Crossing the Finish Line

Grindstone Lake, New Mexico

Some goals take months. Others take years. Mine took over a decade.

Over ten years ago, I set a goal that seemed far away, almost mythical: to complete an XTERRA triathlon.

At the time, I had just moved into a mountain community, and one of my first weekends there I found myself signing up for a local trail running race. It was called “10K at 10,000 feet.” They also offered a 5K, and that was more my comfort zone. But here’s the embarrassing part—when everyone lined up, the 10K starting line was packed with runners looking tough and confident, while the 5K group… was basically me and five others. I felt a little sheepish standing there, waiting for the race to begin.

That’s when I noticed him.

While the rest of us rode the gondola up to the mountain top to the starting line (luxury style), there was a guy who biked all the way up the mountain. He casually leaned his bike against a tree, strolled over to the 10K starting line, and when the race began, he took off like he was late for dinner. He didn’t just finish—he placed second, missing first place by a few seconds.

Curious, I went up to him afterwards and asked, “Wait… did you ride your bike up here before running this race?” He laughed and said, “Yeah, my transition wasn’t great—which impacted my run.”

I later learned he wasn’t just a fit local—he was an XTERRA world champion, one of the best in the world at the very thing I had quietly set my sights on. That chance encounter planted the seed.

And here’s the thing about seeds: sometimes they take a long, long time to grow.

Fast forward more than a decade, and I finally did it. I trained, I showed up, and I crossed the finish line of my first XTERRA triathlon. No records were broken, I wasn’t in the elite group, but I had finished something I set in motion all those years ago.

And in a perfect full-circle twist, that same world champion I met on the mountain more than ten years ago ended up winning the very race I was competing in. He inspired me back then, and he reminded me now—hard things take time, but they’re worth it.

The Funny Thing About Finish Lines

Now, it would be easy to stop the story there with the neat bow: big goal set, big goal achieved. But the truth is, the road to any finish line—whether in fitness, work, or life—is rarely smooth. And mine had plenty of potholes.

Take the week leading up to the race.

Setback #1: I was helping my oldest son move back to college. The night before our flight, he tripped on the stairs and gashed his forehead. Cue a late-night ER visit, a couple stitches, and about 2.5 hours of sleep before our early morning flight. So much for being “well-rested” for race week.

Setback #2: On my way back from dropping him off at school, my flight got delayed… not once, not twice, but four times. I landed at 1:30 a.m., knowing my training plan was shot. So, what did I do? I walked the airport. For two and a half hours. Six miles of weaving through concourses while travelers looked at me like, “Why is this guy doing laps at midnight?”

Setback #3: The next evening, my younger son cut his finger while making a sandwich. Off we went to urgent care. That same night, while on his way to camping with friends, he called me with a flat tire—alone, late at night, never changed a tire before. Instead of a full night’s sleep, let’s just say my evening plans shifted to roadside assistance duty.

None of these were catastrophic. Everyone’s fine. Life goes on. But in the moment, each one felt like a derailment of my carefully laid plan.

And that’s where determination comes in.

Determination Looks Ordinary (Until It Doesn’t)

I had trained hard for this XTERRA. I wasn’t about to let a few last-minute distractions knock me off course. That’s the essence of determination—not everything has to go right, but you keep going anyway.

We often think determination is about heroic grit or dramatic sacrifice. But most of the time, it’s about the small choices in the middle of ordinary chaos:

• Losing sleep, yet still finding the energy to push forward.
• Adjusting when plans don’t go as expected.
• Laughing at the absurd instead of getting stuck in frustration.

Determination isn’t glamorous. It looks like walking laps in an airport when you’d rather be sleeping. It looks like changing a flat tire in the dark so your kid feels supported. It looks like saying, “Okay, this isn’t ideal, but I can pivot.”

And when you stack enough of those determined choices together, one day you find yourself crossing the finish line of something you thought might never happen.

What This Means for Work (and Life)

Whether you’re chasing a personal goal or leading a professional project, the truth is the same: setbacks are inevitable. Plans will go sideways. Timing will be inconvenient. And just when you’re close to the finish line, life will test you with a flat tire, a delay, or a midnight ER visit.

The question isn’t whether those things will happen. They will. The question is: will you let them stop you, or will you adjust, keep moving, and eventually cross the line?

For me, it took over ten years to get from a gondola ride and a 5K at 10,000 feet to an XTERRA finish line. But I made it. And along the way, I learned that determination isn’t about brute strength or perfect conditions—it’s about staying in the race, laughing at the setbacks, and choosing to keep going.

Hard things take time. But crossing the finish line—whether it’s a triathlon, a project, or a personal milestone—always makes the setbacks worth it. And sometimes, that’s the sweetest victory of all.

See you soon,

Brent, your Rivr Guide 

P.S. Beginning in September, Rivr Notes will move to a monthly rhythm—still thoughtful, just arriving with more space to reflect between each one.

-----

🎧 Bonus: If this sparked something for you, you might enjoy the companion podcast episode of Rivr Conversations. It builds on the ideas in this Rivr Note—offering a new angle, deeper reflection, and practical ways to carry the story forward.

🎙️ Subscribe to Rivr Conversations and listen wherever you get your podcasts—just search for “Rivr Conversations” on your favorite platform.