What a Trip!

Well, I can't believe that I finally get to say that my event is this weekend! In two days, I'll be joined by about 800 ladies who want to swim, bike, and run their way to the finish! The Mermaid Triathlon is on Sunday, 06/07/09, 4 months after I started this journey!

I've been tracking my workouts along the way, unfortunately, I missed an entire month of tracking when I wasn't quite sure just what I was doing... training with no purpose. However, I do have some pretty exciting totals for about 3 months of my activity. Take a look:

Running
145Mi
19,727 calories

Walking
31Mi
4,285 calories

Biking
325Mi
15,238 calories

Spinning
16 classes
13,195 calories

Swimming
51,454 yds
14,853 calories

Elliptical
1 measly effort - stuck at a hotel!
276 calories

28 other workouts - including yoga, boot camp, pilates, and even some dancing!

During this time, I had a few pit falls to my workouts, like going on vacation, getting pneumonia, a few colds, but finished up with NO INJURIES TO REPORT! What a major success!

After looking back at the entire adventure, I can say, this has been such a fun time in my life. I tend to look at life with rose colored glasses, so maybe if I went back and reread my journals, I would recall the dark moments of exhaustion and fatigue, but all I can really remember right now, is what a wonderful experience I've had. I've given myself the chance to reclaim my strength, to be honest to myself about my physical fitness, to learn my limitations and set goals to exceed them, to achieve and sometimes miss my goals, to have my ego crushed, to feel pain, to remember my youth and incorporate it into my life, to feel powerful, to be embarrassed, to put myself first, to feel failure, to feel confident, to swim again, to buy a road bike, to run with less effort, to be unafraid of my exterior self and become reliant upon my inner self, and to put myself in an uncomfortable position, and see just what I was made of.

I've been asked by some acquaintances why I decided to do this, and how I can sustain it. Well, the why is pretty simple... I made a decision to change my life last year, and the moment I made up my mind, I moved forward. Every single day I tried to focus on bringing positive aspects into my life, and voila, they appeared! I love triathlon, but I think it's just one of the many undertakings I've focused on, in the effort to overcome some personal struggles with body image and eating disorders.

The how, well, that's more complicated. Firstly, I relied upon myself, and put myself first. I know this can be selfish sounding, but I'm the only person that can do the work to better myself, so in order to make that happen, I had to place focus there. Next, I have great support. My fiance does nothing but encourages, and along the way has learned to supplement my training by taking on some of my "chores"... don't think they go unnoticed; my family checks in, cheers, laughs, and listens when I cry; my training partner and friend calls before each workout to be sure we are going, helps to motivate me with the uneasy picture of a bikini when I'm feeling tired, laughs at me when I screw up, and always comments on my successes; and my coaches and training teams keep pushing my boundaries. Then I think, comes my organization... lists, schedules, organizing three bags of clothes the night before, washing one item and knowing to grab it in the morning so I have pants on my run! I would be nowhere without my lists! I think I showed up just one time without any underwear to change into afterward... not so bad! In addition, I think timing has been important. I'm lucky right now to be in a time in my life where I can do all of this. I have a good job, no children, a supporting fiance, family nearby, and live in a town that's about 65 degrees and sunny almost everyday! We've got mountains, ocean, lakes, rivers, hills, and an abundance of scenery to take in during the workouts. Believe me, riding your bike 25 miles after work, in Santa Cruz, along the coast on a sunny day, is really no chore at all! And of course, there's the willingness to give myself to something. To set a goal, and to work until it's fulfilled, and to stay dedicated to it, no matter how much pain I was experiencing.

So that's that. I've said enough! If I didn't stop myself, I think I could just go on and on. The truth of the matter is that triathlon is not the most important thing in the world, at all, and it's not the singular thing that I want to define me. But it is something I've decided to undertake for a little while, so I'm giving it my all. I've asked a lot of myself and those who support me, and I'm thankful that we've all come through. Now, if I'm as good a triathlete as I am a b-s-er, I think I'm in for a medal on Sunday!