Hoarding

Used to be I was really afraid, and I mean
afraid, that I wouldn't have enough energy
for practice.
That sometime during, after I'd worked as
hard as I could, I'd grind to a halt, worn
down and worn out.
Thinking I wouldn't have enough juice, I
became an energy horder.
Perhaps because I found inline skating such
a challenge. Physically it whooped my ass
and emotionally?
Well, it's been a large part of my evolution.
July 21st, the day I fly out of Omaha after
Nationals, marks the 4Th anniversary of
meeting up with with a group of people that
became my team, and family.
Rolling around on fitness skates had become
very boring the first summer I had a pair and
then my next door neighbor mentioned something
called "Sports Fest".
He had attended it for it's weight lifting
competition.
Included among many other sport competitions
were skating races.
Giving me his event booklet to look through
I found the phone number of the inline skating
coordinator, called, left a message, and a
week or so later some guy named Bob, called me
back. After a brief chat, he told me where I
could meet up with a group of other skaters,
a team called SOS.
I was really excited driving to the location
he'd given me!
Little did I know how high over my skill level
they all were, or how long it would take me to
reach the same place.
Truly, I was awful in comparison.
Didn't matter to them.
Only mattered that I'd shown up.
And now, four years latter, I'm going to
Nationals.
And that guy Bob?
Well, he became the coach of the Team.
Skaters have come and gone.
Kids have grown up and gone to college, adults
have lost interest and left.
I even came, went, and came back again.
A time or two..
It still worries me that I won't have the
energy needed to get through practice.
Because it takes days for me to recover from
a hard one.
Last night, after the first sprint build up
drill, Bob gathered us around and told us that
it was the last "hard" work we'd do.
With only 9 days to go we are on a taper.
Those of us going to Nationals are getting
giddy with excitement!!
We are going to have a blast together!
We have been prepared.
The hard work will pay off.
We will not only see the podium, we will be
standing on it!!