bridget short

If you read my last post you will know of the trials and pitfalls that have led me to this point. If you have not read it. Go read it. Yeah right now. Trust me on this one you have so much more to gain and nada to loose.

So there I was, immersed in the void cycling on as if forever. It wasn’t until the 7th or 8th mile that I even noticed how tired my legs actually were.  It was that fatigue, that feeling of pain that reminded me I was in a race. I could go faster, I must go faster. This was my best event. If you don’t preform you best at your best, what can you hope to accomplish.

I pushed on through the pain, legs pumping hard for those last five miles. I dumped my bike at the station and like the newbie I was I started running with my helmet on.

Everyone was so supportive.  Here I was, oblivious to the world yet striving towards my goal. I wasn’t going to win, I just needed to finish. The onlookers and fellow athletes caught me and one super nice guy even offered to take my helmet back to my bike for me. (I’m pretty sure now that any help is against the rules and grounds for DQ, but like I said I wasn’t going to win.) I was so relieved.

Let me pause here for a moment and give you a cut of my world. You see I live in southern Florida. Beautiful and sunny, but not always the most friendly people.  It has been my personal experience here the last two years that anyone and everyone will try to cheat you and prevent you from succeeding. What a change at the race!

I am sure that because I put it out there, because I was doing all I could to achieve my goal that those others couldn’t help but want me to succeed. You see it is really simple, there is an equal and opposite reaction to everything.  If you find yourself needing massive help in whatever you do it will reveal itself and be there once you put forth the effort towards your goal yourself.

Just like the squeaky wheel gets the grease, the stretched out hand gets far more than the open palm.  Running was yet to be another challenge for me as I was determined not to walk!

I had to say to myself over and over again, “Run until there is absolutely nothing left” “This may be the most exhausting, but you are two legs down.”

I must admit, I could have done better.  I never ran more than 3.5 miles in training as I was preoccupied with the swim. The race turned out to be 4 miles. Which seems a breeze now, but at the time it most definitely was not. You know it was doing that run as I passed a few volunteer cheerleaders that I truly realized the importance of a cheerleader!

It seems so trivial when you are doing it, but when you are out there kicking your butt and pushing your limits, it is the fans the cheerleaders chants and shouts that can give you that extra bit.

I didn’t succeed entirely and ended up walking for about 3/4 a mile. But I ran across that finish line. And you know what I completed my goal.  One completed triathlon!  But even better than that, I did it in just barely over two hours!!

You see when we truely go after our goals; when we maintain that unwavering faith; when we refuse to give up we always come out victorious! And the best part, more often than not we surprise ourselves and find the victory, the success far more sweet than we could have ever imagined.

Not only did I learn to swim, but I grew vastly in other areas.  I developed as a person all for setting, striving for and achieving simple goals! Fantastic!