Dirt

Today: One of those days. Woke at midnight with the chills. Woke at 0200 sweating like in Bikram class. Woke at 0300, lost and lonely, delirious from fear of failure dreams. Woke at 0330 needing to pee. Woke at 0400 because that is the time I normally wake. Woke at 0500 because I was exhausted from all the waking. Woke at 0545 because it was do or die for yoga and I said I would be there. Woke at 0745 because of PTW testing appointments.

Felt like dirt all day. I know you are thinking that dirt doesn't feel, and that is right, I couldn't feel ANYTHING but pain. As first Dianne and then Bob hammered out the 15mile BAC power-to-weight course, I slid into the sauna (praying that no one was there so I could get horizontal), and tried to come to grips with the dirt.

Once back in the friendly confines of the studio, the dirtiness has started to subside and now, almost five, I feel quasi-human again. Human enough to post anyway. There will be no dancing tonight!

That will change tomorrow, however, as after the Huskies/Stanford game, I will be dancing in the street, all due respect to Martha and the Vandellas.
This is the big one folks. My dashing young Dawgs are back, out of the pound and hungry for red meat. We have waited (not so patiently at times) for this game. Stanford is good. Borderline great. Luck has been on their side. The history of this series is legendary. I will drop some names here: Sixkiller, Plunkett, Elway, Brunell, Gebhart, Kaufman, C. Williams, Marques Tui (he of 300/200 fame). I could go on, but I will spare you (because this is supposed to be a triathlon training and racing blog), and cut to the chase.

The Huskies are gong to win tomorrow, despite being 21 point road underdogs. Because of these four factors (which you can also coincidently use in your training and racing):

1) They have nothing to lose because everyone in the western Hemisphere expects them to get slaughtered.
2) They are young, talented, fast, coachable, and (now) FEARLESS.
3) They will find out tomorrow the absolute exhilarating sensation of doing what others tell you you cannot.
4) They have confidence and now they have the necessary experience to be BOLD.

All this could not have come at a better time. Our destiny awaits. Sometimes ya gotta eat a little dirt to taste the sweetness of victory.

Pix from the iPhone vault: Last Saturday at the Clink where The Apple Cup will be played come November 26 (opening night of Cougar season). RCVman masquerading as a Sounders fan, hot Tuscan bean soup tastes so much better beneath a classic 40's track bike, Bob KILLS his ptw test this morning in the HoM.