It's been a year, a very long year. As individuals, as a society, we have tried our best to make the best of this year. There have been highs and very low lows throughout the last 365 days.
For me, and many other athletes, it has been over 365 days since my last endurance race. I completed a half marathon in February, never thinking I wouldn't complete the other races on my calendar. I had goals for 2020 but they were put on hold and out of my control.
Day by day I would continue to train with the hopes that I would be able to stand on a start line again very soon. But that hasn't happened yet and instead of finishing more races I have become a whiner...which I HATE! (I also think my friends and family hate it too).
Recently two more races, in which I registered, were cancelled or postponed. The first was a 70.3 triathlon scheduled for June and the second was a half marathon scheduled for April. I know that cancelling or postponing the race dates is not what the race directors want to do. It is as much out of their hands as it is out of mine but it still makes me feel so deflated. I even found myself silently crying at my desk at work when I read the announcement about the race scheduled for June. Slowly I have lost a bit of my passion...and I need to get it back.
When not training or going to school I work full time as an Assistant Athletic Director for a DII (DI Hockey) athletic program. This past year has been tough on the staff, coaches and more importantly our student-athletes. Every time a competition/game has been cancelled I feel their pain. I understand what they are going through. However, they have continued to train and face this year with strength and style (I have a lot to learn).
As part of my job, I work at our covid testing center. Many of our student-athletes and staff are being tested for covid three times a week. As I hand each individual their test tube for their nasal swab, I send them off with my positive message of "stay positive, test negative". I need to start taking my own advice!
It's time to pull up my big girl pants, stop whining, and find my passion (or a new passion) again. I need to stay positive and more importantly, test negative! It's time to refocus and find my passion to train for life again! I know I will race again, I just need to train like it!!
