Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Monday stuff in two parts

 The face that reveals nothing.  Me this morning, looking exactly like I do when I'm happy.

Part I - A curious case of sadness

I woke up a little sad today.  At first, I wasn't sure why.  Nothing bad happened yesterday that was carrying over into the new day.  I didn't feel sick, nor did anyone in the house.  The overnight emails contained little drama, in fact there was plenty of good news.  And I didn't have any boring conference calls or other annoying distractions on the day's schedule.

Then I realized I was sad because the San Diego Triathlon was over.  It was like being a little kid waking up the day after Christmas - months of anticipation where over.  Santa brought the train set but not the skates.  But Christmas had been a great day that ended too quickly. 

I thought this was kind of irrational for me.  The name of my blog is "The Road" after all, and by my own definition of same there isn't meant to be a finish line.  Races are periodic opportunities to measure gains and share in the joys of the sport with others.  There was nothing at stake yesterday - it was always meant to be just another fun day out.  And I have another race in 3 weeks.

I didn't stay sad for long.  I was back to my normal self by mid-day and in the pool tonight with my coach Sammy.  When I got home from swimming, I fired up the Tri-Calc Iphone application to start setting goals for Solana Beach.  Order was restored to the Universe.

Still, today was the first time I was able to use "sad" and "triathlon" in the same sentence.  Like I've said recently, this experience keeps getting deeper and deeper.  So maybe I shouldn't be surprised that the emotions become more complex.  Triathlon has become such a big part of me that I guess I should expect it to roll like everything else in life.  Something to think about.

 Another look at my crappy tattoos.

Part II - Possible inspiration for a new tattoo

Yesterday I admitted I am unhappy with the tattoos on my left shoulder, and that something needed to be done.  I got them both in 1994.  I was on tour with the band in Europe.  We had a week's worth of UK dates blown out due to screwed up work permits.  So we had a week off in Hamburg with little money and too much time.  There was a Scottish tattoo artist in residence where we where staying, and by the end of the week just about everyone had some work done.  The problem was that she wasn't very good and I chose poorly.  One of them isn't even finished.  And they look super dated.

I've thought about getting them removed.  Except you can take the kid out of the punk rock but you can't take the punk rock out of the kid.  I'm down for tattoos, just not THESE tattoos.  I've been thinking for years that I should just get my whole arm done from the shoulder to the elbow.  But I've never got around to it and I had no clue what I should cover them up with.

Today I started thinking that maybe I should think multi-sport.  I know a lot of people get M-Dot tattoos, but I wonder how many people get triathlon (half) sleeves?

I need to think about this some more, but I have a feeling that the thought may stick.  The problem is that I don't have any artwork ideas.  If anyone has design suggestions, I'm all ears.

16 comments:

valen said...

post race depression??!.. you are quite right, triathlon is like everything else good and bad. Mostly good, though.
re: tatoo... looks like you are a black and white type of guy, and triathlon doesn't quite fit. U thinking in colours?

Tri-James said...

You are goal oriented. You had to have somewhere for ‘the road’ to go. You just needed direction.

Matty O said...

That happens to me after my big races. I pepper my schedule with small races to get me to my final destination.

I think as long as you keep giving yourself good goals and destinations your feelings will remain in check.

skierz said...

sounds like the sport is becoming a part of what you do! that is awesome! Looking forward to seeing the revised ink on your arm! (can't contribute, i suck at art)

Laura said...

I was the same way but more when we hadn't started back into our training again. I am not a 'just run easy, do different things' kind of person. Tell me when to run, how far, how hard and I will do it. I have a (very) old tat I want redone but no idea how to fix it.

Unknown said...

Lots of highs and lows in this little sport of ours - time to reset and move forward!

good luck with the artwork decision.

KovasP said...

Without seeing it in person, hard to suggest new art, but I'm thinking that the big circle could be converted to a bike tire and the band to waves. That leaves a running piece and how to make them meld - good to go!

Rickoray said...

Bad Tattoos are great... I am in your club... a hard core punker friend of mine who is fully sleeved with some really good and really bad tattoos had some good perspective on this topic... he actually thinks bad tattoos are way better than good tattoos... call me if you need some leads for some great tattoo artist that could help with your situation... it looks like you have a lot of negative space in your tats which will make the retread fairly easy... Great Post!

Emz said...

it's called PTS.
Post triathlon syndrome. When's your next one? ;)

misszippy said...

I think that's a fairly normal reaction post-race. I definitely get it. But alas, training for the next one is the best cure, as you've figured out!

Jennifer said...

I was looking so hard and was trying to figure out why you had a 576 tattoo on your arm. Duh. I actually opened my eyes and saw it was your race number. Cheers!

Barbie said...

3 weeks till your next Tri is not long at all, it'll be here before you know it.

I absolutely love tatt's I have one big one that covers one side of my belly. My next one should my hubby allow is after i do the 70.3 I would like to get the swim, bike, run logo.

DRog said...

Love Rickoray comment regarding the "retread" also enjoyed reading about your ink and the story...like your thought process to have more / additional / add on / retread....I'm dying for my second.

Great that you have a race coming up so soon!

64 CLASSIC said...

Several of the posts above are exactly right... the depression thing is completely normal after finishing the big event you've trained for for weeks.

Now its called--get ready for the next one!!

Can't comment on how to help the tatoo problem, am strapped with a barbwire one myself. Its pretty manly... manly?? Ok, redneck??

Lindsay said...

i've definitely had post-race depression before. you work for weeks and months training for a race and then... it's just over. sure there is still more 'to do' but you anticipated the day for so long nonetheless.

can't help you with the tattoos. i can barely decide on a paint color for a room, which is slightly easier to redo vs a tattoo.

Unknown said...

I like the idea of incorporating m-dot as large tattoo. Check out triclique.com for a cool tri logo.

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