I’ve always thought that being happy is a skill. It’s a matter of looking at the whole picture. It’s finding that ray of sunshine, wrestling it into the back of the truck and getting it home before you get it all dirty. Sure you came in last in your age group but three years ago you couldn’t have finished the race. So it’s all you could do to break 12 minute miles in your last 5K but last year you were trying to break 13 minute miles. Now you can almost understand what the guy at your local bike shop is saying.
The point being in the race to get faster or go farther or just get some street cred with your fellow triathletes, you may have overlooked some pretty impressive accomplishments. Look around the office, the waiting room or the Wal-Mart cereal aisle. How many of these people could swim 750 yards? Ride 12.5 miles? Run 5K, 10K, to the mailbox and back?
It’s like that ancient beer commercial said “You only go around once in life so you have to grab all the gusto you can.” I remember being a small child and wondering what the heck a gusto was. I’m guessing that I thought it was some kind of pretzel. Turns out it means keen enjoyment, who knew?
Several small events of the last few weeks have reminded of the benefits of an endurance sports lifestyle. It seemed like a shame to waste them so I thought I would share.
During a routine doctor’s appointment the nurse remarked about my low resting heart rate and textbook blood pressure.
After crossing the finish line at the ETSU PT 5K, I walked back down the course to cheer on the runners behind me. After walking about a quarter mile I turned and jogged back to the finish line. Effortless. I realized that if I wanted to I could run the course again.
In was in the pool catching my breath between intervals when an older woman from the water aerobics class came over and remarked, “How long did it take you to learn to swim like that? You must have amazing lungs.”
I rode a tough, hilly 20-mile course with my local bike group. They led me a merry chase but a year ago I could not have kept them in sight. When we pulled up for a minute at the half way point the leader turned to me and said, “You’ve improved.”
Chances are way better than average that you are even more awesome than me, enjoy it. Please, just take a moment, take a deep breath, get a beverage and enjoy what you worked your butt off to achieve. I dare you. I double dog dare you. Stumble on.
Love it. 🙂