Happiness is....

when your starting point comes into view! Slogged (Thanks for the term Tish; Slow Jogged) my way through 4.5 miles this morning. Felt like Ms. Sophia when I saw the pier; my starting point. "Then I knowed, der is a GOD!"

Have a great weekend everyone...and keep on tri-ing:D

The Decision

No, this isn't a post about a much maligned basketball player, or the announcement that started the hate. Actually, it's about the decision to do a triathlon.
Some of us wake up one morning and realize we need a new challenge in our lives, while others need to make radical changes, and convince themselves that Tris are a step in the right direction. And there are others who get convinced, roped, or bamboozled into a triathlon by well meaning friends, family, and race whisperers:D.
While I've been looking back and rediscovering my original motivations to get into multi-sport and competition, I'm reminded of what I learned was the most important detail.
For new triathletes, you may find, as I did, that as you tell people about your new undertaking they'll be three categories of responses.
1. There are the doubters- you know, the people who tell you that you are crazy for signing up for a triathlon when you can't swim. Or the folks who look at you and your 200+ lb frame, with obvious disbelief on their face and say, "Good luck", sarcastically. Ignore these people. It's possible to use them for motivation, but you will find inspiration and camaraderie along your path and this will strengthen you much more than naysayers!
2. Then there are the supporters- Mentors, friends, family, training partners, you know, the people who are genuinely excited for you and who are with you every step of your journey. In these people you will find kindred spirits and at times true inspiration.
3. And finally there are the uninitiated- These are the people who have been on my mind the most lately. They mean no ill will; they just don't understand. The uninitiated are the people who are the first to say, "I could never do that." They are neither doubters, nor supporters. They just can't fathom what would make someone want to take on a triathlon, and can't see themselves doing it; mostly because when they hear triathlon, they are thinking of full or half ironman. Their heads are full of visions of Sian Welch and Wendy Ingraham or Julie Moss.
I met a lot of the uninitiated in 2009 when I first started talking and writing about doing a triathlon. (Truthfully, I continue to encounter them). I am proud to say many of the original UI's are now triathletes themselves.
the simple fact is, I don't know anyone who couldn't finish a triathlon. Let me say that again for some of you (you know who you are!) I DON'T KNOW ANYONE WHO CAN'T FINISH A TRIATHLON.
I've watched heart patients, and smoker's train and finish. People who were afraid of the water and believed they could never learn how to swim. Cancer survivors and HIV fighters (see Endurance Magazine Jan 2011). Women who were pregnant on race day. Women who had given up on life itself, and family who fought through pain and debilitating fear to cross the finish line. There are so many ways to tell yourself you can't do something. And just as many ways to prove yourself right. The only difference between the uninitiated and all of the people who overcame everything to hear the words, "You are a triathlete" at the finish, is the decision.
Making the decision is the most important detail. It seems like an obvious and easy first step, but it is the key to everything that follows.
I started with a sprint distance, women's only pool race. The course consisted of a 250yard swim, 9 mile bike ride, and 2 mile run. (I started with the Ramblin Rose series of events from Endurance Magazine) The following weekend I did a co-ed pool race, with a much more challenging bike course and a 5k run to finish. (The Take Flight Tri in Huntersville). I trained for more than 12 weeks. I set goals. I made myself accountable by telling anyone who would read about it or listen to me. But mostly, I set in my mind that this was something I wanted to do.
The uninitiated just haven't come to the decision that they want to, and that's okay. But until they do, they won't completely understand. And so once again, I'm on a mission to show and share with anyone who will read my blog, or listen to me in person that if I could do it, (Sprint and International distance alike) they can too. Anyone who has ever finished a tri will tell you it's worth it. The decision to find out for yourself, or as Black Sheep would say, "The Choice," is yours!

Try a Tri

The journey through my first triathlon was chronicled in my "Her Perspective" column, when I worked at the Carolina Weekly Newspaper Group. The first column was originally published in Charlotte Weekly Volume 8, Number 2, Jan. 8-15, 2009 on pgs. 26 and 30.
(http://www.charlottepulse.com/archive_papers/cw/cw2009_01_09.pdf)
This is the column that started it all....

