As triathletes, we embrace structure, predictability, control, routine. We lay out our goals far in advance and then plan a season to prepare to achieve those goals. We develop a base, we build, we do race specific work, we taper, we race, and we do it again. We swim on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. We do our bike intervals on Tuesdays and our long ride on Saturdays. We hit the track on Thursdays and do our long run on Sundays. We mix in strength training and body work. We focus on our nutrition before, during and after our training sessions. We analyze our Garmin files. We replace our running shoes as soon as they show wear. We look for the latest gadgets, the fastest wetsuit. All of our efforts are laser directed at achieving our goal of hitting that PR on our A race day.  

Here we are – about to approach May 1st and, with a plethora of events being cancelled or postponed, race season 2020 is in jeopardy. With these cancellations, motivation to stay fit and healthy can be hard to maintain. Even with the world embracing the virtual training and race environment, most folks are still itching to get back to the real routine: early morning wake-up, pre-race jitters, and the elation of crossing the finish line.

I was once what you might call a bit of a ‘reluctant flier’. While I didn’t quite have a B.A. Baracus-type of anxiety around it, it wasn’t my favorite means of transportation. I wouldn’t not fly, but I would definitely check to see how long the drive would have been, for places where I wanted to go. And while I typically ended up boarding a plane to get to those places, it was rare that I actually enjoyed myself on it. You see, I hated turbulence. The plane would start shaking, and maybe do that little drop-thing that it does, and my head would instantly go to that scene from Castaway, when the FedEx plane plunged into the Pacific - THIS one.