I'm a swimmer. Always have been (even when I wasn't competitively swimming). Always will be. I love the pool. I love the water. I love everything about coaching and working with people who want to become swimmers.
Anyone that knows me, knows how dedicated I am to the sport. I will watch swimming whenever it's on. I even got my old roommate, Trish, to actually like watching swimming during the Olympics. It's a thrilling sport and one that is not easy. If you're really lucky, you're good at it and you excel. Obviously it's not for everyone, which is made evident by the fact that there are a select few that can actually make/qualify for the US Olympic teams.
Growing up in this area (the philly burbs), as a swimmer...if you didn't know the Crippen family, you didn't really know swimming. They're like swimming royalty. All four of their kids are amazing swimmers. Maddie swam in the Sydney Games. Fran was a world class swimmer. Teresa and Clare both swim in colleges (Florida and UVA, respectively) that are known for their swim programs. That being said, I was saddened to learn about Fran Crippen on Saturday morning.
He was 26, competing in what would probably be considered a "trial" event for him since his main goal was the 2012 Olympics. He was swimming in a 10K open water event in the United Arab Emirates. The water was at nearly 86 degrees. Even if you're not a swimmer, you know that's warm for the ocean. He was about 1700 meters from the finish when he just stopped. Swimmers found him 2 hours later and was pronounced dead at the hospital. His body just gave out. Whether it was the heat, the exhaustion, the lack of water....he died. A world class athlete died.
CBS 3 has the best story on it (IMO):
http://video.philadelphia.cbslocal.com/global/video/popup/pop_playerLaunch.asp?vt1=v&clipFormat=flv&clipId1=5226320&at1=News&h1=USA Swimmer, Fran Crippen, Dies During Race In United Arab Emirates&flvUri=&partnerclipid=
Honestly, I didn't know Fran. I know the Crippen Family because, like I said, if you were a swimmer in our area...you just knew who they were. But the thing is....this is really upsetting me. I'm not entirely sure why. I think it's probably because he was a swimmer....because he's from the area...because he died doing something he loves and I love. But that's just it. He died from swimming. He died from exhaustion. He died from "over-doing-it". I can't begin to tell you how many times I can think back to swim practices where I thought I'd "die" from overdoingit. I can't even tell you how many times I felt overworked and dehydrated in those workouts. And to know that he, a world class athlete who was no doubt in shape, died from it....just baffles me.
I suppose we can take away a few things from this:
-He died doing what he loved.
-He will always be remembered among US Swimming as one of the best.
-He will be a lesson for FINA and all of us.
They've started an investigation about the whole thing - if it were my family - I'd be suing FINA. There is NO REASON that the people who got him out of the water should've been other swimmers. Where were the lifeguards that they claim are all around? Why didn't they listen to Fran when he said he was struggling and wasn't feeling well? When do we learn to listen to our athletes? And when do we stop pushing?
Some say he never would've given up had they told him to stop...and although that might be true...I think there's a lot to be said for the situation that we now have.
It's a tragic loss for the swimming community - not just in the suburbs of Philadelphia but in all of the United States. My heart goes out to the Crippen family.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Nothing Fancy
Ok ok - I couldn't think of a fancy schmancy blog title - plus my mind is utterly blank right now. Not sure if that's a good thing or what just yet since I'm taking the GRE's tomorrow morning - p.s. I'm doing terribly on the practice tests. Ha.
Updates in life:
1. As we know, I went to the Phillies game last Wednesday (Yeah doc!). It was...a date. Yes. It was. An awesome one at that. Tough to top. With Brian. A friend from high school. I really like hanging out with him. He's a nice guy. We're going to the NLCS Game 1 this Saturday. Yep. It's another date. We'll see how it goes.
