Hubris

I had lofty goals to not only earn an A in my summer session Physiology class, but also to rip it up at the local olympic distance triathlon this weekend. I'm not exactly sure where things went off track, but I suspect it was right around the time I got a B (81%) on the first exam -- seven days into the class -- despite spending loads of time studying.

The nature of the class (four months of material condensed into five weeks) meant that I would have very little chance to "recover" -- so the triathlon goal went out the window, as did my training. I pulled up my grade going into the final test (91 and 90 on the next two exams, respectively), but that meant I needed a 96 or higher to get the A. Since the last exam was going to cover the most material (whole muscle, cardiac, respiratory and urinary physiology), the odds of me cracking the A were unlikely.

So, I was faced with a (admittedly not life-altering) decision: what to do? I only needed to "not fail" to hold my B. Do I phone it in as far as studying and settle for whatever I get? Honestly, that was never going to happen. I "gave it" and came up with A on the test (91 again). Unfortunately, I was not able to bend the laws of basic mathematics and wrapped up the class with a B average.

For whatever reason, I've been pretty bummed since then. I don't know when getting a B started equating to failing in my mind... perhaps if I earned the A, I'd understand the chemistry of my brain a little better...

I'm still going to show up at this race tomorrow, although the outcome isn't really in doubt. I'll do what I can on the day and I may even try the "never works but sure is fun to try" strategy of "go 'til you blow." On oly is too long to nail on less-than-optimal fitness, but we'll see what happens. If anything I'll have a rocking swim.