Well, we all finished! Nathan and I had the race of our lives (and we both agree it was the hardest one to date!) and Quanah (my coach) and Sarah (Nate's girlfriend) both finished the mountain bike race in great time.
In our Long Course race, over 1940 of us finished what turned out to be a challenging day of headwinds and heat! The lake was choppy, there were whitecaps visible from the shore. The wind on the bike course hit us face-first for over 30 (of the 56) miles. And the run was just brutal...over 13 miles of trails, hills, dust and...of course, headwinds!
A couple of my takeaways, that seem to relate to who I am and what I do follow this intro...
(By the way, here we are just outside the finish-line area...)
What I learned racing over 70.3 miles...
1. Finishing IS an option
Along the bike and the run routes, I was reminded that the option to get out of the race was always there. On the bike, I watched the SAG wagon go by several times, and I saw a few athletes on the side of the road waiting for a ride. While running, I admit the thought crossed my mind a couple of times, "If I turn right up there, I can just walk back to the shade of the food court and...
2. Planning gets me much closer to completion
All year I'd looked forward to Wildflower. I read the newsletters the organization published. I went through my training manuals. I reviewed my training logs. I even searched YouTube and GoogleVideo for pictures and movies of the race. I also talked with several past participants as they told me about "Nasty Grade," or the wind of the rolling hills.
3. Celebrating the wins, no matter how big or small, creates momentum to move forward
One thousand nine hundred and forty...PLUS!... people finished the 1/2 Ironman race on Saturday. Running under the finishers flag, and then eating oranges, bananas a Powerbar and drinking nearly two bottles of water (I was out on the course for over 6 hours!) was thrilling. Hearing the "pieces" of peoples races stories was inspiring. Then, later on lying on the grass, listening to music, half-sleeping, half-eating, I leaned over to my brother and said, "So, are you ready to start training for '08?"
So, take it out of context...as you're probably reading this at a desk (or a handheld computer?!)...and look for something you can finish. Decide, and do something about it.
Plan a little bit more. Take a problem - or an opportunity! - you're facing, and draw on a piece of paper. Write down some ideas...big ones, small ones, good ones, and outrageous ones. Then, decide...and do something about it.
Now, when you get to an end (and you and I both know an end is just another beginning!), celebrate. Take yourself out, buy yourself a treat, get someone to sing (even if it's NOT your birthday!)...whatever you can do, do something to acknowledge the work you have done, and the effort you've put in. Doing so will give you a small - needed - boost to move forward to the next thing.
Congratulations Jason!
Posted by: Rich Eisenhuth | May 08, 2007 at 06:58 PM
(Was just browsing the blogs on Technorati tagged "70.3" and found your post.) Wildflower is indeed one of the hardest half-ironmans on the schedule. Looks like you had a great day. Congratulations, Jason! So, what's the next event?
Posted by: Brian McNitt | May 08, 2007 at 02:05 PM