I was surprised and a bit irritated to discover that most of the women in my sprint triathlon group are athletic already.

There were maybe 5 women or so who might be called slightly overweight. I was hoping to find more women at my level to commiserate with on the whole running issue, but the majority of these women were raring to run miles and miles and miles.

Nevertheless, it is inspirational to be around this group. This weekend we met in the early morning at a track. It gave me such a jolt to look out over the track in the soft grey light at a pack of women running steadily around and around. It felt powerful. It felt like an exponential multiplication of female energy. We caused a stir; all the men on the track wanted to know what was going on, and when we said we were training for a triathlon, they were clearly impressed. Heck, I'm impressed.

I didn't get a chance to run, though, because of my recent knee injury, which has me much more depressed that I could have anticipated. It's only a minor strain, but I'll still need a few more days to recover. It reminds me how clearly my mood is tied to my physical well-being and my physical self-image, and it makes me sick to think about the emotional challenge that would be posed by a serious injury.

I've made some financial decisions lately that have made me much more relaxed in general and provided a sense of freedom and lightness. I hope this attitude lasts in terms of my fitness decisions as well.