Seattle Danskin Triathlon 2012
Last weekend I headed up to Seattle again for my third year participating in the Danskin Triathlon Series (You can click to read about 2010 and 2011).
It's a women's only event that features a 1/2 mile swim, 12 mile bike ride and a 5K run (3.1 miles).
2012 for me was all about showing up and finishing.
Mostly, it was about showing up.
My partners in crime again this year included my friends Anna (click on over to read her account of our adventure) and Doris and my cousin's wife Cristina (who we usually meet up with on race morning). On Saturday we picked up our registration packets and then took our bikes over to the race location for "racking" (where you leave them there over night with all the other bikes).
As we were walking our bikes into the park on Saturday we got to meet blog-reader and fellow memory keeper Reyna.
She'd read about the race on my blog and was super excited to be embarking on her first sprint triathlon. She shared her a really inspiring story of weight-loss and fitness - it was awesome. So glad you stopped me to say hi Reyna!
On Sunday morning we were up at 4:30am to drive to Seattle from my parents house in Federal Way. We were in the water right around 7am. This year there were a little over 1500 women competing and showing up. It's so inspiring to see all of them - especially the older women (I'm guessing in their 70's and maybe even 80's).
Both Anna and Doris really rocked it this year - dropping time from last year.
My overall time was about a minute slower than last year, which is not too bad considering I didn't train at all (besides swimming a couple times and riding my bike with friends on a couple 15 mile rides):
Considering the year I've had, I was just happy to show up, hang out with friends, and finish the race without hurting myself. I love the experience. I love seeing all the people. I love the energy and the excitement.
My life this past year has been all about showing up. Showing up to life. Showing up to my emotions. Showing up to my sadness and my joy. Showing up, putting one foot in front of the other with intention.
Next year I hope to have my kids come watch so they can see what it's all about.
At the end of the race each year I've said next year I'm going to actually train. Maybe this will be the year that it actually happens. I'll definitely be signing up again. It's a great way to mark the passage of time.
VERY cool...way to "show up" ali!
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Wow! That is really cool! Congratulations!
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Kudos to you! I am so impressed that you followed through with this despite not training. In some ways, I think it's MORE impressive when you hadn't even trained! You're doing a lot more than "showing up."
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Wow, you're pretty brave showing up to a triathalon without having trained at all! I would've totally chickened out.
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I really like that phrase, 'showing up to life.' It somehow makes all the unknowns and difficulties that come with life seem manageable. Like, if I can just show up- everything will be alright.
In the Peace Corps, we have a phrase. '90% of the job is just showing up.' If I show up and make an effort with my volunteer work, things will work out (even if it works out much slower then I initially anticipated). Sometimes showing up is the hardest part, but it's certainly rewarding.
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Wow, so impressive Ali. Way to go! I like the idea of this type of thing, but health problems prevent me from managing to do very much exercise but One Day...
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I totally need to just show up for a tri. Congratulations!
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"Showing up to life. Showing up to my emotions. Showing up to my sadness and my joy. Showing up, putting one foot in front of the other with intention."
You're amazing and so inspiring.
In so many ways.
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