Or, at least I'm striving to be one. I am not afraid to admit my weakness in triathlon. The run has always been my Achilles heel- whether mentally or physically. Some might say that admitting your weaknesses is ammunition for your competition, but I totally disagree. Acknowledging where you struggle takes courage and an awareness that work needs to be done. I feel more accountable to overcome my weakness when others know about it. It's not about making excuses; although, I've come up with many during the course of my running evolution in triathlon such as:
"Crap...another (insert lower extremity part here) injury has prevented me from running regularly."
"I'm in the middle of a huge training block this week- my run was totally effected."
"I had to work a bunch of extra hours this week- my run was totally effected."
"I hammered through that bike leg- my run was totally effected."
...and I'm sure there are more I've used.
Ahhh...but back to the love of running- or at least my attempt to embrace running. You see, I was a swimmer back in the old days. That's all I did- swim. I was introduced to running back in my IU swimming days. We would run around the IU football stadium as part of our dry land conditioning. I was typically part of the "back of the pack" crew cursing to myself how much running sucked. It felt hard and unnatural, damn it- I was not in my element. I had no knowledge of proper run gear or training, either. In fact, I recall running around that stadium in Keds sneakers and no socks.
Fast forward post-college, a husband, a baby, and several years of inactivity. I remember the need to get my butt back into fitness and thinking how cool it would be to run the Mini Marathon. It was 1998 and I embarked on my first real goal since college. I can't remember how I trained, but I was so energized by the crowd and the atmosphere. I finished in 1:58 and was so psyched that I broke 2 hrs. I believe it was that moment when I realized running didn't suck. I confess I wasn't singing the praises of it, but it planted the seed for new fitness goals.
Fast forward today....I'm training for Kona 2013! I'm doing a little swimming...a little cycling....and a whole lot of running. I'm finding the best way to improve a weakness is to submerge yourself in it until it becomes a strength. I know my potential and what is possible for me. I'm not out to become the next Chrissie Wellington or Mirinda Carfrae, but rather the next Anna Markus who is a better runner. And, when the competition thinks they will be able to catch me on the run....they may be disappointed!
