The Mud Turtle and Her Coach

As I mentioned before I am often working towards some sort of goal. Several years ago my Dad was influencial in getting me into cycling. In his very loving, if not blunt manner, he said "Daughter you are not a very good runner, you do more of a up and down motion instead of a forward motion; you should try cycling I think you would enjoy it." Hence I purchased my first "real" bike and found a new love. I thought it would be really cool to participate in a Century ride and even cooler to raise $$$ for the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society while doing so. So I signed up with Team in Training, fund-raised, and had the time of my life completing the "Mad River Century Ride" in beautiful Vermont. Jump ahead to January 2011; I pondered my New Years Resolutions - top of the list was to work towards being fit in Body, Mind, and Spirit. The wheels started spinning and I thought it would be really cool if I could complete a Sprint Triathlon. I love to bike, I would be willing to suffer through a 3 or 4 mile run, but the extent of my swimming was floating around my pool on my inflatable raft, complete with a cupholder sipping on something nice and cold. Lucky me I happen to have an amazing friend -her name is Jen- who just so happened to once be a competitive swimmer as well as a coach for some crazy amount of years. I only needed to ask once and she of course was more than willing to help. Might I add, Jen is also the mom of the most adorable 2 year old twin girls, so she came equipped with a sense of humor and a ton of patience. So began my swim lessons in late January. Let me just say it wasn't pretty. Swimming is far more technical than I ever imagined. I formed a new found respect for swimmers. There is the stroke, there is the breathing, there is the kicking, and there is the putting it all together and when that doesn't happen it's called "sinking" Let's just say the "Pull Bouy" became my friend. There were times when I really thought I would never get it, and had a few fleeting thoughts of giving up; but Jen was having none of that.
It has somehow all come together. Recently I did a practice Sprint Triathlon and when I finished the swim my daughter said "Wow Mom that was pretty fast" That was until she saw me the following week swimming with Jen, she said something like "Mom you're so cute when you swim; but you look like a little Mud Turtle compared to Jen" But it's all good. No, I am not pretty in the water, I am not fast in the water, and so what if I can only breathe out of the right side. I somehow get it done. The best part of our swim work-out is the last 15 or 20 minutes when we kickboard side by side and have the best conversations. Thanks Jen xoxoxo