A Small Victory!

I have decided to participate in the Danskin Triathlon in June. It is a ½ mile swim, 12 mile bike ride, and a 5K run. I don’t think I have ever swum continuously more than maybe 4 laps in my life, I don’t own a bike and haven’t been on one since I was 12, and I hate running. Why am I doing a triathlon then? To see what I am made of. To push myself where I wouldn’t otherwise go. I know it will be difficult, but I am ready to take it on. I have 4 months to get ready for it and my goal at this point is to just complete it.

In preparation, I am taking a swim class at the YMCA with one of my co-workers who is also doing the Danskin. Our first class was last night and it felt good to be in the water. It wasn’t anything super difficult; we just practiced our different strokes and the instructor evaluated where we were. Thursday will be the next class and he said we will do more difficult stuff then. I am glad I have taken the first step, but I know there is a lot left to do if I want to make this a reality.

So the most exciting part of my time in the pool didn’t have to do with swimming at all. In fact, it had to do with sinking. When I was little, I could never stay on the bottom of the pool. I was always a great floater because a good 40% of my body was fat. I would try and try, but I could never stay down for very long because I would instantly start to float back up. Last night while Wendy and I were waiting for our instructor to come back, she joked that we should have a tea party. For those of you too cool to know, that is when you sit on the bottom of the pool with your friends and pretend to drink tea. Well, when I went down, I stayed down!!! For a really long time! I didn’t float up or anything. I was amazed. I wish I could hold my breath longer so I could stay down there, but it was such a great feeling. It is such a great feeling when you have those little, unexpected milestones. A pound on the scale is great, but it is the everyday impact it has on your life that is really what counts.