Olympics and more!

Please be aware that I have been having html glitches with the cutting post feature, so if you start reading an entry and it doesn't fully make sense or looks too short, you may want to click through to make sure you get all the awesomeness (or subscribe with google reader and never miss an update). anyway, time to click through

One of the things about having an OT blog is that I do try to keep it OT-focused, but while there is a whole lot of OT in my life, there's a lot of other things too. So sometimes, that needs to leach in.

I made it through my (sprint distance) triathlon! I achieved my goals: no injury, no crying, and beat my anticipated time by 10 minutes. I'm really happy to be able to finish and feel well throughout the whole event. My running skills are basically nil at this point though, and I am starting the couch to 5K program over again and seeking out some professional PT help to fix my knee. I don't know that I'll be able to do another event this year, but I hope to work up to an Olympic distance triathlon and running a half marathon... maybe by next year.

Speaking of Olympics... I am a huge fan and am currently watching as many events as possible. I thought it was cool to see more representation of persons with disabilities in the opening ceremony. The children's choir featured Signing of "God Save the Queen" which was wonderful... signing can bring so much to more to songs, I love when an interpreter is included in a band or choir. The featured percussionist was also Deaf. There were a contingent of wheelchair dancers in the crazy multi-decade dance number and several individuals with physical disabilities in the cast and with the parade of nations. The best part was that this was a mostly seamless inclusion, not identified as anything out of the ordinary, just a normal thing.

The opening ceremony also featured the British National Health System and the children's hospital. This was interesting for me since in the U.S. we have been fighting over healthcare in a very extreme fashion, including people fighting for the right to not have insurance. Additionally, some of the twitter folks that I follow are service users for the NHS and it seems like while it may not be as heated as our current debate, I didn't expect it to be such a source of pride to be included in the ceremony. UK readers, feel free to let me know how you felt about that.

So that should give you an idea of how my free time will be spent in the coming weeks... Also we've had out of town visits for old friends and my brother is getting married, so I will be pretty busy. Will probably have to avoid twitter to a degree so that I avoid spoilers to the events (my husband already revealed some swimming results too early). Hope you all have a lovely day and that the feats of strength inspire many people to physical activity!