Good Enough

Over the past few months, I’ve used phrases like ‘”it will have to be good enough” many, many times.  When one says “it will have to be good enough”, it implies that there is something better.  To me, it has always implied that possibly the best effort was not put forth.  Here are the recent “good enoughs” uttered by yours truly:

“I’ve fallen short on my training hours the three weeks prior to my first triathlon of the season.  Up to about 3 weeks ago, I was training very consistently….it will have to be good enough.”

“I cannot spend one more penny on equipment this year (even though many people have been prompting me to make my bike/myself a little more aerodynamic) and I already have a decent, safe bike….it will have to be good enough.”

“I didn’t have much time to practice my transitions (in particular changing the way that I transition the bike to the run)……my current T2 will have to be good enough.”

“I’m really tired and my knees are aching….not sure I can fit in my full 90 minute long run this week……60 minutes will have to be good enough.”

So in the midst of these good enoughs and many more, I raced in that first triathlon of the season and I found out that “good enough” can still be pretty great.

Although it rained in varying degrees for the entire event, the weather was good enough that 340 like-minded people were able to put their training to the test and complete the ½ mile swim/20k bike/5k run successfully.

A woman that I know who recently suffered great personal loss found joy in the fact that she was good enough to beat quite a few women in her age group.

I found that the training and equipment that I told myself would have to be good enough actually was good enough.  I came in 2^nd in my age group of 30 women and achieved my goal of completing the course in less than 1:20.  I really enjoyed the entire event, camaraderie, and felt strong at the finish.

Good enough can be pretty great.