127.5
I had one of those moments today during my 1.5 mile swim.
Of course, I have moments all the time when I swim. That is what happens when I am alone with my thoughts for 30 minutes or longer with no other real distractions. But most of those moments are of the "here one minute-gone the next" sorts. They never stick.
Today was different.
It has been just over 9 months since I finished my 3/4 ironman (and 3 months until the rematch).
I realize that there isn't such a race as 3/4 ironman. It's a distance that no one can relate to. You don't get anything for completing 3/4 of an ironman. A sprint distance - yep. You get something. An olympic distance. Something. A 1/2 ironman, there is recognition. And the ironman, there is definitely something waiting for you at the finish line.
But when you swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 and run 13.1, all you get is the opportunity to explain, every time it comes up, that you are in some sort of purgatory between 1/2 and full ironman. And you have nothing else to show for it.
But at Redman last year, when I dropped out 13.1 miles into the run, I was emotionally and mentally done. My stomach wasn't cooperating. Up to that point, I had the time of my life. Calling it a day made sense.
I had no regrets then.
I still don't today.
It was my first triathlon of any distance and it was a great experience.
But something has been eating at me almost every day since Redman last year.
And it's a number.
127.5.
That is the distance I covered in OK last September.
It should have been 140.6. And no matter how much I know I made the right decision at the time, there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about those last 13.1 miles.
And during my swim, it hit me today. It's not that I haven't been training. It's that I have been training without a real purpose. An inspiration. A motivation. Something that will push me when I am dragging. Something that will get me up the hill on the bike, knock out that last mile of the run, or battle through the aches and pains that come with the territory.
I now have my motivation, that something to push me when the going gets tough.
It's 127.5.
That may have been acceptable last year.
But this year, the only number that will matter is 140.6.
Of course, I have moments all the time when I swim. That is what happens when I am alone with my thoughts for 30 minutes or longer with no other real distractions. But most of those moments are of the "here one minute-gone the next" sorts. They never stick.
Today was different.
It has been just over 9 months since I finished my 3/4 ironman (and 3 months until the rematch).
I realize that there isn't such a race as 3/4 ironman. It's a distance that no one can relate to. You don't get anything for completing 3/4 of an ironman. A sprint distance - yep. You get something. An olympic distance. Something. A 1/2 ironman, there is recognition. And the ironman, there is definitely something waiting for you at the finish line.
But when you swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 and run 13.1, all you get is the opportunity to explain, every time it comes up, that you are in some sort of purgatory between 1/2 and full ironman. And you have nothing else to show for it.
But at Redman last year, when I dropped out 13.1 miles into the run, I was emotionally and mentally done. My stomach wasn't cooperating. Up to that point, I had the time of my life. Calling it a day made sense.
I had no regrets then.
I still don't today.
It was my first triathlon of any distance and it was a great experience.
But something has been eating at me almost every day since Redman last year.
And it's a number.
127.5.
That is the distance I covered in OK last September.
It should have been 140.6. And no matter how much I know I made the right decision at the time, there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about those last 13.1 miles.
And during my swim, it hit me today. It's not that I haven't been training. It's that I have been training without a real purpose. An inspiration. A motivation. Something that will push me when I am dragging. Something that will get me up the hill on the bike, knock out that last mile of the run, or battle through the aches and pains that come with the territory.
I now have my motivation, that something to push me when the going gets tough.
It's 127.5.
That may have been acceptable last year.
But this year, the only number that will matter is 140.6.
posted by Kevin at 4:49 PM
1 Comments:
what happened, why the blog absence? i'll allow a one month lapse, but not a two month lapse. how else am i supposed to keep tabs on you?!
Post a Comment
<< Home