Off the Deep End

The Wildflower triathlon is less than two months away, and I am starting to realize what a daunting goal I have set for myself, i.e., how crazy this really is. I have no qualms about completing any leg of the event on its own. I am confident that I can swim 1.2 miles, bike 56 miles, and run 13.1 miles. The idea of doing all three in one day, one right after the other, in what is considered the hardest Half-Iron triathlon in America, however, is pretty intimidating. I really wanted to crawl back into bed this morning when the 5am alarm went off for swim practice. But I remembered my honored hero, Thomas Molina, who doesn't have a choice when it comes to receiving cancer treatment, and pulled myself together, persevered through a unique bit of car trouble, and made it to swim practice.

My attitude about the swim has come full circle. I look at it as the easiest part of this race. Thanks to some insightful and personalized coaching, I feel more stable and confident in the water. Thanks to my new manual labor job, I also feel stronger. Swimming felt good...what an amazing difference from last year when the swim was a monkey on my back. I love how this sport challenges me to push past my fears and doubts, and I love when I can look back and see the progress I've made.

I've been training for the Wildflower triathlon since mid-November of last year, but have been reticent to blog about it because it's been so much more challenging than training for CapTex. Yesterday marked the date that the team (and I) officially committed to the race, so it feels right to start talking about what's going on. I'm reaching that point in training where sometimes I'm seeing some improvements in strength and endurance, but I'm also struggling mentally and psychologically when I think about doing the bike and run back to back. Last week's hilly 54 mile bike was a leg and lung burner. Although I felt pretty good that day, I was really sluggish on the long run the next day. A two-hour nap afterward helped. Perhaps it will be helpful for me to just focus on the day's training, and not jump ahead mentally to race day. Stay in the now, as it were.