Shelby Manning (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
shelbycobra) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
muserevival2015-08-20 10:26 am
shelbycobra) wrote in muserevival2015-08-20 10:26 am
098.3.2 - diary
Recovery is possible.
Peter's flying with me on this trip; the lack of a break between Pocono and Sonoma means that I won't have time to work with him otherwise, and if there's ever a week when you don't want to miss a session with your trainer, it's the week before the season finale. So I've paid for another plane ticket and a separate hotel room, and he's graciously cleared his schedule, though I think part of that might be residual guilt for the purple bruise still receding under my right eye.
We make an interesting pair, walking through the airport, the driver and the ex-UFC fighter in our coincidentally matching sunglasses, jeans and T-shirts. At 6'2" he's got ten inches on me and a whole lot more muscle, so at least four people have incorrectly assumed he's my bodyguard. Another three have heard his British accent and incorrectly assumed that he's the husband they've never met. I make a mental note to get Frank to come to more than two races next season, while Peter laughs because he knows I don't need anyone to protect me and he's got a wife and three kids.
Finally we get onboard the team plane, tuck the sunglasses into our pockets, toss the carry-ons in the overhead bin and settle into our seats. He's still staring at my face, because he knows I've had to answer questions about that from every reporter for the last nine days. "It'll fade before Sonoma," I tell him, because all I care about at this point is that he hit me in a spot that won't be in the way of my helmet.
"I still feel terrible about that," he says.
"I don't," I reply. Accidents happen. Especially when you're in the heat of the moment, training hard for the final two weeks of the championship. Besides, maybe it's something of a badge of honor. A physical representation of all the shit I've been through over the last two years. I had everything I wanted, then lost it all and had to earn it back again. Technically it was because of the money. I tend to think if I'd driven better the money would have been there. We'll agree to disagree.
Peter's been there for all of it. He's been training with me since I was a cub with Indy Lights five years ago, and he was still finishing his UFC career. I was at his last fight; he was at my last race. I still don't understand UFC and I'm not really sure he understands IndyCar but it doesn't matter. He knows what it's like to be an athlete, and he knows what it's like to work your whole life for something and then have to start over.
And he's an important part of my recovery, like so many other people that everyone will never see. You know my strategist, you might be able to name my engineer or my spotter, but you don't know my trainer, my pit crew, the rest of the guys in the shop. While I may not be as close to all of them as I am to Shane, I need each and every one of them. Peter has always kept me on as a client even when I went off the deep end. He'll be in my corner as long as he can stand me.
So I just look over at him and smile. "You up for a run tomorrow?" I ask him, and it all begins again.
--
Shelby Manning Martin
Need For Speed OC
585 words
Peter's flying with me on this trip; the lack of a break between Pocono and Sonoma means that I won't have time to work with him otherwise, and if there's ever a week when you don't want to miss a session with your trainer, it's the week before the season finale. So I've paid for another plane ticket and a separate hotel room, and he's graciously cleared his schedule, though I think part of that might be residual guilt for the purple bruise still receding under my right eye.
We make an interesting pair, walking through the airport, the driver and the ex-UFC fighter in our coincidentally matching sunglasses, jeans and T-shirts. At 6'2" he's got ten inches on me and a whole lot more muscle, so at least four people have incorrectly assumed he's my bodyguard. Another three have heard his British accent and incorrectly assumed that he's the husband they've never met. I make a mental note to get Frank to come to more than two races next season, while Peter laughs because he knows I don't need anyone to protect me and he's got a wife and three kids.
Finally we get onboard the team plane, tuck the sunglasses into our pockets, toss the carry-ons in the overhead bin and settle into our seats. He's still staring at my face, because he knows I've had to answer questions about that from every reporter for the last nine days. "It'll fade before Sonoma," I tell him, because all I care about at this point is that he hit me in a spot that won't be in the way of my helmet.
"I still feel terrible about that," he says.
"I don't," I reply. Accidents happen. Especially when you're in the heat of the moment, training hard for the final two weeks of the championship. Besides, maybe it's something of a badge of honor. A physical representation of all the shit I've been through over the last two years. I had everything I wanted, then lost it all and had to earn it back again. Technically it was because of the money. I tend to think if I'd driven better the money would have been there. We'll agree to disagree.
Peter's been there for all of it. He's been training with me since I was a cub with Indy Lights five years ago, and he was still finishing his UFC career. I was at his last fight; he was at my last race. I still don't understand UFC and I'm not really sure he understands IndyCar but it doesn't matter. He knows what it's like to be an athlete, and he knows what it's like to work your whole life for something and then have to start over.
And he's an important part of my recovery, like so many other people that everyone will never see. You know my strategist, you might be able to name my engineer or my spotter, but you don't know my trainer, my pit crew, the rest of the guys in the shop. While I may not be as close to all of them as I am to Shane, I need each and every one of them. Peter has always kept me on as a client even when I went off the deep end. He'll be in my corner as long as he can stand me.
So I just look over at him and smile. "You up for a run tomorrow?" I ask him, and it all begins again.
--
Shelby Manning Martin
Need For Speed OC
585 words