I suppose sitting here on the side of the road, waiting for my wife to come pick me up, can be shown as yet another example of can do versus will do. I definitely set out on this handcycle ride with the can do attitude. That wasn't enough and after 33 miles - I just couldn't go any farther. Let me see,
Can do:
Ride east, go far, turn around at some point and ride home. Pretending it was race day, I set my fastest pace yet and was pretty excited to have crossed the 30 mile mark in record time. However, I did this even though I stayed up late and drank some amount - let's leave it at some - of wine the night before. I didn't bring enough fluids with me and I had no source of sustaining calories.
I think the can do attitude gets you only so far...and right now that's 10 miles short of home.
Will do:
Plan, prepare, execute. When I say that I'll do something I not only have to believe that I can do it but I have to include what I need to do for it to get a real shot.
What is this going to take?
How much am I going to need to give?
Setting goals, dreaming up fantastic endeavours, it all counts for crap if you don't also figure out a way to make it happen - day in, day out.
There is more to determination than wanting it.
My goal is to go down to Texas and earn a spot in Kona. I've tried to play it off as unlikely and that this is simply a fun event that I want to enjoy and complete.
Yet, that is not what I TRULY feel and I must be attuned to my desires...otherwise, there will be a time, as there has been in the past - when all I can say is:
"I could have".
The size of that goal comes with even larger demands. Training isn't just sweating a couple times a day, eating right, and planning for the physical task ahead. More is required, yet it's easier for me to go out for a ride than it is to get all my stuff prepared for the next day, after a ride.
Diligence pays those dues.
As Rudy Garcia-Tolson advised me recently:
"train hard - stay focused."
If that's your juice man....then we should all drink up!
-Ajk