i'm training for a (sprint) triathlon.
after my second half marathon, i decided i was up for a different kind of challenge. in a roundabout phone conversation, my sister and i seemed to unintentionally convince each other that flying to san diego for a long weekend to compete in what will be my first triathlon was a great idea.
after my second half marathon, i decided i was up for a different kind of challenge. in a roundabout phone conversation, my sister and i seemed to unintentionally convince each other that flying to san diego for a long weekend to compete in what will be my first triathlon was a great idea.
now don't get me wrong, i'm very excited. i've developed a strict training regimen that involves me waking up far before the sun each morning to work out. some mornings i cycle and other mornings i swim. then in the afternoons i often run and do yoga. i'm exhausted, but i'm feeling physically fit and prepared for the trio of fitness challenges that awaits me on the west coast.
the one leg of the race that i'm very nervous about, despite my preparedness, is the swim.
you may or may not know this about me. but i'm scared of the dark. this fear includes:
1. walking alone at night (the only legitimate part of my fear for someone my age)
2. entering a room/building when no one is home and thus, all the lights are off (i have grown to be ok with this situation in my own apartment)
3. sleeping (yes, i have a nightlight to scare away the monsters under my bed)
4. camping (lions, tigers, and bears, oh my)
5. expansive bodies of water when i cannot see the bottom
those expansive bodies of water are what concern me most right now. to prep myself, i have been trying to recall all the times that i've swum in something dark and unfamiliar. unfortunately, all the water we swam in during our travels last year were perfectly crystal clear, so that doesn't help my comfort level. the atlantic ocean is cloudy but i've swum in it my whole life, making it familiar and non-threatening. i generally tend to stay away from anything particularly murky...
to say that our setup was idyllic is an extreme understatement. i don't know if there are even words to describe the calmness of this place. despite the roaring mekong below us, i cannot remember a time when i have been more relaxed.
on our last night in the bungalows, we stayed up late chatting and drinking leos until the boys decided that it was time to go swimming in the mekong. now, it was the middle of the night and we were in the middle of nowhere. darkness surrounded us and i was terrified to begin with. absolutely not was i going swimming in the river that RAGED below us. had they not seen how fast it was moving? had they not seen how wide it was? had they not noticed that you can't the bottom? who knows what lives in there! did they not notice that it was DARK OUTSIDE?!!
while they ran down the hill and dove in, i slowly made my way behind them as their "lifeguard." i wasn't going to completely miss out on the "fun" by sitting on the porch in the dark alone.
well. needless to say, after a couple rounds of the boys flipping into the water and letting it carry them downstream before swimming back to the hill and climbing up, i realized that they weren't going to die. if any scary monsters lived in the depths, they hadn't surfaced yet and i they were having so much fun! so in i jumped. the swift current caught me by surprise and my heart was racing (you know, because of the potential sea monsters and all the darkness) but i was swimming in the mekong! those 15 minutes of swimming in the hugest, muddiest, fastest moving body of water that i have ever seen are something that i will never forget.
it's funny how something that encapsulates so many of my fears can be one of my greatest memories.
so when i think about swimming in the mekong, i realize that san diego's mission bay can't possibly be that bad.
x!
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