August 31, 2007 - Go Time

Well, it’s that time of year again: the time when I get less than 4:00 minutes to justify 365 days of training, preparing, and visualizing.  I really hate these last several hours and just wish that I could spin the clock up until our 2:00 PM race time.

One thing I’ve learned between last year and this year is that emotional pumpedness—I coined that word myself so don’t use it without citing, please—doesn’t have much to do with success or failure.  Mental focus is important, of course, as is psychological soundness.  Most important, though, is preparation. 

This year I am not as psyched about the finals as I was last year, but that actually makes me feel more prepared.  In a way, this is the ultimate test of the transformation in thought that I have espoused for the past several months.  I am confident that I really have matured because I know, regardless of the events of tomorrow, that I will be satisfied with my effort and glad for the growth I’ve achieved over the last year of training.

Still, I want to win.  Bringing back a medal would be an incredible honor.  There are between 120 and 140 strokes between the starting blocks and the finish line, though, and those are what should command my attention, not the few seconds I might spend on the medal stand. 

The race is inevitable; winning is not.  The race, then, is my goal.  I want to row beautifully and powerfully.  I want to spill out all my energy and cross the line with my last strength.  I want to be confident that the effort I give was the best I could have mustered.  If I do that, it will be enough.  It would still hurt to come away empty handed, but I won’t feel truly empty, in the deeper and more important sense, if I row as I intend.

Pray for me to have lungs, legs, hands, and, most importantly, heart.  I will need it.