Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Honing the blade

A knife is created for a purpose. That purpose can not be fulfilled if the blade is not kept sharp and well oiled. A dull blade is nothing more than a cumbersome and clumsy tool that feels uncomfortable when accomplishing a common task. Try raking a sharp blade through a piece of paper and then a dull blade. One cuts through easily, one pulls through. I feel I have let my blade dull and tarnish in just a few short weeks. But that is the way it is with such sharp edges. The finer the blade the more it must be worked.

Now comes the penitence for my laziness. Today is my second day of Boot Camp. My personal journey to resharpen my edge. To stroke the metal in me to the fine edge that took me through an ironman with relative ease and then create a whole new blade while I do it.

I had 500 days to create the knife and the hone the edge that took me through Ironman Florida. Today I have just over 100 days to sharpen the blade for Arizona. This blade will have the advantage being tempered through the fire of one ironman and will be harder and stronger than the one in the past. It will look different. It will feel different. It will cut deeper and last longer. Its the next step in the evolution.

1 comment:

Andy said...

Really great way to look at a transition into beginning your training for another major event. I like it alot. Now you just need to motivate the rest of us (uh I mean me). I think I am going to complete 2007 strong with many mid-long distance events, and then I am going to go all out in 2008 with an Ironman (or two).

Murtha...