Triathlon Completed

Last month in October I completed my first sprint triathlon in Morro Bay California. This sprint version I opted for required 12 miles biking, just over 3 miles running and 1.5 miles kayaking. I came in 98th out of 104 people that competed in the sprint version, but I still felt very proud. You see 3 years ago when I saw this event happen in person I thought that only the toughest person could ever do this type of thing.

The process began about a year and a half ago after my initial introduction to this activity. I decided that I was going to see if I could do this. I started off with running. And when I say running I mean, walking for 45 seconds and running for 15 seconds at a time for 20 minutes total. Then I bought a new bike that was fast, and I started biking to work. Since I opted for the kayaking version I had to try this out as well. I first kayaked in February as a gift to myself, which necessitated that I face a fear of drowning. I slowly checked things off the list that would lead me closer and closer to accomplishing this challenging event. It was all tough and time consuming, but I developed a love of exercise through this process.

The hardest physical part of the triathlon was the beginning. We started with kayaking first, and I was holding my own until about 20 minutes in. I slowly started slipping to the last position. Then after 15 minutes went by and all the other kayakers were pulling into the transition area for the next component of the race. Then another good 30 minutes plus passed with the safety boat and I doing a dance. With my hands cold and cramping I slowed to a near crawl. I thought about stopping, but I couldn't figure out the logistics of that, so I just kept moving forward, slowly. I thought about James, my finance, worrying about me out in the ocean. I pushed on and somehow made it. The rest of the race from there on was much easier, especially since I had been biking and running regularly.

The other challenge of the race was mental. I was not use to training without music, and out there on the open waters it was tough to keep rallying myself to forge ahead. Like I said, I thought about giving up, but then I would miss out on the next part of the race, which I was really excited about. So at times I sang to myself. I took mental breaks to look around at the pelican flying overhead and the seals playing in the water around me.

There were 2 really amazing gifts that I received through this process that I couldn't have imagined. The first was realizing that my body was stronger than I ever thought it could be. Having lived with Rheumatoid Arthritis for 13 years now, I never thought I would be able to do something like this. It felt great to prove those doctors wrong that told me at 16 years old that I would eventually become disabled from this condition, but perhaps that only made me fight harder. The second gift of realization was that this hobby found it's self into my art practice. I found myself incorporating running into my social sculpture practice, and days before the triathlon I was in NYC performing a piece called "Save Yourself: Relay" that relied on me running for hours at a time.

Other things that I learned along the way was the importance of nutrition, discipline, the usefulness of routines, and that training for a triathlon won't necessarily led to the weight goals one wants--bummer. All in all I would definitely recommend this race and activity to others. And if all the exercise doesn't make you feel good, at least there will be free beer at the end of the race.

An Anniversary for Running

A few days ago I realized that it was this time last year that I succumb to the nagging desire to hurl my body through space via my legs: running. I had thought, dreamt and daydreamed about those that could run. While it might have seemed that the next natural conclusion was to just try it out for myself there was at least one major psychological block for me, which was the condition of my body to support the effort.

As previously mentioned in a prior post, I have been living with RA since I was 16 years old. This arthritis has and still does plague many joints in my body, and I have been told by doctors that running would not be the best exercise for me. Not complying with most of their other requests for treatment, I thought why start now. After accepting that the doctors could be wrong, I still had to convince myself that my body would not utterly fail me mid-stride to leave me laying on the ground.

The plan that I came up with was inspired by a 8 week plan by the Mayo clinic to slowly turn a walker into a jogger. The rate at which this would be done was so slow, that I figured I had to at least try it. The recommendation was to start by running 15 seconds and then walk 45 seconds over a 20 minute period, and over time, gradually build up longer spurts of running.

The second part of the plan was to create a course near my home, so I was never all that far away. Should I fall, or otherwise become disabled, I would at least be close enough to home that I could potentially just crawl, which thankfully has never been a necessity. The proximity and general privacy of this path gave me the security to fail. It was also so close and convenient that I had a hard time talking myself out of running the way that one can with getting to the gym.

A few months ago I read an article that was based on a study about runners and their bodies. It stated that the previous held doctrines about the stress of running on the body were incorrect. An average runner that ran a few miles a day was found to actually have stronger joints and longevity than those that did not run, as well as those that ran marathon mileage on a weekly basis. It was proven that running in moderation does not damage one's knees, but actually makes them stronger. This was the redemption that I had psychically knew to be true, which gave me the mental green light on my decision to start running.

This last May in 2012 I ran my first 5K. While I didn't "place," I did accomplish a goal that was an important one for me: to run the whole race and finish with my body intact. I proved something to myself that day, that my body is willing to cooperate with the requests that my mind has imposed, and for me, this is a hugh development after spending the last 13 years of my life trying to figure out why my body was quite literally attacking its self on an cellular level. I am now in training for my first triathlon that will take place this October.