Summer Goal - Completed!

Last weekend I participated and COMPLETED my first triathlon! This event was the culmination of all the blood, sweat, and tears that I have poured into the gym this summer. Ok, so maybe just sweat, but you get the point.

At the beginning of this summer I felt as though I should have some kind of a goal to keep in mind while working out. It started simply as a desire to be able to run again, as my physical therapist said it would not be wise to run with all of my back issues from last summer. As my biking and swimming routines seemed to get easier, my thought process changed to a race mentality. I wanted to complete something – to have a sense of accomplishment. I started looking at triathlon distances, found the sprint distance triathlons, and thought that a good goal to set for the summer would be an in-gym sprint distance triathlon. I thought that I could just try and do these distances at one point on the different machines available in the gym, but my competitive side took over and thought, I want to be faster than other people.

Continuing my training, I found different sprint distance triathlons around Washington and I decided to head north to the Lake Samish Triathlon. My gym routines became more and more vigorous as I approached that 8th day in August and I began to get nervous. Everyday I went to the gym with the intention to get the competitive edge and beat someone else. That big number 8 loomed ahead and I couldn’t wait to get going on that first triathlon.

Finally, the morning of the 8th arrived and I woke up at 4:45 AM. I greeted the day with good friends Dylan, Lindsey, and Vanny in the van rockin’ our way up to Bellingham. The morning was gray and as we arrived at the lake, the water looked black and freezing. The four of us sort of wandered around for a couple hours and people watched until I had to start getting ready. I set up my transition station and stretched out. The first couple of waves of people headed out and I finally waded into what were surprisingly warm waters. “This is it,” I thought. “This is everything I’ve worked so hard for all summer. Don’t let down, just-” And before I could even finish my thought, they signaled the start of my wave.

I dove into the waters and started swimming as fast as I could and soon realized why so many had suggested staying to the outside. I was being passed and everyone was kicking me in the face. A couple of heels to the nose later, I got a pace going and did my best to stick to that.

The shore was indeed a welcoming site. I hopped out of the water with sore arms and ran to the transition station where I changed under a towel (interesting and difficult not to flash the spectators) and got my bike. Soon I was off to the biking part where it took me 8 miles to realize I had only been in the second of three gears the whole time. I switched and started going faster. As I reached the end of the biking course (two laps around the lake) I saw a sign that read dismount area. Naturally I slowed down, but as I had been cruising between 20 and 25 mph, I was still going fairly fast. I jumped off the bike where the sign was to the frightening realization of my speed and numb feet; I nearly collapsed. I was somehow able to keep my cool and ran to the transition station to store my bike and head off to the run.

The run was by far the most difficult. I started and only got 100 yards before I had to walk. The run was an out and back course with a lot of hills and the first quarter I walked more than I ran due to side-aches and sore legs. The second quarter I was able to run more than walk, but still didn’t feel like I was making good time. Once I reached the hydration station though, I decided to run all the way back. Most of the run back all I could think was “left, right, left, right…” This mantra was all that got me through – especially all of the hills! The last part of the run was up and over a hill and knowing I was almost there I started to push myself as hard as I could. I reached the peak of the hill and saw a guy in a bright yellow livestrong jersey about 80 yards in front of me. Lance Armstrong was not about to beat me and every last drop of reserve fuel went into my legs as I sprinted the last tenth of a mile. I passed Lance and saw the FINISH line, and ran right through. I nearly collapsed as the girl cut my timer off my leg and I walked over to the grass.

I was finished!!! In the end, my times were as follows: 400 yard swim - 12:53, transition one – 3:27, 14.75 mile bike 1:00:32, transition 2 – 1:06, and finally 5k run – 37:02.

I finished in a grand total of one hour, fifty five minutes, and two seconds! I was hoping for just less than two hours and reached that goal and felt great!
Next year’s triathlon should be even faster.

Less Than One Month!!!

It’s funny how fast time can be – we’ve almost reached the end of summer! All of my life I have waited in anticipation, almost to the point of dancing like I have to use the restroom, until summer would come and relieve all the pressures life can hurl at us. I knew this year it would be different. Between waiting to hear about my acceptance to the program and getting everything ready for my long awaited departure such as my visa (it came back yesterday! I’m legally allowed to live in Italy now!), electronics (just got a new camera!), and travel supplies (tested the new backpack with Dad going up the Summerland Trail on Mount Rainier), it has been a summer full of things to do.

Before I go on to tell of all the great things I have been able to do this summer and all of the future adventures I will elaborate on, I would like to take a moment and explain when my journey to Italy all began. In the summer between seventh and eighth grade my dad and I went on one of our annual camping trips, this time up to Banff, Canada. As we were crossing Eastern Washington Dad thought it would be a cool idea to stop by some Jesuit school with a funny sounding name. I thought that this would be a complete waste of time because I felt like I had the rest of my life to figure out where to go to school, and that was way too far off in the distance! Anyways, as we pulled up and started on the tour (where I was indeed the youngest by a few years), our tour guide was telling us about the study abroad program in Italy that he had just returned from. Needless to say I was jazzed about this program and decided then and there that I was going to attend that little private Jesuit school with a funny name, Gonzaga University. I never really thought of attending other schools because the more I got to know about GU, the more I loved it. But always in the back of my mind I knew the real reason I would go there was to experience Gonzaga-in-Florence or GIF as it is so often referred to. Now here we are only one month away from my departure, from a dream I grasped on to in seventh grade and refused to let go of.

One of the major things I had to do this summer was make money and lots of it. I searched for a job all of my spring break and turned up with nothing. I then got a tip about a job working for King County and went after it. Low and behold, I landed the job helping youth find work experience through the county. I’ve met a lot of great people through this work experience and it’s helped me reach some financial goals I had at the beginning of the summer.

Another huge thing for me this summer has been the gym. I decided near the beginning of the summer that I would attempt a triathlon. Nearly every single day I finished with work and would spend about two hours swimming, biking, or running, but most days it was some kind of combination of the three. Through this rigorous exercise routine I have lost weight, improved endurance, and nearly reached my goal. I will be participating in the Lake Samish Triathlon in Bellingham where I will swim 400 yards, bike 14.75 miles, and run a 5k (about 3.5 miles). I’m super nervous, but I will let you know how it goes on Saturday when I finish!

To conclude, I’m just really, really, REALLY excited about ending this summer. I’m giddy when I think of all the fun my classmates and I are about to have and all the lessons in school and in life that I will learn, or be forced to learn. But until that plane takes off on September fifth at 1:50 PM, in service from Seattle/Tacoma International Airport to Charles de Gaulle and eventually to Leonardo da Vinci Airport in Rome, I have to take things one day at a time.