...tri and tri again! Sorry, a cheesy play on words was too hard to resist! When I signed up for my 1st triathlon last year (sprint distance) I had no idea just how hard a half-mile swim was going to be with no formal swim training. Nor did I have any idea how hard "only running 3 miles" would be without having done any brick workouts.
I ran 20 miles to train for Chicago the day before my tri, thinking the race would be a nice short distance; a good recovery to help work out my lactic acid and aid in my recovery. I couldn't believe I was paying so much money to go such a short distance! Boy, was I wrong! It was a humbling experience, to say the least. When I got into that water in the Long Beach bay in a borrowed wetsuit that foggy morning, I had no idea what I was in for. But I soon realized when I couldn't breath and freaked out even putting my face in the water. People surrounded me, and thoughts that I could just go under and no one would realize (this is likely true!) came into my mind. I searched for a life guard, and flagged him down by wildly waving my arm. He swam over to me on his surf board and asked if I needed to be brought in. How's that for a confidence-killer? Clearly, I looked like I wasn't going to make it.
My first thought was that I couldn't give up - people knew I was doing this; I posted it on facebook! I caught my breath, asked him to keep an eye one me, and continued on, still afraid to put my face in the water. I was doing something resembling a doggie paddle. Not surprisingly, everyone in my wave (age group) was passing me. I looked back at the trusty lifeguard and he was looking the other direction...so much for keeping an eye on me. So again, I panicked...and flagged a different one down. I ended up doing this three times total, while almost everyone in the next wave also passed me.
It took me an hour to go that 1/2 mile. When I got out of the water, I walked to transition, not running like all the others. And then, the 11 miles on my bike were extremely difficult. Then, when I finally ditched the bike and started running, I could not believe how hard even that was! Running was my strongest area of the three, yet I felt like I was running in quicksand.
Here are my results: Athlinks.
It would have been so easy to write off triathlons as not my thing. And I did consider that. But a few months after that horrible experience, I signed up for a half ironman, skipping the olympic distance usually used to prepare. And when I was pulled from the water in that race (read my blog about that experience here) I countered that defeated feeling by signing up for an Olympic distance as soon as I returned from Napa. Finally, that was a triathlon I finished and felt good about (blog here) thanks to the support and encouragement from my friends Delia and Darra, who came out that day to cheer me on. My .93 mile swim in Lake Mission Viejo took me the same amount of time the .5 mile swim in Long Beach took me.
Those of you who have tried a new workout routine, race or sport and struggled or failed at first will agree: it doesn't mean that it's not for you! It just means you need to stick with it a little longer, work a little harder, train a little more, and you will get it! Being good at something that comes naturally isn't nearly as rewarding anyway! The things that truly hold meaning in life, that really hold value and satisfaction, are the same things that we have worked hard to obtain. The same things that we didn't think we could do, but pushed through that doubt and conquered.
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