Life is full of change, and this week was no exception. Many people are against change, but I'm one to usually roll with the punches and take life as it comes to me with a fairly open mind.
That said, this has been a pretty hard week for me. I am a very passionate person, and if I am going to do something, I am going to work at it 110% giving it my all. I don't get involved in things for which I lack passion, and as a result, the things that I make a part of my life are very important to me. Rowing and coaching are no exceptions. Except that I was fired on Wednesday.
I'm not going to use this blog as a way to air dirty laundry, and so I won't go into the details, but what it comes down to is that I was honest, and sometimes that isn't always appreciated or reciprocated by other parties. Unfortunately, those other parties happened to be someone higher in the food chain than the novice women's coach, and I was fired. I actually haven't been given a reason why I was fired, which makes the whole situation more interesting, but I'm not one to make a scene. To be perfectly honest, I am going to miss coaching very, very much. It is one of my passions, and to inspire and teach young freshmen not only rowing, but life lessons that they will take with them long after they hang up the oars, is something that I absolutely love. Up until Wednesday, I was fixing boats (still have epoxy coated hands), recruiting, and planning out my season with excitement for the coming year. But, on the other hand, there was a lot of BS in the whole situation, and I do not deal with that very well (hence the reason for me being honest). I will not be missing that.
So, that frees up a lot of time for my other passions. It will give me a chance to really work on the American Fire, focus on our new adventure racing team, play in the fall league of ultimate frisbee, and maybe even have a half-way normal social life during the school year (I have not had that in 5 years, so watch out boys!).
Although I know I'll really miss coaching, I am very excited about no bullshit in my life, and about exploring new passions again. The last thing I want to do in this part of my life is become complacent, and this change really makes me think about all the things that I can do with my time. So, in the spirit of new adventures, I participated in a mountain bike race on Saturday up in Flagstaff. Even without the race, just the drive out of Phoenix was worth it. After you get out of the Valley and into some elevation, it cools off about 20 degrees. I don't think it was much over 80 in Flag. Hannah, one of her coworkers Eric, and I drove up in the Jeep at around 5 a.m. and got there around 8 in time to get our race numbers and look around at our competition. Most everyone, including the kids, were dressed head to toe in lycra racing suits plastered with dozens of sponsors. I was in a cotton t-shirt and a pair of shorts. You could definitely tell that we were beginners, but I was excited to test what little skills I had. We started the race at 9:25 in the Women's Sport division, which would be two laps of 10 miles each. The 9 of us in the division started out on a dirt road that went uphill for about 3 miles or so. Hannah had me beat on this first leg. My quads were really burning from the week's ultimate practices and lack of sleep, but once I got over the peak of the small hill, I was good to go. The course then took a sharp turn onto rocky singletrack. I passed a few people as the course turned uphill again, and soon I caught up with Hannah again. Much of the singletrack was very crowded, and I spent much of the time passing people and being passed. The course was a lot of fun, with large boulders sticking up all over the curving track. After a short section on another dirt road, the course turned into a long downhill stretch of beautiful singletrack. I was cruising along, enjoying the breeze and ease of the downhill when my front tire suddenly lost pressure. I pulled off to the side of the course and quickly turned my bike over and got out a patch. I patched the tire in about 5 minutes, pumped it up, and got going again. No sooner than I got back on the saddle, I heard the unmistakable hiss of the tire again. Out of patches and without a spare tube, I dejectedly turned the bike over again, while dozens of riders passed me. Some were kind enough to ask if I needed anything, and I was grateful when one of them pulled over and threw me a patch. As I was patching the tire for a second time, Hannah slowed down enough to make sure that I was