I sit down to start writing this sitting across from gate A11 in the Louisville International Airport just after 10:00 am on Saturday morning. I’m tired, which is to be expected. On top of that, the largest muscle in the human body, at least mine, is sore today. This is a bit of a surprise, but as I think about yesterday, I guess the running-plodding-trodding added up and there you go. In the middle of the night, I woke up with a pretty harsh sore throat, which is sort of in-line with what Jeremy has been experiencing in the fact that this has been nagging for a few weeks, and just won’t stop. Part of me thinks this is a relic of allergies, when the fall leaves/dust start to kick up as the air gets more dry. Regardless, it’s nagging, and adding to the washed out, post-race stasis I find myself in. But as today is the first day of 2019, it’s really of little concern.
Now, do I sit here and look back or look forward? I’ll immediately call myself out after having written that line and state the obvious: we are always doing both, or at least we should be. We should always try to learn from what we did right or wrong, and try to apply it to whatever we line up next. I’m not thinking too specifically about 2019 right now. That will come in time. I’m also looking at the now. While it’s true the season ended yesterday, I still have a few things to take care of before 2019 starts in earnest.
1. I’m 11 hours short of 500 on the year, specifically on the bike. Strava calendar says I have 541 hours which is a total of all things. I need to figure out a way to get 11 more hours on the bike this year because I want to hit 500. One last goal, which I should be able to reach assuming I put in some time in the hotel gym in Seattle. I checked it out and they have an upright bike which will make this easier.
2. Seattle – need to knock out this one last full workshop for the PS org. This should be the last one of these full 5-day deals because in my new role, I’ll have the ability to pick and choose what I want to do with these. Regardless, I have this last one staring me down and it begins before I even get a chance to unpack from the current trip.
3. Canada – the day after I come back from Seattle we drive to Canada for the 7-day holiday tour. That includes 2 drives and 5 days on the ground. We’re pretty set on how this is going to go. Looks like this (by day): drive (1), ski (2), open (3), ski/Xmas (4), family party (5), ski (6), drive (7).
4. Then we wrap up the home Xmas with my parents. Then NYE and the year starts again on 1/2, when we get a new dishwasher delivered.
I’m going to wait on looking forward too much, at least in print, even if things are bouncing around in my head. At some point I’ll get around to thinking more about it but I don’t know that I will firmly lay out much just yet. I think our lives are too hectic to set anything in stone other than the next few weeks of life. It’s always going to be a work in progress, with the short-term goal to not gain back 20 pounds between now and the new year.
Looking back, I don’t think I would change much of anything from the past year, or at least how I lead myself into this nationals week. I might go back and do a little less taper but I felt pretty good yesterday, so really, I think we’re ok. I think losing weight, then actual training into this, was a good combination. You could argue that I should have just hyper-focused on weight loss but at some point I think you need to mix it up with efforts, as this is what really gets the fire burning and making you want more. And while I am tired and my butt muscles hurt, deep down I want more. I think the combination was good. Now I have motivation to lay down the base miles, drop more pounds, and try to crank out the maximum fun while also creeping back into the mix.
I appreciate all the readers, and likes, and comments through the year. They all mean something to me, and I hope you guys keep them coming. The fact that people are reading all of this does help motivate me. While I don’t necessarily do everything for others to consume, I also don’t do it in a vacuum. If I didn’t have people to share it with, I would be less motivated to keep at it some days. Thanks to everyone for the feedback, encouragement, suggestions, and so on. Even if it seems I am not reading & listening, I assure you I am.
I would also be remiss if I did not give thanks to Dominique for the support. Obviously none of this happens without her being supportive of it.
I would also like to thank the academy for providing nothing at all. And the screen actors guild. And viewers like you. And of course, Mitch. On a serious note, thanks to Sean for kicking around this season with me. Sometimes I think he’s happier about my results than I am. He’s a solid partner in crime and I look forward to trying to knock out another endurance race together in 2019, among other things.
This narrative has now moved on to the plane, and we’re well past the halfway point of the journey from Louisville to New Jersey. In a way, when the plane hits the tarmac at EWR this will be the true end of the 2018 bike season. It will wrap up the journey that brought me to Louisville and had me experience something that was a first for me. Once I step off the plane the transition from 2018 to 2019 will begin, and the next 3 weeks will be a scattered mess of being in different places and doing different things. I’ll do my best to tie up the 2018 calendar year as outlined above. Then I’ll kick off the base season on Jan 2.
Until then, enjoy the adventures of Norman Sandiego as I hit up Seattle, Canada, Pennsylvania, and a little cabin up in the wilds of Northwest New Jersey as we tie up 2018 with some good friends. Thanks for coming along for the ride!
Traveling Normandy 