Thursday, June 7, 2012

Refereeing Can Be Like This ...

Up, coffee, feed, gather, race, rinse, repeat

Cherries

That was the subject line of an e-mail from my husband, Lee. HMMM, wonder what that is about. Well it turns out that the cherry trees on our property are booming with lovely yummy cherries. I miss home.

Hump day is over, and I am excited about the last few days of this race. It has been a tough one. I know that I am a strong rider, but it is hard to accept that I am elite enough to be where I am right now. I truly have to fight back thoughts of not belonging and only being lucky. Some of the other ladies have some pretty impressive backgrounds that give them a fighting edge. I hope to be aggressive and competitive enough to pull this through. ...

See the whole story here, from Cycling News.

Kicking Back Comments: Let's face it, refereeing can be BORING sometimes. A match is not challenging, you are just not in the mood, a coach or player is really busting your chops, it can be less than fun.


It can be hard to have the mental toughness to be able to referee day in, day out like is detailed here in a multiple day stage race. It takes hard work, and a strong team to do well, day in, and day out.


Traveling is hard, being away from home is hard, working day in and day out in something that requires so much concentration is hard.


Don't forget, take a break every once in a while. I just (re)learned this lesson the other day. While training for a cycling event, I spent (11) days in a row training ... and paid dearly for it. I found myself just not wanting to get on the bike, tired, and not having fun. What did I do? Took a weekend off the bike, and eating some of my favorite junk foods and watched some TV.


Same is true for refereeing. Build in some breaks, and take some time for yourself and your family. The Game will consume every last moment you have if you let it. Take it from one who has been there. Take a weekend and unplug ... you'll be a better referee for it.

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