Recapturing athletic glory? It’s worth a tri

Although I’m a lifelong athlete and sports enthusiast, I haven’t been feeling so athletic
lately.
That’s hard for me to swallow, because I started swimming before I could read. I started
playing competitive basketball when I was 9. I played softball until I went to middle school
– where I joined the track team. In high school, I played volleyball or ran cross country in the fall
to stay in shape for basketball and track. Although basketball was my first love, I competed in
track in college and even trained to be a lifeguard and certified swimming instructor.
I swam and taught swimming until becoming too involved in sports journalism to devote
adequate time to it. Like many people, the rigors of becoming a career-minded, bill-paying adult
took precedence over exercise and sports, and my competitive spirit was fed by a desire to
outperform other news organizations.
In the years since my college graduation, I’ve begun to look more like a journalist than
an athlete (no insult intended to my media peers, but this is a very sedentary field). Covering
sports each day just makes me long for a different time in my life.
There have been glimpses of the past for me. During my time with one television station
in Maryland, a wellness program allowed employees to work exercise into their day. Whether
we were interested in power-walking in the morning, yoga at lunch or aerobic training in the
evening, everything was offered on site, so we didn’t have many excuses.
The same thing happened when I worked at Discovery Communications,
also in Maryland, where an exercise boot camp was offered, at a reduced rate, on the corporate
campus.
However, when I moved to Charlotte in 2006, I initially found time to run 2 to 3 miles every
few days. I even did rock climbing and belly and pole dancing as part of research for stories, but the
need for more money and stability meant less time for any real exercise.
So when I joined Charlotte Weekly in September, I hadn’t participated in any kind of physical
activity for at least eight months. I could feel it in my clothes –and every step I took.
Then I wrote two stories that impacted me. The first was about Charlotte Latin football player
Nick Sella, who gave up cookies over the summer and took off 60 pounds; the second was about
Myers Park cross country runner Tyler Phillips, who took up the sport just to train for basketball but
ended up finding a new passion – and dropping 45 pounds in the process.
Both shamed and inspired me. The athlete in me was so proud of their accomplishments,
while the adult who had made different priorities felt like Sella and Phillips were both sending
subliminal messages. That’s when I decided to start swimming again and came across information
about triathlons.
Both Danskins, nationally, and the Nomad Aquatic Center, locally, offer “Tri a Tri” programs.
While Danskins' program is geared to women, Nomad’s is for anyone interested in participating in
the newly created Take Flight Sprint Triathlon in Huntersville.
Nomad introduced the Take Flight Tri a Tri program that led up to the inaugural Take Flight
event last September. The increased interest led Nomad to bring the program back in February. I
decided to join but thought it couldn’t hurt me to start working out before the official training started.
I went online searching for information on beginners training for triathlons, which was when
I came across a blog post about how the events are for losers and quitters. The blogger wasn’t
downing the sport, but he noted that rarely does anyone start out as a triathlete. Kids are put on
swim teams and AAU track squads at early ages, but how often do parents put their children in
triathlons?
Most people find triathlons after they discover they weren’t good enough swimmers,
runners or cyclists to make a living at it or reach the Olympic level. Following this realization,
these people take on triathlons for another challenge, the blogger wrote. And I had to admit he
had a great point.
So here I am, joining the rest of the quitters and losers.
In the coming months, I’ll share information about my journey from the couch to tri training
after years of athletic inactivity. With my 32nd birthday looming – and let’s face it, at least 50
pounds of extra weight on my body – there’s no time like the present for me to get involved. I’m
sure I’ll not only feel more like my former athletic self, but just plain better when it’s all said and
done.
I don’t expect to break any records; I’ll just be happy to finish. However, if you see a
woman struggling up steps near Vance High School, laboring through the pool at the Nomad
Aquatic Center or just walking a bike instead of pedaling, it’s just me trying to get jumpstarted
to try my tri.
And, hey, if you feel inclined to join me, come on. I welcome the company. Quitters and
losers unite!

Taking it back to the beginning to restart

I did my first triathlon in 2009. It's not something I ever aspired to do, and at the time, I only had one former co-worker who'd ever finished one, Neither my friends nor any of my family members even had an interest in triathlons.
Like a child experiencing a public pool for the very first time, I gingerly dipped a toe into multi-sport, before I was coaxed into taking a dive in deep end.
My first two events (back-to-back weekends; big mistake) were sprint triathlons (pool swim). I then tried out international distance (open water swim), the next year, in addition to a couple sprint races. This year I signed up for an Olympic distance race with the swim being in the Pacific Ocean. (what's wrong with me?)
I'm still very excited about triathlons, and share my journey and newfound love with anyone who will listen, but I've definitely lost some of my training motivation. I don't have my original training group, the ladies I met in TriItForLife (more on that as we go) some of which were my running partners in the Northside Training Group, or even my sisters who I convinced to do their first triathlons' in 2010. (Yet another story for another day).
I find myself once again at a bit of a crossroads. Having moved to California, I've let the distractions of every day life slow down by training momentum. I admit, I have absolutely no excuse; I found another training group, Sisters Tri-ing; I live across the street from a running and biking path on the beach; and I'm within walking distance of an Olympic sized swim complex. The weather is not hot or sticky like it was in Charlotte. I should be in my best shape ever. But I'm not. If I'm to be ready for the race in Sept., according to my training plan, I have to get myself in gear, beginning tomorrow. I've talked to some former TIFLers, and many of them have fallen into a secondary slump. The desire is still there, but the day to day motivation is not the same. So, to try to get myself (and some of you)back in gear, I'm taking a look back at how it all began, when I first decided to "Try a Tri"......