There is something real gratifying about being able to put your money where your is, so to speak. You know, being able to set your sights high and just go out and perform brilliantly. I had a moment like this last night and I'm still riding high from it.
During the summer months a local guy puts on these bike races on Tuesday nights out in Clermont in Lake Louisa State Park. It's a 25 mile race, five laps of a five mile couse, full of a couple short but real hard, sharp climbs with the finish being near the top of the hardest climb on course. Last night was the fourth race in the series. I knew I had to perform in this race so I could get the few points left that I needed to upgrade to a higher category of racing. I put the pressure on myself and pretty much told myself I was going to do well in the race no matter what, no other options.
It was a wet and rainy race, which is only good for relief from the summer heat. Anyway, on the first of five laps I felt a lull in pace, a slight let up as we started one of the bigger hills. I literally said "phuck it" and jumped out of the saddle and accelerated as hard as I could and was away by myself up the climb and was quickly joined by one other rider. Him and I destroyed ourselves for a lap, keeping a 15 second gap on the main field until we were joined by one other rider, one of the strongest racers in Florida. We three just killed it for the remaining three laps. Our gap didn't grow so it was a definite battle knowing we were barely hovering off the front. Finally on the last night, the peleton couldn't chase anymore and we were sure to stay away to battle out the race between the three of us. In the end, the strong mofo won, myself taking second place, which I was, and still am, very happy with. I, of course, got the joy out of having a great race, but it was also that feeling of relief from doing what I told myself I had to do. Putting the pressure on myself and performing in the clutch. That's one of the most satisfying feelings in the world.
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Love it bro. You're a beast. Performance is the same across every single medium - I don't care if it's sports, or business, or art:
ReplyDeletePeople only see the end result. It doesn't matter what excuse you had, or why you didn't perform well. Valid though they may be - no one cares. Period.
You are wise beyond your years because you're already figuring out that every drip of sweat at 5:50am matters. Not because people are watching you at 5:50am. But, because you know that failure is not an option. And there's no better feeling than knowing that all the work you put in was NOT for naught.
You're the man Colo-