2. I am, as I mentioned at the beginning, taking the GRE's tomorrow morning. 8AM. Bright and Early. Why? Well. It creates another option for me. Should I be doing this? Who knows. But I am. Honestly, part of me thinks I should just postpone it....but oh well. I basically have to get better than 600 on both the verbal and quantitative sections (read: english and math) and an essay score of 4 or better (out of 6). Oh yeah and the verbal and quantitative sections are out of 800. Eek! I didn't even get that high on my SAT's. A good standardized test taker I am not. So. We'll see. I'm just gonna bite the bullet and do it. Then...we start the application process.
3. Elsewhere - although I am taking the GRE's tomorrow - I think I am just going to hunker down and finish the content courses I need and suck it up. As much as I despise living at home - this is what has to be done right now. It's not forever. I will get out of there. Maybe I'll win the lottery in the mean time? :-)
4. I am still up for the Girls Head Coaching Job at LMHS. Thinks good thoughts for me! I'm supposed to go in for an interview some time soon - so here's hoping!
5. I have no money like woah. yeah. awesomeness.
6. The RTFoundation Beef and Beer is tomorrow night. It's our second one. I think we'll have a good showing. I honestly feel badly because I feel as though I haven't done much in preparing for it....but I HAVE been busy. It's a lame excuse. I'm a terrible person. Bleh.
7. I have this research paper I have to write for my Education class. I've decided to write about the stress and stressors that secondary students deal with today. So many kids have so much more than just school to worry about. I think it's only fair, as teachers, that we acknowledge that.
8. I am working on a 30 in 30 list. If you didn't see the explanation in the last post, this list will consist of 30 things for me to do/accomplish in my 30th year. Luckily I have a little while before that happens, but I have one year to do all of it - which basically means I have to do a little more than 2 things each month in order to finish the list by the time I hit 31. Eek! Can you believe this? I'm nearly 30!? Where does the time go?
So there ya go. Nothing Fancy. Just the facts.
Updates in life:
1. As we know, I went to the Phillies game last Wednesday (Yeah doc!). It was...a date. Yes. It was. An awesome one at that. Tough to top. With Brian. A friend from high school. I really like hanging out with him. He's a nice guy. We're going to the NLCS Game 1 this Saturday. Yep. It's another date. We'll see how it goes.
2. I am, as I mentioned at the beginning, taking the GRE's tomorrow morning. 8AM. Bright and Early. Why? Well. It creates another option for me. Should I be doing this? Who knows. But I am. Honestly, part of me thinks I should just postpone it....but oh well. I basically have to get better than 600 on both the verbal and quantitative sections (read: english and math) and an essay score of 4 or better (out of 6). Oh yeah and the verbal and quantitative sections are out of 800. Eek! I didn't even get that high on my SAT's. A good standardized test taker I am not. So. We'll see. I'm just gonna bite the bullet and do it. Then...we start the application process.
3. Elsewhere - although I am taking the GRE's tomorrow - I think I am just going to hunker down and finish the content courses I need and suck it up. As much as I despise living at home - this is what has to be done right now. It's not forever. I will get out of there. Maybe I'll win the lottery in the mean time? :-)
4. I am still up for the Girls Head Coaching Job at LMHS. Thinks good thoughts for me! I'm supposed to go in for an interview some time soon - so here's hoping!
5. I have no money like woah. yeah. awesomeness.
6. The RTFoundation Beef and Beer is tomorrow night. It's our second one. I think we'll have a good showing. I honestly feel badly because I feel as though I haven't done much in preparing for it....but I HAVE been busy. It's a lame excuse. I'm a terrible person. Bleh.
7. I have this research paper I have to write for my Education class. I've decided to write about the stress and stressors that secondary students deal with today. So many kids have so much more than just school to worry about. I think it's only fair, as teachers, that we acknowledge that.
8. I am working on a 30 in 30 list. If you didn't see the explanation in the last post, this list will consist of 30 things for me to do/accomplish in my 30th year. Luckily I have a little while before that happens, but I have one year to do all of it - which basically means I have to do a little more than 2 things each month in order to finish the list by the time I hit 31. Eek! Can you believe this? I'm nearly 30!? Where does the time go?
