Things I could do without

A while back, I wrote on the things that delight me about training. Although not an exhaustive list, they are things I reflect on while training, particularly when I'm outdoors on the bike or on a run. Every day I get to engage in my favorite activities, I am grateful for all the things I mentioned and more.

Along with the things that remind me how fortunate I am, I can't help but think of other less pleasant things. These are things I could do without while training. The list is not long, yet I encounter them frequently enough that they're hard to forget. Here we go, in no particular order.

Ego. My own, as well as those of others. Ego shows up in many ways. Sometimes it's obvious. Go to a race expo and you'll hear Ego boasting about its latest athletic achievement, one-upping other Egos within earshot. Often Ego gives advice when none has been requested or is even desired. It typically starts out with "you should..." Ego is tricky, though, and tries to masquerade as what seems on the surface to be normal workout behavior. Ego speeds up that cyclist in front of me just so a girl won't pass him. It launches that swimmer in the lane next to me into a 500-meter sprint warm-up. It showboats as the competitive energy I feel in the weight room. Sadly, ego is everywhere.

Excuses.

If you are what you do, then when you don't, you aren't. ~Wayne Dyer

Several years ago I started paying very close attention to how I talked about my training, both to myself and to others. Along the way, I've become keenly aware of when I'm giving reasons and when I'm giving excuses. You know the difference. Reasons are well-considered, rationale explanations for my choices because I have weighed the consequences. Excuses, on the other hand, exist for one reason only: to protect my ego. They're empty "outs" I have at the ready in case someone asks how my run was--that run I ditched because the last thing I wanted to do at that moment was run. Well. Let me dig deep down...hang on...and see what comes up...Oh yes, here it is. Ahem. It was too cold. (Really. With all the space-age windstopping, water-repelling, snow-squall-destroying material sitting in my dresser waiting to prove itself...it was too cold? Really.) See, "it was too cold" is a reason when I risk frostbite or frozen lung. It's an excuse when I'm unmotivated and just want to lounge on the couch. And if that's the case, I need to own up to it. To do anything else is self-deception. Sure, others may not know what's my reason and what's my excuse. But *I* do. This, for sure, is my homework for the rest of my life.

Things thrown at me. Okay, admittedly this has happened to me only once, on the bike. And although the object was thrown in my direction, it didn't actually hit me. But had it hit me just that once, well, let's not play "what if" games. The reality is, I escaped untouched, probably because of my lightning-quick reflexes. Or luck. Or perhaps a little of both. The object of interest was a half-full beer bottle. I felt the breeze on my face as it whizzed by my ear. And then I saw the pickup from which it was hurled, racing away. I was in such disbelief at what had just happened I didn't have the wherewithal (to say nothing of the leg strength) to chase the truck down for the license plate number. Oh well. I tell myself they weren't aiming at me...they were just committing a random act of littering. And I happened to be there. Delusional? Perhaps. But it's the version of the story that upholds my faith in the basic goodness of people.

Being "buzzed." I'm not talking the kind induced by a nice glass of wine or three. I'm talking the kind caused by a rude driver who either (1) doesn't see me riding my bike on the shoulder, or (2) does in fact see me riding my bike on the shoulder and prioritizes his getting to his destination over the safety of both of us. Some drivers have come so close I can hear their cell phone conversation. Laws in Colorado require drivers to pass cyclists only if they can safely give 3 feet between car and bike. Fortunately, 99% of Colorado drivers obey this law. The other 1% of the time is a huge bummer. And scary.

Flagrant disregard for the rules of the road and/or bike path. I also have a bone to pick with my fellow cyclists. You know who you are. You ride three abreast when there's no shoulder. You don't signal when turning. You expect to have the right of way. C'mon, don't give drivers any more reason to be cranky at bicyclists. Enough drivers operate under the belief that cyclists take up too much precious pavement as it is (see "Being 'buzzed'" above). Don't confirm that by being a jerk. This disregard doesn't happen just on the streets...I've come within inches of colliding with other cyclists on the bike path (of all places), simply because they've failed to tell me they're "on the left." Easy enough to do, so please do it.

Bugs. I used to live in the "bug belt," otherwise known as southeast Kansas. I didn't know it before I moved there, but it quickly became very apparent. So when I moved here to Denver, I was excited not only about the climate, temperature, and abundant sunshine, I was also looking forward to being able to walk through grass in sandals without fearing chiggers. (If you don't know, you don't want to ask.) Ha. Here's a newsflash: We got bugs in Denver. Lots of them. I didn't really notice them until my first bike ride along the Platte River at dusk. I came home with thousands of new "freckles" all over. Except these freckles came off in the shower. YUCK. My new strategy: breathe through the nose and don't wear that sticky lip balm.

Comparison. My wise friend Eric is known here at work for saying "comparison is a form of self-loathing" (or something pretty close). This Thing I Could do Without is a sibling of Ego. I don't do well with competition, even if friendly. I compete with one person: myself. I compete against my race times from last year, with my performance on last week's bike ride, with how many push-ups I did last time. I'm uncomfortable when others compare themselves to me. Some friends will tell me they do better when competing against someone else. Fine. I'd just prefer that someone else to not be me.

Please, feel free to add your own to this list!!