Quitting

Yesterday we celebrated Easter with my husband's family. It was nice... actually before that I went on this killer 25 mile ride of the Alcatraz race course with some of my Breakaway Performance team. That was pretty spectacular - riding along the coast - up through the Presidio, down Baker Beach, through SeaCliff, by Robin Williams' home, Legion of Honor, Ocean Beach, up through Golden Gate park and back to North Beach the same way we came.... the hills were hard, but good.

Anyway, people are asking me about the upcoming Wildflower event... how's training going, is it hard, etc... And a couple people have even said - "Well if you don't like the race (while you're doing it), you can always just quit!".... WHAT? Are you kidding? No I can't!

I've been steadily training since October '07 and committed to Wildflower in January. Quitting this race is not an option, unless I'm bleeding out all orifices or something tragic has happened... knock on wood. It's just not an option. Never. I'm always surprised though when i hear people say it's an option. While I know it probably has more to do with them than me, I can't help but wonder "Do YOU think I'm GOING to quit? Do you think I secretly WANT to quit? Do you think i'm just looking for a QUIET WAY OUT of this? " As if being granted the option to quit makes it all ok. Maybe I'm taking it too personally. (I am.) Quitting is not an option.

That would take away all the fun (like making jokes about peeing in the Bay Club pool), the process (keeping a detailed log of all my workouts, cookies and wine consumption), the hard times (having the sensation of Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness wake me up in the middle of the night), the sense of accomplishment (knowing I climbed to the top of the Marin Headlands on my bike when most of the Bay Area was peacefully asleep), the challenge (my first Sprint Triathlon...).

Quitting is DEFINITELY not an option for this triathlon newbie.