Several years ago, I started training for sprint triathlons. Being 46 years old, this new venture required learning some new skills. I’ve enjoyed road and mountain biking for many years, so getting back on a bike was like . . . well, getting on a bike. However, my running/swimming was basically non-existent. Over three or four months I became a decent runner–not fast, but had pretty good form. Better yet, I enjoyed running.
Swimming? Ugh. On the first night of training I met with the group’s YMCA coach, he asked each participant to swim two laps–up and down the length of the pool. I swam as hard as I could down the length of the pool. When I arrived at the other wall, he caught my eye and said, “You don’t have to swim back if you don’t want to.” I was grouped with the other “non-swimmers”. Like the running segment, over a few weeks and with the help of a patient and effective coach I learned to swim more efficiently, earning the right to move into “group two”. There were several aspects of training for the swimming leg of a triathlon that I enjoyed: cool, clean, sterile water. It was easy for me to follow the thick black line painted on the bottom of the pool. The lane dividers were helpful too. I trained–ran, biked, and swam for four months, getting better and better each week.
Finally, the first Saturday in June rolled around and I drove to the site of my very first triathlon–Lake Wiley. Yes, “lake”–not a cool, clean, sterile pool. The lake, as I learned in elementary school, is a habitat for fish, snakes, and all kinds of plant life. That’s right–in the lake, there is life. There were no lane dividers and no thick black line to lead the way. Thankfully, Wonder Coach had reminded me of the differences between pool and lake. “When you feel overwhelmed, flip over on your back, look at the sky, breathe slowly, and calm down.” Sage advice for triathlon participation.
Funny . . . the things we learn while training for triathlons. Like the lake, life is void of lane dividers and thick black lines to lead the way. Life is much like the lake–it’s a habitat for all kinds of people, behaviors, encounters. The advice given to me for my first triathlon swim works in the everyday–“look at the sky, breathe slowly, and calm down.”
You are AWESOME!!!