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| Angela and Megan |
Angela Thomas
Pull Me Please
So here I was about to dive into my first full tri. Funny even though I had nightmares about this very moment, I was feeling rather calm. After all I have been swimming the half mile distance in the pool for several weeks.
Shortly before the swim started I was told about my swim angel, Megan, and I sought her out among the many ladies wearing yellow cap and carrying noodles. I found her, introduced myself, and made clear the three things I needed from her:
1. Keep all swimmers away from me.
2. Do not let me swim any further than I had to.
3. Keep all swimmers away from me.
Of course, being an angel, she promised me all the above.
I was, surprisingly, still calm as I waded into the water at the back of my wave of swimmers and I still had every intention of doing the breaststroke. But as I saw the dozens of hands and feet flailing and thrashing about, I suddenly felt more comfortable starting out on my back. I was planning to switch back to the breaststroke when I got some more space further out but when my angel said “You move pretty fast on your back” I said to myself “What the heck, I will just do the entire swim on my back.”
As I was settling into a nice rhythm on my back, I felt an arm hit me in the chest, then a foot hitting my arm. At this point I freaked out and called out to Megan who appeared out of nowhere. I asked her to pull me using the noodle and she told me she didn’t think she is strong enough, so I'm thinking, sh*t, I got the weak angel. Now I have to swim the whole damn thing. But I did it and spent an entire nine minutes in transition – reflecting on what I had just accomplished.
Sandy Cawthern
100 words o'triBE
January: Listening. Envisioning. Maybe not. I'll think about it. Yes. Not the bike, tho.
February: I just did 50 meters x 8. It'll have to be on my back. Let's bike. Yikes! I'm freaked! Out of control. Try again.
March: It's 2.6 miles to Peg & Cyndie G's. Got the run, really, walk down. Yes to the bike. No to the bike.
April: How long is a quarter mile in this pool. Open water? Whoa! Way longer and the water is livelier than the pool. And boy what team spirit. I love this! Maybe I can learn to ride the bike.
May: There's going to be thousands?? No bike until next year. It's only my head that can screw me up now. I know I've got the distance and endurance. I'm in love, filled with gratitude to all.
Mother's Day: Grounded. Eager. Assured. And, what are the rules, the norms? Many, many helpful women carry me along to the STARTING LlINE! This course is really short. Nothing to it. Into the water....wading, wading, gotta lay down and go! Sweet water, zen sky, breathing, aware, a few bumps and waves, awesome. Elated and embarrassed by the attention. This sand is really hard to walk in! Transition: changing clothes under a caftan is truly stupid but since I'm not biking it's not costing me time. Passed the time waiting for Joanie to return from Bike by cheering at the transition fence and LOL reclining! Then, we two triBElets Runwalk our easy 2 miles to be met by raucously sincerely supporting crowds. What a way to begin my new adventure: triathlons!
Women are the bomb. The first face I saw at the end was Jean Siegfried. I cried.
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