Optimism and the skills learned while preparing for a stage marathon race for which you were wholly unsuited
I think I blew my chance to write this post. It was on my mind for so long, and was probably the first post I pictured writing, but it always felt like one more week of experiences would give that little bit more credibility to the message. I knew where my journey was starting from, but I suppose I wanted a bit more data to see where I would end up so I didn’t look even more foolish then usual. Now I have too much.
Optimism is the greatest skill developed while preparing for an event for which you are wholly unsuited but must instinctively trust you can rise to achieve.
See, I’ve already passed the point of complete fear and anxiety that I am on a fool’s errand. With only 11 weeks to go I’m not there yet, but optimistically I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and can picture I might actually be able to do this thing. But that image was not always so clear.
I was a different person when I set the BC Bike Race goal in July 2015. I was 20+ pounds too heavy, hadn’t ridden a bike properly in 5 years, muscularly weak, and suffered debilitating back problems. Basically I was a textbook example of what happens when you let age have its way with you without pushing back. The lowest point would have been when I was in the hospital emergency room for hours seeing just how high the medications had to get before I could stand with crutches.
In this journey, like others we have all experienced, there have been so many moments when I’ve thought, “there is no way this is going to work out!” It could be acute pain that seemed incurable, or a lack of skills that would guarantee injury, or an ill suited bike needing to be resurrected, or a bank account that was about to burst (stage race events are expensive!!) there have been a lot of days that have been downers. Two things have pulled me through: (1) dedication to a plan and promise to put in the work, and (2) optimism things will be ready enough when the time comes (maybe farting unicorns won’t meet you at the finish line but there is at least a fighting chance an ambulance won’t either).
My most recent case of optimism demons surfaced when I caught a 48 hour flu last week and was bed-ridden and every joint seized completely. At the time i din’t know if it would last 24hrs or 3 weeks. Just lots of time to think, “in 10 weeks I need to race up 40,000' of mountain??” Fortunately I’ve become pretty good at squashing those voices and rolling over to to back to sleep. But, conjuring up the optimism that your efforts will lead you to satisfactory results needs to be practiced and this is something you’ll have to do in all aspects of preparation from talking to unintentionally pessimistic acquaintances to lactic acid pains half-way up a mountain climb.
I still have to test this out and see if optimism is just naïveté in disguise, but I trust i’m on the right track. I have no other choice.
