Floyd and Me
"Floyd and Me"
That is a title of a post I had planned Wednesday night after American Floyd Landis bonked BIG TIME in the Tour de France, losing his race lead by an insurmountable 8 minutes. My mind went back to my bonk on Saturday and a pretty lousy run on Tuesday. I had planned a 6 miler on Tuesday but my legs felt sluggish and it was just too hot. I quit after only 3 miles!
The next night I turned on the Tour de France. I have been captured by the Tour for several years now and was looking forward to watch yet another American pull away from the European crowd. To this point everyone agreed Floyd Landis was the man to beat and many of his competitors seemed to already concede victory.
Then came the collapse.
Floyd Landis suddenly looked human. Very human. On the last climb of the day he lost a minute for every kilometer of the race - more than 8 minutes overall. He cracked. He looked embarrassed. Pulling his radio earbud out of his ear out of frustration, he looked human. He looked a little like me.
I went to bed disappointed and sad. You could see the disappointment all over Floyd’s face - the shamed glances to the crowd surrounding the mountainous incline. I could only imagine the French papers making fun of the American. He had lost the race on one day! That is when the thought of a blog entry came to mind. "Floyd and me"- the two bonkers. One and the same except for one of us is much more incredibly fit and famous than I can ever hope to be.
The only thing is our internet is out at our house. In fact, I am in a coffee shop right now because it is STILL out. I didn't get a chance to post my tongue-in-cheek analogy.
Then came Thursday.
In what experts on the Tour is calling the most glorious one day performance ever, Floyd Landis pulled away on the first climb of the day and never looked back, CRUSHING his competitors in a way that few have ever done. It was pure drive and determination. In one day, he bested his closest rival by 7 1/2 minutes, only 30 seconds out of the lead! He is now very much in the race and has his sights on winning in Paris on Sunday. It blew me away and inspired me at the same time!
It really impacted me way more than Lance’s consistent victories year after year. He had ever reason to give up, but instead he just gave it much more. Maybe me and Floyd aren't exactly alike, but he showed me that bad days don't count. Finishing well does!
I have a 12-miler planned tomorrow. Wish me luck!
posted by Shane (mississip) at 5:53 PM
2 Comments:
Shane .. Floyd's come back in the mountains was simply amazing. He used his team extremely well to set a blistering pace and once nearly everyone was worn out, he took off after the leaders. He looked very much like Lance as he passed the lead group, barely slowing down to take a sip of water.
He said in the post race interview that his radio stopped working before he reached the top of the last climb, so he had no idea if the field was gaining on him or not. He rode like a man with a mission. I mission to prove to himself that he was truly a great athelete. I think he proved his point well. I don't know if this was the greatest come back ever, but it certainly was exciting.
Best of luck on your long run tomorrow. Start early and stay out of the sun as much as possible. No sense at getting fried. It hit 118 in Phoenix today, I hope its a bit cooler in Mississippi!
7:36 PM
Isn't there something amazing about the character of those that perservere? Where Floyd could have easily decided to just take the defeat and laydown or maybe try to gain some time and stop the hemmoraging... he did not. He kept a positive attitude and focused on the goal... he did what he needed to do to be successful
6:05 AM
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