Winning becomes Losing

Yesterday’s Weekend Wrap, a concept that may take permanent hold once The Streak* has been completed for 2018, was abridged, leaving the author, or defendant in this usage, feeling like the post, while inculpating intent, was exculpatory in effect. Or, putting in in more practical, non judicial terms, what the re-cap offered in commission, the combination of sight, sound, and energy, it fell into the trap of omission, leaving a major part of the story untold. 

Fortunately, here at The PowerBarn/RCVman blog central. we try very hard to establish truth and beauty as the foundation of our reporting, the metaphorical Mt Rushmore of the written and recorded word. True we often error, and when that opinion is proven wrong, invalid, biased or, the worst, cliched, we offer you, dear reader, the respect of clarification. An opportunity to confirm or deny. But never both. 

With all that as backstory, with the the standard disclaimer accepted, we may continue unimpeded by the albatross of exculpatory evidence and the elephant in the errors of omission room.  After all this ain’t Faux News where the only requirement for stardom is the ability to lie with a straight and pretty face. 

Yesterday I provided a brief (by my standards anyway) recap of my race on Saturday in the smoking hot high-desert Central Washington vacation resort town of Chelan. What I failed to tell you, and am now offering a clarification along with an implied apology, is that the defense of my age group championship, while successful, included the following footnotes: 1) I was racing for the first time in a new age group, and 2) That I was the only member of that illustrious group racing. 

DOES THAT MATTER? I went hard, did the best I could under the circumstances, and gave myself an amalgamated event-effort grade of 9/10. I finished 112 of a 326 total. DOES THAT MATTER? That I had no age group competition was a fact I learned only after my effort had been accomplished. I always look at faster (younger) results to add humility to my times. The guy (hare) that won overall beat me (tortuga) by almost an hour and a 70+ gentleman beat my by almost twenty minutes! Put in racing terms, the last two miles as I slugged out the finish were the most demanding, due not only to fatigue but to the fact that I wanted to provide my fellow competitors with the respect I would expect from them; Their best. Had I of known that I was the only one in my group, that would have made my day entirely different. I would never have gone so hard and endured so much suffering if all I had to do was simply finish. That prize would have been totally devalued as a result. It would mean nothing. Less than nothing. 

Everyone knows, and the generation we are currently mentoring should learn as soon as possible, that the things we earn, truly work for and trade our energies and sweat for, have the highest value, if for nothing more than character building memories. I don’t need a trophy to remind me that on one day I was faster than somebody else. The only person I want to beat that way is the devil. I can only do my best. If you choose, for whatever reason(s) NOT to show up and compete, that is on you. 

So please don’t ask for the number of athletes in the grouping. Ask about perceived exertion, the ACQ, athletic character quotient, instead. Any victory without this is as hollow and shallow as the politician lying under oath. 

And winning becomes losing. 

* One blog post per day for the year.