It seems more and more that winning is based solely on the position you finish.  Anything less than first is considered sub-par.  That is great for those who have the ability to achieve that high of a standard; but what about those people who no matter how hard they try, will never finish first?

Last weekend Suzy and  I hosted a super sprint triathlon.  It was fun and intended to introduce the sport of triathlon to those who may have never considered giving triathlon a try.  The distance was relatively short, 400 yard swim, 8 mile bike ride, and a 2 mile run.

The race is over, but the memories I gained that weekend will forever be present in my mind.

My job at the triathlon was to be an encourager.  It was also to come in dead last.  We promised every person that entered our wave that they would absolutely not be the last person to finish the race.  True to the promise, they weren’t.  I was.

Nearly the instant the race started a noticed a woman struggling.  I swam over to her and could hear her repeating over and over “I can’t do this, I can’t do this.”  I assured her she would be fine and asked if she would like some help getting to shore.  She said no and I treaded water with her for a while wondering what was going to happen.  She regained her composure and began swimming again.  A few strokes later she stopped and started telling me again that she couldn’t go on.  She said she couldn’t breathe.

I know that feeling.  When I first started doing triathlons, I experienced the same fear.  Calmly I gave her advice that my coach last year, Jim Vance, gave me.  “If you ever feel like you can’t breathe, lift your head out of the water and breathe.  All the air you need is above that water.”

Again she got it together.  Sure enough after a few more strokes she started telling me how she couldn’t go on.  At this point I told her that we were half way done and it would take just as long to turn around and go back to shore than it would to finish the course.  She kept going.

For the first 300 yards of the 400 yard swim, this lady was convinced that “she couldn’t do this”.  When we rounded the last bouy she relaxed and began to enjoy herself.  She swam the last 100 yards easily.  She did it!  We were the last out of the water but she finished.  She just needed to relax and change the way she was talking to herself.

As I left the transition dead last, I thought about her swim and how awesome it was to watch someone do something they were assuring themselves that they couldn’t.  I also figured that that moment was going to be my inspiration for the day.  It wasn’t.

I started out on the bike figuring I would have a nice little ride.  I turned around at the half way point and headed back to transition.  On my way back I saw a teammate of mine named Sheryl.  When I met her I turned around to ride with her.  Sheryl holds a special place in my heart.  On one of our first team rides of the year she caught my eye.  She was riding a recumbant bike and didn’t look like a typical triathlete.  That day I learned that she had lost a significant amount of weight and still had a couple hundred more pounds to go.

It had taken her hours that day to go 8 miles but she stuck with it.  It was great catching up with her on our ride together at the triathlon.  This lady, who could barely ride her bike, let alone walk, when I first met her had accomplished alot this summer.  She had gotten up to riding 20 miles non-stop, ridden the Seattle to Portland bike ride, and was now doing a triathlon!

We rode the last half of the bike leg together.  I watched her struggle up the hills and then bullet down the other side.  At one time when I looked down at my speedometer, we were riding over 30 miles an hour down one long hill.  As we were flying down that hill she let out a squeal like a school girl on a playground.  I almost started crying.  It was a moment of pure joy for her, and I must admit for myself as well.

Near the end of the ride I let her ride ahead of me and again I came in dead last.  On the run I was all alone.  I had time to think about that morning and what it had taught me.  I caught up to my wife and together we finished in completely last place.

Being dead last that day was one of the best things I have ever done.  It made me understand how hard some people work to achieve the same things that I often do with little effort.  I learned that it isn’t always about finishing first, that it’s about finishing.  Perhaps the most important thing I learned is that we should never take for granted our abilities.

Every now and then things may seem impossibly difficult to finish.  Just remember that there is someone out there who is having an even harder time finishing the same thing you are doing.  It isn’t about finishing first, it’s about finishing what you start!

See you tomorrow!

Biggest Loser, Inspiration, losing weight, triathlon

This entry was posted on Monday, August 30th, 2010, 4:38 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.