Looking from every angle, 2016 has been quite the year for RTB!  Many of you raced at the CDA 70.3 - the most highly attended race by RTB athletes to date at around 35. Other favorite races have been densely populated with RTBers - Chelanman, Ironman events, Lake Meridian(!).  The pictures and the stories keep coming and they are  inspiring, vulnerable, exciting, heart-warming, surprising, etc. Triathlon once again provides the backdrop for fun, shared experiences, and growth.  Win WIN WINNNN!

Sunday is Ironman Canada - where many of you are headed with your beautifully fit & tapered bodies and hearts full of anticipation. Have the time of your lives!  Triathlon is one of many tools we have to experience life at the fullest - take every advantage of your trip and enjoy the day as it unfolds. Have FUN!  Not everyone is as fortunate as we are.

I’ve been doing triathlons for nine years, and my mother STILL can’t believe that I can swim with my face in the water.  Apparently we tried Mommy and Me swimming classes and I was the only baby that flunked out.  All the other babies giggled with joy after their mothers dunked them under the water, but I bawled (“but hey, I think that lady might have just tried to kill me!”).  It didn’t end there.  Hair washing time usually included tears.  I can remember the day I called my dad at work to tell him that Mommy washed my hair and I didn’t even cry.  Yes, I was old enough to dial a rotary phone the first time that happened.  Needless to say, my real swim training would have to wait a few years (actually, more like a few decades).

t seemed like life converged (or God conspired) to bring me into this tri-sport lifestyle, and I know it was meant to be.  The sport and the community have brought so much good to my life, it’s impossible to quantify.

Here are just a few things that pulled me in and keep me coming back for more: 

1. Fun!  As a really wise team owner told me recently, “well it’s supposed to be fun so…”  Sounds simple, right?  If you are participating in triathlon, and not really having fun, then something needs to change.  Peg the “fun meter”!  If you still can’t find the fun, help someone else have fun.  That’s fun too.

2. Fitness (physical and otherwise)!  There are obvious physical benefits from training for three sports, which by themselves are a great incentive to stick with it.  But for me, the mental benefits are just as valuable.  I find training to be my best solution to managing stress.  It also is one of the best antidotes for dealing with any type of bad mood, even depression.  I always finish a workout with a better attitude than I started with, and I’ve experienced runners high, which is amazing (ok, runners, you’re not totally crazy).  In addition, I love the mental challenges of learning the sport, setting goals and achieving them.  Breaking mental barriers is enlightening.  Most of our limitations are self-induced, these little boxes we put ourselves into. But we can decide to take ourselves out of those boxes too.  I’m still learning this lesson and how to apply it.  It’s never appropriate to say “I can’t” or “I’ll never”, unless you’ve made a decision to stay in that box.  They say you have to believe it to achieve it, but sometimes you just have to say what the heck and fake it ‘til you make it.  Try something new (or harder) knowing that it might not work, but that sometimes it will and you can surprise yourself.