No...really? How hard am I really chasing this "dream". All I've ever wanted was to be known for being great. Great at what? Who knows? I just know that I LOVED winning, and once I started running, I won even more!
Now here I sit, a whole decade after this realization that I wanted to throw myself into endurance sports, and think to myself that I am in a very bittersweet position.
First the bitter (hey, don't call me negative...it just comes first in the word!) The bitterness is that I didn't ever FULLY commit myself to becoming the best. I've relied on talent and talent alone. Coach Damon Martin would be throwing things at me right now as he thinks the word "talent" is a curse word. And for good reason! Talent just got me through the rougher parts of running, because I could do better than most without training even half as much. That being said, lots of people have talent, and the ones that actually trained kicked the shit out me without breaking a sweat. The same still goes on in Triathlon, Duathlon, Cycling and even moreso in running nowadays. Yes, I can call myself a "professional" athlete, and I may have won a few races here and there, but when the cards are down and anyone good shows up...well, I lose BAD. And I hate losing, and I lose all self-confidence and shut myself off from the world.
Now, the sweet. I have really come to love where I am. Had I won a Texas State gold medal in high school, I would have never come to Adams State and learned what REAL work was. Had I actually been super successful at running, I would have never even looked at triathlon (much less cycling...what with their funny clothes and goofy tan lines!) But I could never give up the bike now. Not in a million years would I ever stop riding. I love it! And I will continue to do Triathlon no matter how badly I get beaten, because there is no other sport on the planet where the athletes are so accepting and respectful and just willing to let go of themselves to have FUN! Yes, there are the crazy types that outkick the 9-year-old girls, but those are the ones that make us realize that it doesn't really matter how we do, just how we enjoy the racing. Ok...I DO realize this goes against my natural instincts, but it's true. That doesn't mean that no matter what race I line up for...I expect to win regardless of the competition. ;) It's just who I am.
So, I will have plenty of chances to enjoy racing coming up as I now have 10 days before the craziness of my labor day WEEK (yes, week, not weekend) down in Austin, Texas.
I will start with a Pub Run on the 1st to get things started off right!
Then on the 2nd I will race 2 crits (cycling) back to back at the Driveway crit series.
The 3rd will be another double with the Tour de Austin TT followed by the Zilker Relays. Those who don't know a "TT" is a Time Trial in cycling, and the Zilker Relays are a running race with 4 people doing 2.5 miles each.
The 4th will be a single crit of the Tour de Austin.
The 5th is yet another Tour de Austin crit.
Then the finale will be the Austin Triathlon, an Olympic distance tri (.9 mile swim, 24.8 mile bike, 6.2 mile run) in the morning followed by the final Tour de Austin crit in the afternoon.
Am I crazy? Yes. Is it going to be VERY hard? Yes. Am I going to enjoy every last second of it? Well, no...but I will be very happy with that first beer after it's all over!!!!
Sorry it's been so long...hasta later
Yorek
