Refocused (from April)

So it’s no secret…..we’re all busting our butts for the Breezy Point Triathlon. I’m into my 5th month of training with a steady dose of swim, bike, run……5 times a week, sometimes two a days with some kettle bells mixed in. As my wife says, “He’s fully immersed into this and it’s costing us a fortune.” She’s being sarcastic (no I’M not) of course but referring to the fact that when I put my mind to something I go all in, no bluffing. I’ve bought a wetsuit, new running shoes, a triathlon bike (used), supplements, tons of fruit, a membership to the rec center, clothing gear appropriate for all 3 sports, and I’m seriously looking at a brand new Felt S22 Triathlon Time Trial bike. She hates it and loves it all at the same time. I’m hooked. I’ve always enjoyed running and I used to mountain bike in the past. Funny that my wife is a swim coach, swam competitively all her life, and I avoided it like the plaque……that is until this past January when I made a promise to the Blackwoods to enter into this experience with them.

That takes me to the theme of this blog……Refocused. As I stated earlier, I am hooked on this experience and this sport, hopefully for a lifetime. I have stopped being a couch potato. I’ve stopped watching some of my favorite TV shows, stopped obsessing over the yard, cut back on my motorcycle riding, and totally dropped rec league softball from my agenda. I’ve spend the last 4 ½ months focused on two things: Showing support for the Blackwoods through this trying time and arriving on June 1st in respectable shape hoping to post a good number and not embarrass myself (mainly to justify the $$ spent on my new hobby. :-)

Several weeks ago I was at the Blackwoods one Saturday evening for a long bike ride for the week. We had just finished about 20 miles and I was spent, saying my goodbyes for the day to get home to meet Karen for dinner. Cathy had spent most of the day in the yard working in the flower beds. It’s also no secret that she is in love with spring and everything that it entails. I would later find out that she had been working outside in the flowerbeds since 6am…..it was now 3:30pm. I have somewhat of a green thumb myself but mainly when it comes to the grass. I love the look of a freshly fertilized yard, newly cut with a sharp blade. It looks like carpet in the spring and fall. None the less I had noticed the tremendous amount of work that had gone on in the flower beds and asked Cathy about some of the flowers she had planted. Her face immediately lit up. She began to explain the different types of flowers, most I can’t remember the names of but that’s not important. She talked about the aroma that some of them emitted. She talked about how she loved azaleas and cherry trees but that they blossomed and the blooms fell off way to soon. She seemed sadden that she couldn’t enjoy these creations of god for longer than a few weeks a year. We must have talked for 30 minutes about flowers and nothing else. It was that moment in time that I was refocused for this journey. …….I realized that it’s not how efficiently I swim the 1000m in the Chesapeake Bay or how fast I finish the 20K time trial. It’s also not important how fast I run the 5K or what place I finish in my age group. I realized that this journey is about life, happiness, the pursuit of the simple things in life……spring, flowers, timeless Saturdays in the garden, friends, family, a quiet morning to yourself, reading a great book curled up by the fire. All of those things but none of them at once.

I have been refocused……..Thank you Cathy.