This should be an interesting week. They are all interesting but this one has the value added spectacle of a race and a live concert. Yo Baby!
Departure is Friday afternoon, as soon as the electrician/mechanic has a look at the RV, troubleshoots via expert diagnosis and finds the wiring culprit. She then instantly goes to Craigs List. There are a few fires along the route but as of yesterday it looks OK, not like Penticton in 2003 where fires were so intense and close that the run course was changed to better control both fire and fun. That day we actually rode past controlled burns still smoldering and I considered wearing a mask on the run. That was one hot, smokey and dangerous day, perfect for an Ironman, ey?
My swim in the freezing Puget Sound waters yesterday provided little in the way of training except for the wet suit removal ritual. I hope I can find a volunteer to assist with the neoprene strip once the 1500 meters has been navigated. In final preparation I will make a pair of visits to the pool this week to see if I can regain some of the muscle memory that has been so sadly lacking in prior attempts. I looked up my numbers from last year and the bogey is 33 minutes. Good swimmers, and many bottom fish, can cover this distance in half that time. Oh well.
My Monday spin class is in an hour, with a weight session with Junior at noon and another bike session this evening at the World Famous PowerBarn. I’ll swim Tuesday, repeat Monday’s routine on Wednesday, Tuesday’s on Thursday and hit the road in my trusty, newly shiny and clean gold Ranger.
We camp on Friday night, race Saturday morning, find a place to shower in Chelan or Wenatchee and then head south for phase two of the weekend festivities, Phish at The Gorge. I hope to find a shady place for a nap somewhere between those waypoints.
What happens after the concert has yet to be established, I really don’t want, or need, to drive back to Seattle after the show. A tactic necessary after the Dead & Co a couple of weeks back due to the necessity of catching the first ferry from Seattle for my Saturday spin class. I have this Sunday off.
Rest day. Recovery.
I think the trick to success this week will be in keeping the focus on the quality of the now. Tackle each event as if it is the most important thing in the world. Which, of course, it is, because I have chosen to do it instead of the myriad others available, therefore it should be given the honor, respect and appreciation that choice deserves.
A popular cable news open is ‘We know you have options, there are other stations you could watch, you chose us, and we appreciate that.’
I could do lots of things this week. You can too. I choose to fill the choices I have made with as much energy, focus and commitment as I can. I am committed to the commitment. I trust my instincts to set the challenge high enough and the scope broad enough to allow the joy to flow like warm honey.
Richard Restak, author of Mozart and the Fighter Pilot, speaks of the billion of neurons relentlessly buzzing around our brains. Most, he states, already have their minds made up, having been trained all their lives to react, respond and review in certain safe and predictable ways. It is when we connect new, different and important experiences that the cellular activity creating new synergies and combinations, a literal molecular montage, opens up entire new (creative) opportunities. This, in me, causes immediate turbo-charged chaos. I can feel the potential for challenge, to use this miraculous chemical concoction for positive output. Even if that is only a fresh water color still life painting, a different response to the many political issues needing immediate attention, or finding a new way to power through an Olympic distance triathlon. Learning something new, something outside the comfort zone of our current cache of experience, creates the potential for discovery.
What a grand adventure!
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