Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Keep Your Obsessions All To Yourself

Fans can be fanatics. We can shift our lifestyle from decent to decadent within seconds. Elimination and simplicity may be our excuses to fulfill a personal goal instead of being considerate. We have heard of golf-widows, however it no different from families of endurance athletes, who ‘suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous behaviors’.

Endurance athletes can be indulgent. We can be so single-minded in our physical pursuits that we deliberately miss many moments of the day, while chasing other tasks that revolve around routine (but disciplined). Triathletes are creatures of habit. We seem to engage by a clockwork-mechanism that lets a scheduled day dictate our activities. And, we are horrified and petrified when our routine is affected by other exigencies or, heaven forbid, acts of God. Inclement weather throws a celestial spanner in our un-shuffled mortal coil, and mucks up the delicate machinery of an online coaching program.

With our highly developed tunnel vision, we see the world in various shades of branded tri-gear. We shriek like school-kids when we are presented with the latest toys (for adults). Remember the sensation of holding your Garmin 910 watch for the very first time? What about that feather-light pair of Brooks runners? Or, those carbon-soled riding shoes that had a comfortable toe-box that did not strangle your near-arthritic toes? Not to mention, the personal best (PBs) times you earned this year.

And, our ‘partners-in-life’ and ‘in-crime’ – they bear with it through their well-acted smiles of apparent approval. We always wonder when that Chesire Cat grin will deteriorate into a mangled mess of facial contortions. Are we exceeding our boundaries of what’s appropriate?

Here is a very good piece by an empathetic sports-spouse.

Shall we band together – just for this week – and throttle down our unbridled enthusiasm, passion and lust for our lives and spare a thought for our supportive family and friends? This could mean more rest, and more chance of recovering from our badges of injury. After I finish my deep, static, calf stretches would you mind rolling me that golf-ball from your foot to mine? This plantar fasciitis is giving me grief, and I have hill repeats to do this evening. I mean, next week…

There’s always next week to catch up.

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