It is funny what kind of admiration that race gets you and in the most unusual places. I have never been one of those people who wore that accomplishment on my sleeve. (Granted, today I had it on my head but normally I keep it on the down-low). I could talk to you for hours about my hobbies and never mention it. As much as I don't like to put my accomplishment out there in the course of conversation, until recently it was very much a part of my every day life.
"What I learned quitting the thing that defined me" was the title of the article I saw on Hey Eleanor yesterday. It kind of describes where I am at perfectly. The thing that defined me. In many ways after five years of 24/7 triathlon, specifically Ironman, it defined me. It was I did in most of my waking (non-working) moments. It was a part time job; twice a day and all weekend long for most weekends. When I wasn't swimming, biking or running I was thinking about swimming, biking or running or packing my gear for my next workout (which I suppose still counts as thinking about SBR...)
 |
| ...and 100% happy with it! |
Back in December when I decided that burnout had gotten the best of me it felt very freeing. Lately it feels like a weird place to be in. It isn't that I haven't moved on and managed to fill every waking minute with other things but it is still a transition. For years, when Rick would talk about his friends they were always "skydiving friends" or "motorcycle friends" or... you get the idea. As your hobbies change, your group of friends sort of change as well. The thing that makes it harder to not feel like a quitter is that your entire facebook feed is filled with these groups of people. People you used to have things in common with, people who are still doing the thing that you stepped away from.
 |
