Athletic Morph

Today as I finished my umpteenth triathlon and I thought about the journey they have taken me on. I started racing and getting smoked about 5 years ago but I didn't start swimming until about 3 years ago. That makes no sense, but is true. I remember my first 400 meters in the pool like yesterday. That is 8 laps in my workout pool and I thought I was going to die. I couldn't get air and I was faster running on the bottom of the pool. It took me 12 minutes in my first triathlon to swim the 400. When I decided it was time to try a bigger race I had speeded up in the pool but had not practiced in the open water. 3-4 years ago in the Havasu spring sprint triathlon I stood on the beach watching people "warm up" by swimming around in cold water thinking.. are they nuts? The gun went off, I went running into the icy water and not only got pummeled but could not get air. I would turn my head to the side in your standard freestyle pattern and swallow half the lake due to the cold choppy water. At about the 100 meter mark I held on to a kayak begging the volunteer to drag me from the lake. He would not help me out so I began to breast stroke to keep my face out of the freezing water. Finally around the second buoy at about 250 meters my face was completely numb and I could get some air. As I crawled out of the lake after a 22 minute 400 meters, I clearly remember pointing at "friends" on the shore and telling them I hated them and always would. Apparently I was not alone in this crazy swim that day, 32 other swimmers had been pulled to safety after panic attacks and sheer cold. I survived. So why not try a bigger and better race. I started swimming in the pool more and pushing myself toward the mile.

I enter the Irongirl olympic length race in Lake Las Vegas. It is a beautiful day but the water is cold and I still can't understand how people are in the water to "warm up?" I will stay on the grass as long as possible thank you. The gun goes off, the 500 ladies on the grass run through a small gate and enter the water for a mile swim. I remember being unable to see because of the angle of the sun on the water. I remember being out of breath and I remember a fellow competitor going over my head and kicking me in the face. Then I was on a boat and out of the race. The incident was described to me as a full blown panic attack. The poor boat driver who was a volunteer and complete stranger to me was trying to console a sobbing heap on the floor of his boat for over 1 hour until the swim section ended. Ok at this point, really can we stop with this open water swim thing? NOPE! I approach a dear friend of mine and say; "OK, lets do this..." She proceeded to take me to the lake drop me in icy water and say; "SWIM!" I did and I swam in that lake a lot. In addition, she put me in a Master's swim club 3 times a week where 55-65 year old men kick my butt daily. I got better so much better that this spring I swam in my first Ironman (2.4 miles) with a time of 1:13 and today I swam a mile in 28 minutes. It makes me smile and reminds me that determination, friendship and not being afraid of failure makes life amazing. Oh and today I was in the top 5 of my age group for the first time ever in an olympic race! Woot Woot! Celebrate what is good in this life!!