Sunday, September 20, 2009

A New Challenge


Wow, I have not blogged in quite some time. The reason I have not blogged is that I have been so crazy busy! Along with working and packing up to move I have been doing some serious training. Wait did she say training?!?!?! Yes I sure did! This Saturday I will be participating in my first ever triathlon. Now before you say "woah this girl is crazy" I must tell you that it is not an Olympic distance but a sprint distance. That's means I will be doing a 1/4 mile swim, 11 mile bike, and 3 mile run. I have been working hard since I returned from China and I think I am ready to do this. My goal for this one is to just finish although I hope I finish this under 2 hours. Last Saturday i did clinic in Santa Cruz which included an ocean swim. For any of you who know me you know that I DO NOT swim in water that you cannot see the bottom of. Even after growing up next to the ocean and spending summers lakeside in Minnesota I have never been comfortable swimming in waters where some type of critter may come up and bite my toes. Swimming in the ocean was a huge feat for me. The waves were 6 to 7 feet high on the morning of our swim and the group before me got totally wiped out but a huge wave. I stayed calm and made it out no problem. We were swimming at Sea Cliff where there is this huge cement boat that is completely falling apart. We basically had to swim around it. It was tough and at one point I had a Sea Lion swim a little ways in front of me. People later said to me "Vanessa you are crazy, there are sharks out there." I honestly wasn't thinking about that or any other animal coming up to bother me. I just wanted to get back to shore and finish. I did in fact finish and after climbing 154 stairs back to the top of the mountain, I was pretty winded. I was glad to get some pointers and practice in before my first real tri. Luckily this triathlon will be in a lake and not the ocean so hopefully it will be a lot easier. I am excited but nervous at the same time. It has been hard to train since I went back to work and I have been extremely exhausted. But I am liking the rewards that I have already seen. After I complete this event on Saturday I have another challenge on my mind that I would like to complete in November. But that's another story for another day!
Please pray for strength and confidence for me. I know that I can do all things through God who gives me strength. I will do this, even if it takes me forever to finish!
As of this second there are only 5 days, 10 hours, 34 minutes, and 28 seconds until stat time...here we go.
Check back in a week for results:)
Vanessa

2 comments:

  1. Go get em Vanessa! Man I can't wait for saturday, I am excited to see you do your race and to finish it, and finish strong! You have consistently put in the work, and now just a few days left to the real thing! You do know their are fish in the lake though right? Of course these fish aren't like the ones in the ocean. Getting around the cement ship was way harder than the 1/4 mile in the lake. Just remember to relax (yeah right) and that with the wetsuit on, you will float no matter what! You've trained hard, not just go out there and do what you've trained to do!!!!

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  2. So awesome.....You will do great. As it gets closer - just remember all the training. All the days of getting up and going out when you really wanted to be sleeping or NOT training. It will give you confidence!

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