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| A quick google image search for "hermit" yielded this little beauty, which I hope you'll enjoy. Only I can't even grow a beard. |
Welcome back
to the blog that everyone used to talk about constantly! Before the author became a hermit, entered a
hermitage, started dressing like a hermit, and fully-embraced all the tenants
of the hermit lifestyle, foremost among them being a healthy suspicion of any type
of written publication and a fear of broadcast media. I’m still alive. And I do still tend to the blog here, you
know, from time to time. Just realized
this is my first post of the 2013 season.
So happy new year… now that it’s late February.
It’s just
that I’ve been so busy getting knowledge.
Seriously, every waking moment, getting knowledge. It’s enough to wear a guy out. But being a student again isn’t without its
perks. Specifically, holiday
breaks. Also, not having to work for the
man, a diet primarily consisting of coffee and PB&Js, no defined dress
code, a disregard for personal grooming six days of the week, holiday breaks,
an insatiable appetite for knowledge, being intellectually stimulated in the
most exciting ways imaginable, learning about things you’ve always been curious
about, unwrapping the mysteries of the human body, holiday breaks, and being
constantly surrounded by stressed-out, sleep-deprived,
living-on-borrowed-money, just-praying-to-pass,
but-still-the-coolest-people-ever… fellow med students. But I digress.
My blog
hiatus turned into over three months again, and the scary thing is, this time I
didn’t even realize it. I seriously
thought I just posted to this thing, like, maybe a few nights ago. Boy was I wrong. So apologies, once again, for being derelict
with my updates.
But life is
good. Nay, it’s great. Busier than it’s ever been for me, but I
enjoy that very much. After some months,
I’ve gotten significantly better at dialing in a work/life/school/triathlon/baking/brewing/yoga/voodoo
balance – although apparently still not good enough to keep my blog from going
defunct. And my roommates would probably
say otherwise. Regardless, doing the
best I can. And going to try and ride
this balance out until I’m done with my medical training, which will be, oh I
don’t know, about 10 more years or so.
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| My mom in Ireland last summer. Not sure who that other girl is. |
How have you
found this balance, you may ask? I’m not
seeing a Buddhist. I don’t have any
great wisdom. Just trial and error
really – with an emphasis on the error – and talking with fellow students,
fellow athletes. Also my mom. I talk to her a lot about this kind of
stuff. But basically, the philosophy
goes like this: work as hard as you can at school – up to the brink of being
unhappy – but not harder. And the
beautiful thing is that putting time and energy into your relationships, your
hobbies, pursuits like triathlon and brewing beer, actually increases your tolerance for
school-related unhappiness*. It’s a beautiful
balance. At least that has been my
experience.
(*And even
the school-related unhappiness, in truth, is actually quite happy. As much work as it is, it rarely feels as
such, which I suppose is a good sign.)
The point of
all this, which I alluded to this fall but finally have found the time to put
in writing here on the blog: I’m going for it. I’m throwing everything into tris for at least
one more season. Because it’s doable, it
imbues some balance into my life, and it brings me happiness. As I said, the “Shortest Career in
Professional Triathlon” is not an identity I’m eager to accept. So maybe the title of this post – which at
first I was so proud of – isn’t really appropriate after all. It’s not like I’m completely changing my focus;
tris are still a priority. I’m just
probably going to be a whole lot worse at them, since I don’t have as much time
on my hands. Maybe the title should have
been something like “switching to a tricycle,” “dropping chain,” “going
horizontal,” or “puncturing on dirty-thirty.”
You get the idea.
Ok, so
enough of the philosophical. I actually
have some tri-related news to report here, which I know is why all of you
millions of attentive followers check my blog every morning. It certainly isn’t in hope of hearing more
about the inner deliberations and travails of a first year med student. At the end of the day, I’m going to try and
keep this blog tri-focused. So here is
some good info, read closely…
1. I get this summer off! And by summer, I mean an 8-week period from
mid-June through mid-August. So what are
my summer plans? Rather than try and
find a medical research gig, work in a clinic overseas somewhere, or do any
number of the awesome and incredibly inspiring things my classmates are
preparing to do, I’m going to train and race exclusively. And I couldn’t be more excited about it. I’ve never been able to just focus
exclusively on tris, being always hampered by job/school/responsible-human-being
obligations. Believe me, it’s a luxury
that I certainly won’t take for granted and will fully appreciate. Perhaps most exciting, I’m going to be
totally free to go wherever the wind takes me.
I will undoubtedly spend a good deal of my time training here in
Portland and hanging out with friends, but I’m thinking I’ll also spend some
weeks at home in Boise, and up at my favorite place on earth (the Wood River
Valley in central ID). I am further
looking into some options up in Bellingham, Tahoe, maybe even Canada (although
this last one really makes me nervous, for obvious reasons).
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| One of my favorite rivers: the Big Wood. Training here is just the worst. |
2. Do I have a racing schedule in
mind? Of course not. Don’t be ridiculous. I’m lucky to know what I’ll be eating later
tonight, let alone where I’ll be racing this summer. So the schedule is still to be
determined. I have been training in
earnest since the start of the new year, and am hoping to test the fitness a
few times before school adjourns (Wildflower anybody? Boise 70.3?)
But when it does, it’s game on!
The schedule will therefore be heavy in the mid-late season. And what I’m most excited about: the two
month window of freedom should allow me to get a good job of work done, in
preparation for something a bit loooonnnger at the end of the season. Like, maybe twice as long as usual... if you
catch my drift. Considering something
big in mid/late September. I seriously
love all this planning and scheming, it’s one of my favorite parts of the
year. I’ve got lots of ideas, but still
need to talk with my coach about them. Which
brings me to the best news, which I saved for last…
3. I have a coach! His name is Chris Bagg, and he is a fellowpro/coach based here in Portland. Basically, I really want to get as much as I can out of this season,
because beginning next fall, med school becomes a bit of a year-round
commitment, and racing could be scarce for a few years. No more summers… boohoo right? (I’m sure I’m not getting any sympathy from
those of you who have worked every summer for the past several decades.) So I decided to go all in, and this is
probably the best thing I could have done, in terms of motivation, expertise,
season planning, smart training, all that good stuff. Chris is just the man, but much more on that
next time – he deserves his own post.
So there it
is. Sorry for the lack of photos – and
any kind of cohesive theme to this post, for that matter – had a lot of
thoughts and developments to catch you up on.
The blog should return to its detail-scarce, anecdotally-heavy,
informationally-worthless tone next time.
Until then, be safe and bundle up.
It’s still cold out there.
Andrew
Epilogue
I also want to briefly draw your attention to the snappy new-and-improved title of my blog – “Andrew Langfield Continues to Struggle with Triathlons.” Seems appropriate. Love to all of you. –A |
| This picture is just too good, I had to shamelessly include it. |
