Ready As Ready Can Be

Tonight, I have another 10, 000 thoughts and I still have not finished blogging about the other 10,000 from the other day…but this one is celebratory….so it goes first.

You all know that on Saturday, I will be doing a triathlon relay, this time doing 2 legs of the race, swim/run.   I have been quite nervous as I have had a goal to be able to run the WHOLE 5k without stopping.  Well, running, oh heck, all exercise has been sucking for me lately, so I knew I was NOT on schedule to be able to complete this.  Of course, I did not tell Coach how BAD I was sucking…and despite it being an all female event, he plans on running it with me.  (Something about me being his little bird taking flight for the first time or some sentimental thing like that, that makes me cry to think about it, so instead I will make light of it!)  Anyway, given that he plans on running with me, I knew that there would be little room for breaks, so I HAD to get my mileage up.

So tonight I went out for a swim followed by a run.  I swam for 20 minutes.  I do not know the distance in the pool I am in, but figure 20 minutes is about how long it will take me to do 500 meters, since I can do 700 in 25 minutes.  When finished, I jumped in my car, and went down to the state park trails (about 3 miles away) to run a loop that I KNOW is 1 mile around.  My plan was to run it 3 times, without stopping.

Lap 1 happened and as I approached my starting point, I threw my hands up in victory…and continued running.

As I finished lap 2 my legs were burning, and my breathing was rough, but heck, what is one more lap?  As I started it, I thought, “What is the big deal to stop for just a minute.  Besides, I think my shoelace is tied too tight.  I should fix that.  Oh and one of my toes is falling asleep??? What the heck is that?  I should check that out…”

But then I thought…

“Do I really want to tell Coach that I ALMOST ran 3 miles straight or do I want to hear his excitement when I tell him I RAN 3 miles straight?”

I want the surprise and excitement.  So I kept running.

Halfway through my last lap, I got a stitch in my side and thought, “oh man, I can’t finish this!”

I would swear there was someone else in my head yelling at me.

“Oh yes you can!  Don’t you dare quit now!

“OK, I guess I can go a little further.”  Breathe deep and slow…deep and slow….

I came to my final stretch.  It was a stretch of marshy land covered by a wood plank bridge.  Once I cross this, I am done.   I thought, “I am not gonna make it!”

Out of nowhere I heard Adam yelling at me…”Sprint it out Kim!  Finish strong!”

So what did I do?

You got it!  I sped up!

I finished strong and I immediately pulled out my phone to call Coach!  Got his voice mail…poor guy listened to it later and for a brief moment thought Crazy Kate had come back for a visit and I was in a place of really needing to talk and he wasn’t available…HA!  Nope, that was just me not being able to breathe!!  Sorry to have scared ya Coach!  I am FINE!  More than FINE!

At least now, I know that I can do Saturday’s event.  I had my Friday Night Tri a week or so ago and now this little training brick tonight.  There are still a lot of unknowns out there and I am still very intimidated.  But I feel better about it now!

I am ready as ready can be.

Oh yeah, Coach’s response to my achievement?

“Of course you did it! You’re hardcore!”

Oh the expectations I have set myself up for, there is no going back now!  And dang!  These boys have followed me across the state and even when they aren’t around, their words haunt me and challenge me to greatness!  God, I love the men you have placed in my life…so grateful!

Oh SNAP!  I get to check off another goal from my list!