Month: August 2016

Riding in the Bardo (or how not to ride a bicycle)

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This past weekend I drove to Wichita Falls, TX to do the Hotter’n Hell 100 mile bike ride on Saturday and their half-marathon the following day. Going in, I was a little apprehensive about the biking part. I had not trained as much as I wanted to and was not comfortable in a crowded field (Yeah, sign me up for a ride with 13,000ish other people).  I felt OK about the stamina that I needed to get through the course, the drafting was a little nerve-racking for me.

I had done some training with a few friends who are very experienced in cycling. They took me and my wife under their collective wings and showed us the basics. I felt good about drafting them, I know them, I trust them and their judgment, but what about race day? What would I do if I needed to draft a stranger whom I did not know or trust?

Luckily they agreed to stay together as long as possible. Did I mention that there are a lot of people at this race? Staying together was going to be a challenge. Once our wave started, we managed to keep pretty close, drafting off each other as much as possible. The ebb and flow at the beginning of a bike race is much like the start of a foot race, speed up, slow down. Spreading out and compacting up like an accordion. Somehow, we managed to stay together the first few crowded miles, not drafting close but within seeing distance.

About five miles in , the crowd started to thin a little. I was starting to feel comfortable with the race. We were able to draft each other much easier now. Things were clicking like they should. Mile ten came and for the first time I started to feel confident. The crowd wasn’t as bad so I relaxed a little, I had this!

Then came mile sixteen…

The friend in front of me said she was slowing, she had a flat. Before I knew what was happening she was down. Honestly, all I can remember is an image of her laying in front of my bike, rolling. The next thing I can recall is another friend on the phone telling the riders in the front of our group what had happened as she was running up to us. The three of us were spread out in the grass, dazed and wondering how bad the others were hurt.

From what I have been told, when she moved over to the side of the road, my friend’s tire stuck in the grass and this threw her. When my bike hit her, it caused me to go over the handlebars. I landed on my head and IMG_2322rolled. My wife, who was behind me, hit us and somersaulted. She landed on her left arm which she had hurt the day before in the mountain bike race.

We stayed there a few minutes to get our senses back and absorb what had just happened. A quick once over of the bikes and there did not appear to be any major damage. The flat was quickly fixed and we were riding again. A little dazed, but moving none the less.

The riders in the front of our group had stopped to wait on us about a mile up the road. The group was back together and we were rolling again. Suddenly, I noticed my wife slowing and her arm was swelling more and more. I could almost watch it getting bigger. My head was starting to throb, along with my neck and shoulder muscles knotting up.

Then it got scary, my wife began to weave a little and was loosing speed. She swore that she was keeping a good pace. She was doing 8 mile per hour and getting passed. I knew I had to try and get her to stop. I also knew that I probably shouldn’t go on myself. When I mentioned dropping, she broke down. She was attempting to do what is called the “Triple Threat”. This is where you do a 12 mile mountain bike race on Friday, a 100 mile road bike race on Saturday and a half-marathon on Sunday. Dropping meant that goal was out.

Once at the aid station she went to the medical tent. They had her lay down so they could check her arm. It was while she lay there, getting her arm wrapped and iced that she realized  the “Triple Threat” award would not happen this year. We both checked out, but felt it was for the best if we did not proceed. This was a tough call for both of us as we’ve never dropped from a race. If we pushed to the end, we may be in so much pain that we couldn’t do the half-marathon.

As painful as dropping was, I had to keep my goals in mind. I was there for the run, the cycling was supposed to be for the fun of it. I need to get to the Bandera 100k safe and healthy, pushing through could have made any injuries worse. I plan on returning at some point and finishing it, but only when I’m ready and focused on it. Hotter’n Hell 100 will not beat me.

All in all it was a pretty bad situation, but it could have been much worse. As we were being driven back to the start/finish, I heard some chatter on the two-way radio. Apparently there was another accident a few miles past ours, they were calling for a helicopter to carry someone to the hospital. The three of us had walked/limped away. Sure, we were bruised and cut, our pride was hurt, but didn’t need to be carried out.

I will share my experience with the half-marathon in my next post, so keep watching for it!

