A Mile, A Milestone, A Moment of Clarity.

About 3 months ago, I received an innocent event invite on FaceBook...
Someone posted something along the lines of "come out to the lake and swim a mile"...
I thought it looked cool, I knew I would need the practice so, after checking my calendar, I clicked "Yes" on the RSVP and truly forgot about it.
About two weeks before the swim's date of July 9th, I got an email reminding me to sign up.
So, on the night of July 3rd, I went to the page to sign up for this casual, fun, relaxed...What? Um, no, more like a Virginia Masters Swimming Race!
Okay, let's not pretend here...I am NOT a swimmer. As you may have heard, I am more of a Swailer (swim + fail = swail) 
After thinking about it though, I decided I really didn't have anything to lose, well at least nothing other than $50 and my pride, so I signed up.
The next morning I got an email from Dave, the race director. He noticed I hadn't seeded myself for the swim waves and needed to know where to place me?
How do you say "can you place me in the spot where I am least likely to be embarrassed by my inability to swim?"
Instead, I was honest, told him I was a beginner and was unsure how long it would take me BUT that I WOULD FINISH.
Saturday morning I woke up nervous - I know this because I did everything in my power to delay leaving in hopes I would be late or hit traffic and miss the start. And then it started...the string of posts, emails and texts from some really wonderful friends - good luck wishes, positives vibes...I got in the car and off I went.
As I was driving that long and lonely stretch of 64West, I was overthinking everything that could happen, then I reached across the passenger seat for a banana and there.it.was...

THE CD...made for me...with love from G! I popped it in and that was it. My mind was clear, my nerves were gone and, well, I was about to swim a mile - with real swimmers, and I was going to be fine.

Here is the view I saw as I was walking to check-in.

As I got my #90 (out of 103) etched into my bicep, I observed the 2-mile swimmers were half way thru their allotted 2 hour time slot, I had 45 minutes to kill so I setup my spot and took to the water's edge. I scoped out a few people with numbers close to mine.
Maybe I wasn't so nuts after all - there were quite a few first timers here and they were all just like me.
I felt so at ease and comfortable - like this group of athletes, some elite and some newbies, offered a
slightly-nervous and inexperienced swailer a giant group hug.
I lined up in the 9th row for the race and suddenly, I think, I heard a blast of an air horn and that was it.
I started slow and easy with freestyle, breathing every three strokes...nice...why is the water so warm here?
Hey, a kayaker...eww, seaweed...ick, I swallowed water...It pretty much went like this for the entire time. But the entire time seemed to fly by. I obviously am not one to focus when I swim. Oooh, a guy doing butterfly (show off), I need to pee...ouch, kicked in the head...
I really can't tell you much more than that - I have no clue what I thought, saw, did, other than I swam.
I swam for 45 minutes and 51 seconds!
I FINISHED - I cross the finish buoys and grabbed my Popsicle stick with a huge smile!
I was number #85! I had done it.



This is all I could do for hours!

Which brought me to the next conclusion...

Why did I limit myself sometimes from things I want to do?

Is there really anything on my "list" that I can't do? Or am I just blocking my own path because of my own fear of failure.

So, today I made a HUGE decision.
A decision that will change everything about the next calendar year for me.
A decision that will get me to the place I have "talked about" wanting to go for, well, at least a year now...

November 5th, 2011, I will volunteer at http://ironmanflorida.com/
AND this will guarantee me an entry into that very race for November 2012.
There, I said it.
Phew.
I can't wait!
-d