Mike Reilly is retiring at the end of the year. Ironman is changing. Maybe it has been changing all along, but the effects have just now surfaced? I guess I have changed too along the way, because I understand all this more than I would have a decade ago. I seems I am peaceful and more acceptable than I once was. If that is so, that's a good thing.
I guess it is firmly imprinted now that there is more to life than single minded focus to attain a personal goal. I can see from Mike Reilly's resignation speech the conflicting emotions over doing the job he loves and properly attending to the people he loves. And the truth, - in my mind - is that if you gain the whole world of personal goals; if you kill the courses of every ironman out there, if you set a PR on every ironman you enter, and loose the richness of relationships with those you love, then, you have lost the race. You have failed to finish. I have lived long enough to know that these accomplishments and goals we achieve have a short shelf life, good relationships don't.
So, what does that all mean to an old creaky codger that just hopes he can get through the training. It means, enjoy the experience and bring those that love you along. After losing so many people out of my life, I have regrets that I could have come closer to so many that are long departed. I come to the conclusion that life is richer - shared.
So, choose wisely those you bring close, but those that are close, bring them closer, include them in the joy of the process so there is no conflict of interest or purpose, but the joy of shared experience.
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