Is religion based on intolerance?

I may kick myself later for writing about religion and politics, but here goes!

Yesterday I posted this to my Facebook wall:

saw this in a Washington Post Article "DC protesters denounce gay marriage": by the organizing pastor to the protesters "I am appointing you to take the word far and wide and speak up for Jesus." So, he's got a pipeline to Jesus' opinions on same-sex marriage? Didn't Jesus espouse love and tolerance?

I got the typical, supportive responses I expected from friends and family, but I also got a response I wasn't expecting at all from a family friend. He said "all religion is based on intolerance." While that's certainly not stated out front in the bullet points, I suppose this statement is basically right. In its most basic form religion was invented to answer the question of why the world is the way it is. Most religions seem to take the stance that "we've got it right and you've got it wrong", with little room for accepting the differences or admission that maybe they're both wrong.

I came to the conclusion years ago that most of the world's ills were perpetrated in the name of religion and concluded that I didn't want any part of that. A religious person says that there is a god; an atheist says there is no god; an agnostic says he just doesn't know. I consider myself an apathist; I just don't care. A person doesn't need religion to have morals. When I'm forced to label myself I actually consider myself a secular humanist, holding the idea that reason, ethics, and justice can serve as the basis of moral reflection and decision-making.

A friend of mine liked to say that religion was invented by the devil as a way of dividing mankind. I believe that religion was a human invention, but it has achieved the same result.

The Yellow Days

It happens right about this time every year in the DC Metro area; the whole place becomes covered with a fine yellow dust. Know who's to blame? The trees! I've never lived any other place where the trees put out so much pollen! Right now it's the oak trees that are at high pollenation status and everything, especially the cars, are tinged greenish yellow; it certainly doesn't help that I park under an oak an night. The car washes must do extra good business right about now. If we get enough of a rain to wash off the cars then there will be yellow-stained rivers of runoff in the streets.

A year or two ago I accidentally left my car windows cracked when it started to rain and the dust got dripped into the car causing yellow stains on the seats and carpets. Even a stain remover didn't get rid of it all. Amazing, just amazing!

They're messing with our minds!

There is a very interesting article in today's Washington Post that talks about the effect of food and eating on the brain. Whereas most research investigates the link between eating and physiology this researcher, a former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, says that food composition affects brain chemistry, making us crave particular foods. He focuses on sugar, fat, and salt saying that they compel us to over eat rather than satisfying hunger.

" "Highly palatable" foods -- those containing fat, sugar and salt -- stimulate the brain to release dopamine, the neurotransmitter associated with the pleasure center, he found. In time, the brain gets wired so that dopamine pathways light up at the mere suggestion of the food, such as driving past a fast-food restaurant, and the urge to eat the food grows insistent. Once the food is eaten, the brain releases opioids, which bring emotional relief. Together, dopamine and opioids create a pathway that can activate every time a person is reminded about the particular food. This happens regardless of whether the person is hungry."

As you might expect, restaurants and food producers know all this and manipulate the content of their products to exploit it. What we need to do is become aware of this problem and make better food choices so that we can minimize the effects and take control of our dietary health.

Two weeks to go til Tri

My first tri of the season will be the Kinetic Sprint Tri on May 10 at Lake Anna, VA. With two weeks to go I am trying to figure out what would be the best use of my training time. I have this next week to go at it hard but then I'll need to do some tapering during the week before the race. So far this spring I've only done one bike/run brick and think it might be a good idea to do one more. That would have to be next weekend. I also have the opportunity to do an open water swim (OWS) in Sunday May 3. I should probably definitely do this. The water is guaranteed to be cold but I know that it will also be cold on race day so this would be especially good practice. Of course, if it doesn't go well I'll be worrying that much more about the race swim.

I used this weekend for a hard bike ride yesterday and a long but lower intensity run today. It was unseasonably hot here so it was all a bit harder than usual. I think I was a bit dehydrated when I started the ride so that didn't help at all.

Last year this race took place in a cool, pouring rain. I certainly didn't need to worry about overheating but I'm definitely hoping for better, dryer weather this year.

Go Confidently

I just discovered the blog of professional triathlete Elizabeth Waterstraat. Her post about Facebook groups is quite amusing, but her post Confidence Is Not A Naughty Word is brilliant! Her main point is that the mind sets us up for success or failure and the way to be successful is to think about being successful. All the hard work, all the training will leave us short of our goals if race day comes and you start telling yourself that you can't do it, you're not ready, you shouldn't be there, etc.

I'm not a gifted athlete but I trust in myself and I trust that my training will have me ready for the race. I set goals, ones that will push me hard but that are realistic, and then go for it. Sometimes I make it and sometimes I don't but if I've given it my best then I was successful. At Saturday's 5K I felt that I could do a 9 min/mile pace and figured this would give me a good shot at a top 3 place in my age group. I managed to run an 8:38 pace but ended up more than :30 off the podium. The effort was a personal best and was a huge success for me, even without placing where I thought I might.