okay, and I waved her on while I attempted to pump up the tube again. The second patch was about as effective as the first, and the hissing in my tire continued. I was consigned to walking my bike back to the finish line when a man slowed down behind me and asked if there was anything he could do for me. He explained that he had broken his chain a few miles back and was limping to the finish himself. In a great stroke of luck, he did have an extra Presta tube, and I switched the tubes as fast as I could. After taking out the tube three times in 15 minutes, I had gotten really good at it, and without levers at that! In another five minutes, I was back on the course. I flew down the last mile, and ended the first loop in 1 hour and 43 minutes. The course closed at 1 p.m., and I had 75 minutes to make the next loop in order to be counted as a finisher, so I slogged into the second loop, hoping to at least catch Hannah again. With the beginners finished and many of the elites in front of me, the course became much more barren. I kept up with a single speed racer all the way to the singletrack, but once there, I became a little bit disheartened. The single speed guy pulled ahead, and I was left alone... thinking that I was the last one on the course. Soon the feelings disappeared though when I found myself surrounded by tall pines and meadows filled with blue lupine and poppies. All I could hear were the chirping of crickets and cicadas, and a cool breeze filled the air with the smells of the pine forest. I bounced along the rocks, extremely tired, but wanting to be nowhere else in the world at that moment. It's been a long time since I've been in the woods alone, and I had almost forgotten how peaceful it is. As I was climbing up the last hill before the final downhill leg, several of the elite bikers caught up with me, and we encouraged each other to the top. I sprinted down the last three miles, and got to the finish line in 3:05.25. Although Hannah beat me by about 15 minutes, it was a good race and I learned quite a bit from it. We also got cool trophies made of sprockets for 2
nd and 3rd in the 20-29 age category (there were only 3 in our group), lots of free pizza, and some good beer with plenty of fun-loving people. After the festivities were over we went and hung out with Angel and the Barrio ultimate frisbee team who were playing Flagstaff. We joined them in an odd, yet fun, frisbee form of capture the flag until I was too exhausted to do anything but drink blueberry beer and eat Fritos. We left to return home around 7, and got caught in a 4 hour long traffic back-up due to a wreck on the I-17. Finally getting back around 1 a.m., I fell into bed without thinking twice about the dirt and grease that covered my body.
That said, this has been a pretty hard week for me. I am a very passionate person, and if I am going to do something, I am going to work at it 110% giving it my all. I don't get involved in things for which I lack passion, and as a result, the things that I make a part of my life are very important to me. Rowing and coaching are no exceptions. Except that I was fired on Wednesday.
I'm not going to use this blog as a way to air dirty laundry, and so I won't go into the details, but what it comes down to is that I was honest, and sometimes that isn't always appreciated or reciprocated by other parties. Unfortunately, those other parties happened to be someone higher in the food chain than the novice women's coach, and I was fired. I actually haven't been given a reason why I was fired, which makes the whole situation more interesting, but I'm not one to make a scene. To be perfectly honest, I am going to miss coaching very, very much. It is one of my passions, and to inspire and teach young freshmen not only rowing, but life lessons that they will take with them long after they hang up the oars, is something that I absolutely love. Up until Wednesday, I was fixing boats (still have epoxy coated hands), recruiting, and planning out my season with excitement for the coming year. But, on the other hand, there was a lot of BS in the whole situation, and I do not deal with that very well (hence the reason for me being honest). I will not be missing that.
So, that frees up a lot of time for my other passions. It will give me a chance to really work on the American Fire, focus on our new adventure racing team, play in the fall league of ultimate frisbee, and maybe even have a half-way normal social life during the school year (I have not had that in 5 years, so watch out boys!).
