The journey continues

The journey is definitely more important than the destination. I learned this lesson this week. When I realized that I was not ready to do the Kinetic Sprint Triathlon today that I was going to use as a test race, I decided to not quit, not feel defeated or feel slow or irrational for thinking that I can do this. I decided to continue on my journey and do all that I can to be prepared on June 20th. It was imperative to me that I make this weekend a very good training weekend.

On Saturday I went for a bike ride. 20 miles round trip. My race is 18 miles on the bike, so I now know that I can complete the bike leg of the race. I got dropped by the group because I wasn't as fast as them. I got lost because I lost sight of the group and had no idea which way to go. When I ended up on Wisconsin Avenue and I started in Rock Creek Park, I knew I had gone too far, turned around and met up with the group right near where we started. None of that mattered. What mattered to me is that when I got back home, my bike said said that I rode for 20 miles (even if I was so pooped that I walked my bike home for the last block). Then, I went to Rock Creek Park with Yolanda and we walked/ran 3 miles, which is the distance of my race.My legs were so... tired from the bike ride that I could not run the entire distance, but I know that I can run 3 miles and if push came to shove, I could walk the 3 miles to the finish line.

Today I went to the gym with Tania, my mentor, and we warmed up by swimming 4 or 5 laps and then I told her that my goal was to swim 20 laps with no breaks. It's pretty difficult to not stop at the end of the lane to turn around and I did take 2-3 quick breaks and had to relax on my back twice, but I DID IT!! I SWAM 20 LAPS!!! My race is 750 meters which is equivalent to 16 laps, so I now know that I can swim the distance of my race plus a little further.

This weekend was a good training weekend on my continued journey to become a Triathlete. I know that after this weekend, which started with me feeling like a failure for not bring ready for my race today, ended up being a great training weekend in which I biked and swam more than the distance of my race. I now know that I can do the distances. Now, I just need to get ready for swimming in open water and get used to running 3 miles after biking 18 miles and swimming 750 meters. It's all about building endurance and I can do it. I WILL do it. I will be a Triathlete on June 20th. I hope to have some cheerleaders to help along the way.