Apparently, I'm a Crazy, Weirdo

There’s something that’s been bugging me lately that I don’t understand. Ok, fine there are a LOT of things I don’t understand. But one thing in particular is some folk’s reactions to the activities and hobbies of others that are beyond the white bread, middle-class, reality show watching, cheap beer swilling, couch potato, mall culture.

A little background: my husband and I both enjoy the Steampunk aesthetic. We’ve always loved dressing up for Halloween. So when we were introduced to “Cons,” and realized that dressing up in Steampunk attire was a thing, we embraced it. We went to Megacon for one day last year with our son. All three of us dressed in our homemade-Steampunk finest and had a blast. This year we are going for the whole weekend and naturally have been working on all new costumes. Additionally, in the past year, due in no small part to a couple of surgeries, I hit my rock-bottom and have come to grips with my food addiction. I’ve lost 55lbs so far, and have discovered that for me, the best way to keep myself on the straight and narrow is to focus on my fitness. Nothing excessive, just 30 minutes of some kind of exercise daily.  About 6 months ago, my husband and I discovered Adventure Racing. And we’ve thrown in a Warrior Dash for good measure as well.

Now, I’ll admit to being a pretty regular Facebooker. I like to share pics of the projects I’ve been working on or the races I’ve attended. And no, I don’t post every workout via iPhone app, nor do I post vanity self-portraits…not that there is anything wrong with that. Just sayin’.

And let me preface this by saying; many of my friends, if they choose to comment at all, have positive, encouraging things to say. And to be fair, I’ve got to admit that my closest friends and I do tend to enjoy a sarcastic humor. But that said, there are a lot of people whose every reaction, seemingly, to my activities/hobbies/projects are in the vein of: “You’re so weird!” or “You’re crazy!”

Really? I’m crazy for getting my ass off the couch? For finding something that inspires me to lead a healthier life? That brings my husband and I closer together? That improves my marriage instead of pulls us apart? I’m the crazy one for making time in my day to workout even if it means having to change clothes at work and take a whore’s bath? Perhaps it would be more “normal” for me to keep making excuses for my lifestyle and weigh 250lbs and be sedentary? And I suppose it would be more “normal” for me to sit on the couch after work and drink beer and smoke while my husband is in another room playing on a computer, instead of working on weirdo steampunk projects together in our workshop. I guess it’s just crazy that my reaction to a physical challenge is “Bring it on! Let’s try it!” not, “Are you freaking kidding me? No way!”

Fine. If that’s the case…I’ll be the craziest, fucking weirdo you’ve ever seen.

(breathe)

Ok, I know that when people make those kinds of comments they probably don’t mean them quite that sarcastically. In fact, I tend to think some of them are actually a veiled way of saying, “I wish I had the balls to do what you are doing.” But if that is the case, why can’t people fucking say that? Or just nothing at all? Why passive-aggressively try to cut down someone who is just trying to enjoy themselves? Are some people’s self-esteem or lack of peace with their own station in life that low that they feel the need to rip on others who are enjoying theirs? Don’t they realize that the “weirdo” and the “crazy” comments just make them look small-minded and boring?

The bottom line is that I am a Participant, not a Spectator in this life, now more so than ever.  So to all of those who have a problem with that, I say, “Your life and I will be sure to wave as we pass you by.”

Treasure Coast Adventure Race

Don't you just love it when you're right? Remember me mentioning how much stronger Dave is than I at mountain biking? And yeah sure, I also mentioned that we both thought that maybe the differences in our bikes had a little something to do with the disparity in our fitness levels. Well, it turns it had ALL to do with the bikes! He wasn't happy about it, but we traded bikes for last weekend's AR and lookie here! Who's having to stop and wait for who now?
Get this! Turns out when you ride a bike that DOESN'T suck off-road, mountain biking can actually be kinda fun! Who knew?
Needless to say our total time did not improve much on the bike since now he was stuck with the bike-from-hell. However, I am so jazzed to know that with a better bike we are going to be going a LOT faster on that leg.

So how did the Out of Steam Punks do this go around?

He claimed on FB that if he had remembered his spurs we'd have placed even higher.

My husband is a funny man.

8th place out of 28 teams, baby!!!! We ended up getting all of the Control Points, but we were 8 minutes late coming back from the canoe. Considering how slow we really are, the potential for improvement is great. Which makes us both very happy. We race smart, not fast, you see. So once we get fast too, watch out top 5! We're coming for you! 

I seem to acquire battle scars with each event. At the Lighterknot I fell off the bike unsuccessfully hopping off a bridge. I ended up with all kinds of interesting bruises from the obstacles at the Warrior Dash. At this one, during the Trek, I found the one root on the sandy trail and face-planted....as well as scraped the hell out of my leg (Thorny Vine-1, Me-0) while rushing away from a Control Point. 

Bruises and scars are cool.

No more Adventure Races until March 3rd, but going to do a 5K this Saturday. And with the exception of Megacon 2/24-2/26 we'll be doing a lot of outdoorsy things on the weekends till then. Now to cruise Craigslist and find a new bike so that I can whip Dave's bu...I mean, work better cooperatively with my teammate.

Resolution Adventure Race

Since we did so well first time out of the gate, we may have entered this race a little over confident. Well, not so much me, but I think Dave expected us to clear the course, or come real close at least. I, on the other hand, had a sinking suspicion that we may have just gotten lucky and that the Lighterknot just happened to play to all our strengths (navigation and...ok that's pretty much it) and not to our weaknesses. Sure enough the Resolution, held at Lake Louisa State Park was a different kind of race.

 The bike part, in our opinion, was much more challenging. It became evident from the start of our bike training that Dave appeared to be much more naturally adept than I, particularly in any kind of sand. I've been moaning about the fact that he having a Trek (a "real" mountain bike) vs. my $60 walmart special had something to do with our differences in ability. Regardless, when we were still missing 3 or 4 control points on the bike portion and I, much like our team name, was out of steam, his bike chain broke. So we had to walk through the sugar sand, which is what we'd be doing ANYWAY at that point as I was pooped. Once we got to the paved road though, he held onto my camelback and I towed him all the way in. As a result, we ended up with only 11 out of 14 control points and 7 minutes late, resulting in another lost point. End result being 35th out of 44 teams. We both tried to laugh it off as much as possible, but I know Dave was a bit bummed.

Lessons were learned. We need to keep our bikes in better shape and have the tools we need. Dave needs to catch up to me in regards to jogging endurance. (I dare not call what I do "running") I need to catch up to him in regards to biking endurance.

The best part was that one of my very bestest buddies joined us as well. Her husband is a hardcore bicyclist, so I suggested they form their own team lest we hold them back. And thus the Lost Ricans were born.

They ended up placing 36th. Liza definitely wants to race again, but I got the impression that Carlos would rather stick to regular mountain biking and road racing. Afterwards we were all so hungry, not only did we eat the Publix subs the race provided, we went to Olive Garden as well. 

For those Weight Watcher types playing along at home, the activity points earned after an adventure race are just about equivalent to a full day's points. Score!