A Nice Surprise
When I finished my last climb Saturday and returned to the basement to give the chip to the timing people, Hubby asked me how many climbs I finished. I said 7. He gave me that little smile that says I'm doing some wishful thinking then replied, "I think you only did 5." I was devastated. I really, really wanted to have finished 7 climbs. I wallowed in my sadness for a few minutes, thinking maybe I goofed up on my counts, but to have added two extra climbs in was just more than my fairly logical brain could handle. Could I have been that off? After showering and packing up to head home, we returned to the ballroom to get something to eat and to check the results. What was posted on the bulletin board made me a little happier. I was listed as having completed 6 climbs. Part of my disappointment dissipated upon seeing this, and during the drive home, I made some peace with not having accomplished my goal of 7 climbs.
All day yesterday I waited for the official results to be posted. Finally, later in the evening, I found the results. I scrolled down, trying to find my name, and I finally found me at having finished 119th out of 416 participants. I'll take that, I thought, happy with being near the top 25%. Of the women in my age bracket, I finished 10th out of 20+. Again, I thought not a bad showing considering I'd never completed a climb before. Overall, the sadness from not having completed 7 climbs became overshadowed by having done well in general.
Today, I received the "official" official results for the Ultimate climb directly from the timing company. I scrolled down to the 6 climbs category to look at my times for each climb. My name wasn't there. I looked at the 5 climbs category, and my name wasn't there. I scrolled up to the 7 climbs category. There, in the third place slot, was my name with the times for each of my climbs. I double checked everything to be sure it was really me--my name, my bib number, my age, my gender. Yes, I truly had completed 7 climbs. Just as I had thought on Saturday.
I did achieve both of my goals, and while this may not seem like a big deal, knowing that I actually did accomplish what I set out to do, that I found it within myself to keep going though my head and body were asking for some relief, means a lot to me. I've struggled with getting past the negative thoughts, the desire to just stop. Knowing I didn't give in on Saturday, knowing all the practice of positive thinking I've been working on to improve my performance show me I truly do have the strength to accomplish even more.
All day yesterday I waited for the official results to be posted. Finally, later in the evening, I found the results. I scrolled down, trying to find my name, and I finally found me at having finished 119th out of 416 participants. I'll take that, I thought, happy with being near the top 25%. Of the women in my age bracket, I finished 10th out of 20+. Again, I thought not a bad showing considering I'd never completed a climb before. Overall, the sadness from not having completed 7 climbs became overshadowed by having done well in general.
Today, I received the "official" official results for the Ultimate climb directly from the timing company. I scrolled down to the 6 climbs category to look at my times for each climb. My name wasn't there. I looked at the 5 climbs category, and my name wasn't there. I scrolled up to the 7 climbs category. There, in the third place slot, was my name with the times for each of my climbs. I double checked everything to be sure it was really me--my name, my bib number, my age, my gender. Yes, I truly had completed 7 climbs. Just as I had thought on Saturday.
Place No. Ult.C Name Age S 1stclim 2ndclim 3rdclim 4thclim 5thclim 6thclim 7thclim Total
3 38 X Jennifer C 46 F 4:58 7:06 6:19 6:13 6:38 6:22 6:21 43:57
I did achieve both of my goals, and while this may not seem like a big deal, knowing that I actually did accomplish what I set out to do, that I found it within myself to keep going though my head and body were asking for some relief, means a lot to me. I've struggled with getting past the negative thoughts, the desire to just stop. Knowing I didn't give in on Saturday, knowing all the practice of positive thinking I've been working on to improve my performance show me I truly do have the strength to accomplish even more.
Comments
Good job!