A Pep Talk to Myself

Got my third triathlon tomorrow. It's a 'super sprint'. Yeah, whatever. ;)  There's a 300m swim (in a pool, glory hallelujah!), 11 mile bike and 3 mile run.

I would happily, HAPPILY, move a couple of running miles or 100m of swimming over to the bike portion.  Now here's a perfect triathlon for me: 100m swim, 25 mile bike, 2 mile run. See? Perfection. No one else seems to see it that way. Hmmph.

I have to choose my triathlons based on the swim. When people ask, "What triathlon are you training for?" I answer, "The one with the shortest swim." But I'm getting better peeps, slowly but surely, I'm getting better. I only have to stop once now on my way down Barton Springs and once on my way back. It was not so long ago that I stopped three or four times each way. I think I can tread water for a full 15 seconds too without begging for Christ's second coming.

Most of my triathlon training energy has been spent on learning how to swim and overcoming my phobias anxiety in the open water. This means that my running, the thing I've done with the most consistency the last few years, has had to take a back seat (think: back seat of a Greyhound bus). Second to swimming has been learning how to bike with clips and gears and the "big ring" and "small ring" and all that sort of complicated stuff.  Complicated or not, if I knew how much I'd enjoy cycling, I'd have started a long time ago. Not that I'm so terribly speedy, but that's fun stuff. Heck, if I knew how much I'd enjoy all of triathlon training, I'd have started that a long time ago too.

I read an article about Phelps recently and in regards to the 4x200 relay, in which the American team won gold, he said, "It shows that hard work pays off." Okay, I'm a nobody learning how to swim, but he's darn right. So simple. So difficult. Whether it's for the Olympics or just a suburban mom learning how to swim, the same principle applies: consistent and persistent work will get results. Hard work is the "magic bullet" for which so many people quick answers.


It's easy to want to hop around to every boot camp, TZPQX workout and barre-pole-dance thingy hoping that I'll see instant results and sudden prowess in the water (and/or on the bike). Honestly, it can be frustrating to see people gliding up and down Barton Springs while I can't. I was sorta-kinda hoping I'd be further along by now. I have to remind myself that my best bet for getting better is to really stick with my goal -- and give it some time. Centimeter by centimeter, my swimming is improving. Mile by mile, my cycling is improving. 


Didja know that bronze medalists tend to be happier than silver medalists? I looked it up on a hunch after watching the Olympics, and lo and behold, it's been documented. Apparently, bronze medalists are just happy to have won a medal at all. They had to have worked their tail off, and they felt satisfied about their results. Still in the record books. Third in just the, you know... whole world. Wouldn't you be happy? I hope I would.

Viktoria Komova after winning silver (source)

Reese Hoffa after winning bronze (source)

You and I are probably not going to win a gold medal nor a triathlon (if you do, message me, because we need to be better friends ;)).  But I'd like to have the attitude of a bronze medalist tomorrow and in everything I do. (Not that I'm coming in third in the triathlon tomorrow. That would be plain silly.) I've done the math, and here's the equation:

 hard work  

+  grateful attitude 

=  a happy outcome 

Bronze medalists sleep better at night. I'm sure of it. On that note, I should go to bed soon. It's rise and shine at 4:45a.m.  :-)


No one has ever become poor by giving. ~ Anne Frank