What a Weekend!

Wow! This weekend was just packed with training. We had an intense brick on Saturday, with a 25 mile bike followed by a 5 mile run. This is the closest we will come in our training to the actual distance of the triathlon. We were instructed to "Push it like we would in the race", so we could know our limits and learn how much is too much or not enough. I shared a "mission moment" before we took off. Our team dedicated the workout to Zack and Elisa, our two friends with leukemia. Elisa is now officially done with her treatment, and Zack still has a ways to go, but both are doing well. I wanted to acknowledge them for all that they have endured so far on their journey, and was especially moved as I recalled Zack's difficulties last summer and his long stint in the PICU at Doernbecher. I decided that I really must name my bike Zack, because for me the biking is the hardest part, and I always think of him and how my struggles to ride the thing pale in comparison to what he has endured. So I got to wear the vest with the names of all the people our teammates know who have been affected by blood cancers, and I have to say, it helped me so much! There was some magic in it: I felt strong and powerful, like a superhero!

Sunday morning found our team reassembled at the Nehalem Bay State Park boat dock in our goofy wetsuits. It was our first cold water ocean swim, and it, too, was awesome. There was something about the cold salty water that was so refreshing, and I imagined our group as a school of dolphins slicing through the water. We did have an adventure, though, that dolphins could have conquered much more easily than we did! We were instructed to swim to the green buoys, either the first, second or third, along the shoreline. If we got to the third and turned around it would be about a mile. That was not considering the tide coming in though! A group of us somehow got a bit farther out into the channel where the tide was really pouring in, and as we passed the first buoy and continued on towards the second, I kept noticing as I sighted ahead of me that the darn thing just never got any closer. At first I thought it was an optical illusion. But then I looked towards shore and saw how quickly I was being carried backwards to where I had just come from. We were basically swimming in place!! So though we barely made it past that first buoy, we difinitely swam the distance! And we even managed to not be consumed by any great white sharks to boot!! After that experience, I finally got the internal confirmation I had been waiting for: I CAN DO THIS TRIATHLON! If I could complete Saturday's brick, and then successfully navigate the ocean in my wetsuit, I can put it all together on Sept. 12th! Yippee!!