Reflecting and moving on

This week I decided to pick up the book Sub Nine and Full Time by David Glover. I blew threw it in 2 days. It's a short and easy read about a guy, David Glover, who works full time and yet manages to break the 9 hour mark in an iron distance triathlon. It isn't a training guide, nor is it a how to book, but it just tells his story. I'd recommend it for those that can't get enough Ironman stories, like me. It got me thinking about triathlon, racing, training, and all those things so I figure I'll reflect a little on this year. Here are a couple invaluable things I learned about myself:

1. There is (almost) always time if I want it badly enough. So many times before in my life I told myself and others, "I just don't have time to ________". Or "I can't because ____ takes up all my time". I had a busy year with teaching, coaching, and trying to train adequately for IMLP. There were days when I left for work at 6:45am and didn't get home until 7:30pm. But I found time to get things done. This is probably the most valuable thing I learned. By taking away the excuse of no time I make myself choose, do I want it? And what am I willing to do, or not do, to earn it? With lofty goals in my personal and professional future even aside from racing, I have made an honest man out of myself.

2. I learned that lots of little steps day by day can carry me a long way. Building endurance for a race like the ironman takes a long time and a lot of building. Knowledge in the classroom, professional experience, and relationships are very similar. I've always been somewhat impatient by nature, but nothing has shown me more clearly the importance of building the foundation first, and then moving to the more difficult or challenging tasks.

3. For the more difficult things that I want to achieve, I will have to make sacrifices. Perhaps I knew this before, but not to the extent that I was forced to see it this year. I made a lot of sacrifices. I'm not 100% certain they were all worth it, but I learned to give things up in order to earn something greater.

4. I learned that pain is temporary, but sometimes you need to spend some time getting to the root of it before it fades away. This applies to physical pain and emotional stress. There were some very trying times this year when I thought I had reached my absolute breaking point. I made choices to address the pain sometimes, and other times I tried to ignore it. I haven't figured out the formula for when to address the pain, and when to fight it off, but I learned that it will fade one way or another.

5. Finally, I live for the challenge more than the race. When my alarm would go off at 4:44am and I would question why I was getting up to workout, I couldn't always rely on "because I'm training for an ironman" to motivate me. The biggest motivator was, "Can I do it?". I don't race a lot because (besides the cost) I don't care as much about competing against others as I want to know what I can do. My biggest competitor is myself.

I'll end with those right now even though I'm sure there were other things I learned and I just can't think of right now.

Just in other news - Villanova grad school starts this coming Thursday! I'm excited, but nervous to be a student again. Cross country preseason starts Monday! I've done 2 captain's runs with the team and WOW they are fast. I hope the little running I've done since the race has kept me fit enough to keep up. I also hope my body healed up OK. My groin and left foot have been a little sore after each run I've done.

Headed down to OCMD this morning with my roommate and co-bestman, Matt. Enjoy the weekend!