Experimentation...

I'm going to run another half marathon this year. There is a whole slew of them for me to choose from. Most of my running girls are doing one in Tennessee at the end of April. I don't think I'll be ready (mentally) for one that soon. So. I'm doing one mid-august in South Dakota with another running friend. Who is waaaaay faster than me. But. It's not about the time. Right? Sure. I've been discouraged lately. About my athletic ability. I feel I'm.......lacking. I run and run and run. And where does it get me? I can run short distances. Only I'm slow. I can run long distances. Only I'm really slow. You'd think after all the time I spend with my ipod and running shoes on my feet that there would be some kind of improvement. Somewhere. It's frustrating. Some people are born to run. They come from a long line of runners. Parents once ran in college. They ran cross-country in high school. Me? I couldn't even run a mile until after I birthed my 3rd child. That's third child. I was the one in Jr. High that wasn't able to run the mile required to do well in P.E. I walked it. But. Slowly over time I've been able to train my body to get where it needs to go without having to walk every 2 minutes to catch my breath. And it feels good. Until I try to compare myself to those girls I run with who have managed to improve. So. I thought, for a brief day or two, that maybe this spring I needed to try another route. Like a sprint triathlon. I found one in early May close to home. In order to do this type of race I need to be swimming, biking, and running. Weekly. Good. My body could use the change up. If my running speed isn't going to improve, I'll work the system by being mediocre in all sporting arenas. Yesterday morning at 5:30 I donned my swimming suit, goggles, and headed to the community center in town. Oh. And I took Ethan with me. He recently quit the swim team (long story that probably has to do with his intuitive ability to recognize where his talents truly lie) so he knows the ropes on training to become a swimmer. At 6 am I swam 50 meters. Then another 50. At this point I was exhausted. I couldn't catch my breath. I tried to swim a 25 but because my lungs weren't able to fully expand, I came up choking half-way through. Lovely. I'm sure the lifeguard was enjoying the show. I managed to do a few more 50's with breaks in between. After about 30 minutes Ethan asked if I wanted him to show me how to do the butterfly. I almost drowned just laughing at the thought of attempting such a stroke. I ended the swim session. While I was showering off the chlorine I came to a conclusion. I'm a land mammal for a reason. I'm a horrible swimmer. Yeah, I'm sure I can work at it and become stronger. And because I want Ethan to keep his options open, I'll probably take him at least one morning a week to swim. But. I'm not ever going to excel in this sport. I might not even make mediocre status. And I'm really okay with that. I won't be competing in that triathlon this spring. Not because I don't think I can do it. But because I don't want to. It's not important enough to me. I'm going to keep running. I felt so good this morning when I donned my running shoes and my ipod and hit the treadmill. And my run was awesome today. When I look back at how far I've come, I actually really have improved. I'm not giving myself enough credit. Moral to this long drawn out story? When you feel like you are not improving, or lacking in a specific area, try something else. You just might fail at it so miserably that it makes you feel like mediocre is okay.