Sneak Attack of the Century!!

Some good, fun training has been in the works since the bottle incident. Against my better judgment when I woke up Sunday, I figured I wanted to go test how my progress was coming along; especially in the swim/run segments. So I loaded up the truck and went to Rip van Winkle. Well, it pretty much rained the whole race, and I’ll spare you the blow by blow details. Save for the constant thought in the back of your mind that Lake Peigneur could drain AGAIN and take you with it, and the absolutely abysmal standards that Iberia parish holds their roads to, this was a pretty cool race. As someone said after we finished, “Have you ever had so many different, distinct smells pass through your nose on a run course?” And my answer would definitely have to be no. The worst one was by far someone cooking a breakfast worthy of a rainy morning; eggs, bacon, pancakes, etc. I was about 1.2 seconds away from stopping in and getting some grub. Anyway, the rough weather and festival of nasal delights were mere side notes. You have got to see this place. The gardens are beautiful, and actually being allowed to run through the nursery was really cool. As for the swim, the lake water stayed put, and I got the surprise I was hoping for. 1st out of the water, and as BSoignier put it, the sneak attack of the century. Ms. Claire has been punching me in the teeth Chinese gymnast coach-style for master’s swim class. It was cool to see the brutal hours of wheezing and getting crushed in the pool pay off. The bike, well, it was ok. The Bumble-B2, as my sister calls it, still needs some tweaking to make it sick fast, but we are getting there. The run was where it needs to be for my favorite race of the year (Cajunman), and the most important race left on the calendar (IM Florida).
All that long-winded banter is my introduction to choice. Before this weekend, I always thought that I would never make any big gains in racing, or get in the ballpark of my potential without moving to a place like California or Boulder. In short, making a pilgrimage to one of the triathlon Mecca’s would give me that breakthrough that I have been searching for. But after racing, and coming out of the water, I realized that all I need is right here. Sure, it’s hot as hell here, and flat as it gets. But before I put the final judgment that my hometown and training base holds me back, I need to take a real look in the mirror to see if that handsome devil staring back at me is the one holding me back. I thought that I “knew” how to swim, and knew how run. That was until I realized I didn’t know anything. I made that choice to put my season in Claire’s hands. Win or lose, it was the first time in a long time that I had to trust someone else to get me where I wanted to be. With the running, I called my old buddy JT, and used some Yoda-like knowledge of the great KSP. They gave me a little unbiased insight to my ability, where I was lacking, and what was needed to go up a level. It was a hard choice for me to ask for help. It was an even tougher choice to accept what they had to say, and adjust with full faith in their answers for my future training. I was pretty stoked when I got home Sunday and saw the results of my recent choices. I’m looking for even more good stuff in 2 weeks.

Thanks for reading….