Regaining the training momentum has been tough. Many days lost, many opportunities missed. I mentioned earlier about the ticking clock. When I think of the clock and the calendar, I enter into a "scarcity mentality." How on earth (it's easy to wonder) can I be fit for the upcoming Wildflower Triathlon? "Abundance thinking," however, is the better path for me. I consider what needs to be done in what span of time, and plan accordingly. It's just like a writing or design project.
Of course, logic and paper planning won't get me to the finish line alive, and in one piece. Nor will shopping for more equipment, clothing or supplies. Or meticulously mapping the course. These are part of another path often taken by me: creative procrastination, it was labeled in a 1976 "Psychology Today" article I have saved all these years . . . . . . Sometimes the scenic highway vista point is too much to take in at once. Maybe all that beauty overwhelms us. Perhaps the gaping abyss beyond frightens us. Or we feel we are not comfortable in such strange surroundings. So (goes the theory) we focus on other things, seemingly trivial, all the while aware of the nearby cliff that is waiting for us. There's no expectation that we jump off the rock, only that when we eventually stand upon it, we feel prepared. Inspired. Confident.
Part of the creative procrastination process is to sit still, listen to one's self, think. So, frankly, being able to tune out extraneous noise—as I have been able to do during the brief spell of deafness—can come as a blessing. On the Wildflower Olympic bike course, during training weekend, I experienced that same sense of lovely solitude.
It is strange how peaceful one can feel while pedaling furiously.
Now that the mind appears to have geared up, it's time for the body. Put up or shut up.
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