One of Those Days

I learned early on in this sport to expect the unexpected.  Someone recently told me to expect at least 3 things to go wrong during my Ironman race.  I'm not sure what kind of statistics he has to back up this information, but those words have stuck with me ever since.  It's made me think about what to do when things don't go as planned.  Over the weekend I got a little taste of this.

Jeneen and I set out on a four hour bike ride. I had been looking forward to it all week. I made sure to pack plenty of nutrition and water, and I slathered enough sunblock on my skin to make my dermatologist happy.  We were about an hour into our ride when I shifted down and dropped my chain.  This normally isn't a big deal, but when my cranks locked up I knew I was in trouble.  My chain was jammed between the ring and the frame. I hopped off my bike and tried to pull it out, but the darn thing wouldn't budge.  In no time Jeneen  had my bike flipped over and the back wheel off.  We were trying everything to dislodge the chain.  It wasn't long before I realized that my training day was over.  Luckily, my friend Michelle was home and agreed to come pick up me and my bike.

Jeneen suggested that I walk down to the school that was about a block away to wait for Michelle.  I gathered up my bike, back wheel, and assortment of water bottles and began my trek. I couldn't help but laugh at the situation.  I'm sure it was a sight to see.  Once we reached the school I was on my own.  Jeneen continued on her bike ride and I found a shady spot to wait.

Two women drove up while I was waiting with my disassembled bike.  They drove to the back of the parking lot, sat there for a few minutes, then left. I have no idea what they were doing.  They looked straight at me, but never asked if I needed any help  or if I was okay.  There really wasn't anything that the women, or any other stranger driving by, could have done for me, but I found it odd that so many people could pass right by and not ask if I was okay or needed anything.  While Jeneen and I were trying to fix my bike, one woman did stop to ask where the high school was. I gave her directions, and she drove off. Seriously! It was obvious that I was having trouble of my own, yet she didn't seem to notice.

The first stop on my way home was the bike store. My bike will be there a couple of days getting repaired and undergoing some other routine maintenance that I've been meaning to get done.

I could have let this whole situation upset me or anger me, but I didn't.  I did lose some training time, and I did have to inconvenience someone to drive out and pick me up.  This is an unfortunate part of the game.  I'm glad it happened on a training ride and not during a race.  You never know what race day will bring, and sometimes it brings challenges that may end your race early.  You have to decide how you are going to handle it.  Are you going to get angry and make a fool of yourself in front of everyone, or do you handle it with class and accept that today was not your day?  I would like to think that I would choose the latter if something like this happens on the day of my Ironman, but I'm praying really hard that I won't have to find out.

"To a brave man, good and bad luck are like his left and right hand.  He uses both." ~ St. Catherine of Siena