Wow, I was really philosophical last post... So today I decided to make a more personal application and talk about me! That is the idea of a blog right? Hmm...
Anyways, about 10 years ago, I was sitting on the couch on a Saturday watching TV, a relatively common activity for me at the time, and as usual, nothing was on because it was Saturday, and we didn't have cable so I could watch Shawshank Redemption re-runs on TBS, I was stuck between watching one of the same old infomercials I had already seen 100 times like the Bowflex one or the Jack LaLane Power Juicer. (Two of my favorites) But somehow, I got to flipping through the 7 channels we had and I came across footage of the "Escape from Alcatraz" Triathlon. I was quite awestruck, watching this swarm of people swim through freezing water with sharks possibly in there, and running through sand... These people in my mind were the physical elite. Second only perhaps to Olympians. I enjoyed watching it, and was amazed to see a 13 year old finish the race. I was about that age at the time, and I couldn't believe some one my age finished that with all of those adults. And somewhere deep inside of me, something happened.
I sure as heck didn't know it at the time, I would never have thought that I could do what those people on TV did. It would be like the average American thinking they could one day compete with Michael Phelps. So I didn't even allow myself to realize that I had a desire to be like the people I saw on TV, until last September. I was swimming (more like splashing, actually) at the gym with my Brother-in-law, when some how the subject of Triathlon came up. That's when we set the goal to do it, we would be triathletes. He changed his mind a day or two later, but I couldn't go back on it, I had finally allowed myself to believe it was possible, and the idea consumed my thoughts for weeks. I looked up all I could online about the sport, the different distances, and local races. Since it was September, the season was pretty much over, but I resolved stronger than I had before to train through the winter and that in the year 2010 I would be a triathlete.
That has been my dream since then, I am already signed up for my first triathlon on April 24th! I am so excited, I have worked hard. I went from feeling dead after a 5k to running more than 13 miles in mountainous terrain. Swimming was the hardest though. Running does not involve a great deal of technique, but swimming is a different story. After months (literally) of working on my technique and endurance, I could still not swim 2 laps, but once I got the technique basically down, I tried to go one more lap each time, now I can go a mile.
I'm not trying to toot my own horn, I am trying to express the possibility of achieving what you (like me) may have once deemed impossible.
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