Sunday, December 5, 2010

Under pressure

the stencil

and it's not about the challenge, more on that later.  Well it seems that Mr. Payne has done a bit of a write up about my tattoo and when I looked at my latest entry I thought it would be an awful first impression for people that might actually stop by here.  It's like having people drop by unexpectedly at your house, I felt the need to clean up a bit.. now there's no telling if this entry is actually any better than the last one but I can at least say I tried.

Bryan mentioned that I might be conservative and it's true in some ways, I have worked in insurance my whole life but what he doesn't know about me is that I also worked a downtown rock bar called Rock and Roll Heaven for many years (in my 20s), yes a very very long time ago. I doubt if my friends from back then would call me 'conservative' but it's true I have mellowed over the years for sure.  That's a way more boring story.  Anyway to prove that I was once less conservative, here's a pic of me in my 20's.  Yes, you can laugh, it's not my fault, it was the freaking 80's people!!!



I have wanted another tattoo for a very long time but tattoos are a huge commitment, obviously and I wasn't certain what I wanted and knew that in time I would know what to get and I also knew that if the time never came, no big deal.  I wanted one down my entire spine, nope, not kidding and am still considering that but based on how painful this one was, that probably won't happen.

I almost passed out at this point


Back when the whole triathlon thing started I honestly didn't think for a second it would last more than a week, hell ask my friends, my trainer, they'll all tell you I'm the queen of join and never finish!  Then on my first google search for 'triathlon' I found trainingpayne's blog and started reading.  From there I found more blogs and interesting people and then I found twitter and then I got involved.  Well as involved as "I" could be but then other people started involving me which was really scary and slightly exciting.  Before I knew it I was loaned a bike (a Pinarello no less) and there I was riding 2.5kms on Bell School line and wiping out.   And while my blog friends laughed they also cheered me on very loudly!

It's true I am not and never have been athletic at all so this was a big struggle to me but over time I really wanted to finish at least one race.  Then one day on Bryan's blog  I had made a comment saying that at 44 years old I really felt like I was a bit of a fraud, that the voices in my head were telling me 'it's too late for you, stop making a fool of yourself'.  It was meant to be just a statement but what i got back were words I will never forget and in fact, I posted them as an entry here. Over the last year those last words, 'Adena, what you want is in you' have played in my head over and over again and I knew that was it.  I have to say that I am often taken aback by the sheer size of it day to day but I love it more and more every day.  Even if I was to never do another race this journey has taught me more about myself and other people than anything in life.  PS - if you are Finnish and this does not translate to what I think it does, DO NOT TELL ME!!  It's impossible to change, let me have my illusion.

So yes, it's true Bryan did give me advice that I actually had tattooed onto my arm but I'm just joking, what it really  means is 'where did you put the beer bong!!'.  I actually just walked into the tattoo shop and asked them to put something on me that would cost me a very large amount of money and be excruciatingly painful.

finished, thank gawd!
That's all I got.

(and for those tracking the challenge, I zoned this weekend, between my roommate moving and my need to watch Season 2 of Sons of Anarchy in it's entirety today I did not train. Thank god I didn't bet anything BUT I'm moving forward and will continue, it doesn't stop here, in fact I have spin class with Mike tomorrow.. ouch! cause yea, there's that pesky 1/2 IM looming)

10 comments:

Bryan said...

haha, love the picture. I knew you were a wolf in sheeps clothing. haha. It sure looks very "St Elmo's fire". haha

Loved the post and the tattoo.

B

adena said...

You better like the tattoo, it's your fault!!

PedalmanTO said...

I love the tattoo! The 80's were all about the hair, glad you played along.
Did you miss a day in the 30day challenge?! Alright, jump back in and rock it until the end.

Anonymous said...

wooohhoo.. look at those h0t legs in that pic.. nice! ;)
Mrs. Lotc

Emz said...

I'm in pain just looking at it. ;) OUCH.

VERY
COOL.

JohnP said...

You are crazy - glad to see you stick with this tri thing. It wouldn't be the same without you!

Sue Sitki said...

That looks like it was painful but it looks really nice, too :)

Big Daddy Diesel said...

I was crazy when I was younger and I have settle down alot as well, I know the feeling

ree_ti_ree said...

Nice forearm. Where's the rest of you?

Julie said...

Just found this post and had to say love the tat and the meaning!

I too used to be a bit crazier in my early days and loved the 80's. I think you look great! :)