Delayed Gratification

Well I can finally say it...I am a Triathlete!  Ok, it was 4 weeks later then I expected but there was no bike failure, no excuses, not much practice and  no expectations.  I was a lot less nervous this time, actually quite relaxed, what was going to be would be and I know I was not in total control.  Last time I trained for 6 weeks and it did not matter, this time I had not swam in 4 weeks and only had 1 short bike ride and 1 brick workout so I was not as prepared but what the heck, I was doing to give it my all.

The swim was not pleasant, there were lots of weeds and I felt a bit panicky, but I decided to get the heck out of these as quickly as possible.  The bike leg was my downfall last time, I keep my emotions under control and kept telling myself it was just a nice Saturday bike ride.  Since I have an 18K run tomorrow, I did not want to push it so I kept it to a comfortable pace and started out.  I passed quite a few bikers in my event and since we has our names on out bids, I decided to be a cheerleader to those I passed.  I think the first biker was surprised when I passed her, called her by name and told her she looked wonderful.  For most of the participants, this was their first experience at Triathlons and I wanted to make it special.  I kept this up as I rode from the Lauier bridge to Carleton University.  I do not know if it helped them but it sure made me feel good.   Once I hit Carleton, the end was in sight and I focused on actually finishing the bike leg.  I was so happy when I crossed the dismount line and realized that next was the run and I knew I could do that.  The run was not as comfortable as I wanted, I felt like I was going really slow but in fact I was running a quite a good pace.  As I passed people on the run, I encouraged them on, told them they were doing awesome and generally trying to enjoy the run despite how I felt.  One young boy was running with his Dad by his side, his Dad was not participating but he told me that since his son came to each of his Tri's he was going to be there for him.  When I entered the track, I actually felt quite ill but there was no way I was stopping now, 100 m to go and I was done.  The sense of relief was overwhelming, I had completed my first Triathlon!

I enjoyed today so much more then before, not just the finishing but the whole event.  I was less focused on my result and was more focused on having fun and I did.  I guess once again the universe was teaching me a few lessons, and hopefully I learned them and will not have to repeat them in the future.  Focus less on the destination and more on the journey because even if you fail, you still had an amazing experience.