Whenever I tell people that I loved high school, they look at me like I’m seriously delusional. But in fact, my high school experience, while not without its fair share of painful moments and teenage angst, was the greatest gift I’ve ever received.
I was extremely fortunate to be raised in an atmosphere of academia, having a father whose career centered on private school education. As is common in the private school sector, he moved from job to job with great regularity, so my school colors and allegiances changed on 3-year intervals. That part was a bit unsettling, but when 9th grade approached and I ventured out on my own to an eccentric, if prestigious east coast boarding school called Northfield Mount Hermon, I knew I had finally arrived home. Nothing in my life has so greatly influenced who I am as a person than those foundational four years. NMH was a bit alternative, a bit brainy and a whole lot of fun. Its driving principles were the integration of “the head, the heart and the hand” and the celebration and acceptance of diversity. I’m not saying it was all morals-and-values-on-a-pedestal and free-love-and-hugs, but for the most part we were a unique, international and welcoming student body who pretty much learned to be good people.
You’re probably wondering what in the heck this has to do with triathlon, and the answer is not much. But, getting together with four of my best gal pals from high school immediately following Ironman Coeur D’Alene has every relevance…in fact, it was the ultimate Ironman recovery.
While at NMH, I lived in a dorm of 80 girls, an illustrious old four-story brick fortress called Marquand. It was our home and our haven, a building bursting at the seams with the joy, laughter, tears and cattiness of sisterhood. Sure, we were not all the best of friends, but we shared a bond that was powerful at the time and has grown unbreakable over the years since. Despite many of us losing touch for major periods of time, now, as adults, these women are like family to me in a way that no one else in my life has ever been. Twenty years after graduation, in 2006, several of us attended our reunion and spent a day roaming the rooms and hallways of now deserted Marquand (the school has been downsized as a result of lagging post-9/11 international enrollment). For me it was a return to my childhood home, a place of security and stability that anchored my teen years. For all of us there was a desire to take over the property, squatting in our previous home, abandoning our current lives and living happily together again forever after…and probably collecting fifty cats and some serious mental problems along the way!
So instead we vowed to get together more often, and, with the collective sigh of our 40th birthdays upon us, this year was prime time for a gathering. The timing was brilliantly planned, from my perspective, falling on the weekend after Ironman. What better way to erase the rough edges of a somewhat disappointing race? What more deserving moment to eat and drink with abandon, to laugh and sleep and lounge in the sun, leaving all responsibility and discipline behind?
I highly recommend a post-race recovery period that involves removing oneself from anything remotely connected to triathlon. As much as I love the sport, getting away from it now and again is vital. Think of it as a mini-off-season for the body, mind and soul. The time away with my NMH friends was so delicious and decadent that I’ve compiled a list of my Top10 Tips for Ironman Recovery:
1. Immediately upon arrival, throw on your PJ’s and pour each other cocktails. Just like the old days in the dorm.
2. For a few days, eat anything & everything, drink anything & everything and exercise very little. You only live once.
3. Skinny dip in broad daylight.
4. Sacrifice a night at Filthy McNasty’s Biker Bar (not making this up!) in favor of rockin’ out to an 80’s metal band at Capt Hiram’s Sandbar. One of you is sure to know the words to every song. Dance with the locals. Get a photo with the band.
5. Share your deepest wounds, your worst
habits, your greatest
glories and your most fantastic hopes and dreams with your friends.
They’ll water down the pain, laugh without judgment, celebrate the
fabulous and inspire the seemingly impossible.
6. As much as she thinks it’s a good idea, do not let your drunken
friend go home with the cute British boy-toy she just met in the
parking lot. Sisters look out for each other.
7. Revel in the fact that, as 40-somethings, the intimate details
you share with your friends are MUCH more interesting than the stories
you shared in high school.
8. Stay up til 3ish, sleep in til 10ish, but don’t know for certain. Never once look at your watch.
9. Never, ever check your work email.
10. Laugh at all the stupid things your friends did, said and wore in high school. Laugh the hardest at yourself.
Thanks to Kendel, Bebe, Nilda and
Li Lin for the best recovery ever! I love you all.