Something positive =0)

Well once again it has been a while since my last post. Apparently between kids, work and travel I have not had much opportunity to sit at my computer for more than 5 mins. Since I last posted I personally had a complete melt down and was ready to quit except for the fact that I refuse to allow myself to do so. The thing about sport that I love most is that just when you least expect it, and often most need it, someone comes out of the crowd and says just the right thing. Thank you Lana and many others that picked me up at this time and encouraged me to keep on going. I was convinced at the end of may that after struggling to swim 500 meters (pool) for the Try This Tri that there was no way I would ever be able to complete the 1.9K (open water) that is required for the half Ironman in August.

June started with more training in the snow and a chilly swim in Lake Sundance. My first ever experience in swimming open water. I chose not to follow the crowd and stuck the to edge until I felt I had my confidence. After swimming roughly 1/4 of the way around I decided to give it all I had and swam out to the middle, as I could not stay in may safety net in the upcoming months. I swam until I could see fish and kept going until I could see nothing at all and managed to find my way back to shore. It was not a long swim but I had proven to myself that I could swim in deep, open, cold water and live to tell about it. It was certainly the confidence boost that I needed.

Following this experience I hooked up with Dan Fraser from High Altitude hypnosis ( http://www.highaltitudehypnosis.com/ ) in order to try and overcome my fear of deep water, something I would never have considered doing years ago. After being asked 3 times in one week if I had ever considered hypnosis I took it as a sign and looked into it. I had no idea what to expect but Dan made sure I was comfortable and has successfully brought me to a point where I am still aware of what I am doing but overall more relaxed in doing so, allowing me to finally focus on my swim stroke rather than dealing with the panic of not being able to touch the bottom. Thanks Dan!!

I have continued working with Amanda on my swim. She has offered unending support and was able to convince me that I could accomplish my goals before I was able to really believe it myself. I still need a ton of work but with Amanda's patience and skill I have been able to bring up my swim distance and can now swim 1500 to 2000 meters consistantly. Yeah, another confidence boost!!

On June 20th I had my biggest test to date. I competed in the Chinook Oympic Triathlon held at Lake Midnapore. My time was not great (Amy I have a lot to learn from you!!!) but most importantly I FINISHED. My swim was far from pretty as I discovered the importance of sighting while in open water, a skill I had neglected to learn prior to competing. In my first 150 meters of the swim I swam so far off course I crashed into the boat docks. As I was thinking about what I should do, and yes quitting was one of the options being tossed around, my next hero in life arrived...Thank You Jay the wonderful guy in the red kayak. He explained about sighting and stuck to my left side for the remainder of the swim. I still successfully swam way off course several more times but did manage to avoid any more collissions which I was thankful for. Thankfully the second lap went much smoother as I finally figured out how to actually swim and watch for the buoys on a regular basis. Instead I developed a major cramp in both calves something I had never experienced before. I was definately in pain but could not bring myself to stop (yes I did briefly consider it again) but with Jay's encouragement I made it the full 1500 meters. I came up on the beach and was greated with a large ovation - there are some perks to being dead last! - I had my own personal stripper who successfully stripped off my wet suit before I had recovered from the dizziness I felt upon standing up right after an hour in the water. The race crew were great as they escorted me from the lake to the transition zone and assured I was okay before leaving me to tackle the bike and run. The bike was disappointing but I was afraid to push too hard knowing I still had to run 10K. I learned I should have pushed harder and definatley should have drunk a whole lot more water. The bike was certainly the loneliest portion of the race as I was miles from anyone and did not really recieve much of a confidence boost by passing anyone as I had in the Try this event in may, as I simply did not see anyone to even try and pass. I pushed on knowing that regardless of how long it took I could finish this race. I took off on the run a little faster than I should have but managed to settle into a steady pace for the first 7K. By 8K my lack of water and the heat from the midday sun caught up with me and I gave in for the first time ever and walked for a minute. I knew I was close to the finish and definately could not even consider quitting at this point so I forced myself up the hill and pushed hard across the finish line. I had done it!!!

The Chinook event was a wonderful learning experience in what not to do in a race. Sighting, pacing and fluid intake were all important lessons. Although the last thing I was looking for in my schedule was another race I decided to sign up for the Coral Springs Olympic event so I can try it all again in July and hopefully improve upon my faults before I have to endure my ultimate test in August. I was thrilled that I was able to actually finish a 1500 meter open water swim and am now more confident than ever that with continued training over the next 5 weeks I can add the required 400 meters in order to finish the half Ironman event.

In amongst all of this my Dad unfortunately has taken a turn for the worse and is struggling to keep his confidence up. Fear of course is his biggest enemy, aside from the obvious that is. I wish there was a simple strategy available to help him face his fear as I have struggled to face my own. I'm determined to cross the finish line in my next two races in order to help encourage him and reinforce the idea if you believe you can do it anything truely is possible!