It turns out, when you start participating in a sport, you have a lot less time to be a sports fan. I used to be a near-professional basketball fan, and this was my time. March Madness. I would watch so much basketball leading up to Selection Sunday, that I was one of those people who knew who was injured who wasn't, which player match ups were going to bust brackets and which little-known teams had a chance to become the Cinderella story of the year.
And this year? Wow. My pick to win it all went out in the round of 32. Yes, that is right. Gonzaga. Zags didn't even make Sweet 16. And know how I chose them? The new Pope is Jesuit and so are they and Creighton wasn't highly ranked and Georgetown always chokes (hey, some things never change, I at least STILL got that one right).
Now part of that is that the game has changed and even the experts were talking about the improved parity of the sport, mostly caused by the fact that big money and powerhouse schools who recruit big time players tend to lose them after one or two years and can't hold together a team -- given smaller school the chance to put together some teams with some consistency. But this doesn't justify the disaster which my bracket has become.
Prior to the beginning of the tournament, I had watched exactly one half of one basketball game - Georgetown men vs. Syracuse. Why? Because I have been busy learning and training for my own sport. I am about 13 weeks out from the big race, and training has become about 13-15 hours a week. That doesn't count all the transportation to and from practices, all the time spent doing laundry (my goodness, how much laundry can one person produce!!??) and all the time making sure I have the right bag with the right equipment for the right session - goggles, swimsuit, towel, post swim clothes, bike shoes, bike socks, helmet, bike emergency kit, road id, sunglasses, jacket/arm warmers/vest, gloves, booties, gels, water, electrolytes, running shoes, running socks, running jersey, heart rate monitor, gloves, Garmin, compression socks, running hat, sunscreen, lip balm, running belt... phew.. exhausted just thinking about it.
Then there is all the time at home cleaning the gear and putting it away. I was joking with one of my friends today that sometimes I feel like when I am out swimming/biking/running that triathlon goblins come into my house and move everything around.
What's my point? I don't think I really have a good one. Other than it takes a lot of time management and stuff management to train for this race. I knew it was coming, and now that it is here I am making sure to build downtime by myself into my schedule to do things like read -- or sit and watch basketball.
Oh - and thank you Universe for recovery week.
 |
| My teammate Katie and I carrying our team mascot, cardboard Ryan Lochte in today's Scope It Out 5K. Of course, we each got our real (slow) mileage in before the race so we could focus on silliness during. |
Labels: basketball, bike, equipment, injury, laundry, Ryan Lochte, time management, triathlon