A Little Wild

I have a race this weekend. No, it's not Wildflower---tricked you with the blog title and picture. It is one of my favorites---Escape from Alcatraz. I had an easy trail run today and while jogging around I thought about what being wild means to me. Today "wild" meant taking calculated risks, following my heart and embracing the challenges that lie ahead. Since I was on a trail run I had to focus on the ground just ahead of me so I did not fall or twist an ankle. There were big hills, little hills and one gnarly descent. I did not let it fly on that descent, I wanted to be careful, not worth the risk of falling flat on my face 6 days before a race. However, it did get me thinking about what I will risk. To be honest, it makes sense to me to take on this challenge of racing Pro because what am I really risking? I am going after something that I don't have so seems like a good do to me. A couple of songs from the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack came on by Ipod Shuffle and it just emphasized the point even more to me. In the movie Jamal just keeps playing the game. He is fairly certain he will not know the answers to the questions but what does he have to lose? Nothing that he does not already have. If he gets the answer wrong he ends up in the exact place with the same possessions he had when he started the game. If he takes the risk he could end up with a lot more than he started with and in the end, he ends up with L.O.V.E. I think that meant much more to him than the millions of dollars.

This brings me back to my wild risk. What do I have to lose? I like training, I like racing and I like challenging myself to get better. I am excited to be a little wild on Sunday. The race itself is wild. A swim in the bay where you never know what the current will do. I have been as fast as 29 minutes on the swim and as slow as 35 minutes on the swim. I know that my fitness in swimming has not varied 6 minutes from year to year. It was the course on that day. The bike is up, down, around and up and down some more. I have gotten more comfortable descending. I may be more confident but I am going to remain focused and not take crazy chances. I am not fearless on a bike. It is not the time to get over-confident but being more comfortable is a good thing. The run is wild too. Flat trails, stairs, steep hills, a low tunnel (duck!), the sand ladder and running downhill with other people coming towards you on the way to the finish line. It's wild and it's fun. I am excited. I am going to go out there with a focused intensity and the goal to be just a bit wild and give whatever I have on the day. I have nothing to lose. 100% effort and a positive attitude through the good and bad. It is just me vs. the course, where I end up is where I end up. I am not in control of what anybody else does out there.


Last thought...does the Alejandro song by Lady Gaga remind anybody else of La Isla Bonita by Madonna? Just curious. And, yes, I listen to bad music when I run, please don't judge me.