been doing my best to redirect her. This morning she actually started chewing on our wall!! She has started giving me little kisses. But she is still nervous about anyone new or any new locations so we need to start working on introducing her to strangers soon. She’s also gained some weight — but not nearly enough. If only Sienna would quit stealing her food. The most adorable thing, though, is how she tilts her head whenever I talk to her or introduce her to something new. She has that real inquisitive “what is that look?” and it just makes me melt.

This weekend I have a big race. I’m actually kind of dreading it. It’s a half-iron distance triathlon in Stillwater and I feel less than trained. I have the mileage, but I know I’m going to be slow and the idea of being on that course for 6-1/2 to 7 hours sounds less than inviting. I’m actually really, really ready for the tri season to be done this year. I stretched myself too thin this season. I started way too early in May, I crammed in too much in June (WITH the marathon). I never felt truly prepped for Racine and then I had some craziness at both work and home. Sunday’s Half IM is my last tri of the season and I’m so ready to be done and put that wetsuit away. Then I can concentrate on weights again and yoga and not stress about getting in each swim / bike / run. I can do what I want without a race on the horizon and just chill. I need to remember this feeling in a few months when I start scheduling out my 2009 season.

So, there you go: RNC done after tonight. James will be home soon. Big race Sunday. My dog is sweet. I get to start weight training again soon. Not much else you really need to know.

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