I think the last time I was on a bicycle was around 4 years ago. It was right around the time I decided to train for the Ironman Triatholon.

An Ironman Triathlon is one of a series of long-distance triathlon races organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) consisting of a 2.4 miles (3.86 km) swim, a 112 miles (180.25 km) bike and a marathon (26 miles 385 yards, 42.195 km) run, raced in that order and without a break.

- Wikipedia

My sister’s ex-husband was into triathlons at the time, and he invited me to drive up to Orlando with them to watch his “streak ending” race aka my first race period. According to my recollection, he signed up for the “Olympic” race. Review the chart below to see the distances.

It was great. I was hooked the second he finished the race. The sense of accomplishment he must have felt crossing the finish line – setting a goal  of that stature and seeing it through. He didn’t wake up one morning and say, “I think I’ll run a triathlon next month”. He researched, analyzed his timetable, registered, set a training schedule, developed a new diet, exercised, did more research, pushed his ceiling or “Wall” further back with every workout, and so on.. up until the day of the race, when the gunshot rang in his ears. He applied everything he learned in one seamless run. All those months of progressive training build up to the only final few hours that determine whether his definition of success was met, because in the end you’re not racing the people next to you… you’re racing yourself. One doesn’t go through all that hard work to get a self-esteem boost from crushing the competition (that’s just a bonus). It’s about pushing the limits, one’s own limits – physical limits, mental limits, habitual limits… one’s own limiting beliefs. It’s about remembering, once again, that the only thing  that’s ever really in one’s way is one’s self.

Moving on from that “Anthony Robbins” speech, the reason I didn’t get on a bike since, was because I overworked my muscles in the first month of training. I went from beer runs to running 7 miles, from poolside kegs to swimming .5 miles, from re-cycling 24-packs into furniture into cycling 30 miles, and did so every weekday! A little extreme, I know, but it bit me in the gluteous maximus eventually (Left cheek to be exact). One day I woke up and couldn’t get out of bed for the life of me. I stayed in bed for the 2 weeks, on and off the 1 month. I talked to doctors but they all said to take some ibprofen for the swelling and the pain – it was just a swollen, over-worked muscle. I never trained that hard again, and forgot about the Ironman for my own wellbeing, so I told myself.

Anyways, my older brother decided to get his bicycle fixed recently so I had to give it a try after all these years. On Sunday, I rode it to my TestMasters course at L’Enfant Plaza, and today I decided to ride it to my paralegal course in Friendship Heights. I live by Lincoln Park (by Eastern Market). Judging by my time/distance ratio on the L’Enfant trip and the Google Mapped distance to Friendship Heights, I figured the 7.8 miles would take me about 1 hr – 1.5 hrs to get to my last paralegal class of the program (interships, independent studies, and finals will follow). Mind you I’ve never traveled to Friendship Heights above ground. If you’re familiar with DC’s topographic mapping you most likely know that the entire ride is uphill! That last stretch on Mass. Ave reaching Wisc. Ave was brutal! I tried to distract myself with the Embassies, but eventually I hit my wall on my last 200 ft of that hill. Fortunately, the bit that followed was mostly downhill and I got to class just in time for my last quiz. Here’s a Google Mapping of my route there and back. You’ll see I made a detour to the river on the way down.. I met up with my brother for lunch.

View Larger Map

Total Distance: 17.8 miles    Total Time: 2.5 hrs

So what may an aspiring Georgetown Law student retain from all this?

1) Train Progressively – Taking an LSAT prep course, interships, paralegal/legal assistance jobs are your training. Researching, analyzing your timetable, committing, setting a schedule, developing a new lifestyle, doing exercises, doing more research, pushing your ceiling or “Wall” further back with every excercise, and so on.. up until the day of the “race”.

2) Don’t Overdo It – Don’t swamp yourself with so much work that you become counterproductive.

3) Research - Don’t just jump into a:  law field, law firm, law school, or anything for that matter without investigating first. Knowing more than you need to know can’t hurt; not knowing enough can and will hurt.

4) Never Too Late – It’s never too late to get back into what you love, whether it’s law or music. Just make sure you know do your research beforehand to prepare accordingly.

5) You’re Your Own Worst Enemy – If you think you CAN’T do it… you’re probably right. If you think you CAN do it… ‘nough said. So KNOW you WILL do it. From that point on it’s just a matter reaching the finish line.

Feel free to share your interpretations…