I have my first tri of the season coming up in two weeks. Biking has always been my strongest event so I always figure that it will go well. In the past the swim was about nothing more than survival and the run was about using up whatever I have left to give. This year I am feeling so much more confident with my swimming that my focus will be on going at it with a great effort; no more mere survival. The main variable with this first race will be the water temperature. Last year the water temperature was in the low 60's for this race and it took my breathe away as soon as my face hit the water; my swim fell apart and I ended up doing a lot of side stroke and other survival swimming. This year my goal is to hold it together, free style the whole thing, and do a 2min/100m pace. Sure, I may miss these goals but if the effort is there it will be a success regardless. I am a shark among minnows!

The Nose Knows

Ever since running my race on Saturday my sinuses have been killing me. I started with sneezing and a runny nose soon after the race was over and it hasn't really stopped yet. Red eyes, sinus headache, and throw in some body aches this morning, too. I must have literally sucked in a ton of pollen on Saturday! I was supposed to swim this morning but I knew that would be difficult or impossible if I couldn't breathe so I decided I'd do Pilates instead. WHen this morning started I didn't even have the energy for that. I ended up down some leg stretches and yoga that focused on opening up the hips. Hopefully I'll be OK for a swim or run tomorrow!

Race day: 5K

I'm in my third year of triathlon. I train all year long with very little down time/off season. Right now I'm three weeks out from my first tri of the season but I was getting a bit bored with the training. So, I decided to do a 5K race yesterday; nothing like a little competition to add spice to my training! On a good day I can do a 9:30min/mile training pace but a few weeks ago I did an all out run and got it down to about 9:15. So, for this race I was hoping to put down around 9:00. I exceeded my expectations and did 8:38! Wow! Having looked at last year's results I knew that a 9m/m pace would give me a good shot at placing in my age group, so I was really hopeful with my 8:38. Still, somehow, I finished out of the top three :( They have not yet posted the official results so I don't know how far off I was. An 8:38 was great and I'm really pleased, but someday, someday, it would be really nice to make the top three!

New Yankee Stadium

I grew up on Long Island as a New York Yankees fan, taking after my father (and his father before that.) I first went to Yankee Stadium in 1967, right at the conclusion of Mickey Mantle's career. I think I was at Reggie's first game as a Yankee. I loved Thurman Munson and cried when I heard that he had died in a plane crash. I was at the Stadium the day before Dave Righetti threw his no hitter. Don Mattingly (same age as me by the way) was my hero and I still regret that injuries kept him from putting up the final stats needed for election into the Hall of Fame. I took my son to the Stadium for his first baseball game.

I have mixed feelings about a New Yankees Stadium. I understand that Yankee Stadium was old and lacking amenities, but it was historic. You can move the name to the new stadium, you can keep the facade, and you can keep the same field dimensions but it will never be the same. Now, it's just another new stadium, but one with a famous name. I think something special has died.

Bike commuting

Yesterday I bike commuted to work; the trip is just short of 10 miles each way. It takes me about 40 minutes of pedaling and about an hour overall with stop lights, etc. As I was thinking about this I realized that there is little logical reason to do this. It doesn't save me time (2 hours total vs ~60 minutes total to drive) and it doesn't truly save me money (even at $4 a gallon for gas I'd need 200 commutes to equal the value of my commuter bike). So, what it comes down to for me is how it makes me feel. I love to bike and I need to get to work anyway, so this is a win-win sort of thing. As far as my general fitness and my bike fitness it's also a win. There's also the fact that I arrive at work in a more positive (and alert) state of mind when I ride. My mood remains positive, even after I've been annoyed by cars that insist on honking at me. (For the life of me I can't understand why they feel a need to do this. Are they actually in a rush to get to work? They actually feel that they really own the road and have exclusive use of it?) I also feel like I'm doing something positive for the environment; last year I replaced 500 miles of driving with bike commuting. So, while this may not make logical sense it still makes lots of sense to me. Bike on!

What's a Hill Slug?

If you are here then no doubt you've read the blog title "HillSlug Musings" but you may be wondering what the heck a "hillslug" is. I'm a hill slug, someone who is slow (like a slug) at climbing hills on their bike. In all honesty I'm a better hill climber than many riders out there but back in 2006 when I needed to choose a username for a forum or two I was pitiful. I was new to cycling (after 20+ years off the bike), riding a 35 pound hybrid bike, and frequently found myself pushing it up the steeper hills. "HillSlug" just seemed to fit. Now that I'm no longer so sluggish on hills I've kept the name as a reminder of where I started and how far I've come since.

A place to start

Mediocre: adjective: of no exceptional quality or ability

My name is Nicole and triathlon dominates my life <Hi Nicole>. OK, that’s out in the open! Whew!

As an athlete and a triathlete I have some ability, but nothing that I’d call exceptional. I get through on hard work, determination, and the modest athletic talent that nature has provided to me. For the most part I’m what’s called “Middle of the Pack” (MOP). Given the right day and the right circumstance (i.e., the race of my life and a small turnout) I have an outside chance of placing third in my age group; it’s something I aspire to.

I plan to use this blog to report and muse on whatever seems significant to me at a given moment. I expect that it will largely center on triathlon and my triathlon training but I also expect that there will be many other things that I’ll want to rant write about. I hope you enjoy the trip.

Nicole