I hit the road yesterday to get a few miles in the saddle after work.
Everything was perfect – the weather, my legs, and even my bike tires were magically already at 105 psi.
The only problem it seemed was that I got a late start. I stayed late at work (a wonderfully stressful day), got home late, and spent a little extra time to find the chamois cream I had already opened.
I headed out and all was back as it should be. My lungs – great. Legs – super, back – felt fresh.
My training plan was for an easy 25, so I pedalled away down through Almaden Valley and up past Calero reservoir. I kept glancing down at my computer, which kept saying 22 mph, 23 mph, and even 19 mph going up the hill. I was relaxed and feeling good, and even pushed past the 12.5 mile mark to finish the hill I was on…
And then I turned around.
As I started rolling back down the hill and slid my bottle back into the cage after taking a sip of water with a smile on my face, I noticed a peculiar thing – the orange disk in the sky was now a semi-circle…
The sun was setting!
Shit…. hmmm…. ok…
My mind started racing: Do I have my phone to call someone to pick me up? yep. cool. Did I bring my headlight? Nope. damn. Will I make it back before dark?
“Let’s see” I thought as I started to do the math in my head. 13 miles @ 20mph average… uhhhh lemme round up - so 15 miles at 20mph is 45 minutes and if 10 miles at 20mph is 30 minutes, then I’m looking at around 40 minutes. I am guessing I have about 10-15 minutes of sun left… ummm.. how long is twilight..
I came to the quick conclusion of two things -
#1 – don’t try to do math in your head when going 42 mph downhill.
#2 – the sun was going to set on me… I am on a country road.. and I don’t want to call for help.
So at this point, my relaxing spin became something different. Very different.
I think I may have misled you today with my blog entry title – because this sunset was not a sunset of my motivation, but rather finding my motivation in a sunset.
I pedalled harder and with more force than I think I have in a very long time. I luckily have done this same ride many times, and I know how long it takes me to get from the top of that hill to my house – 45 minutes pushing hard, 55 easy. Now there is some aspect of stoplights that also plays into it, but I found myself barrelling home and every time I looked down now I saw 22 mph, 24mph, 27 mph. 27 mph!!!
As I reached the 2 miles to go point and knew I was going to make it home before dark, I began thinking to mysef – could I have done this so easily without the motivation (fear) to get home before dark today?
I still haven’t answered that question, but I did reinforce in my mind the importance of motivation in taking performance to the “next level”.
Whatever ceiling you have, whatever threshold you haven’t broken, I believe that just repetition is not enough. Whether they be manufactured, accidental, or intentional, creating opportunities to heighten your motivation will ultimately lead you to break through barriers and continue improvements.
Yesterday, I got home faster from the top of the hill than I ever have. What’s great is that I now know that’s possible… so I will go out and repeat it.
Whatever your training level, I hope you will find opportunities in the next week to create your own motivational sunset… even in the middle of the day - if you’re out on a ride or run think to yourself – what if I only had 45 minutes to get home before dark… and do it!
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There are moments I have from time to time lately, where I just have to laugh.
Not because something’s funny, but because I am so thoroughly amazed by how things seem to eventually come into clarity – it’s the “a-ha” moment.
The reason for my most recent a-ha is as result of turning my attention to start planning next year. Granted – I still have an Ironman to do in 3 months, but I am ready to start planning races and what I want to accomplish next year.
This year has been so amazing… and with an initially pretty haphazard plan I was able to raise a good amount of money and a lot of awareness for the Humane Society Silicon Valley.
With all that has transpired this year, it’s become obvious to me that a great next chapter in Season 1 Racing will include both an expansion and a focus.
For focus – It makes sense to start fundraising for a cancer support charity (more on all the reasons why in a subsequent blog soon) as the primary target of fundraising.
For expansion – It seems there is an opportunity to tap the power of people I have come to know over the past year in triathlon, along with people who are new and inspired to get into the sport to help out.
It’s a lofty goal, but without big goals you will never see big results right?
Well, I will likely refine this over the next few months, but as a starting point, I think a good goal for next year is to have 3 Season 1 Racers helping raise money and awareness, with a combined goal for the year of $10,000 to a single non-profit.
It sounds daunting… definitely difficult…. but I think its possible.
So now it’s in writing. There it is, and I can start working towards making it happen (with your support and help of course!) 
I knew this day would come. With some apprehension, I knew that to be true to my word and my dedication to helping others - I would have to post this. So, here it is!
A lot of you that I’ve spoken with that have been motivated by my blog for or are looking for motivation, have said to me at some point - “I’d like to do it, but _______”.
I know that I’ve told you that anything is possible, and have recounted some of my path and challenges that I have overcome, but I realize that sometimes without a visual it’s hard to believe… because no matter what I say, your situation is different, and until you can step back and look at a large portion of the journey, its hard to realize how much things can really change.
We all certainly have our own challenges, whether it be a lack of support, an unhappy home, work, weight, or medical issues – Making these types of changes in our lives require us to overcome obstacles. I’ve spoken a lot in the past about the incremental, “small victories” that eventually lead us to greatness, and I’m hoping this post will exemplify for you the BIG accomplishment that is a result of a lot of little accomplishments along the way.
This post today is a short one… I won’t rehash the start of my own journey (you can go back through the archive if you wish), but I will instead let the photo speak for itself today.
There is a common saying that a picture is worth 1000 words… As I thought through how I wanted to present this to you, I wondered to myself – if a picture is worth 1000 words, is 2 pictures worth a million (1000×1000). Personally in this case I think so, but I’d love to hear what you think. Below is a side-by-side of me 18 months apart. What’s interesting is that what I have done is anything but unachievable… If I had the motivation and drive that many of you have, I could have been able to do it in much less time. What I do want to emphasize is that the photo today doesn’t explicitly capture a big part of what has changed in my life – my mental state, the relationships with friends and family I now am so lucky to have, and the true inner happiness I feel every day. The change you see on the outside is without question a reflection of the scale of change across all aspects of my life. If I were to explain it all – It would take a million words…
- On the left – An unhappy me in January 2009 that had let myself go, let myself down in a big way and could barely run 2 miles.
- On the right – Me completing my first Ironman 18 months later… goose-bumps on my skin and a permagrin on my face as my friends and family cheered me on.
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