My friend Judith is doing her first triathlon this Saturday. And perhaps I should go on record here to say that contrary to popular belief this was not myidea! I didn't forcibly convince her to give triathlon a try. I know Kate won't believe me but... Anyway.
My friend Judith. Judith is 39 years old. She is petite in the sense that she is small. She is also heavy. Not chubby, but heavy. And I don't say this to be mean, but only so you'll understand that we are not talking about an athlete. Judith is a mom. She has two small boys and she does not work out. She doesn't go to the gym, she doesn't do weights, she's never belonged to a fitness class. She doesn't power walk in the neighborhood. But Saturday she is going to swim, bike and run.
Before a few months ago she had never ran a step, but she took herself up to the highschool track with a couch to 5K running plan, and she started chugging around the asphalt. She had to buy a boomerang for her boys to keep them entertained while she was running. She's a mom, you know. Mom's don't get to park their kids when it's time to train. So three times a week,up at the track, chug, chug, chug...The last time I ran with Judith was at the trail. She's up to four miles now, and that's including two hills.
Judith also has a slight vision problem with her left eye. We discovered this when we went swimming and she kept swimming in circles. It's hard for her to sight in the water and swim straight. That makes swimming in open water slightly terrifying because you can't use the lane lines to keep you on track. You could end up anywhere. But every week, faithfully she'd go to the pool, put in her laps. And every week we'd head to the lake with her boys and a babysitter and we'd swim. She can do a little more than a quarter mile now.
Did I mention she's never ridden a bicycle before? I know I mentioned she was small. Small enough that the extra small frame on the bike she bought was still too big for her and they had to cut it down to make it fit. Think about it. You've never owned a bike before.You don't even know how to ride a bike. And when you go in to the bike store nothing fits, and you're told you're going to have to special order a bike. How many of us at that point would say forget it; too much trouble. She special ordered a bike to ride in a triathlon. That's commitment.
When I tell people that I'm going to do a race, they usually say "Wow, good for you" but there's no surprise there. People expect it of me. "Oh well, she runs and that's her kind of thing." When Judith told people she was going to do this race they stared at her in shock. Then they laughed. "No way!"
Saturday morning Judith is going to get up and swim a quarter mile, bike 12, and run three. She's scared about what's going to happen. She doesn't think she's going to make it. But I know she will. She's overcome so many obstacles so far just by making up her mind that she was going to do this. Inspiration comes in all shapes and sizes. Three months ago my friend Judith wasn't even close to being an athlete. But with perserverance, determination and pure stubborness, come Saturday morning she'll be a triathlete. And I'm so damn proud of her!
It's lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believed in myself. - Muhammad Ali
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