Shifting Gears

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.

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).

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.