Sometimes it's not the pie; it's the ice cream!
The inspiration for this post came from Andrew Love's blog. After reading it today, I just couldn't resist. Andrew recently returned from a successful tour of the Master's circuit in Europe, setting world records in the sprint events in his age group. Congratulations, Andrew!
In today's post on his blog, Andrew talks about the reward for eating the most pie being...more pie. While some athletes are "hungry" for more "pie," others hit a wall and get tired of pushing themselves to train and compete more.
In my former life as a World Cup speedskater, I found that the reward for eating the most pie was a big, heaping mouthful of ice cream. At first, the ice cream tasted good, but then I found out that it was contaminated with salmonella!
Eventually, I had to ask myself, "What is it that is making me feel so sick?"
Rex Albertson used to tell me last summer, "You still love the sport, right? It's just the people. Can you keep these two things separate?" Not forever. Not for as long as it takes to achieve my goals.
What happens when there's this activity that you really love to do, and you really want to do well at it, but in order to pursue it, you're forced to join some sort of sorority or fraternity that you would never otherwise join, of your own free will?
At some point you have to weigh your options: "Can I have this ice cream without the salmonella?"
No.
"Is there any way I can build up a resistance to this bacteria?"
Not without giving up my mind or selling my soul.
"Can I put the ice cream in the autoclave?"
Already tried that...it didn't work.
"Is there any way I can have my elite metric speedskating without swallowing some swirling cocktail of distortion along with it?"
Apparently not.
Last weekend, I skated a 10.85 in the 100 meters. I didn't even find out until a few hours later, when my roommate, Jannicke, told me. We had been paired together, and she had set a season-best time for Norway, with 11.34.
This race proved one thing to me, and that is that setting a new personal best time feels just as good when I'm not skating "for The Man." I still love the pie; I'm just going to have it without the ice cream!
The inspiration for this post came from Andrew Love's blog. After reading it today, I just couldn't resist. Andrew recently returned from a successful tour of the Master's circuit in Europe, setting world records in the sprint events in his age group. Congratulations, Andrew!
In today's post on his blog, Andrew talks about the reward for eating the most pie being...more pie. While some athletes are "hungry" for more "pie," others hit a wall and get tired of pushing themselves to train and compete more.
In my former life as a World Cup speedskater, I found that the reward for eating the most pie was a big, heaping mouthful of ice cream. At first, the ice cream tasted good, but then I found out that it was contaminated with salmonella!
Eventually, I had to ask myself, "What is it that is making me feel so sick?"
Rex Albertson used to tell me last summer, "You still love the sport, right? It's just the people. Can you keep these two things separate?" Not forever. Not for as long as it takes to achieve my goals.
What happens when there's this activity that you really love to do, and you really want to do well at it, but in order to pursue it, you're forced to join some sort of sorority or fraternity that you would never otherwise join, of your own free will?
At some point you have to weigh your options: "Can I have this ice cream without the salmonella?"
No.
"Is there any way I can build up a resistance to this bacteria?"
Not without giving up my mind or selling my soul.
"Can I put the ice cream in the autoclave?"
Already tried that...it didn't work.
"Is there any way I can have my elite metric speedskating without swallowing some swirling cocktail of distortion along with it?"
Apparently not.
Last weekend, I skated a 10.85 in the 100 meters. I didn't even find out until a few hours later, when my roommate, Jannicke, told me. We had been paired together, and she had set a season-best time for Norway, with 11.34.
This race proved one thing to me, and that is that setting a new personal best time feels just as good when I'm not skating "for The Man." I still love the pie; I'm just going to have it without the ice cream!
posted by Eva at 12:52 PM
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