Thursday, May 15, 2008

Party On, Wayne!


So...the, um, party, is about to begin. I'm anticipating a true out-of-body experience, all beginning on June 8. Quite honestly, I'm winding down the interest in planning and preparation, but we still have several more weeks to go, so the mantra "finish strong" will at least get me to the start line in Oceanside.

Everyone's support has been overwhelming and has made training for this thing alot easier. When I don't have to worry about food or time constraints or any such thing, the rest becomes very manageable.

I had a spirited discussion recently about the relative lunacy of climbing Mt. Everest. My position was that the craziness or lunacy of an event is purely in the eyes of the beholder, or climber, or whatever. To me, running 26 miles seems like approximately 26 miles too much to run, but of course, racing my bicycle across 14 states seems entirely legitimate. Whad' I say?

The idea that one man or woman can cross this country by bicycle and do it in 9 or 10 days is a bit suspect. The idea that I could convince every single person in my life that I should do that is also suspect, but I've learned what true friendship, love and concern actually is. I see this every single day I walk out the door to go train (again), every time I push away from the chow table at work and every time I get on the phone to chat about the race.

My deeply personal choice to race across the country for Camp Odayin is completely legitimate, if only because the people in my life have helped me reach that conclusion and will be there for me before, during and after the RAAM. Win, lose, or draw...

TC

1 comment:

JayT said...

In deed, party on!