You Can Do Something…
August 5, 2009
Life and experience are always the best teachers, and this last weekend was no exception.
Always looking for a greater challenge, I’ve moved up from the shorter sprint distance triathlons to the longer and more demanding Olympic-distance races.
The distances for the race this weekend were:
Swim: 1500 meters (.93 miles)
Bike: 28 miles
Run: 6.2 miles
A few comments on the distances. Even though the swim is 1500 meters, because it’s an “open-water” swim (on a lake, ocean,or in this case, a river) you always end up actually swimming more than the posted distance. That’s because you’re seldom swimming in a straight line like you do in a pool with lane dividers and a solid line that you can see on the bottom of the pool.
Second, you’re doing these events one immediately following the next, so there’s not much chance to catch your breath.
And third, preparing for three very different events requires a rigorous and disciplined training regimen. And that’s the one that got me this time. You see, between work, travel, and a nagging knee injury, I had to sit out the run. And since Lorie had been even busier with our daughter’s graduation events, she wasn’t really up to doing the complete race either.
So we decided to compete as a relay team. Normally, three people participate in the relay, each one completing one of the events. We had done this at a recent Half-Ironman event with our friend Lisabeth doing the 1.2-mile swim, Lorie doing the 56-mile bike leg, and me doing the 13.1-mile half-marathon segment.
This time, there were just the two of us, so Lorie did the swim; I did the bike; and Lorie finished up with the run.
Now let’s get down to business and see what this all means for you. (I figured you might be wondering that by now…)
First, either one of us could have decided to drop out of the race entirely. Certainly we both had enough going on to justify that decision. But in our minds, that would have been simply giving up, and that’s not really our style. Instead, we found a solution that took our circumstances into consideration, but still let us compete.
Too many people hit a major roadblock – or even a minor bump in the road – and simply give up. Then they blame an incompetent boss, the bad economy, or an unhappy childhood for their lack of success. In all but the most horrific situations, there’s usually a solution. Not always an ideal solution, but a solution nonetheless.
More importantly, sometimes these “alternate solutions” provide an unexpected opportunity to excel. And that was true in this case: because I didn’t do the swim (my weakest event) and didn’t have to hold anything in reserve to do the run, so I basically went all-out on the bike ride, turning in an average speed of 20.5 MPH – by far my fastest time ever.
Sometimes having just one task to focus on lets you perform extremely well in that area. Similarly, eliminating unnecessary distractions in your work and in your life may be just the thing you need to excel at what’s truly important to you.
And even if there’s no one timing you and no finish line to cross, you can still experience the personal victory of a job well done.
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