Plans to Tri

Someone once told me that one way to work through a deployment is to set personal goals while you are apart. Since Bill wasn't going to be gone long enough for this past deployment to need to do something big, I tucked this little nugget of information away to retrieve when needed. Thinking that a year is a really long time, I have been thinking about setting a pretty big goal. One that would take me a while to reach.
Many, many years ago during our first year of marriage and our first assignment at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, I had a friend who did a triathlon. Our group of neighborhood friends went to cheer her on, and I decided that one day I would really like to complete a triathlon.
Fast forward to late spring/early summer of last year when a bunch of us gals were sitting around talking about ways to make the 4-5 month deployment easier and a friend who has been through a deployment before made the personal goal suggestion. Most of the couples strive to loose weight together or to eat healthier or to become better organized. I went home and thought about something I wanted to accomplish. I don't really need to lose weight (maybe just a few pounds), I eat pretty healthfully (most of the time), and I am a pretty organized person (again, most of the time). Then a thought struck me...I could accomplish the goal of completing a triathlon! Okay, I'll do it. I'll start training when he leaves, and find one we could go to together as a family when he returns and he and the kids can cheer me on. Great plan! I'll definitely have enough time to train. Perfect! A month or two later we find out about Korea and we weren't sure if Bill was even going to be deploying. In all of the hubbub of the air force madness, I didn't really think about it again. Too busy focusing on what the next six months would entail for us.
Fast forward again to November when I was visiting one of my best friends on my trip back home and she told me she had recently decided to start training for a triathlon. I told her that it was something I had always wanted to do and that maybe I would look into doing one with her if I ended up moving back home. Over the next couple of months I thought about this off and on, but not very seriously. After Bill left, I decided I was definitely in need of a great distraction. I also decided I needed to focus my energy on something I could control instead of the stress of the things I couldn't control. Being apart, single parenting, not knowing where we will be moving next, selling a house. You see where I am headed. The loony bin if I don't act quickly. I started looking up events both near here and back home that might be feasible options. I came across an event the last weekend in May back home. The timing with my plans of being home was perfect and it was a mini tri. 200 yard swim, 10 mile bike, and a mile a half run. I could do that, no problem! I would start small and work my way up. So I e-mailed my friend to see if she wanted to do it with me. When she wrote back, she told be she was already registered for the sprint distance event the next day and told me that I could do the sprint distance and that I should do it with her. It is ONLY a 1/2 mile swim, 16 mile bike, and a 5K run. She has a lot more faith in me than I have in myself. :)
After doing a bit of research later that day, I thought, I can do this...maybe. I have plenty of time to train. If I can work it out with the kids. I just bought a new bike in May. A Wal-Mart special. I have swimming experience. A long, long time ago. I have done a 5K before. Sure...I can do this. Does it sound like I am trying to convince myself? Maybe it is because I am. ;D Just kidding. I am pretty sure I can do each by itself, maybe even the swim and run together, but don't have any experience on a bike. Aside from the leisurely rides with the family. It will be a great challenge and I am looking forward to it. I committed myself to doing it a few weeks ago, not monetarily (which is the biggest commitment), but I did start telling people I was going to do it. And I told Michelle I was in a couple of weeks ago, so I am definitely committed. Intimidated, but committed nonetheless.
So, I start training tomorrow. I have 14 weeks to train. By the time I cross this off my bucket list, we will be more than a third of the way through this long year. Plus, I will have done something that I have thought would be really cool to do someday. My someday is May 31, 2009! Bill hasn't decided on a personal goal just yet, but I am sure he will think of one. He won't let me show him up. Game on baby!