I finished! but it’s not over …

I’m back home now after traveling, training, celebrating, and visiting with nuns, family, and friends. My adventures started with Jubilee weekend in Monroe, Michigan, with my IHM Sisters. A couple days after that I went on a road trip to Denver via Iowa and Nebraska to see my brother Paul and sister-in-law Deborah and to be part of the Tri for the Cure triathlon. After returning home, I worked for a few days and then spent this past weekend house-sitting for friends in Wisconsin. It has all been good, but I sure am glad to be home after being away for about 3 weeks.

Thank you for your encouragement and prayers as I prepared for and participated in the triathlon. I accomplished my goal: I finished! I can’t tell you how amazing it is to set a goal that you never thought you could do, work towards it, and then have the opportunity to fulfill that goal. Back in the fall when I had the crazy idea to do this triathlon I didn’t even know how to swim. Sure I could flop around in the water and stay afloat, but I couldn’t swim more than a dozen yards. The biking part I could do as I’ve been a cyclist for pretty much my whole life. The running was something I wasn’t too worried about because I figured I could always walk when I needed to. What is crazy about a triathlon or any multi-sport is that you have to put these different things together and develop a flexibility of mind and body to move from one form into the other. Literally and figuratively you have to be able to switch gears seamlessly, commit fully to one thing and then be able to enter into a totally diifferent context just as fully. There are certainly many life applications for this kind of training!

My sister Marita and my friend Carol participated in and finished the triathlon as well. Paul and Deborah were also there to cheer us on and photograph the event.

The big question for me is, “So now what?” The triathlon event itself was amazing, an important pinnacle moment for me. This whole training and triathlon business has certainly been mentally and physically intense but it has also been a spiritual journey of sorts. I need time and space to sit with it for a while and reflect on how God has been with me through these months of training and the event and what God’s word and call are to me. Just because the event has come and gone doesn’t mean that the journey doesn’t continue. So I’m going to keep up on my swimming, biking, and running and I’m going to pray and ponder.