What's my next 32?

“You don't have to be a hero to accomplish great things---to compete. You can just be an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated to reach challenging goals.” Sir Edmund Hillary

Today is April 1st, and after writing about 300 uninspired whiny ass words about the current situation and promptly filed it away. Nobody needs that. I had almost forgotten that today should be a celebration for me. I'm a terrible celebrator. Instead, I like to slow drip my narcissism over you like Chinese water torture, or whatever the PC term for that is these days.

Today marks 13 years that I did the single greatest workout thing of my life. It's why I am here. It's why Rocketkidz/Rocketchix came to be and ergo, the races I am a part of now.

It was a bad idea that taught me about what I am capable of, and also the difficulty of raising $$ and executing after the fact.

After Hurricane Katrina, I was training for the Austin Marathon in early 2006. 3 weeks out my IT bands decided they'd had enough and I hobbled through 13.1 miles of the race to take the bus home. Upon my return, I told a friend, "I bet I could swim a marathon before I run one." And so a bad idea was hatched. I'd swim from Ocean Springs, MS to Bay St. Louis, MS to raise money for kids programs on the Coast and here.

While it was about that, it was more about me. As time goes by, I know that to be the case. Self awareness of your douchebaggery is the first step to combatting it, I hear. I had closed a business and was neck deep in it. The swim was my way back.

That distance was 32 miles give or take. I swam from 6 pm until 10 am the next morning with a team of friends who kept me safe. I walked up on the beach the next day forever changed.

Today I am sitting here just like the rest of you, not knowing what's next. It's scary as hell and also though a little part of me is excited. Seems weird, but it's true.

I'm not swimming 32 miles again, but there's something here, something I'm not seeing that's the next step to finding my way back again.

So today instead of moping around. I'm going to go back to a time when I felt like the baddest mofo around. I'm going to channel that into something positive today.

15 hours in the water defined the next decade of my life. Now it's time to define the rest.

I've attached a link to the TEDxLSU talk that was about my swim. I sometimes wish I could do this over as my thoughts have evolved since then, but I'm also proud of it.

Have a great day good people.

#hugsandhi5s