Rebecca's 'Turning Forty' Triathlon: Will's Story

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Will's Story

We are only two days from recommitment day...this is the day that we must commit to meeting our minimum fundraising goal by August 28th...at this point, there are some of our team members who will decide that they cannot recommit because they dont feel confident they can meet the goal. In honor of recommitment, our team captain Will shared a personal story of triumph with all of us. He wrote about his experience with the Team in Training Pac Grove team last year, and completing his first triathlon. Will nearly drowned as a child so he had a very significant fear of the water as he began his training last year. The biking and running were not a huge challenge for him, but the swimming made him panic. As he began training in the pool he was able to slowly let go of some of his fear due in part to the fantastic coaching he received from Julie and Glen. But the anticipation of open water swimming was terrifying still. He worked really hard at overcoming his fear when the team began practicing in open water, and he continued to listen to the reassuring words of his coaches and teammates.

At the end of Will's story he recounted his experience on the Pacific Grove Triathlon race day last summer. He shared his visualization prior to the race start, and how he was able to overcome his fear even as the chaotic crowds of triathletes swarmed into the Monterey Bay at race start. He explained how an incredible sense of calm spread over him as he entered the water, and how he was able to thoroughly enjoy the entire swim, looking down through the Kelp and thinking peaceful thoughts until he was done.

I was totally inspired by Will's story...to look at him today as our team captain, you would never know of the personal hurdles he had to climb just a year ago to get to this place. I know that we have members of our team who are fighting personal battles like Will did last year, and it makes me so proud to see them giving it everything they have because of what we are able to do for people fighting blood cancer. This is so much bigger than each of us...but each of us is contributing our own personal blood, sweat, and tears (and fears!) in order to be a part of the whole.

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WHAT YOU WILL FIND ON THIS BLOG

This is a diary (complete with photos) of my experience training with Team in Training for the Pacific Grove Triathlon on Sept. 12, 2009. I am participating to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and to get my ass in shape! There is nothing that says turning forty shouldn't herald the best damn decade of your life.

I hope you will visit often. If you do, you might just catch a glimpse of my team running with pringles between our fingers, or on the pool deck doing plank in our speedos!

Although this triathlon is a personal fitness journey, it is more importantly an opportunity to give back to the community by raising money for an incredible organization, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS). LLS is helping children, families, and individuals fight the battle against blood cancer; all of us at one time or another have known someone who has struggled against Leukemia, Lymphoma, or Myeloma. In my life, its been my grandmother Virginia, a little boy who goes to school with my kids, Zachary, a grandson of a co-worker, Ethan, a sister of a dear friend, Cindy, and the brother-in-law of a colleague, Tom. Now it is also our team's honored teammate, Dean who is in remission, but is struggling to surmount the side effects of his treatment. You can help out too. Please donate to my fundraising campaign by following this link: http://pages.teamintraining.org/or/pactri09/rramsay . All the money goes directly to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and then to children, adults and families who need all the support we can give them.

I am participating in memory of my grandmother, Virgina Wrigley, who died of Leukemia.

Tri.ath.lon

A triathlon is a multi-sport endurance event consisting of swimming, cycling, and running in immediate succession over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall course completion time, including timed "transitions" between the individual swim, bike, and run components.The demanding nature of the sport focuses primarily on persistent and often periodized training in each of the three disciplines, as well as combination workouts and general strength conditioning to ensure the highest levels of endurance, strength, and power possible come race day. Proficiency in swimming, cycling, and running alone is often not sufficient for success in triathlon.....truth be told, what is really needed is an almost unnatural capacity for denial and an unruly belief that anything is possible...(a good masseuse, buckets of himalayan bath salts, and an iron stomach capable of tolerating extremely high doses of Ibuprofen are the other critical prerequisites).