Gettin' By

My standard response when someone asked me how I was doing always used to be "gettin' by." In other words, I wasn't quite horrible, but wasn't fantastic either. In the past couple of months, I've seldom used that response. Maybe it's because I'm happier and have less stress in my life than I did in the last dark days before I quit my other job. Whatever the reason, just getting by has become somewhat unacceptable. That's not to say that I'm going to be fabulous all the time now, but I shouldn't be satisfied with merely surviving.

Now that I've finished practically breaking my arm patting myself on the back for my performance at Barry-Roubaix, I want to stop and think about what getting by means in terms of racing. Last year that's just what I was doing. It was my learning year, and that meant I was somewhat satisfied with just finishing because it meant surviving.

I'm not sure exactly what that means, but I think setting some pretty aggressive goals for myself in my races, beginning with Yankee, is a start.

My 2008 time was 1:47, which is pretty slow for 13 miles. Now I know that last year the race was run backward, which means it won't be an exact comparison. Even so, I think I can still set some goals based on that number. In the next couple weeks, I'll be trying to figure out what my time this year should be.

By the way, if anyone wants to read a less self-congratulatory race report from Barry-Roubaix, visit Michigan Mountain Bike Racing. I've posted a more generic summary of the race there.