A humbling defeat

 In the middle of July, I headed up to Boston for the Cape Cod Bay Challenge event series; Challenge on the Charles race. All of New England's top racers were on hand for the 4 mile sprint race. I had a great start, and was setting the pace along with Chris Begg who was on an unlimited board. At about the 1 mile mark,  I caught a good size seaweed ball on my fin. I didn't realize it at the time, and I was so focused on holding my position and pace that I continued to paddle hard. It wasn't until the 2nd to last buoy turn that I jumped off my board and grabbed the hand full of seaweed off my fin and continued on in frustration, finishing in 10th place. I learned a lot about fin selection that day, but more importantly how to react when something doesn't feel right. I lacked the ability to trust my gut instinct, and instead paddled myself into exhaustion.

I snapped this picture on the ferry ride home from Boston. I was able to reflect on being defeated that day, and reminded myself to never give up.