Today, as an attempted cure for what could otherwise be deemed wandering around Southeast Asia, I now know where I am going to be on both June 20th and then August 23rd. Today, I booked a place in the Bali International triathalon at Jimbaran Bay (Olympic distance), and then also the Ironman 70.3 in Camarines Sur, Phillipines. It's going to be the route that eventually takes me through Tokyo and then back home. I also have a couple more stops eyed, but for now, this is good.
Yesterday, I was watching Seabiscuit on TV. Fitting, beautiful movie. I'll come back to that. On the website for the Bali tri, there was a disclaimer that there are no places to rent touring road bikes on the island, but that there are mountain bikes available. And that's fine...at least right now, it's not gonna be about the time. I'm imagining the same thing will happen in the half Ironman, which is a damn long way to ride when your competition is riding on magic wheels. Anyway, in Seabiscuit, the narrator talks about the horse's upbringing, about how it was raised to train with the prize ponies and then pull up short at the finish and lose on purpose so that the other horse's confidence could build and build. Meanwhile, Seabiscuit turned to fire and brimstone used every one of those losses to sharpen the growing chip on his shoulder so that one day when his time came, he could just fly. Beautiful, beautiful movie. I'm gonna try to play it like he played it when I get passed by the Euros on their eight thousand dollar bikes, getting lapped by competitors with lesser guts, giving less than me and zooming past. I'm gonna let it build me and build me, so that when my time does come, I can just fly.
Feels like I'm dropping stakes. Like I'm on my way.
