The Power of the Group

Day 26
ibuprofen: 800mg
27 days until triathlon

So it's Mother's Day today, and what were the lot of us doing this morning? Training! Yippee....

Who would have thought a year ago that I would choose (of my own free will, and changing around the training plan to do this, I might add) to crawl out of bed before 0700 on Mother's Day so I could go ride and walk/jog? (and a year ago I did not think I could jog anywhere, period) I never, and I do mean never would have done it on my own. But I was not on my own! Pretty much of our usual crowd was there today, and cheery about it to boot! And then there was our Fearless Leader, handing out (rather, tossing) Sport Beans with happy little ribbons tied to them to all the moms. Just what a person needs to bring a smile to their face, I tell you.

But I was not on my own, and that's what keeps bringing me out there. I have discovered this thing I can do, and there is this miraculous group of people who are doing it with me that I can just be myself around. I can try something and have a hard time with it. I can fail around them. I have people who understand what it means to me to succeed. They cheer me on, lift my spirits and help me dig deep for strength. (getting misty-eyed here. Someone hand me a kleenex...) Yeah, I pretty much am slower at basically every event in the triathlon than, well, anyone else in the group. But I don't feel any sort of snobbery or anything like that. We're in it together, and it's a beautiful thing.

Having a hard time getting motivated to get out there and do something? Find yourself a group of friendly, caring folks. It makes a world - no, a universe - of difference!