So there ya go. Nothing Fancy. Just the facts.
O-bla-di O-bla-da, Life Goes On....
And so it goes.
Life is a funny thing. So fleeting. So - here one day, gone the next. So - odd.
We had to say goodbye to our beloved dog last night. My dad and Joanne had to sadly take her to the vet this morning. Losing a person is one of the hardest things you ever have to do.....especially when it's sudden. And even when it's not, and you know they're older and nearing the time for "the big sleep", it's still difficult to say goodbye. Now, think about how much harder it is to say goodbye to a pet. And not just any pet, but a pet that's SO loyal and loving in the most unconditional way. It's hearbreaking.
I'm not saying losing a person is in any way the same as losing a pet. In some ways it's harder and in others it easier (in both respects).
I had to say goodbye to two friends yesterday. The first, was Jessie. Our beloved doggie. The pup. My dog:-) I picked Jessie out. I came up with the idea for her name. She looked like a jessie, whatdya want? And so it was. And for 11 years, we had the BEST dog ever. She was the most spoiled being on the planet. Trust me. She was. She was ALWAYS there when I was sad; licking away the tears and pawing at me to remind me that even though I was sad, it wasn't about me...it was her turn and she needed to be touched:-) Oh that dog. Ha. She was a character. She'll always be the best.
I've lost two other dogs, that were vicariously mine - really they were Trish's (Deuce and Syndey) - but it was just as sad. I never got to say goodbye to them. In some ways I think it's harder to say goodbye than to miss out on it. Similar to Rachel. I never got to say goodbye...and although it was such a shocking experience with Rachel, I still think saying goodbye would've been MUCH harder.
The other person I had to say goodbye to yesterday was at the opposite end of the spectrum. Although I hardly saw him, Ephraim Rigefvsky was a great man. He was Allan's grandfather. I had met him a handful of times and every time he and his wife, Minerva (Allan's Grandmom), welcomed me into their home. Such caring and giving people. Allan texted me on Monday telling me the sad news. He flew in Tuesday and the Funeral/Service was Wednesday morning. I told him I wanted to be there for him. I knew he would need someone too. It's difficult to always be the one that has to be strong - Allan is that kind of person. I didn't get to see Allan much but with a few hugs, I think that was more helpful than any amount of time I could've spent with him. His grandfather was a great man and an honorable one too (he had an honorable memorial from the army - flag folding, taps playing and all.
There weren't a ton of people in the funeral service but I guess when you get older, all your friends are either there or waiting for you on the other side....
Death is a funny thing. It gets you thinking - am I doing things right? Am I living my life to the fullest? What if I'm gone tomorrow...when I look back on my life to this point, am I proud of the choices I've made? What would I change? Am I doing enough? What am I missing?
I've decided - in the next year and a half - until I turn 31 - so now through my 30th year of life - I will have a list. A list of things I want to do and/or accomplish. 30 in 30 (not the ESPN show).
30 things in my 30th year. I've started the list - I only have four things on it - but I'm working on it. I figure I have until next July to have the list completed - and until the following one to actually do everything. I actually got the idea from my friend Laurie who did 34 things for her 34th birthday. She did some pretty awesome things! Hopefully I can think of some good ones, otherwise I'm stealin' em from laurie :-)
Life is a funny thing. So fleeting. So - here one day, gone the next. So - odd.
We had to say goodbye to our beloved dog last night. My dad and Joanne had to sadly take her to the vet this morning. Losing a person is one of the hardest things you ever have to do.....especially when it's sudden. And even when it's not, and you know they're older and nearing the time for "the big sleep", it's still difficult to say goodbye. Now, think about how much harder it is to say goodbye to a pet. And not just any pet, but a pet that's SO loyal and loving in the most unconditional way. It's hearbreaking.
