the race has just begun

Written for the USC Triathlon Newsletter 10-05-06:

So many things to say. So many things to do. And so little time and so little space to do it in. And it's all just flying by. The training, the racing, the recovery. It's all just flying by, as sands washing along the shore.

And you've told yourself what it is you want to do. And you've told your family the reasons why. And you've packed everything that you needed. And now...Now it's race day. Game day. Time to get suited, booted, rooted, and centered on the mission to finish the race that you've started. And there is no turning back.

Because you're here. You're lined up. The water is waiting, the bike is calling, and the run is nodding. Now. Now. Now. The race is now. Now. Now. NOW.

And just like that, you'll begin. And you won't know anything else. Because you will focus, and become the moment, and reach the tao and the zen, and find yourself within as far as you can journey across the far without, and know that everything that you will know will be known to you by you through you and only you.

And in the race, you'll go farther than you ever thought. And you'll leave the world you left behind. No home and no bed. No pets and no toys. No mom and no dad. Not even siblings, friends, lovers, or strangers. Nothing. It will all be left behind.

And just when you think you're getting close....just when you think you've found who it is you really are...just when you realize that you are so much more than the person who left home, you'll find out there are mysteries within yourself lying far beyond the horizons you have just begun to explore.

And then you'll want more.

And the race will be over. And people will be going to their homes. And they'll be retrieving their toys. And they'll be embraced once again by mom and dad.

But deep down inside, unspoken and unshared, away from the world around you, you'll know that the journey has just begun. You'll know that it's not over. You'll know that you can't go back.

You'll know, because you started. You'll know, because you are on the path. You'll know, because no race ever truly ends.