It's a Small World After All

I've always said you can't go anywhere where you don't have a connection to someone. So don't do anything stupid. Turns out I'm right. Even peddling down the highway.

After a week of no motivation and three days watching two of my grandchildren, ages 22 months and 9 months, I needed to get back into the swing of things. I only put in two days of workouts last week and really felt down and draggy. It's the most tedious time at work for me but that's not entirely the reason for my low energy.

You see, my friend Claudia was getting ready to travel to Tyler, Texas for her very first Half Iron Triathlon. She was training for this last year and was injured at a race we did together over Labor Day, just three weeks before her big race. Now she was ready to try again and I couldn't be prouder of her. She's worked very hard for this and, well, I was feeling like a slug. So many of my friends are accomplishing things beyond my scope and I was feeling like a failure. Don't get me wrong, I am the best cheerleader for my friends that I can be. They are an awesome group of people and I love to hear about their adventures. But it seems that no matter what I am doing, someone is doing more and doing it better.

But that's stupid thinking. I am who and what I am. Who would have thought that in doing JUST a sprint triathlon I would feel like a slacker. I'm slow and that's not going to change. So I did some soul searching and realized I'm doing what I want to do. I don't have it in me to do an Olympic distance triathlon let alone a half or full Iron Man. I will probably never run a half marathon let alone a full one. But I'm out there. I'm moving and I get to the finish line. I may be slow but I'm way ahead of those who don't even try. Turtle Power!

With my new perspective and a determination to be the best Me I can be, I headed out for a brick bike/run workout. The wind was around 14 mph, but that's nothing new so I might as well get used to it. I planned a 12 mile ride and a 2 mile run and I was going to enjoy it!

So when another cyclist road up beside me I was a little startled. I wasn't going very fast but I didn't think I was THAT slow. We started talking and she is getting ready to do the BAK, Bike Across Kansas, in a few weeks. I'm planning to do one day of the ride, about 60 miles. We chatted a little and she was nice about slowing down to keep pace with me. When it was time for me to turn around and head back home we exchanged names. Pam W.  Hmmmm. Her's sounded familiar to me and when I gave her mine she screeched her bike to a halt. She had tried to make contact with other riders from our town doing the BAK and had been looking for me. I asked if she had a son named John and sure enough, I made the connection. Her son and my son are good friends. My son was a usher in her son's wedding. It's that small world thing all over again. We exchanged some more information and promised to introduce each other to more of our riding friends at the BAK. She is a much stronger rider then me but that's OK. Lots of people are stronger riders then me.

Pam headed on south to finish a 40 mile loop around the area and I headed back home to swap out my bike for running shoes and did 2.15 miles at my usual slow turtle pace. I'm still marveling at all the people I have come into contact with because I'm out there. Whether at a race or on a ride, there are so many great people to meet and I'm so glad I'm able to be part of that experience. Making connections in the most unusual places makes life so much more interesting.

So even if I'm slow and ONLY do sprint triathlons, that's OK. Because competing is only half the journey. Being part of the racing/riding community is the other part of the journey and it makes this small world a pretty great place to be.