Motivation

It is already Wednesday, but the following struck me on Monday. Several folks have complained that I don’t update this journal enough and I apologize for that.  The web still lacks a really slick tool for recording athletic activity, short of a journal entry that requires some thought and grammar.

Back to Monday. The weekend was another long one: Saturday (1.5HR Swim, 1HR Bike, 1.5HR Run) and Sunday (4:45HR Bike) all of which ends up going by quite fast, like a work week. This got me thinking about my own motivation and contemplation of the experience of this form of training. Certainly my goal is to finish, but I was also drawn to the discipline, consistency, and patience required to complete the training.  I had imagined there would be more time along the way for reflection, but that has not been the case.  Most of that pensiveness is caught up in fleeting moments: appreciating the stunning visual quality of where I live; marvelling at the distances; laughing at the logistics and how forgetting one item (say bike shoes) out of 15 can make for a very challenging day.

All of this is not so easy to articulate in words. My best shot is to describe a moment that I remembered Monday after a long weekend. About an hour into a long bike ride, I took a deep breath, grimaced, and exhaled. It was an entirely private moment, one where surrender begets fortitude.

We leave for New Zealand on the 25th (2 weeks an 2 days). One more big weekend and then the taper starts.

Pedal on.