I came to the sport of triathlon because one of my friends was talking about doing a triathlon (which I thought was STUPID) and I had been diagnosed with arthritis in my shoulders and told to exercise to make it better. I needed to make a change in my life so I thought I might as well try something completely different and signed up for the triathlon class being offered at EWU (where I worked as a computer geek).
After a few weeks of class I found out I was a good runner and a bad swimmer. I wasn't in the slowest swim lane, but I was no where near the fastest. A woman in my office building was a former Olympic swimmer, she was about 6 feet tall and was a pretty blond woman who inadvertantly intimidated just about everyone. The first time I went to her office I saw a wall full of triathlon ribbons and awards from races she had won. She told me to be careful about biking on campus because she had gotten a speeding ticket for riding her bike too fast. I thought she was Cool.
The final for the triathlon class was a sprint distance triathlon (500 yard swim, 12 mile bike, and 3 mile run). I was a nervous wreck on race day since my only other experience was at the Beaver Freezer where I completely bombed and went off course twice. At least I knew the course here, I had trained on it for 3 months!
The Olympic office lady came to cheer for me and I tried to act like I wasn't completely freaked out which worked until the race started. The swim was in the pool at the university and I led my lane in the first wave of the triathlon. Immediately my googles came off (completely) and I had to stop to readjust while everyone in my lane passed me and I quickly fell behind. Of course this freaked me out even further so I sputtered along finally finishing about 1 minute slower than what I had been swimming in class.
Off to the bike, I had borrowed an old 10 speed (gears on the down tube but it was red so I thought it was fast) and I went out as hard as I could. There was a swimmer girl in the class that I wanted to beat badly but she was way ahead of me (like 5 minutes) so I pushed as hard as I could on the out and back course. I was suprised to see how far ahead she was but I kept pushing. I came off the bike not knowing how far back I was and feeling exhausted and still freaked out.
There was a long hill out of the transition area on the run and I decided to walk it so I could calm down. I figured walking wasn't that much slower than what I would run so I kept walking until the top when I saw the rest of the runners ahead. There was the swimmer girl, within my sights. I ran as hard as I could after that and pushed to catch her but I ran out of road. She beat me by 30 seconds and won overall. I was second.
Of course it was great to finish but I couldn't believe how close I had come to winning. I was hooked. I couldn't wait to sign up for my next triathlon, only it would be longer so I would have more road to catch those fast swimmers. I ran into the swimmer girl two years later at a 1/2 Ironman where I PR'd the run and beat her(by a lot). I almost felt bad about it. Almost!
Interestingly, my original friend who talked about doing a triathlon has never done one and she has never come to any of my races (even though they were in her hometown). She is no longer my friend, not because of triathlon but because of what triathlon taught me. I don't have time for people who talk about living life. I'm too busy living it.
And finally, my Olympic office mate and I planned to go head to head at some local triathlons except she was shocked to find out she had ovarian cancer. She lost her ovaries (she was in her early 30s and not married) but she recovered from cancer. She changed careers, got a new man in her life, and the last time I saw her was at Ironman Coeur d'Alene where she was a volunteer and I was racing. She looked great but Ironman was not in her future.
This is part of the reason why I will not take life (pregnancy, triathlon, walking the earth) for granted. I try to find something to love about everyday, whether its a walk with the dog, a tough swim workout, or enjoying some quiet time on the deck. The pace of my life is changing right now so I can get ready to be pregnant next year and I am doing better than ever. And I'm swimming. And not running at all. Maybe I'll turn into a swimmer girl!?!
Cassie are you hunting for a mouse in there? Bill is really unhappy with our kitty cats, yesterday he found a mouse in the house (probably the same mouse Bree brought in last month) and he managed to chase the mouse down the stairs straight past the two cats and dog who sat there watching. He put towels in all of the door jams and shut all the doors in the house and made the two cats sleep downstairs last night hoping they would catch the mouse. Since I was "home alone" last night while Bill was at a meeting I locked myself in the sewing room and didn't come out until he got home. I even called my mommie so she could feel sorry for me. Yes I'm 34.
Marshall is wearing a flower lei to entertain me, isn't he precious? For our Halloween party I dressed up like a snorkeler and Marshall wore this lei to match me. Bill did not dress up like Paris Hilton and everyone said he was LAME! We had a fun party but I really cannot have more than two drinks without having a bad time the next day. We barely took the edge off of the bottle of apple flavored Vodka so that's going to sit there for a while. Maybe we'll find someone to give it to.
After Bill got home last night, Marshall, Cassie and I settled in to watch TV. Check out this extreme cuddling! Marshall's feet are hanging off the stool and Cassie is tucked into his smelly side. This is why I call the dog The Cuddler. He loves to cuddle, its what he does. Enough nonsense out of me, oh yeah, notice the cardboard box holding up the DVD player? I'm really happy about that. I would go to the furniture store if it didn't cause WW3 with Bill so let's just say we will continue to live in a frat house until Bill decides it's legal to buy furniture. We could use a mediator on the furniture issue. Don't get me started.
