My Blog Log

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Enjoy the Moment

    One of the things that I have learned lately about triathlon and life is to try to enjoy the moment. We live in a culture that is constantly moving and changing and it is easy to forget to live for today. I tend to fall into the trap of thinking what is next, when in reality what is next might not come. My last post I wrote about how we triathlete type folks are always planning, training, thinking about what is next, but during my last event I learned to take a break from worrying about the logistics of racing and just get into the excitement and glory of the day which in reality is the most important part.
     The people responsible for this transformation in attitude are my dear friends Todd and Jodie Purich. We have been friends since our kids were a year old. Todd put together two relay teams this year for the Half Iron man distance at Beach 2 Battleship Triathlon in Wilmington, NC. This is one of the best long distance triathlons in the country and was rated fifth in the world according to Triathlete Magazine. It offers both the half iron and full iron distance and the venue is beautiful as you start at the beach and end in downtown Wilmington. The race is well run and the crowd support phenomenal. I would highly recommend adding it to your race or bucket list. Don't be concerned that this is not an Iron man brand race, it is awesome and the proceeds raise money for the YMCA of Wilmington which helps children and families.
     I loved racing this course as a relay team and would highly recommend it if you want to participate in a longer race, but don't have the time to train for the whole 70.3miles or 140.6 miles. This year there were over 100 relay teams. Racing as a team was fun too as we had our own cheering section for each other. I was more relaxed knowing that I had to crank out a bike ride versus all three sports.
    There were several special parts or moments that I enjoyed that day. The first is being with good friends and the fact that their children who I have known since they were babies were part of the relay teams. Their sixteen  year old twins participated in their first iron man event. It was really cool for me to see how excited the kids were to race. Their daughter seemed to really catch the "triathlon bug" as she expressed interest in doing more events. That was so exciting for me to see. It's hard to describe the feeling that one gets from attending and racing at these events, but the best way to describe the environment is electric. There is so much positive energy floating around you can't help but get caught up in it. This year there was a band playing afterwards and they had a large screened television near the finish line showing video highlights of everyone racing. It was quite a sight to see.
     Even if you never have any aspiration to race I would highly recommend volunteering at an event like this. You will completely be inspired and have an awesome time just seeing what participants go through and the positive encouragement that strangers give one another as they see participants on the course and cheer them on. What always warms my heart as a participant are the kind words I receive from complete strangers.
     My friend Todd, who put together the teams, really contributed to me getting into the moment. He said little things all day like, "Isn't this great...Did you look around on the bike, isn't it beautiful?...What a day!" It was little phrases that he said that made me look at the little things about the day rather than worry so much about my time or who was in front of me. Enjoying the weather and the day was as important as the race.
     We enjoyed all types of weather that day too which made me feel really alive. The temperatures in the early morning were very cold at 39 degrees and by the end of our race it had warmed up to 70 degrees. The sun was shining and the sky was clear which really helped make the day great as well. If you've ever raced in the cold and the rain you can appreciate good weather even more.
     I learn something each time I race and B2B was no different. I've raced this course three times, but I still learned something from one of the participants this year. In transition while waiting for my swimmer to come tag me I talked to some other cyclists. We were talking about what kind of layers of clothing to put on since it was so cold to start and we knew it would warm up by the end of our rides. One of the guys said, "newspaper." I did not follow at first and then he said," Stuff some newspaper in your bike jersey. It acts as an insulator and then you can pitch it when you get too warm." I loved this and will try it sometime. The other tip I learned was to duck tape underneath your cycling shoes. There is an area underneath cycling shoes where you clamp into your bike pedal. Air can come in through this small area, but if you put a little piece of duck tape around it the cold air will not come in. One day before the race I also invested in some neoprene shoe covers for my cycling shoes. The covers go over the tops of cycling shoes and provide a shield from the cold wind, and insulates the foot so your toes are nice and toasty during cold weather riding. These were key that day.
     Enjoy  the little things in each and every day. No matter if you are a triathlete, business person, teacher, parent or whatever. We should all take time to enjoy little moments as life is but a blink.

Tri-On,
Kelly
    

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