The Dark Artist 'Inevitability'

The mind tends to find interesting places to vacation when one is told to lie still for approximately 27 minutes. For someone attention disordered (ahem, undiagnosed) lying still for almost half of an hour is quite a challenge. Through several deep breaths I wandered away, reliving the amazing road trip Amber and I experienced last winter from Seattle to Miami.

I'm glad I drifted off, because I needed to get away from myself. Lying in the MRI tube, I realized how inevitability managed to paint everything around me in dark colors. Stressed, depressed and all sorts of other "essed". After six months of hard training, everything had come to a screeching halt because of a nagging pain in my left knee.

"My hands are numb."

"Everyone's hands go numb. The results will be available in two-to-three days."

The results were positive. Everything looks "normal" according to the doc. I asked if maybe they should have done a brain scan, but I was assured it was not necessary.

The diagnosis? some kind of strain or sprain. The remedy? No running for three weeks, no intensity on the bike.

And with that, the Great Floridian Triathlon suddenly turned into something other than a race. Without these critical weeks building run volume, I know that I will not be prepared to run well in Clermont.

At first, I had a hard time with this. Four months ago, I blasted through the Gator Half Iron to a 4:13 finish and felt invincible. I was favored to win the 25-29M group at the Key Biscayne Trilogy series and, after two of three races, sat 9th overall. Now I'm amid the most important phase of my build up to Clermont and I can't run.

I thought about our road trip. I thought about how much is out there and how lucky we were to catch just a glimpse of it. Then I thought about this fund raising effort for Outward Bound, and the incredible response so far. In the end, my race time is of little significance. It would be nice to race to my full potential but that is not the point. The ride, so to speak, is no longer the race itself.

Thinking back, I smile and realize it never really was.