Saturday, August 26, 2006

Don't Let Nobody Steal Your Joy

An excrept from Breakthrough Triathlon Training, pg. 23:

"Australian Greg Welch embodied this spirt during this career....one dramatic example of his pure motivation and outstanding attitude came at the Haiwaii Ironman races of 1993 and 1994. ...on his final bike ride bfore flying to the island [Haiwaii], he was struck by a car two miles from his home in San Diego and suffered a knee injury. He showed up on the island on crutches, forced to watch someone else realize the dream for which he had worked so hard.

Some were surprised to see Welchy having a jolly time in Kona, hanging out with friends, enjoying a Hawaiian vacation and cheering for his wife, Sian, a top female pro. When Welch was asked for his feelings about the accident, he said, "No use crying over spilled milk."

I must admit. If today I got into an accident before my race (Sept 2nd), I will be devastated.

If I do one ironman a year. By the time I reach 40, I would have done 13 of them. Even if I do two ironmans a year, that will be 26. Only 26. I might as well enjoy every one of them. Or try to.

I have my goals, my pace and I will attack them freciously on race day. That's a given. Also given is that when I reach the finish line, I won't care about the result. My friends travel far and wide to cheer me on. I will pick up my finisher medal, grab a drink, meet up with my friends and hang out with them. (side note: How fast I go in a half Ironman is irrelevant to Ironman....twice as long, four times as hard :) ).

Simply Stu did an interview of Melanie McQuid and there was a discussion about how pro can walk away from the sport just like that. I can't say the same for me. Maybe this is part of professional atheltes that I don't have. An area that needs to be develop and mature.

8 comments:

anners said...

good luck good luck...i'll be cheering for you in absentia...

when are we going for wings and beer??

Habeela said...

Did you tell us what the race is on Sept 2nd?

Cliff said...

habeela,

The race is a half ironman..

qcmier said...

For the pros it is their profession. They have to train and race. For us it is pure passion.

Have a great race.

Rachel said...

I don't think pros can just walk away. They have to endure so much more than we do. When something does happen, it may be a blessing in disguise. Try and relax. You're going to do great in the upcoming race. Trust in yourself, trust in your training, and trust in God to get you there (and through it) in one piece.

Anonymous said...

that's BS IMHO. Look at Lance Armstrong, he still rides a lot, half the time with the team still, and he was even at the tour in the team car after saying he'd never go there again, one you make it apart of your life like so many of us have, it's not that easy to give it up no matter how much people would like to think so.

Unknown said...

I think we all need to enjoy every race as they come and cherish each one as well as enjoy the journey.

Comm's said...

I downloaded the McQuaid interview and going to listen to it today on my run. Hazaah.