Thursday 14 August 2008

the unexpected flop


This week has brought it into sharp focus - Olympians singularly failing to perform close to expectations and on a slightly more mundane level, my own efforts in this weeks evening 10 mile time trial.


The omens were not great - a good soaking just before sign on, plenty of hanging around getting cold and an abortive attempt to get warm and warmed up before the start. A minute slower than last week in similar conditions, and the consequent bruised ego led me to muse on those performances that singularly fail to impress ourselves, let alone anyone else.

What then drives us non-olympians on again - certainly not the prospect of gold at the next games, or the world championships next time round. Maybe its just the sheer pleasure of getting out there again, trying once more and suffering yet again that bizarrely spurs us on regardless of the results.

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