Eric Clarkson

Finishing my first sprint triathlon was a big deal for absolutely no one but myself.  But for me, it was huge, because it proved that my knee was doing much better, and could carry me through more than one hour of physical stress without suffering any ill effects.  I can't help but feel good about how far I've come since May 30th of this year, when I was doing absolutely no regular exercise, and still feeling so much knee pain that every trip up and down the stairs of our house made me wince, and I avoided running and hiking altogether.  And I feel immense gratitude that my body has made it through these five months of gradually more intense training, and I can now run five miles or more without noticing pain (other than occasional minor twinges).

I might pursue this crazy sport for a couple more years.  But whatever I do with it--I have this new body, and a new, rejuvenated outlook for all the other pursuits in my life.  The value of that is truly beyond measure.

While I was preparing for my first triathlon, one triathlete's blog in particular held my interest because of its modest, thoughtful tone.  Some triathletes are obviously blogging just to celebrate themselves, the great times they are achieving in races, how tough they are, and so on.  Eric Clarkson writes with obvious love for the sport and with immense gratitude for the experience itself, and his fellow triathletes--not with his ego front and center.  

I learned a lot about how to approach races, and life, from reading his blog, and for that, I am grateful to him.  He announced in his blog recently that he's retiring as a professional triathlete.  I wish him the best; he's only in his mid-thirties so whatever he takes up, I'm sure we'll be hearing more about him soon.