I'm not saying losing a person is in any way the same as losing a pet. In some ways it's harder and in others it easier (in both respects).
I had to say goodbye to two friends yesterday. The first, was Jessie. Our beloved doggie. The pup. My dog:-) I picked Jessie out. I came up with the idea for her name. She looked like a jessie, whatdya want? And so it was. And for 11 years, we had the BEST dog ever. She was the most spoiled being on the planet. Trust me. She was. She was ALWAYS there when I was sad; licking away the tears and pawing at me to remind me that even though I was sad, it wasn't about me...it was her turn and she needed to be touched:-) Oh that dog. Ha. She was a character. She'll always be the best.
I've lost two other dogs, that were vicariously mine - really they were Trish's (Deuce and Syndey) - but it was just as sad. I never got to say goodbye to them. In some ways I think it's harder to say goodbye than to miss out on it. Similar to Rachel. I never got to say goodbye...and although it was such a shocking experience with Rachel, I still think saying goodbye would've been MUCH harder.
The other person I had to say goodbye to yesterday was at the opposite end of the spectrum. Although I hardly saw him, Ephraim Rigefvsky was a great man. He was Allan's grandfather. I had met him a handful of times and every time he and his wife, Minerva (Allan's Grandmom), welcomed me into their home. Such caring and giving people. Allan texted me on Monday telling me the sad news. He flew in Tuesday and the Funeral/Service was Wednesday morning. I told him I wanted to be there for him. I knew he would need someone too. It's difficult to always be the one that has to be strong - Allan is that kind of person. I didn't get to see Allan much but with a few hugs, I think that was more helpful than any amount of time I could've spent with him. His grandfather was a great man and an honorable one too (he had an honorable memorial from the army - flag folding, taps playing and all.
There weren't a ton of people in the funeral service but I guess when you get older, all your friends are either there or waiting for you on the other side....
Death is a funny thing. It gets you thinking - am I doing things right? Am I living my life to the fullest? What if I'm gone tomorrow...when I look back on my life to this point, am I proud of the choices I've made? What would I change? Am I doing enough? What am I missing?
I've decided - in the next year and a half - until I turn 31 - so now through my 30th year of life - I will have a list. A list of things I want to do and/or accomplish. 30 in 30 (not the ESPN show).
30 things in my 30th year. I've started the list - I only have four things on it - but I'm working on it. I figure I have until next July to have the list completed - and until the following one to actually do everything. I actually got the idea from my friend Laurie who did 34 things for her 34th birthday. She did some pretty awesome things! Hopefully I can think of some good ones, otherwise I'm stealin' em from laurie :-)
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Doctober has begun....
Yup! I was there! I was at Roy Halladay's No Hitter! Game 1 NLDS! AMAZING! It definitely ranks up there with one of the best moments of my life! :-)
And last night was no different. Although I wasn't at the game...the phils crawled back from a 4-0 deficit. This team is ready! And did I mention I'm going to game 1 of the NLCS? Oh yeah, I am :-D heheheh
In the mean time, I feel like I've been going full force. I'm actually trying to fight off a cold/flu at the moment. Not sure what it is but what I do know is this:
-My eyes are like "woah": I've put drops in them, I'm taking allergy meds, I'm taking regular OTC meds - they're swollen and all like, "we don't like you katie" - hence, I am wearing my glasses today.
-I am having slight issues breathing: normally I'd be worried about this but it hasn't effected my ability to workout - I know I'm really sick when I can't breathe and I'm running/spinning
-My nose/chest is congested (which probably is why I'm having trouble breathing) - it's sucky but I guess that's part of being sick.
-I'm pretty tired: I woke up yesterday with pain in my upper neck (like I had slept funny) only it's muscle pain. I'm hoping this isn't too serious. I should probably make an appt with the doctor?
