The Slide

Photo credit here

You know how when you’re at the top of the water slide getting ready to go? Your heart is racing, and you inch your rear forward slowly. You want to go, but you’re a little afraid. You scoot a little further down, toes curled, gripping the sides of the slide, fingers clenched tight to the rail until suddenly, amazingly, the water grabs you and starts to push you down. You go faster and faster, and then there’s the big drop… down, down, down, whoosh… 

What a thrill! 

Sara Dowdy is the perfect combination of awesome and evil.  She asked me to do a race with her in March, and she knows I’m only doing aquabikes these days so she said, “You could do a whole one.”  What’s a “whole one” you ask?  She and I both knew she meant the whole ironman distance for the two events…  2.4 mile swim, 112 miles on the bike.  Whoa…

 

I love that she thinks of me.  I wish she didn’t think so well of me.  I know what this would take in terms of training time, and I don’t have it.  But even if I did, I’m not sure I want to spend this much time in the saddle.  It did get me thinking about doing a shorter race.  Last May I was thinking I should work toward an Olympic race, but maybe the half is possible…  6 months, 1.2 mile swim, 56 miles of riding…  hmmm.

The longest triathlon I ever did was a sprint.  The longest race I ever ran was a 10K.  I may have been a distance swimmer in my youth, but back then the longest race I ever swam was the 500 free.  The hardest race I ever swam was the 400 IM… This would be a BIG step...

So I have some time.  Early registration closes at the end of November.  I can start training now.  A couple days a week in the pool, a couple on the bike, a couple in the weight room.  I didn’t ride or swim much this summer.  It’s going to be a long road back.  Swam a mile yesterday, slowly, not all freestyle.  Didn’t die.  Rode 20 miles last weekend, not my best, but it felt good. 

I can sense it.  My rear is inching forward.  I’m still hanging on, not sure I’m all in yet, but every season starts out like this.  The slow scooting into the training, the doubts, the excuses. I can still get off the slide any time.  

And then suddenly I’m moving.  I’m in the groove, flying through practices, streaking down the tube. My free time becomes more and more focused on the big five...  eating well, hydrating, sleeping, stretching, training.  Faster and faster. Down, down, down until race day… 

Whoosh!  What a ride!

 “You can’t be that kid standing at the top of the waterslide, overthinking it. You have to go down the chute.” Tina Fey