Seasons

By: Rebecca Bailey

This is my 5th Season of participating in Triathlon.
Who would have thought (not me!!) that I could take up a sport that involves endurance and enjoy it for 5 Seasons and beyond??
What inspires me? What keeps me moving even through this season when I can't run as I'm trying to heal my nasty case of plantar facitis? I have been very challenged by my time and energy constraints this season....how do I keep going?
There are some though ts, things that inspire me this 5th Season of Triathlon:
1. New Triathletes.
-One of the major things that keeps me going is the ability to inspire others to do it. It is so fun to see my teammates take this on and be so excited when they get in shape, drop weight, discover their inner athlete, and most important, feel better about themselves.
-I created my Triathlon 101 class three years ago at the request of my employer who asked me to teach the class to other employees, and I've taken off with it, teaching it about 15 times. Every one of the class participants inspires me to keep going. They have no idea that as I'm standing up there teaching them and demonstrating how to do this, that they are all inspiring me to keep going too. They make me want to keep going so I can stand up there and inspire them. It is so wonderful when they find me at a triathlon, or event later and tell me about their races, so nice to see the excitement they experience.
-This year I am thrilled to have my coworkers at the ER joining me! Six women completed the 5 Mile Lake Triathlon with me. So far there are 10-12 others who have signed up to do a coed triathlon in Elma on August 2. The buzz and excitement around the ER about is great! Every day coworkers are talking about Triathlon, asking questions, contemplating it, trying to find relays, having a good time with this.
2. My Health & Family
I continue to keep diabetes away, and know with 100% certainty that Triathlon is the best way for me to keep it away. Mom died 3 years ago from that horrible illness at only 69, I just can't let myself go there. I have to stay healthy for myself and my family. I love knowing that even though I am an XL person, I am healthy and strong. If I could train more, I'd be healthier and stronger, but I am healthy and strong. I can complete any sprint length triathlon I take on. I have completed every race I have started.

The wise words of the very wise Patty Anderson keep going through my head. I sent out a whiny email one day about being frustrated not being able to join my teammates enough, not being able to train with the group much. Patty emailed me to remind me there are Seasons in life. She is so right, this is so helpful.
This is the Season for me to coach my son, to spend time with him, teach him to throw the discus and the season for me to work hard.
There will be other Seasons for me to get to work less and train harder.
Thank you for that Patty, those words have been very helpful, nice to remember that my life is long and good. I will be doing triathlon for a long time, there will be many more Seasons, some Seasons will be perfect, some Seasons will have challenges, that is life.
Life is a cumulation of ma ny Seasons.
There will be many more Seasons.