Silence is Golden

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I think I am in the minority here, but let me state this publicly, I rarely listen to music when I run. At one point I did pop in earbuds whenever I laced up. One day I was challenged to try running without them and use that time to just focus on me, to think and to decompress. I tried it and I began to notice things around me, I was more aware of not just my surroundings, but of my body and my performance. For awhile, I started unplugging on my short runs, using only one earbud during longer runs, but that eventually faded into a rarity. I feel like it has gotten to the point that people look at me funny because I don’t use them.

I do know some runners who carry their earbuds with them and use music as a reward on extremely long runs. This seems like a happy medium, I’ve never tried it so I can’t knock it.

Then there are the people who still listen to music, just not with headphones. They happily tromp along, blaring their music. On the surface this would seem safer since they could hear traffic and their surroundings better, but most are just an annoyance to those around them.

Here are the reasons that I choose not to incorporate music into my runs:

1. Safety- We all know that wearing anything that impairs your hearing while running or walking is dangerous, but some people have the attitude that it can’t happen to them. Well it can happen to you and your loved ones, it has happened.

2. Connect with my surroundings-One can enjoy the views and surroundings much better without the distraction of music. We spend for too much of our lives connected to our phones and other devices, we need to disconnect sometimes. For me, its during my runs.

3. Focus on my breathing-Lately my attention has been focused on my breath. Rhythmic breathing may sound odd to some, but give it a try. It can help take your mind off the discomfort of running.

4. Connect with my running partners-its much easier to get to know someone without the earbuds in. It just seems unsociable to have an earbud in while running with someone else. How are you suppose to encourage each other if you are wrapped up in your own little world?

5. Mental break from the world-may people use their training runs as a break from the daily grind, so why would you add static to this break?

All in all, I like some silence in my life and during my run is when I get it. I won’t look down on someone who chooses to have music, its just not for me. Some favor one brand shoe over another, I favor the sounds of nature and the voices of those around me more than prerecorded noises.

In the interest of full disclosure, I do listen to classical music when writing. A high school art teacher of mine would occasionally do this when we were working. For some reason I have done it for creative purposes since then. It seems to help me write, so I understand where a person would want to listen while they run.

Winners vs. Champions

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Many people think the words winners and champions are interchangeable, but to me there seems to be a huge difference. Its all in their attitude, their approach to the game or challenge laid out before them.

Winners are easily satisfied. They get the “W” and are happy. Once the goal is in sight they can glide in. Like a boat approaching a dock, they shut the engines down and coast up the moorings and all will be OK. This approach will effect the results as much as negative attitudes will. A winning attitude may not seem like a negative one, but it’s  negative in the sense that it will not create the best possible results. I call it a neutral attitude.

Champions, on the other hand, are never satisfied. Champions are thinking of the next step. they are wondering how they could approach the dock better, more efficiently. They reach a point that others see as a pinnacle and ask themselves if they could get to that point again only better or faster. The unrelenting drive to overcome obstacles builds them, when winners are busy looking at what they have already accomplished, champions are looking for the next challenge.

Winners are happy that they have achieved a new goal. They will spend time relishing in their accomplishments. Not that there is anything wrong with this, but a champions is never content. They are constantly looking for a new goal.

Have you ever watch some sort of championship game where one team dominates the other? That is a prime example of winners vs. champions. It almost seems like one team comes out like a steamroller and the other has given up. The steamrollers will stop at nothing to get to the top, while the other team acts as if they’ve started the off season and are ready for a vacation.

Can a winner become a champion? What about someone who isn’t even in one of these categories? Can someone who has never wanted to achieve anything eventually achieve greatness? The answer is a resounding YES! It’s all in the mindset. One must work on the mental aspect of their chosen endeavor, but it can be done. Muhammad Ali said “Champions aren’t made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them-a desire, a dream, a vision.”

It is up to you to create that desire, that dream and that vision. There must be a fire within that you ignite yourself. No one can do this for you. The only way to light this fire is with a passion. It’s this passion that will turn you into a steamroller instead of a early vacationer. Movies are made about champions not winners. The constant pursuit of excellence makes for a better story.

This being said, I’ve come to realize that I am a winner, I get close to the finish line and I cruise in. My next big goal is to work on my championship attitude. When I’m in the last stretch, drive harder not glide in.