Fun and Fired Up!

This was a busy, but fun weekend and at the end of it I am tired, a little sore, but fired up!

Friday Pro triathlete Simon Thompson (AUS) came to Chicago to give some talks Fri night and Saturday. Adam met Simon this summer while training with the big boys in Boulder. He is a super fast triathlete and got 10th at the Athens Olympics.....despite 2, yes 2 bike crashes in that race. So that boy can run. I think he won the 70.3 Singapore race and will be racing in Clearwater. Get to the point......he is getting into public/motivational speaking and came to talk at Dick Pond's and to the MSM kids tri team year end banquet.

So, Saturday was our annual MSM club Ride n Tie race...complete with Halloween costumes. Way too much fun, and always a good workout. There is nothing better than seeing a bunch of crazy dressed adults running through the woods jumping off the bike throwing it down and taking off running! This is basically a workout you do with a partner where you alternate biking and running for 10 miles. It is not as easy as it sounds and I was the token one to be Simon's partner. Me,...the one coming off injury and have been doing next to nothing for 5 weeks. However, I love doing this, mud puddles and all, and didn't want to disappoint the pro....so I gave it a good effort, did what I could, and Simon and I were this year's champs!!!

Simon's talk to the kids team was very cool. He talked about his experiences (ups and downs) that got him to the Olympics. What he went through, sacrafices he made, to chase his dream. Since I have had my fair share of down moments with racing recently it was cool to hear some of what he had to say about how they can be beneficial in terms of learning, motivating etc. I know this, and as a coach know this, but it was a good reminder that even the super elite....have struggles and bad spells too. He had a video clip that highlighted some of the trials races he did and showed him crossing the line when he made the team. It was the coolest thing to see complete thrill with accomplishing such a big goal and I have to say as an athlete it totally fired me up. So even though I don't have huge triathlon plans next season, whatever I do decide to do I have a new motivation to do the best I can at whatever it is I decide on. In the meantime I am having fun slowly getting back into training.