Only one letter changes the meaning and spirit of these two words.
Last night I went to a Tri 101 event and the speaker, Rebecca, said something that stuck with me – she said that at these events you’re either doing them to complete OR to compete. Hadn’t heard that before but it was a little light bulb to me. One of those Oprah a-ha moments.
So I thought about it. Recently I did a personality profile test – there’s a ton of them out there – but this one focuses on your top 5 strengths. My top strength is being a “learner”. I’m not really convinced that it’s an accurate reflection of me as a younger person, but it’s totally accurate as a 40-something today, and I also think it’s very much why I’m gravitating toward this tri stuff. There’s always something to learn, and you can compete with yourself all day long. We recently did a exercise challenge at work – when I exercise I look like this, literally dripping in sweat…but I’m not sure that was true for everyone! Learning that sweating out the demons regularly is a very, very good thing for everyone in my house. It’s definitely a form of competing, even if it’s a mental game of getting up and committing, or making time, or whatever it is – so much of this is in your brain, not your legs.
I’m already thinking about what I’m learning through winter training to get better and apply that in the summer. I’m already thinking about what I can learn this summer to work toward 2017 and 2018, setting realistic but challenging goals for the future.
I didn’t feel great tonight, didn’t want to do much of anything (stomach, ick). I had planned on swimming after work, but my stomach said NO in a big way. But I made it happen & ran a little tonight. My plan was to just do a mile walk/run. But I ran by this beautiful purple tree and thought to myself…I should have taken a picture of that! It won’t be like that much longer. So – in true #trimafia fashion – I did a second loop around the block just to get the pic. So glad I did. It’s super pretty and I love nature. Good call!
CHANDRA GREEN 