A Random Summer Tuesday

Greetings from the tail end of summer. Within one weeks time,  I will be forced to say "bye bye" to quiet city streets, empty restaurants at prime time and *always a parking space*  Boston as most know, is tightly crammed with university after university. Some just a stone's throw of each other and when September 1st hits.....
DUCK.
With age comes wisdom and if you happen to be here during this massive invasion as I have too many years to count,here's some of my most sacred tips on dealing with it. 


1. DO NOT.. I repeat, DO NOT step foot into a Target or  Bed Bath and Beyond because there won't be a  shower squeegy or chip clip to be found besides the fact that you will be standing in line for hours just to pay for your Bounty Jumbo 16 roll Select-a-Size on sale.  


2. AVOID at all costs small one way narrow streets and any traveling by car on Wednesday August 31 right through Sept 1st at 9pm.  Just call in sick if you must. The entire hub of Boston including Brookline, Allston, Brighton, Kenmore Square and Harvard Square will be covered with the entire fleet of U-Haul trucks  in the continental United States. 
It will take you approximately 40 minutes to inch along 2 miles darting couches and mattresses and confused bewildered, wide eyed stricken freshman parents from Waterloo, Iowa. 


3. No Cheescake Factory, No Floyd's Barber shop last minute trims, and just forget about one of those new fangled Hubway bikes just waiting for you to pedal around town with. Uh uh. All you will find is a sad skeleton-like bare rack.  Just hunker down and let the dust settle and before you know it, you'll be acclimated to all of the madness by October 1st if your lucky.


In other news, I'm preparing to race once again this coming weekend and that's all i will say about that (for now). 
My friend KT turned 45 this week and she convinced me to get up at 4:30 instead of my leisurely sleep-in (4:50 AM) so I could get to the pool early enough to cram in the extra yardage to make it 4500 this morning.  The best part? Swimming with 2 of my favorite lane mates, KT of course and BB the 12 mile Key West wonder swimmer.  We had a good time all three of us today and heck.. I'd do it again. Just say when KT!!

Peter and Marybeth Cadwell

On a bittersweet note, I lost a friend, Peter Cadwell to a heart attack August 9th while vacationing in the Boulder area with his wife and twin boys. Many in the Boston Triathlon Community knew  Pete and his wife Marybeth as  they both are from New England and still have family roots here. Pete was The Boston Triathlon Team's President for years  before they left New England for San Francisco. I tried to help Pete as much as i could with team stuff and I adopted his cat before they moved out to the west coast. Shortly after they left, Boston Triathlon Team just didn't have the same flair for me anymore with the two of them gone. It was the main reason why I left the team shortly after they made their way to the west coast. Pete possessed the most incredible ability to touch, befriend, be an amazing role model,  mentor, athlete, husband and father to twin boys now age 3.  My heart breaks for Marybeth and the world she must now face without her true soul mate and their 2 young boys who will struggle to remember their father only through images as they grow.  I feel very fortunate that I am one of the many who knew Pete and witnessed his genuine spirit of life and of  truly living it to it's fullest.

I will miss ya Pete....