You see that hat...? That was the hat my parents bought me to wear the day I was discharged from the Hospital in June of 2003, three weeks after my airway was crushed in a traumatic car accident... never did I imagine that I'd be wearing it, smiling in a picture just taken after crossing the finish line of an Olympic Distance Triathlon...
In completing my second Triathlon, first Olympic Distance Triathlon, my perspective on life has completely changed. Usually, due to my life circumstance, I would say that it takes something traumatic to change your perspective on life, but participating in The Triathlon at Treasure Island has shown me that something doesn't need to be traumatic to change you - you change you through your thoughts and actions, that it's not what happens to you, but how you REACT to what happens to you.
Two years ago as I watched my Husband Brett train and participate in his Triathlons, I always thought to myself that I could NEVER do a Triathlon because I could never manage to breath during the swim or bike, that I could only breath while I run, as that was hard enough with given the capacity of my airway(35% of normal). I told myself a million and one excuses not only as to why I couldn't participate in a Triathlon but also as to why I can't run. Besides my excuses, I was just deathly afraid, literally DEATHLY, of pushing my body that hard... maybe my airway would collapse, or I would just get too tired... the excuses my little brain made were endless. I was reacting to my fears and letting them drive the decisions I was making.
Come to find out that through my experiences that it's not the swimming and biking that makes my breathing difficult, it's just running!!! Ironically enough, the one sport I thought I could manage (running) caused me the most difficulty!
Participating in an Olympic Distance Triathlon is undeniably liberating and I am now challenging myself not to hold back and to not be afraid of running out of energy or getting too tired, or not being able to breathe. I am going to take my training to the next level - and I'm excited! I am going to make training a priority(not just a workout, I am actually going to put myself on a training schedule, possibly get a coach) and see how far I can push myself. I finished the .93 Mile Swim, 24.8 Mile Bike and 6.2 mile run in 3:27:18. I came in 17th in my age group (out of 26). I'd like to challenge myself to come in around 2:45:00 in my next Triathlon (Pacific Grove, September 11) and come in in the top 35%, 1% for each amoung of airway I have.
I challenge you to get outside of your mind (and outside your comfort zone)... to challenge yourself in something you thought was physically impossible, something you told yourself you couldn't achieve... because if I can do it with 35% of my airway, you can do it with 100% of yours!
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