Bittersweet - The finish will never be sweet, without the bitter.
Part Two of Two - Sink or Swim.
Breath - one - two - three.
Breath - one - two - three, GAAAAASP.
Its a torturous ten seconds face down staring at the moss green floral stickers randomly placed within the tub. Its Sunday night and I’m practicing my breathing for tomorrow mornings forth grade swim class. I notice the look of terror on my face from the reflection of the tap as I slowly regain consciousness of my surroundings. Water is streaming on the floor from my hands as I find myself on my knees white knuckling the sides of the tub. The water is still warm, I reach through a mountain of bubbles searching for Donald, my yellow duck who's beak had worn down to the yellow rubber over the years. I sink calmly back into the tub listening to the millions of bubbles exploding, stoking Donalds head thinking to myself, tomorrow will be a better day.
Anxiety fills my chest, my ears are snugly tucked under the swimming cap, my breaths become short and more frequent, the goggles blur the brown tiles a mere 4 feet from
the surface. Its been 26 years since my 4th grade swim class and the memory of fear once again rushes through my mind and body. Its my second visit to the pool since submitting my application online to my first Triathlon, the Sylvan Lake Half Ironman. The panic hits the back of my throat like a pound of burning tar, slowly working its way down until it fills every crevice of my gut only to push its way back up. The open lanes are a blessing, and a curse, a blessing as there is no one to witness my pathetic five meter sprints followed by hacking and sputtering of chlorine. And a curse, to have all lifeguards on deck eagle eying my every stroke anticipating an imminent rescue.
I have a long way to go.
Five... Four... Three... Two... One... BANG!!!
Its race day and the washing machine had begun. I’d heard stories of flailing arms and feet battering people and breaking noses only to have someones race finish before it even began. I made sure to be well out of arms reach of everyone and was now making my way to what seemed like an endless string of buoys.“OK Morin, this is it, just finish the swim” I was trying to reassure myself. As I took my first deep breath to begin the torturous swim, panic set in. My mind was freaking out and my body quickly followed suit. “Get a grip, THIS IS IT, Its time to sink, or swim!!!” I butterflied my way to the first of what seemed to be a thousand small buoys. I took another deep breath, put my face down and started to swim, one, two, three, four, GAASSSSP. I feel as though I’m 8 years old again in the bathtub but this time there is no ledge to hold onto so I flip on to my back to calm my nerves and refocus. Needless to say I did not face the water again until my feet were firmly planted in the sand chest deep with my finger down my throat. Fighting the urge to quit all throughout the swim and despite finishing dead last (1:20), I achieved the goal I set out for myself that day, which was to complete the swim. The remainder of the day was bliss, constantly having chills of becoming a half Ironman! I thanked all the volunteers and danced with the hoola girls at the run turnaround point, soaking up every second. I crossed the finish line at 6:30:12.1 ahead of 94 people. I felt such a sense of pride and accomplishment. My next goal would be to complete an Ironman!
In December The Talisman Center searched for five individuals who would receive once in a lifetime training opportunity courtesy of their ETS Endurance Training Systems program. The initiative sought out candidates who were ambitious and driven with compelling stories; stories of people with a specific goal and focus and stories that inspired others to better themselves, their families, friends or community. I am privileged to have been selected as one of the Talisman Centers DRIVEN5 athletes and have since been paired up with a personal coach that will spend the year working with me on my particular goal, which is to complete the Penticton Ironman in August. Most importantly my personal coach is enabling me to focus my efforts on learning how to swim properly and efficiently given they don’t allow water wings for the swim portion of the Ironman!
Along with my personal training goals, I am working towards raising awareness and money for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation and am dedicating all of my training and races to my mother in law who was recently diagnosed with Breast Cancer.
To find out more information about the ETS program and the DRIVEN5 or to support my cause, please visit www.DRIVEN5.com
Marc Morin
