let’s get racing!

last week, my club member Mike asked if i would be interested in racing Ironman 70.3 Kansas with him.

“possibly,” i said. “when is it?”
“june 9th,” he replied with a grin.
“oh.”

i told him i’d think about it, and let him know in a day or two. after all, i had planned on racing june 2nd and june 15, and my coach had already designed a schedule around those dates. furthermore, i was scheduled to work that weekend and i wasn’t even sure registration was still open for the event. but as i thought about all the reasons why i shouldn’t do the race, i realized there were just way more reasons to do it. i think we do this a lot in life – try to convince ourselves not to do something for reasons that shouldn’t matter. so i emailed my coach, chatted with my boss, and less than two days later i completed the online registration for the race. hell, even finding out my car needs over $2000 in repairs didn’t sway my decision. (expect a post on that soon i’m sure). we need to seize opportunities in life when they present themselves, not simply when they emerge at the opportune time. let me tell you – they rarely do.

so i’m off to Green Bay this weekend for an olympic distance triathlon, followed by the half-ironman in Kansas the next. i have to say i’m pretty excited to be running in Kansas, especially since i found out you finish on a yellow brick road with all the Wizard of Oz characters cheering you to the end. how could you not want to do this race?! expect to see some race reports in the next few weeks, and i hope to get a few pictures to share with you as well.

unrelated, but important nonetheless, i watched Cloud Atlas last night, and can’t recommend it enough if you haven’t seen it. i don’t think my mind has been that engaged or switched on while watching a movie in years. even this morning it’s still firing on all cylinders, thinking of all the possible people i could have been both now and in other times. i think a person wouldn’t be 100% honest if they said they weren’t a little bit scared of what happens when we pass on. i’m no different. and while we all have our thoughts or beliefs of what we think will happen, i think it’s healthy to have those ideas challenged every once and while. not in the ‘i’m going to convert you’ manner of course, but rather in the ‘perhaps there is another thoughtful explanation to how the world works’ sort of way. ask yourself this: when was the last time you questioned your beliefs? has it been a while? ok, now ask yourself this: why haven’t you?

i urge you to try it. i mean, what’s the worst that could happen? your mind opens just a little bit more?