Monday, January 17, 2011

Sink or Swim

Yesterday I did my first aquathlon for the year. It was actually a repeat of my first ever aquathlon back in 2009, where a then nervous Ian approach me, recognizing me from my blog. It was actually a case of the blind leading the blind, as apart from two mini-sprint triathlons and a long ago sprint triathlon, I was a newbie too. Ian has moved on to become a strong triathlete now based in sports-crazy Down Under, and I moved on to work oblivion after finishing a half-ironman :-)

That I made it to the 2011 Wetshop Aquathlon was already a triumph of sorts. I have never been busier in my whole career. I asked God for work challenges and He gave me a mountain load of them (Be careful...and specific!... about what you pray for). I managed to register simply because I was in the area for our Endure board meeting. I scheduled practice swims and hill runs only to cancel them because I was still rummaging through a mountain of work. From my holiday offseason, I managed three sessions of labored swims and one Sunday run. Good luck to me!

I finished unofficially in 47++ minutes. 27+ for an 800m swim and 20+ for a 3K hill run.  Eeek, I was barely a minute faster than the 2009 edition, where the swim was actually 950m!  I was 42 out of 44 then. I think I outswam and outran more than 3 or 4 this time! Haha. I wonder what the official results are.

To start and to finish. I have learned to cherish those little victories. In the busy-ness of work I crave for them like a candy to a child. I am about 25 lbs over my race weight from stress-eating. I could feel that weight threatening to weigh me down, but I swim nonetheless. Sink or swim; freeze or run.

For 2011, no matter how hard it may be, I choose to swim and run. Every occasion to do so is a little victory.



6 comments:

Julie @ HotlegsRunner said...

I can't wait to join ny first triathlon this year. And thanks to your SWAC, I fell in love with multi-sports =) Too bad I'll miss it this year =(

Rico Villanueva said...

Hi Julie, wow it's been a year since you joined SWAC. Have fun on your triathlon. Remember the route and count the loops ha? =)

RUNNING DIVA said...

Commissioner congrats on your recent stint with aquathlon!

I am for the revival of SWAC (fingers crossed).

Julie @ HotlegsRunner said...

hahaha! I hope I don't get lost!

We swim in the sea so no laps this time. Parang L-shaped lang.

When is SWAC ba?

Unknown said...

Lucky are those who can get at least 6 hours of sleep a night and could still squeeze in training for a marathon or a multisport event. And to think wala na tayong social life to begin with. hehehe

Anonymous said...

Yeah..i would never forget that! that's when i met the sheerwill.. hehe.. back then my goal was just to finish the 950m swim... even if i was dead last.. then i became an addict.. hope i can get that mojo back.. help..haha! ian