Aqua Sadie!

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate my bff on a major accomplishment! Last summer, after much convincing and maybe a little bribery, Mandy and I convinced Sadie to swim laps with us in the evenings. Every time we asked Sadie warned us she was not a swimmer, nonsense I thought. And, I believe my exact words were "With that wingspan, you will be on the other side of the pool in no time!" And for as long as she and her limbs are she was, unfortunately once she was there she didn't have the energy to come back! But, that Sadie she is always up for an adventure and she went to the pool with us quite a few times. Then, when I came to her with the idea of doing a triathlon she was pretty nervous about the swim, but she was steadfast! We practiced for a few months, she had a pattern down when she would get tired she would backstroke or sidestroke, she would stop and rest a little. Eventually she worked her way up to being able to swim a 1/2 mile which was the requirement of the race. She made it through the Danskin swim nonstop in around 24 minutes! Impressive, right? It gets better! We have continued to swim together a few nights a week, she doesn't count laps she usually just paces behind me and once I realized this I started going over the 16 laps that make up a half mile. A few weeks ago she went 22 laps and said she finally got into a rhythm. I was so proud of her! So Monday night we go to the pool we are both tired and I ask if she would like to try to swim a mile? She knows I would prefer to swim a mile since it was the only thing we were planning on doing that night and she says she can do a half mile and she will see how it goes after that. So we settle in to our groove she is about a lap behind me the whole time and I noticed that she never changed her stroke the whole time, which is a sign that she isn't getting too tired. At lap 23 I try and give her a thumb's up because she has officially gone further than she ever has! I will say it is really hard to be encouraging under water! Each new lap I say a little prayer that she doesn't stop. The pool we are in is not regulation so it takes 35 laps instead of 32 to be a mile, and right around laps 32 and 33 she is slowing down. Keep going, Sade, I am willing her forward, only 3 more laps! By this time we have been swimming consistently for almost on hour. And then lap 35!! She's done it!! Sadie has just swam a MILE!! The girl who last summer couldn't swim half a lap has just swam 35!! Congrats, Sadie!! Next time you will be the swim angel!

Also, I would like to say that in the days and month following the Danskin so many of our friends and family have said how motivated they are now to do a tri and some of them have even signed up and started training for some this summer! I am so impressed with there commitment! And I hope and pray for those who have not started officially training that they will remain excited and committed to doing something or anything they desire for themselves! I know not everyone has the desire to do tri's but I also know that there is no one in the world that doesn't want something!
Soooo, go get it! Work hard! You can do it! You have been so graciously blessed with a perfect healthy body and mind! There will never be a "good" time, you will never not be busy, you will never have all the money you want or sometimes need, you will never be less tired, that being said do something that makes you feel so great that you forget about all the other stuff!
Set a goal, work hard, see it through! You are more than worth it! If you need help, call me! We will get there together!
Just give yourself a chance to be amazed, by yourself!!