Mission Accomplished

I did a triathlon today.

It was a sprint triathlon — a half mile swim, ten mile bike, and 3.1 mile run.

The kids all came to cheer me on, along with my parents.

I did very little to prepare for this.

And when I say very little, I mean I have swum approximately five times in the last month, and I rode my bike for the first time in four years on Tuesday and then again on Friday.

That wasn’t my plan, but that’s the way things worked out the last month or so.

I also had a hysterectomy and prolapse surgery 3 1/2 months ago, which I kind of forgot about.

So I was really hoping mainly to survive.

I had a full blown panic attack which lasted for about three fourths of the swim.

You’d think being a swimmer I’d feel the most comfortable with this leg of the race, but it seriously freaks me out.

I had to keep turning onto my back to swim backstroke because I was hyperventilating, plus the water was so cold that it was taking my breath away.

I finally relaxed with about 200 yards to go.

The rest of the race was much better. I pushed it as hard as I could.

I really had fun on the bike, and the run wasn’t too painful.

I had a few goals in mind, and one was to break an hour and thirty minutes.

That’s not fast by any means.

But I finished in 1:29.05!

Wooo hooo!

The girls ran alonside me on the finish.

And Number 6 stole my medal.

But that’s okay.

Cause I got another one for finishing 3rd in my age group!

AHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!

I think it’s possible that there may only have been three people total in my age group, but whatever.

I still got third in my age group.

So, what was I reminded of today?

Four things —

First, it is good to do things that scare the shit out of you because you feel like a f*cking badass when you make it through them.

Second, conditions do not have to be perfect in order for you to take on a challenge. I could have decided to bag the race altogether because the amount of training I did going into it was nowhere near what I envisioned/planned/wanted.

But I had so much fun, I didn’t do too badly, and I have a fire ignited to train more consistently for the next one because now I seriously have the bug!

Third, it doesn’t matter how thin you are, how fit you are, how old you are, how experienced you are — anyone can do anything! There were people who finished thirty minutes ahead of me and people who finished sixty minutes after me!

There will always be someone faster/better/more experienced than you in pretty much anything. Everyone has to start somewhere, though.

And fourth, your kids are watching you! They aspire to be like you! I’m so glad the kids came to watch. Number 3, 4, and 7 can’t wait to do a triathlon now.

They are going to try something new because they saw their mom trying something new(ish).

But they also saw that it is worth doing something even if you aren’t the best. It wasn’t about beating other people. It was just about me pushing myself and showing myself what I’m capable of.

And I’m pretty proud of that.

Today was a great day.

And I can’t wait to do it all over again.

(But next year I’m totally gonna win my age group).