"You are not your Grande Latte.
You are not the contents of your wallet.
You are not your bank account.
You are not the contents of your wallet.
You are not your f##king khakis:"
- Tyler Durden, played by Brad Pitt, in the Cult Classic - Fight Club
I'll get to the above quote and its meaning for this post in a moment. First, some administrative business. I raced this past weekend at the revived Gull Lake Triathlon/Duathlon, in Kalamazoo, MI. Let me say, for those looking for a quality Olympic Distance Du, that is well run, and challenging, this is your event. Same goes for the tri. Great course, well run and beautiful.
I am normally apprehensive about racing in June, since for some reason its just not my month for great performances. However, this year, the race gods have shined upon me, and I was able to put together a great race at Gull Lake, pacing a smart first 5K, then hammering on the 25.7 mile bike course, which wound around, as well up and down, around Ross County around Kalamazoo. I rode blind, meaning I had no idea where my competition was, due to the nature of the course. So anytime I felt myself slowing, I pressed harder, ensuring no one would creep up on me. It left me with a welcome sight coming into T2, empty bike racks, meaning I was first off the bike, giving me more incentive to hit the closing 10k even harder. The run course was full of hills, both steep, and long, some false flats to make it more interesting. At the run turnaround, I noticed I was still alone, not even a triathlete in sight, which made the increasing pain more tolerable. As I hit mile 4, I saw the lead triathletes, bearing down hard, and I had to make a choice - bury myself to beat not only the duathlon field, but the tri field as well.
As I got to the 5 mile mark, I knew it was going to be tough to keep it together, but I was buoyed by the crowds and their cheers and positive encouragement, so I charged hard the last 200 meters to the finish, discovering that I was not only the winner of the du, I had beaten all the olympic distance triathletes, and set a course record in the process. I was elated and relieved, feeling as though I had reached a new level of fitness that I plan to build on. This was all made possible by my great and supportive sponsors, SKINS USA, Inov-8, Rudy Project, and a guy I have tremendous respect for - Ryan Hauser, founder, CEO, and head designer for Athletic Recon, a great men's athletic clothing company. Guys, check them out - www.athleticrecon.com - you'll be glad you did. And of course, I need to thank my coach and good friend, Jenny Garrison, whose game plan and training methods have gotten me to this level of fitness and competition.
However, I was sent something that struck me as even more important than my race result. And it relates to the above quote. a very brave Crossfit coach out of Crossfit Lowell, in Boston, MA, posted a blog that was both inspiring and worth sharing. Gina, the author of the blog, was both honest and unfiltered about her experiences in gaining fitness, better health, and the importance of ignoring the judgment of others as she has made some great lifestyle changes. In a way, she was echoing the words of Tyler Durden above - the material things don't make you who you are, they don't define you. Same with a race, or a workout, they don't define us, they are a part of us, but do not define who we are.
With Gina's words in mind, I am planning on making a change to the blog. I've reached out to several people, and asked that they share their stories with me to in turn share with all of you - their experiences, their life changes which need to be heard. So moving forward, I will be posting stories from others, stories that we can all relate to, and learn from. I hope you will enjoy and learn from them as I have.
I'm starting with Gina's blog post - you can read it here - http://crossfitlowell.com/a-157lb-dissection/.
Stay strong.
Guy
