潘清

Maybe when I was only seven years old， all the excitement， hyperactivity and frenzy erupted out of me when my dad crossed the finish line. It really showed me how his hard work and effort paid off and it sparked my curiosity. I wondered whether a small boy of my size could ever achieve something like that. I longed to feel the accomplishment of finishing a triathlon.

The thing about triathlons is they are three sports—swimming， biking and running—done in one competition. I was a small kid； I had never had much experience in any of the three sports and to imagine doing all three at once sounded impossible. I found myself saying this out loud and my father overheard me. He encouraged me and said I could train with him any time. Nearly trembling with excitement and fear， I accepted the challenge.

Training with my dad turned out to be very challenging， but it was a great way to spend time with him. So I agreed to train with him， and soon found out it was a big commitment. We would get up early for a morning jog， or go for a swim at the pool after school. I started to realize that my dad was competing not only with his fellow triathletes but also with himself， especially in a sport such as running. In running， it is mind over matter—I learned this watching my dad push himself despite the pain.

In endurance sports， optimism is necessary—the kind of optimism that enables you to ignore the next big hill and focus on the next small step. Each leg of the race keeps getting harder and harder， so to look at the next difficulty and take it on smiling is the key. Training sometimes feels arduous， but I never regretted getting out of bed and doing something. These are important lessons that my dad taught me.

After a few weeks of training， I was signed up for my first triathlon.

To begin the competition， I stood on the beach of a lake very nervously next to 200 grown men. It was 5：30 in the morning and I was up to my knees in cold water. I was out there， shivering with cold and nerves and lack of sleep， and someone fired a gun.

The gun disoriented me as I half waddled， half scampered， elbowing hairy man！arms for open water. Then I was off， swimming towards the impossibly distant buoy that marked my turn. I exited the half"mile swim and ran as fast as I could， barefoot and freezing， towards my bike. I fumbled， dripping wet， trying to mount it. Once on my bike， I found an exhilaration specific to cycling.

I went through the transition zone again and switched to my running shoes. Another important part of triathlons is to transition as fast as possible， so tying my shoes quickly is something I had practiced many times before. For me， the real competition began during the run， because now I could see each competitor as a target. No matter my position in the field， each racer was either chasing me or being chased. The running portion of the race boiled down to pain tolerance， and it was more mental than physical. One of my favorite quotes to keep from thinking about the burning feeling I had was“shut up， legs”. This was a quote from Jens Voigt， the famous German cyclist.endprint

Then I crossed the finish line. I took a breath. At first I was calm， but then began a celebration with other finishers. It could be that we were all blissfully insane， but I think it was really that we were all happy to have the same desire： to finish and endure a difficult race. No matter what time or place each of us achieved， the sense of accomplishment was there for all of us.

Looking back， I remember the bony， impatient seven#year$old on that cold day in Montauk who thought he couldnt do it. Now， that same kid is not only a huge fan， but also a training partner.

也許當時我才七歲，爸爸越過終點線的那一刻，所有的激動、亢奮和狂喜都從我的內(nèi)心噴涌而出。這個場面讓我切實地看到他的辛苦和努力是如何獲得回報的，這激發(fā)了我的好奇心。我想知道，我這樣個頭的小男孩有沒有可能取得一點那樣的成績。我渴望體驗一下完成鐵人三項賽的那種成就感。

鐵人三項賽的精彩之處，就是在一次比賽中完成三個體育項目———游泳、騎自行車和跑步。我還是個小孩，對這三個體育項目中的任何一項都未曾有過多少經(jīng)驗，一口氣完成這三項，光是想想似乎都覺得不可能。我不自覺地大聲說出了內(nèi)心的想法，被爸爸無意中聽到了。他鼓勵我，還說我隨時都可以跟他一起訓練。我既興奮又害怕，幾乎是顫抖著接受了這項挑戰(zhàn)。

事實證明，跟爸爸一起訓練極富挑戰(zhàn)性，不過這也是和他共度時光的一種很棒的方式。所以，我答應跟他一起訓練，而且很快就發(fā)現(xiàn)這是一個很大的承諾。我們要早早起床進行晨間慢跑，或是放學后去泳池游泳。我開始意識到，爸爸不僅是在跟其他的鐵人三項運動員較量，也是在跟自己較量，尤其是在跑步這樣的運動中。跑步是一項精神勝于物質(zhì)的運動———看到爸爸不顧傷痛鞭策著自己繼續(xù)向前跑時，我認識到了這一點。

在耐力運動中，樂觀是必需的，就是那種讓你能夠忽略下一個大坡而專注于下一小步的樂觀。比賽的每一段賽程都變得越來越艱難，所以微笑著直視下一個困難并且接受挑戰(zhàn)至關(guān)重要。訓練有時讓人感覺很艱苦，但我從未后悔爬出被窩去進行訓練。這些都是我從爸爸那里學來的寶貴經(jīng)驗。

訓練了幾個星期后，爸爸給我報了名，讓我參加我的第一次鐵人三項賽。

比賽開始前，我無比緊張地站在湖濱作準備，身旁是200個成年男子。此時是凌晨5：30，冰冷的湖水沒過我的膝蓋。我站在湖水里，因為寒冷、緊張和睡眠不足，身子直發(fā)抖，這時，有人鳴響了發(fā)令槍。

槍聲使我失去了方向感，我半搖搖晃晃半連跑帶跳地往前游，用胳膊肘推開那些男人汗毛濃密的胳膊，以獲得開闊的水面。我就朝著屬于我的那個遠得不可思議的折返浮標游了出去。完成800米的游泳賽段后，打著赤腳、已經(jīng)凍僵的我盡可能快地跑向了我的自行車。我渾身濕淋淋的，笨手笨腳地試圖騎上自行車。剛一騎上車，我就感到了騎自行車所特有的一種興奮。

我又一次來到了轉(zhuǎn)換區(qū)，換上了自己的跑鞋。鐵人三項賽的另一個重要方面是要盡快地進行項目轉(zhuǎn)換，所以我之前已經(jīng)針對這個環(huán)節(jié)練習了很多次快速系鞋帶。對我而言，真正的比賽從跑步賽段才開始，因為此時我可以將每一個選手都視作一個目標。不論我身處賽場中的哪個位置，每個參賽者不是在追趕我就是在被我追趕。鐵人三項賽的跑步賽段歸根結(jié)底就是忍耐痛苦，與其說這是身體上的考驗，不如說它是精神上的考驗。只有那句格言“閉嘴，邁腿”才能讓我不去想身上那種火燒火燎的感覺，這句話是我最鐘愛的格言之一，是著名的德國自行車運動員延斯·福格特說的。

后來，我越過了終點線。我喘了一口氣。起初我還很平靜，但緊接著就跟其他到達終點的選手一起慶祝起來。我們可能都開心死了，但我覺得我們之所以真的都很開心，是因為懷有那份同樣的渴望———堅持去完成一次艱難的比賽。不論我們每一個人用多長時間完成了比賽，名次如何，我們都獲得了成就感。

回首過去，我想起在蒙塔克那個寒冷的日子，那個骨瘦如柴又沒有耐心的七歲男孩曾認為自己不可能完成鐵人三項賽。如今，還是這個孩子，他不但是鐵人三項賽的鐵桿粉絲，還是一位陪練。endprint