A funny thing happened on the way to the lake.........and other lessons in humility

Arrogance and ego can be very interesting things.....and while you may believe yourself to be a smart, intelligent individual...these two things can derail your IQ faster than just about anything else I know.  Allow me to elaborate.....

As many of you may know...I love the sport of triathlon.  However, I will confess that since I've been separated/divorced/single (or hell...maybe even before that) I struggled with loving the process of training.  Maybe its because the group I was affiliated with had a way of sucking the fun out of it, maybe I let myself get wrapped up in the excuses of life, or maybe I just flat out enjoyed a warm bed over a cold swim, bike or run?!?  Regardless...I have spent too much time NOT doing the work to reap the benefits I desire and yet, I still expect them.

That's where ego and arrogance enter into the equation.  The fact that I "think" I can be AS FAST as I use to be while doing only a small fraction of the work.  And you know what?  Gosh darn it.....it just doesn't work that way!  And yet time in and time out, in some tiny recess of my brain...I think it will.

Two weeks ago, one of my besties, Kristen (a.k.a. Chippy) was working in Fort Worth,  She finished up around lunch time just as I was finishing up and we decided to have lunch.  The only remaining commitment on my schedule was to meet my friend Mike Emery for a bike ride at 4:30.  No biggie....right?  So...off to Brownstone we go for lunch and some patio sunshine.  When I arrived, Chippy was having a cold Miller Lite.  OK I thought....happy Friday to us!!!  I followed in step and we began enjoying the afternoon and the sunshine and the beer and the lunch......soon we had company as Cass' brother Greg joined us.  We laughed and hung out and had a great time.  At about 3:30 I announce I must depart to join Mike for our bike ride.  Both Greg and Kristen look at me with a "what the hell" expression on their face.

"You are going to go ride after having a few beers?"

"Of course...I told him I would and its no big deal really.  What's a couple of beers?"

Fast forward about ninety minutes, halfway into my bike ride and I'm uber miserable.  Beyond miserable.  Exhausted, lagging behind, and feeling oh so stupid.  Who exactly do I think I am?  Hello?  Like I said, intellectually I know better....on many levels I even know better emotionally.  But there is some part of my psyche, perhaps simply wishful thinking, that totally and completely believes it will not be any different than it was years ago---when I trained with regularity and consistency.  D'oh!  Not so much.

As with most things I guess the difference comes in what you do after these "humbling" moments.  I had sent Cass a text during the ride that read "discouraged".  His response was perfect...."Really?!?  What the heck did you expect?"   I love honest friends!

So with that ride I reached a new sense of commitment.  Ironman is NOT that far away and I don't/can't show up on that day ill prepared.  Heck...I am already a bit behind.  But....I start.  I am more excited about the journey than anything else.  I fully expect to have many more days that I really suck and get discouraged!  LOL.....but I take them with pride because they remind and motivate me to DO THE WORK.  Just DO THE WORK and the rest will take care of itself.

Hmmmmm..........am I still talking about triathlon?  ;-)

Back to tri....back to reality!

I am Coach Jeanne.  For those who don’t know me I am a coach, an athlete, a mother, a daughter, a sister, a girlfriend  and a BFF.  For those who do know me….hi…how are you…yes I know…its been awhile.

I have been a bit distant from the world of triathlon for a bit---taking a break so to speak.  But I am happy to be back and happy to make Tri Daily my new home.  Obviously had a few false starts after leaving Playtri but probably needed the break from any organized group.  This group, however, is like coming home.  All the good in one place and none of the not so good---like someone commented on Facebook--"putting the old band back together".  I come back to the sport with a new perspective---a new focus of why its important:  to me, my life and to my family .  For a period of time, I let triathlon become about the result—the time, the place, overall, age group,…… I lost my focus of why I got into it in the first place.  I’ve taken some time to remember….and I remember it well.

You see, triathlon is a more than just an isolated event—it’s a journey, an accomplishment, a statement to the world that you can do anything.  As a fellow triathlete and coach I think my new home

encompasses the most important lesson in triathlon and in life---that with each day that passes, if you try to DO your best, DELIVER your best and BE your best you will succeed—in sport and in life.   With each day you try.  You TriDaily.

I try daily to balance my life:  career, kids, training, relationships and time for Jeanne.  Some days I do a great job and everything is humming on all cylinders…and other days, well…I look forward to bedtime so I can put it behind me and try again the next day.  I think the difference comes in how we handle those days that are not awesome.  How do you bounce back? Do you let one bad day or one bad event de-rail the train or do you embrace it as an opportunity to learn and find comfort in the knowledge that the next day you get to try again. 

As you travel down your path in this world, do your best to remember, no single event or day will make or break your success---but your REACTION to it will.  Miss a workout?  Feel bad?  Get right back on track and keep moving forward.   Watch any Ironman and there is story after story of people who met obstacles, overcame challenges and got back on track.  It’s a big part of the sport and big part of life.  Make your excuses your reason….have a new found zero tolerance for them and remove yourself from people who seem anchored to them.   You will soon lose your patience for it….watch…you’ll see.

I look forward to new chapters as I too need the remembrance of what I’ve just written above.  So…here we go.  Let us begin today….and from this day forward…..Tri Daily.  J