This meager literary adventure started as a way to capture my experience heading into Silverman, what used to be known as the toughest iron-distance tri out there. A convenient way to capture my thoughts & keep those that weren't in Vegas with me up-to-date in the goings-on & a simple outlet to capture my race report for all time. It morphed into a nice way to blow off some steam, capture my thoughts & training processes, to keep a log of how I processed both the milestone and the minutiae of daily life. For the past two years, three if you want to look at it from an athletic standpoint & include the Cleveland debacle, I've not done a good (or even adequate) job of processing through these things, just more going with the flow & taking things as they come to me. It's plainly evident that Cleveland was a damn farce, a segment of my life in which I was quite directionless and clueless as to who I really wanted to be. I always said I'd never let my life live me but I did exactly that for almost a full year. At least coming to Tennessee started some of that journey back to reclamation....for the most part.
I missed swimming. It was the easiest to pick back up & dedicate myself to. It's the sport that has always come easiest to me and this adventure has been no exception. I got back in the pool with the intention of resurrecting the triathlete that had been sitting quietly in the wings for awhile. Silverman took a monumental toll on my body and mind, such that racing triathlon was a bit more than I cared to take on again for awhile. I eased back into that process a bit, but clung more to the exploration of running while taking on some marathons. It's another easy way out - I know I have no pressure to be a fast runner & thus my obligations are completing what I enter. I still relish the blessings, drive and gift that each of these events is to me - I know there are many out there that can't or don't choose to experience them. But getting back into the swimming world reignited a passion that's been dormant and largely unexplored in my adult life.
Just before Big Shoulders, 2013 |
But I've not picked the triathlon back up. Oh I've thought about it, looking into multiple events & still doing the tri down at the florabama almost annually. But I've not really picked up the running or cycling again as I've shoved myself into the water for the past 20 months or so. Honestly, it's pure cowardice & ego. There are some amazing athletes here and I really don't want to get crushed. What if I can't ride like I used to, or what if I can't put it all together anymore? How can I find time to train & still be the swimmer that's so integral to my identity now? Can it be done?
When you feel like things are missing &/or you don't know "what comes next" then there's always an emptiness lurking around the edges of your consciousness. For a person like me that's just damn annoying & leads to some really unhappy moments. There are some big changes afoot & it's about time I stood up to do what I want to do, to be who I want to be & to not take any flak or make any excuses about that. If that person is unacceptable to anyone else then maybe they should re-evaluate whatever it is that makes them want to be around me. Some say to be an endurance athlete/triathlete is an inherently selfish mindset, I say so be it, what's your point & that's certainly not a shocking trait to anyone that's known me for long. No one should have to put parts of their personality, their very essence, on hold or dampen their enthusiasm for life at any given time at the request of another (or even for the very wish of another). If you don't like the scenery, the destination or the driver, get the hell of the bus.
I signed up for Ironman Chattanooga a couple of weeks ago. It's about damn time that I got off my ass & quit being too scared of not being good enough to even try. That's not who I am, it's not what I want my legacy to be, it doesn't even make sense to me. So I'm going to do a branded race (almost an even bigger shock than anything else) in its inaugural year....while picking up other races I haven't ever done throughout the summer. The winter will be base-building & figuring out how in the hell to ride my bike AND run AND swim again....
The beauty of our human life is that nothing has to be permanent if you don't want it to be. If you're not happy with something, you (usually) have the ability/capability/possibility to change it as needed or keep looking until you do find something that makes you happy. In theory, I also believe this should be a continuous process of evaluation & change. Maybe, however, the greatest opportunity throughout all of our lives is the ability to pick & choose what elements to keep/resurrect/trash as we move from one phase to another. When along this journey you lose your way, maybe it is as simple as back-tracking until you knew you weren't lost & changing incremental things as you step forward. Or possibly it's a matter of just plucking whatever the component or trait from your past was that made you who you want to be & reincarnating that into your life or personality. Either way, I suppose the most important thing is to move forward with each day being the person that you want to be - incorporating incremental or major changes as needed.
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