Follow Up on the two mile high sprint mile

A month ago I wrote about my adventures up high at Arapaho Pass and the misfortune of losing a crampon in the frantic full on sprint descent to escape the storm that had rapidly moved in. I sent my little story to the awesome folks at Kahtoola (makers of the microspikes) and they sent me a new crampon! Sweet! Just in time for exploring Glacier, the Wind Rivers and the Canadian Rockies.

#hasnothingtodowithtriathlon

...unless of course you consider that i run in them in the snow during winter.

Jen Voigt is my hero

The below MUST be read in "jens speak" if you dont know what "jens speak" is just find an interview with him on youtube and listen, then read the below. It adds to the theme.

Why Jens today?

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/21/refusing-to-quit-the-tour-de-france/?src=tptw

Sometimes you can hear your body start talking to you ... 'Oh, I can't do it anymore, I can't do it anymore,' and your mind goes 'shutup body and do what I tell you' and your body is almost like ...

revolting against you and saying 'I can't do it, leave me alone, Ican't do it, I want to pull over now,' and the mind goes, and the brain goes 'no, no, no, you keep going, you keep going because I want

you to do what I tell you to do' and you know, your lungs are burning and you have the little taste of blood in your mouth and your legs are burning, and they don't want to turn around anymore and you know if someone now attacks you will be blown out of the water but you go 'no, I just keep going' and you just keep going and ... you make it happen."

I get paid to hurt other people. How good is that? How good is that?

I get paid to make other people suffer on my wheel, that's good."

Guest Post: Jasmine Oeinck

Jasmine and I have largely shared a very similar experience these last few months. Saddled with the burden of being unable to do our jobs we've shared in the torture of sitting on the sidelines and watching the season pass. I was impressed with her write up here as it articulated many of the same thoughts that i've had about my own return to training and racing. I had breakfast yesterday with my coach and we casually discussed how to approach both my gradual return to activity and then training. We also talked about what kind of racing I'd move into once I get back after it. Many of the sentiments that Jasmine touches upon came up in our chat. In the last week I have finally started to notice a slow turn around in my health and well being. Even if it's just a very subtle uptick my hopes are buoyed that this is the beginning of the end as I begin the final steps of the climb out of this hole. I cannot wait to return. But for now I still need some more patience. Almost there.

Jasmine Oeinck: Who, what, where, when and...

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Why?

‘Why’ is a simple question, but definitely provokes a great deal of thought. All children seem to go through the why phase, and for them, it’s quite amusing. Why, Why, why?

Well, I feel like playing that game- it’s been a while. Why do I do triathlon? Why do people do sport? Why do other’s do sport? Why do I care so much about what other’s think? Why has my season unfolded the way it has?

Why do I do sport? Hmmm, sometimes the answering part isn’t as ‘fun’ as the ‘why’ game. It forces us to really evaluate our reasoning behind what we do.

For myself, the “why” is simply for the purity and enjoyment. Sport is an opportunity for me to just be myself . It provides the greatest opportunity for self reflection, brainstorming, or just ‘shutting off’ the mind and simply being. When I shut off my mind, and run, swim, or bike, there are no judgements, social pressures, or timelines that need to be met. The silly worries that creep in my head can just dissapear, and the only thing I need to listen to is the rhythm of my breathing.

I began to realize, that when you reach a certain level, money, fame, popularity, sponsorships, media, attention, and results, start to run the show, and somehow that initial enjoyment and purity take the back seat. Other forces enter the picture, and start to pollute the tranquility of the mind. Instead of no judgments or biases, the ego starts to show up during each traning session, and you find yourself trying to prove something to a non-existant someone.

I have to get back to the original enjoyment of why I do sport. It’s not for the popularity or attention. It’s not for the status. It’s not to use twitter, facebook, or any other type of social media to tell the world about the latest workout I did, how great I am, or fish for compliments.

I’ve got to bring back the old school approach. Back to simplicity – before all of the added information of mind games, mental strength, specific nutrition, other’s opinions of your athletic potential/acheivements, and climbing the social status ladder within the sport. Some basic knowledge is needed and extremely useful, and I will continue to use this to grow as an athlete. The rest is just noise.

Those that support me because I am who I am as a person, and believe in me (sometimes more than I beleive in myself), are my greatest assets as an athlete. They are the people that I hear cheering for me when the going gets tuff, the shoulders that I can cry on when it’s been a bad day, and the most understanding when the season has been less than ideal (thank you to my sponsors).

No body likes a back seat driver. It’s time to get the noise out, and get back to racing and training because of the purity and enjoyment. Time for other (once non-existent) factors to take the back seat. Other’s opinions/actions, money, popularity, social status, and other factors will continue to always be present. Why? I guess because these are things that start to come with sport at a certain level, but they are not going to run the show.

Mountains...more love...a bit ambitious though, eh?

Plotting out July and August. Thinking I'll need to hoof it back to Boulder though by September. Pre reqs may be calling my name.

http://bit.ly/94eDXx