Holy Smokes, I'm Re-Inspired!!

And this old world is a new world
And a bold world
. . .
It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life
For me

And I'm feeling good

I have an admission to make: I have a TON of 1/2 done blog posts sitting in my draft folder. The fact is, for the past year I have been "triathlon depressed". First -- even after surgery -- my hip injury apparently has no liklihood of getting better (at least according to my stupid doctor). That sucks. And, second -- an environment that used to be my peace -- my escape -- my complete joy -- turned into Total Drama Island and I experienced first-hand how the "Ironman monster" can turn some otherwise normal people into elitist braggarts. (Note I said "some" ... defintely not all. But the two or three affected ones were enough to suck the fun out of life, for sure.) In any event, this newfound knowledge made me incredibly sad -- for many reasons and on many different levels. I actually figured that perhaps the days of silly yet "serious training for not-so-serious people" was long gone.

But something happened recently that has turned it all around:

I helped coach and completed an Oly tri with some super-cool chicks. It. Was. Amazing. Not the race, per se. I mean, the race was fine -- gorgeous scenery, some good, fun hills, and perfect weather -- but the inspiration I got from the group of women I raced with was absolutely unbelieveable. These are women who are stellar athletes -- some just getting into triathlon and some who have been involved for a while -- and each one of them taught me something during our team weekend in Luray. The most important thing they taught me was that life -- like triathlon -- can be tough as hell sometimes -- but the foundation -- the real core of life -- is in laughing, sharing, supporting, encouraging, trying, failing, falling, getting up and trying again -- and, of course, doing it all with humility, perspective and grace. It was absolutely refreshing!!

So, I'm back . . . different. More learned. Perhaps a bit tainted. But excited, nevertheless, to see what adventures lie ahead.

"Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore." Andre Gide

Bring it on. I am ready.