Friday, June 7, 2013

My blog about preparing for my first sprint triathlon with 3-weeks notice

June 2, 2013


I could be nuts.  I’m still not sure I know what I’ve gotten myself into signing up for this sprint triathalon shortly after turning 53, the most miserable birthday of my life.  Not because of the age; just because of how it marked a day that should be happy, and I was not.  Not even close.  The “let’s-celebrate-a-birthday” call to action could not be answered by me on that day, and that’s the first time in my life where that has happened.  It kinda scared me, to be honest. 

But that’s not why I signed up for this sprint tri.  Or maybe it was, partially.  Anyone who really knows me knows I’ve been looking for the next thing to “birth” in my life, what with the most important job I’ve ever had, being a mother, pretty much fulfilled.  Nothing compares with witnessing two young women become the awesome people they are and realizing, looking back, that this activity consumed a lot of time, energy, attention, devotion and that every moment was pretty darn sacred.  It’s hard to find anything else that seems as important, and duh, that’s because nothing else is.  Realizing this now I would have had another child (maybe 4 more!), while I still could just to prolong that active motherhood phase.  But prolong is all it would do.  Eventually we all have to show up for our own role call. 

My search for my role on this planet continues.  And the undertone to this search is fraught with questions about what it means to show up, to just be present and engaged in a powerful way.  I am that for other people when I coach.  I am not that for myself. 

And so I started getting little inklings that my female warrior energy was in need of being “oomphed” up.  The huge hornet in my bathroom sink (= shamanic symbol of female warrior energy), which I ended up drowning because I just couldn’t deal with how powerful it was (me who once saved a poisonous spider and set it free). 

And then the hornet that alighted on me… just making a guest appearance on my sweaty arm after my Power yoga class.  And then my overwhelming urge to get back to swimming laps, hard and long as I can.  I just wanna feel really powerful.  And I think that’s because feeling physically powerful will help translate into feeling powerfully present.  And yet a real part of me also keeps wanting to run away, to escape, to find safety.  And being powerful lets you escape readily, at least physically.  So I’m still trying to sort out what this whole sprint tri activity is about for me. One thing I know for sure:  I have always been hugely kinesthetic.  How could I not let my body lead the way in this endeavor?

So I’m gonna go with the idea that my first sprint triathalon is dedicated to honoring my female warrior energy, the really strong, robust part of me that holds firm and steady through anything; the part of me that enables me to feel safe, all by myself, without looking to others, without running for cover. 

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