Things I had never done before

Tonight my swimming was in fine form. I was relaxed, I rotated on my axis to breathe instead of lifting my head up, I sighted well. Did I mention I was relaxed? It got me thinking about how far my swimming has come since I started training for my first Sprint this Spring. Which got me thinking about all the new things that I have done this summer all prompted by my decision to do a triathlon. The list grew in my head.

It is pretty impressive if I do say so myself. It is so funny how quickly I move on to the next thing forgetting to take stock of how far I've come. This list completely gives me perspective and energy for the last push of training.

I had never swum freestyle comfortably.
I had never used bike shoes or clips before.
I had never gone on a trail run.
I had never biked with a group of people before.
I had never considered my pace, my cadence, or my turnover before. Nor did I know what any of those meant.
I had never done a track workout before, or a tempo run.
I didn't know that bikes came in different sizes, and that it was important to ride the right size for you.
I had never run for an hour before.
I had never run a 10K before.
I had never swum in a wetsuit.
I didn't know what road bike etiquette was.
I had never read an athletic woman's magazine.
I had never eaten an energy gel before.
I did not consider my self an athlete.
I had never written a blog.
I had never raised funds for a personal cause.
I could not swim for 40 minutes without stopping . (especially not freestyle! - more like 2 laps at a time for freestyle)
I had no idea I was so capable.
I had never been so fit that I could find out about a 10k on a Tuesday and race it that Saturday.
I thought that a brick was only something that my old hometown of Chicago used for buildings.
I had never owned a road bike (thanks, Aunt Chris!)
I didn't know that I would love road bicycling so much.
I had never been 'body-marked' before.
I didn't know what it felt like to cry with pride and so much feeling both at the start line and the finish line.

"The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start."
John Bingham, aka The Penguin Runner