Musselman Reflections by Joella Baker
Every year, the Musselman Triathlon Festival is one of my favorite events to attend. Although I didn't feel as ready for the race this year, I was still excited because we had so many first time athletes heading up. The weekend was a lot of fun with great food, (slow service) but great food, great friends and best of all, a private Mass with Fr. Bob, Fr. Mike and Fr. Ed. I'm pretty sure having Mass in a Gazebo by the lake on
Every year, the Musselman Triathlon Festival is one of my favorite events to attend. Although I didn't feel as ready for the race this year, I was still excited because we had so many first time athletes heading up. The weekend was a lot of fun with great food, (slow service) but great food, great friends and best of all, a private Mass with Fr. Bob, Fr. Mike and Fr. Ed. I'm pretty sure having Mass in a Gazebo by the lake on
Saturday night put everything into perspective about why we do this. As Fr. Bob stated in his homily that night, we all have different reasons as to why we compete. It may be for the challenge, to stay in shape, to have fun or even to win. I think after Mass and as tough as this year's race was, it also opened my eyes to why I do this. It used to be to set new goals for myself, to work hard and achieve new PR's and race records and of course to place or win in my age group. However, what I felt that Saturday and Sunday wasn't nerves for me, but for all of you. Perhaps my perspective on racing has changed. Perhaps my focus is no longer on myself, but more on all of you achieving your goals. As I coach more, I continue to find it harder to train for my own races. I guess it's because I want to see all of you succeed in what I'm training you for. The truth is, I'm ok with that. It doesn't mean I won't sneak away and work my tail off as World's quickly approaches, but I now know if I'm at a race with all of you, I'm no longer focused on myself, but more focused on where all of you are. What goes through my mind on race day was if you all were ok, if you're reaching your goals, hitting your splits, if Zachary was lost somewhere and wouldn't make his race in time. At the Dam Tri and at Musselman, I kept finding myself more focused on all of you than myself. I guess I really am turning into a coach and not just an athlete.
With that being said, I can't say enough about our team that went to Musselman. Nothing could have prepared us for the conditions we faced that weekend and I'm proud to say our entire team finished. That wasn't the case with a lot of other teams up there, but our team did extremely well. Thanks to all of you for participating at Musselman and doing your best. It was truly one of my proudest moments as a coach knowing that all of you finished. Well done everyone!
With that being said, I can't say enough about our team that went to Musselman. Nothing could have prepared us for the conditions we faced that weekend and I'm proud to say our entire team finished. That wasn't the case with a lot of other teams up there, but our team did extremely well. Thanks to all of you for participating at Musselman and doing your best. It was truly one of my proudest moments as a coach knowing that all of you finished. Well done everyone!