Week 46: The General

I have a friend Cheryl who would make a great "military man".  I say this with a slight chuckle because she and I grew up in military families and both have deep memories of what that means.  You want Cheryl on your side when you go to battle.  She does her research.  She finds out all the strengths and weaknesses of her enemies and figures out how to arrange her own strengths and weaknesses to compete against them.  She has helped me learn what that is all about and she has made it fun.  In the military, Cheryl would be a full bird.  A full colonel.  And I would be a LTC, learning from her along the way.  She has a couple more years experience in tris than I do and I stick close to her and absorb her knowledge like a sponge.

This week Cheryl became more like a general for me.  Because sometimes instead of the tactical day to day info of competing in war (or tris), you need someone who looks at the big picture.  You need someone who will say you can win the war when you are down in the trenches and really think you've lost it.  You need someone who simply will not accept no for an answer.  Someone who reminds you of why you started this journey.

Luckily for me Cheryl wasn't the only general.  I had lots of them this week.  In fact, I had so many generals telling me I could win the war that I didn't really have any choice other than to say "yes" I can and I will. 

There was a period of about 48 hours when I didn't think I'd be able to train again this year.  And no way possibly compete.  Every flower, kind word, cup of coffee, text, phone call, singing balloon, bar of chocolate and jar of popcorn helped me see that I can.  And I will.  Thank you.  Thank you all for listening to the whining and crying but not believing in it.