Even though it was only 28*F on todays run, I could feel spring in the air and with spring the race days are getting closer.

I didn't write the words below, but I've had a copy on the wall where I would pass everyday before a workout. It helped to get me thru some of those long, cold winter training sessions.

Good luck to everyone in the new season.

06.59 AM

As triathletes, we are all known to make lists of goals and things we need to get accomplished. Known as obsessive control freaks with type-A personalities, triathletes have something going on all the time. 6.59 AM. "Just another moment in time," you might say. True. But it's also one minute before the start of triathlons around the world. This is the moment when can you reflect on the hard work you've done to get to the start of that event and on the people who have helped you get there. This is the moment when quiet thoughts are soothing. You're floating in water surrounded by 2,000 people. You just said goodbye to your friends and family.

That moment, 6.59 AM. When you need that extra push of motivation, think about 6.59 AM, the moment when you no longer have anything else to check off your pre-race checklist, nothing else to take care of that is even remotely within your reach, only seconds away until your inner peace gets disrupted by a cannon blast. The moment you learn not to consider yourself as part of an individual race, country or religion, just simply a human being, and triathlon is your exploration and discovery on how strong we all are in mind, body and spirit. Your finishing time will not matter. What matters is who you meet and how many new friends you make on your way to the finish line. Regardless of what happens, everyone you have ever met, everything you have ever said, every choice you have ever made has led you here. The elements have conspired to bring you to this place, to this very moment. Only you can choose. It is only you against yourself, against hope, against doubt, against pain.