9/11. A heavy day

True that the topic of September 11 has little to do with triathlon training directly, but perhaps some thoughts are worth mentioning anyway?

I moved to NYC in September of 2002, almost a year after the attack.  I watched it live from the safety of my living room in Albuquerque, NM.  And yet, as I sit in my office (clearly procrastinating the work I need to do) I am surprised still by how raw this city is on this day.

Getting out of the train this morning, there were countless uniformed soldiers standing guard.  Not police, mind you, but soldiers.  They were packing some fairly impressive rifles that I'm sure have clever alpha-numeric names that raise some eyebrows at the nearest gun show (which is probably in Texas).

I'm also somewhat certain that these soldiers undergo the same training that the dudes who do the changing of the guards go through.  These are not cheery folk.  They look serious.  Science fiction serious.  I cautiously avert my eyes from making contact as I'm sure they will disable me without second thought.  Good to have these folks.  In their shoes, I would smile and nod at everyone wishing them the best day possible.  I would be relieved of my duties rather quickly, methinks.

Point is: today is heavy.  So many years later, you can still feel it in the air.  Most of us push on and treat it like any day, but I think it's safe to say that most NYers are a little on edge today.

Which leads me to a larger point.  The world is kinda freakin' crazy right now.  If you'd like to avoid sleeping tonight due to anxiety driven insomnia, just listen to what Diane Sawyer has to say on the news.  This is not a happy broadcast.  If you'd like to really freak yourself out, give BBC a try.  The Brits apparently don't need a happy feel-good story every now and then.  Their news, while more accurate, reads like a horror film.  Fox news is also terrifying, but in a rather different way entirely.

So why, you may ask, am I taking the opportunity to mention it on a triathlon themed blog?  I think it's because on a day like this I am reminded about how terrifically short life can be.  Life is a precious gift that should be experienced fully and deeply.  There are few experiences in my life that make me feel more alive, more awake, more connected, than completing a goal I had previously dreamed up.  That's what racing is to me: living, awakening, connecting.

These are just the thoughts of one guy who does crazy stuff to feel more alive but maybe, just maybe, if more of us could find how to reach this state of being, we wouldn't feel as obligated to cause harm?

...or maybe I should leave the philosophical questions to the great minds among us and just go for another bike ride.