Although I know I'll really miss coaching, I am very excited about no bullshit in my life, and about exploring new passions again. The last thing I want to do in this part of my life is become complacent, and this change really makes me think about all the things that I can do with my time. So, in the spirit of new adventures, I participated in a mountain bike race on Saturday up in Flagstaff. Even without the race, just the drive out of Phoenix was worth it. After you get out of the Valley and into some elevation, it cools off about 20 degrees. I don't think it was much over 80 in Flag. Hannah, one of her coworkers Eric, and I drove up in the Jeep at around 5 a.m. and got there around 8 in time to get our race numbers and look around at our competition. Most everyone, including the kids, were dressed head to toe in lycra racing suits plastered with dozens of sponsors. I was in a cotton t-shirt and a pair of shorts. You could definitely tell that we were beginners, but I was excited to test what little skills I had. We started the race at 9:25 in the Women's Sport division, which would be two laps of 10 miles each. The 9 of us in the division started out on a dirt road that went uphill for about 3 miles or so. Hannah had me beat on this first leg. My quads were really burning from the week's ultimate practices and lack of sleep, but once I got over the peak of the small hill, I was good to go. The course then took a sharp turn onto rocky singletrack. I passed a few people as the course turned uphill again, and soon I caught up with Hannah again. Much of the singletrack was very crowded, and I spent much of the time passing people and being passed. The course was a lot of fun, with large boulders sticking up all over the curving track. After a short section on another dirt road, the course turned into a long downhill stretch of beautiful singletrack. I was cruising along, enjoying the breeze and ease of the downhill when my front tire suddenly lost pressure. I pulled off to the side of the course and quickly turned my bike over and got out a patch. I patched the tire in about 5 minutes, pumped it up, and got going again. No sooner than I got back on the saddle, I heard the unmistakable hiss of the tire again. Out of patches and without a spare tube, I dejectedly turned the bike over again, while dozens of riders passed me. Some were kind enough to ask if I needed anything, and I was grateful when one of them pulled over and threw me a patch. As I was patching the tire for a second time, Hannah slowed down enough to make sure that I was okay, and I waved her on while I attempted to pump up the tube again. The second patch was about as effective as the first, and the hissing in my tire continued. I was consigned to walking my bike back to the finish line when a man slowed down behind me and asked if there was anything he could do for me. He explained that he had broken his chain a few miles back and was limping to the finish himself. In a great stroke of luck, he did have an extra Presta tube, and I switched the tubes as fast as I could. After taking out the tube three times in 15 minutes, I had gotten really good at it, and without levers at that! In another five minutes, I was back on the course. I flew down the last mile, and ended the first loop in 1 hour and 43 minutes. The course closed at 1 p.m., and I had 75 minutes to make the next loop in order to be counted as a finisher, so I slogged into the second loop, hoping to at least catch Hannah again. With the beginners finished and many of the elites in front of me, the course became much more barren. I kept up with a single speed racer all the way to the singletrack, but once there, I became a little bit disheartened. The single speed guy pulled ahead, and I was left alone... thinking that I was the last one on the course. Soon the feelings disappeared though when I found myself surrounded by tall pines and meadows filled with blue lupine and poppies. All I could hear were the chirping of crickets and cicadas, and a cool breeze filled the air with the smells of the pine forest. I bounced along the rocks, extremely tired, but wanting to be nowhere else in the world at that moment. It's been a long time since I've been in the woods alone, and I had almost forgotten how peaceful it is. As I was climbing up the last hill before the final downhill leg, several of the elite bikers caught up with me, and we encouraged each other to the top. I sprinted down the last three miles, and got to the finish line in 3:05.25. Although Hannah beat me by about 15 minutes, it was a good race and I learned quite a bit from it. We also got cool trophies made of sprockets for 2
nd and 3rd in the 20-29 age category (there were only 3 in our group), lots of free pizza, and some good beer with plenty of fun-loving people. After the festivities were over we went and hung out with Angel and the Barrio ultimate frisbee team who were playing Flagstaff. We joined them in an odd, yet fun, frisbee form of capture the flag until I was too exhausted to do anything but drink blueberry beer and eat Fritos. We left to return home around 7, and got caught in a 4 hour long traffic back-up due to a wreck on the I-17. Finally getting back around 1 a.m., I fell into bed without thinking twice about the dirt and grease that covered my body. I spent today taking a well deserved shower and resting and not too much else. It's been a long time since I've just chilled, and it was certainly nice to sit down for once and think about things. The past week has been interesting to say the least, but I've got my integrity intact and a lot of adventures in the future, so overall, I'm a pretty satisfied kid. We'll see where the next week takes me...
1 comment:
At the end of lap 1 I just wanted to be done, but by the end of lap 2 I was loving life and feeling stoked. It amazing what one good lap will do for your psyche. Go ODP!
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