We all have dreams and bucket lists. I have mine as well.
I’ve always loved sport. I ran a few half marathons in the past and I always thought that I would love to do a triathlon in the future as well. To make 100% sure it was going to happen, I added an expiry date to it. So it ended up on the ‘before I’m 40’ to-do -list.
I mostly believe in the last-minute inspiration and on my 39th birthday it came to me as a shock that I only had 12 months to make this goal a reality. I could run since I was 2 years old and ride a bike since I was 5 but I never had swimming lessons as a child. So there I was, attending adult learn-to-swim classes at the youthful age of 39. Brave enough to suck at something new. Swimming is harder than it looks. I very soon realized I’m a human being and not a fish. Forcing your brain to go all out ‘fish’ in the water took a lot of practice and time. For at least the first 2 months I’m sure my club fees went towards refilling the pool after I would drink half of it per session.
4th December 2022 was D-day. (the D stood for Doom’s Day, but I lucky did not know that beforehand, LOL) I entered the Sandman Triathlon. It involved 400m ocean swimming, 20km bike and 3km run. I was all set and geared up. Wetsuit, goggles, bike, running shoes and lots of anxiety. I planned on swimming the 400m in 10 minutes. All went well until, all of a sudden I could not breathe. My lungs sounded like full on pneumonia. Filled with fluid and no oxygen. I signaled the rescue kayak. First thing was to make sure I m not disqualified when touching his boat. Finding out that it’s safe, I hang on to it for dear life. I could see my family standing on the shore and all I could think of was, “I need to survive and finish this race”.
The guy on the Kayak had all his psychology skills going that day. He stayed by my side all the way, motivating and cheering me on. After 20 minutes I exited water towards the transition area. I was so relieved to be on land but I knew I still had the bike and run session to conquer. By a lot of grace my chest cleared up soon after I got out of the water and my tight wetsuit. I had a great bike ride and run. I was able to finish strong.
This is just my story but I would like to motivate you the reader to never give up on the silly goals and dreams you have set out for yourself. I had to endure this to learn a few very valuable skills.
- 1: You can learn any new skill as long as you are willing and disciplined. It’s very humbling yet super empowering.
- 2: You are capable of much more than what your brain tells you.
- 3: Measure you against YOU. Acknowledge growth and progress. Even on bad days, you are still beating everybody on the couch!!
- 4: You don’t have to be a born athlete to participate and LOVE sports.
- 5: Don’t wait for fear to pass. Do it afraid.
If this spoke to your heart, please tell me about it! I would love to hear from you.
Granadilla love,
M