Changes

There were a couple of interesting developments in the past week.

First, I discovered that I am Canadian. This is because Canada said that even though my parents had left Canada before I was born, and even though I was born in the United States, due to the fact my parents were still Canadian citizens when I was born I am eligible for Canadian citizenship. Truly, my heart swells with Canuck pride, although I hasten to add I am fond of the Flames, Oilers, Senators, Canadiens and Maple Leafs as well.

This is related to triathlon because now that I am Canadian, I can easily nab a spot on the Canadian triathlon team. One assumes that with their (our!) lakes frozen year-round, the present bunch representing the Homeland is pretty motley. I gather it’s something like the Jamaican bobsled team. They’ll probably be pretty jazzed to have a solid top-third in his age group at CDA 46-year-old in the fold. I do worry a bit, however: Some of the fellows are likely to lean quite heavily on me for coaching insight. I'm all for helping a guy struggling to stay in the game, but I'll have to be sure I don't neglect my own goals. I want to make the Queen proud.

The other interesting thing that happened of late was that my legs became smooth as a baby’s bottom. Or maybe, “as smooth as the top of my head” would be a better way to describe it. Yes, I shaved them. No, I am not going to do one of those endless posts about the whole glorious process, complete with photos, like you see from a lot of tri-bloggers. You’ll just have to catch me at Dishman in the water, running the trails of Tabor or on Marine Drive, speeding alongside the Columbia River in an aero tuck with aero gams. With a maple-leaf tattoo on my right calf.

Today: 3,000 in the pool, including 10x100 under 1:40 on the 2:00, a first for me! Also, a very nice, gentle 8-mile run at 8-minute pace.