FOLLOW THIS MOM OF SIX ON HER QUEST TO CONQUER A TRIATHLON

In the spring of 2006, New Braunfels' Kaarina Owens, mom of 6 and co-author of the Put a Lid on It! cookbook series, decided to train for the Danskin Triathlon.  Follow her training trials and tribulations,  from her first workout to the big day.

MAY 20, 2007

Due to the lapse in journaling, you might think that I have given up in my training.  You might be somewhat right.  After a stint of this terrible affliction called “gym aversion”, I realized that I am going nowhere fast.  SO, I kicked myself back into gear and decided to go out into the world and see it from the seat of my bike, instead of staring at the gym walls.  So, last week we set the course and attempted the full sprint triathlon.  I warned everyone I knew that they may not see me alive after the attempt but told them to hold out hope just the same.

We did our 1/2 mile swim (which coincidentally turns out to be 16 laps..GRUNT) and throughout that time I kept trying to focus on swimming my best, not worrying about the time or how many laps I’d completed.  It was a great strategy and the swim went by pretty quickly.  We got our shoes on and hopped on our bikes as quickly as we could to try to simulate the real “transition”.  The first 1/10th of a mile on the bike ride we hit a BIG hill...remember my comment about no hills in Texas?? It was obviously sarcastic and so to match humor with humor, I walked the first part of the biking portion.  Anyway, the rest of the ride was somewhat enjoyable, not withstanding the rest of the hills and climbs.  Nevertheless I made it through 12 miles and felt pretty good.  BTW, if anyone attempts such, just remember that your legs will be jello and you might fall when getting off of your bike.  I won’t tell you if I did, that’s not important.  We ended the training with a 3 mile run (OK fine...walk).  It wasn’t deadly considering the fact that we did walk...up until the end when I knew my husband was waiting and watching at which point I ran for about 1/2 a block just to look good.  I don’t know if I looked good but I certainly didn’t feel good.  I am definitely going to have to focus on the run from here on out.

So, all said and done, I completed the course, even if I had to cheat a little here and there.  Now, with just a few weeks to go, we are committing to 2 times a week out on the  open road and hoping to bring ourselves and our legs up to par.

MAY 29, 2007

Today you’ll get my motivational speech.  As my husband and I were painting trim in our game room, he overheard the announcement on ESPN about open tryouts for the Houston Astros.  Being the supportive wife, I told him he should go ahead and give it a try since it’s been a lifelong dream of his to play in MLB.  His reaction was of course “Yeah right Kaari.  That’s ridiculous to say that I would try out for the first time as a 30 year old!”My immediate thought was, why not try?  So I told him that it shouldn’t matter how old he is or whether or not he even makes it through the first hour of tryouts.  The old saying that every child has heard a million times in their youth, echoed loudly in my mind.  It’s not whether you win or lose, succeed or fail, all that matters is that you tried your best.  So, I reminded him of that fact and also reminded him of the fact that I his wife, being a few years his senior :0) am doing my first triathlon ever at my age.  As I was encouraging him, I realized that my own words should be encouragement to myself and to anyone who reads this journal and sees that if you set your mind to it, and at least make the attempt, you cannot fail.

I don’t know if I’ll cross the finish line.  If I do cross it, I don’t know if I will have done it in a reasonable time, or if I will be the last one in the race.  What I do know is that I have pursued a dream and that I followed my heart that prodded me on when my body and my mind told me that I wasn’t able.  So to all of you who think that it’s too late to follow that recurrent whisper calling you to a challenge, I say that you are WRONG.   The key word in my goal of this “TRI”athlon is coincidentally, TRY...and whether I succeed or fail, I have at least tried, and so in my opinion, I am already a winner.


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