Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Playing Seeker

I got yelled at yesterday. And rightfully so. A friend of mine pointed out that I started a blog... and then didnt write. I explained that I had some good reasons, and then proceeded to give my lame excuses. She, a true friend, sort of poo poo-d me, and then she let me have it. And she was right. Something every athlete knows is, you don't start a race, and then give up. You finish.

About the time of my last blog entry, I had a bad race. We all do. Mine consisted of being too nervous and worked up on race day, then swimming in water like a washing machine; getting stung by a very nasty jelly which removed most of the skin on my neck; making a wrong turn on the bike; and lastly screwing up my left knee on the run, resulting in 6 weeks of no activity. But I finished. Then cried. Then DQ'd myself. Then sucked my thumb for a few weeks. That is my excuse. (Insert large gulp of wine here).

As I "rested" (aka a triathlete's worst nightmare), I pondered why the fuck I do this is the first place. I mean really, this is a HOBBY. I do it for FUN. And the definition of the word "fun" in the dictionary is... "Something that provides mirth, or amusement". Now my last race was not "fun". But is that really why a person does triathlon? The race? Is it the journey or the destination that make our hobbies "fun"? When you make a model airplane, do you have more fun making it? Or flying it? (Both sound like torture to me, so maybe this is not a good analogy.)

Another strange little tidbit about me... I am a huge Sci -Fi fantasy buff. Friends and relatives often make fun of me for this. Of course, this is understandable as I have a huge map of Middle Earth on my living room wall. And a Mauraders Map. And Narnia. Shut up.

And like triathlon, I am pretty passionate about reading these types of books. Books that are usually at least 400 -800 pages long and are 4 - 5 books per series. So on average, reading 1 Fantasy Novel = at least 2000 pages. My husband always looks at me like I am nuts when I start reading one of these. And I read them usually over and over again.

Sound like torture? Why do I do it? THE JOURNEY. I find comfort in the journey. When I am not training for a race, I am lost. When I am not reading a 100 lb book about elves, dwarfs, dragons, and wizards, I am lost. For this reason, I am calling myself "The Seeker".

Harry Potter fans out there will understand. Harry plays "The Seeker" on his Quidditch Team. And throughout the HP novels, he is constantly on a Journey. Same with Frodo and Sam. And the Pevensie children. And so many more. They are all seeking something. And in the process of Seeking... there is comfort.

I lost my way a bit. My journey has been interrupted by silliness. I am finding my way back. I am now in week 4 of "rest". So expect a new journey to start in 14 days. See you then.