Tomorrow's Goal: Be like a bee

Well folks, it's almost here... my first triathlon. Luckily, the gods have taken pity on us poor Montanans and thrown some sunshine and 70 degree days our way, after beating us down with 4" of snow and 30-degree temps earlier this week.

So, as Jimmy B would say, "the weather is here."

I took my bike by the shop today for a lube job. My gear is all laid out on my living room floor where I've practiced my transitions a few times today. I went for a beautiful super easy-paced bike ride in Glacier Park this morning (not hard to resist going faster when there's such great scenery to gawk at!). And I'm on my way to pick up my race packet in just a few minutes.

Everything's in order. I'm ready to roll. And for a little extra information, I re-read one of my favorite stories this morning. I'll share:

"A few years ago, the story goes, scientists at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) developed an interest in the bumblebee. The lab folks reckoned that the little insect held some secrets of flight that may provide answers to questions about operating in space. After all, they asked, how could such small wings produce efficient lift for a relatively large and hairy torso? And how could a round body and flight position that violated many principles of aerodynamics move so effectively through the air? Indeed, there was much to learn from the little hummer.

So the scientists set about studying the bumblebee to discover its flying secrets. As scientists always do, they hypothesized about, scritinized, examined, dissected, measured, timed, filmed, observed, compared, quantified, thought about and debated the bumblebee. After weeks of study they came to one conclusion: Bumblebees are not capable of flight.

Fortunately, no one told the bumblebee. The silly insects go right on believing that flight is normal for them despite what the best minds in the scientific world know as fact.

We can learn a lot from the bumblebee. The single most critical piece of the multisport puzzle is believing in yourself and your capacity to succeed. "If you thin you can or think you can't," automobile manufacturer Henry Ford said, "you're probably right." The bumblebee thinks it can fly. Actually, the thought of anything else never even crosses its tiny mind. It just keeps on flying."

(from The Triathlete's Training Bible, by Joe Friel)

Stay tuned for a race report...