Community

I’ve been struggling lately with motivation to train for triathlon. When I first discovered the sport every swim, bike and run held a new challenge and therefore a new accomplishment upon it’s successful completion. My first 1 mile swim, my first 50 mile bike, my first long brick workout – they all pushed my limits and made me feel strong and successful. Although inherently I didn’t love to swim or bike as much as to run or strength train, putting all three sports together and moving toward larger and larger goals made it fun and motivating.

Since finishing the Ironman, I’ve gone back to triathlon in the summers in order to try to relive some of the feelings I felt in 2011-2012 as I went from Zero to Ironman.  I’ve struggled to find motivation to swim any more than I need simply to finish and to bike other than the times when it’s convenient or when I can spin on the trainer and watch Orange is the New Black on my iPad.

Last weekend at ACTIVEx CAxMP a motivation for training that was always present, yet typically secondary, came out. The triathlon community is motivation. They are my inspiration, whether it be the new triathlete who is a natural and has fallen in love with the sport, the parents of two young boys who just finished their first 70.3, the mother who can’t stop smiling over her recent finish at Ironman CDA or the new friend who has faced her fears to train for her first triathlon after a bad breakup. These people inspire me and they are my motivation to train and compete. It’s less about finish times and splits and more about relationships and community. 

The ACTIVEx community – current & former employees, families, friends and others involved gathered last night at La Jolla Cove to celebrate the accomplishment of another Solana Beach Triathlon training season. The tradition is 6 years in the making and is fittingly called “Bubbly to Buoy.” We swam out to the 1/4 mile buoy as a group, popped two bottles of champagne and passed them around, each taking a swig before passing it to the next person. It didn’t matter who swam to the buoy first, who arrived last or how long the group had to wait in between – despite training for a race, where competition is literally the premise of the entire activity, we were there to celebrate community. We did it together and this is our celebration.

The swim followed up with a group dinner and we were graced with a beautiful sunset to top it all off!

 

 

 

 

 

I want to thank every single one of the people who have inspired me to train this summer. Thank you especially Mike, Arch, Christy, Rob, Blair, Brooke, Juliana, and the entire ACTIVEx crew! Thank you also to Kids in Game for coming out to celebrate with us as well as Michael Brunker from the Jackie Robinson YMCA for his support and all the wonderful photos from the event. Can’t wait for tomorrow!