A few things I have to do this week:
-I MUST MUST MUST write a research paper. It's due next Monday (18th). I just don't have any idea what I want to write it on. I thought about writing about Charter Schools but someone else already did that, and then I thought I could write about NCLB(No Child Left Behind) but it's all bleh. Nothing is catching my interest.
-MUST study for the GRE's - who knew October 15th would come so quickly? Yeah, I'm taking them this coming Friday morning at 8am. The only good thing is that it'll be over but the bad thing is that I don't think I'm going to do that well.
-Email some Montco professors about possibly teaching some courses this Spring.
-Contact LMHS about the coaching position and if they've made any decisions on it.
For the most part, with the exception of being sick :-(, I'm doing alright. October is, so far, a good month! Let's hope it keeps going!
Friday, October 1, 2010
“We must always change, renew, rejuvenate ourselves; otherwise we harden” ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
So lately...wait for it....I've been watching Season 3 of Dawson's Creek. Remember that show? Anyone that says they don't - you're too young. GO WATCH IT! It is the One Tree Hill of my generation :-) And I LOVE OTH. If you don't remember, Season 3 is the Season where Joey and Pacey get together......yeah. I LOVED/LOVE Pacey. I still watch him in everything he's been in. What can I say, Josh Jackson has a place in my heart forever. Why do you think I watch Fringe :-)? But I digress......so I'm watching S3 of DC. It's funny when I think about how much I've changed since high school. I used to think my life was JUST like Joey Potter's. Of course, minus the whole love triangle's and such. I completely identified with the show. I always wished for my very own Pacey. But rather I was the one that waited for my very own Joey, just in guy form.
All that being said, my quote/subject is relevant. Change, as you can tell by the blog, is a good thing. It's often scary....but I think it's supposed to be scary. I think that's how you know it's good. I think if it isn't scary, you're doing something wrong.
It's been no secret that September was a far from spectacular month for me. I can not even begin to explain how grateful I am that it is now October 1st. I think with a new month comes a change - a renew - a rejuvenation. Some might argue that this comes on a weekly or even daily basis. Unfortunately, I tried to have it be a daily/weekly thing and it just didn't happen. But that's okay because if September is the worst it's going to get for 2010, I'm doin' pretty darn good.
October has a lot to offer:
-I'm going to Game 1 of the NLDS!
-Possibly going to the home opener for the Flyers!
-Taking the GRE's
-Possibly finding out about a coaching job
-Applying for Grad School
-Busillo's Halloween Party (which reminds me, I need to find a costume!)
Those are just a few of the (hopefully) many things to come in October. Also - I'm just getting closer and closer to getting out of here. I'd like to set a time/date on when I will get out of here, but there's that saying, "The best way to make God laugh, is to make plans" :-) So we'll see where the month goes......
All that being said, my quote/subject is relevant. Change, as you can tell by the blog, is a good thing. It's often scary....but I think it's supposed to be scary. I think that's how you know it's good. I think if it isn't scary, you're doing something wrong.
It's been no secret that September was a far from spectacular month for me. I can not even begin to explain how grateful I am that it is now October 1st. I think with a new month comes a change - a renew - a rejuvenation. Some might argue that this comes on a weekly or even daily basis. Unfortunately, I tried to have it be a daily/weekly thing and it just didn't happen. But that's okay because if September is the worst it's going to get for 2010, I'm doin' pretty darn good.
October has a lot to offer:
-I'm going to Game 1 of the NLDS!
-Possibly going to the home opener for the Flyers!
-Taking the GRE's
-Possibly finding out about a coaching job
-Applying for Grad School
-Busillo's Halloween Party (which reminds me, I need to find a costume!)
Those are just a few of the (hopefully) many things to come in October. Also - I'm just getting closer and closer to getting out of here. I'd like to set a time/date on when I will get out of here, but there's that saying, "The best way to make God laugh, is to make plans" :-) So we'll see where the month goes......
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