Fit, Fabulous, Sexy and Defying Ageism *
Wetsuits & Spandex – The smell and feel of the fabric brings such joy - no matter what is happening in my life at any given moment. When I put my gear on - my uniform so to speak - my face breaks out into a huge smile and I transform into a focused, adventurous, playful, serious, high-energy vibrating being. I get a sense of belonging and of being ‘home’.
Clothes don't make a person yet wearing wetsuits and spandex make me feel strong, invincible and powerful. Add to the uniform synthetic fibers - which keep me covered when surfing in the warm waters. Ahh… the ocean and a surfboard. The perfect couple!
My story – It’s the short version beginning with that turning point birthday year of 50. I had a life-altering event happen which led me to truly look at my life and who I have become. I wasn’t all that happy with what I saw. One way I dealt with the slap-in-the-face, much needed reflection was I joined a gym, which then led me to sign up for weekly training sessions. And unbeknownst to me, the personal trainer also was a triathlete. Within the first few minutes of meeting him, I heard myself say I’ve always wanted to do a triathlon and gave him so many reasons why I hadn’t done one. He said let’s start training for your first race. And I said, well why the heck not! And the rest is history.
I trained for five months. Four to five training sessions each week led to my body getting into some of the best shape it had ever been. But even more importantly, so too did my mind and emotional well-being.
I will never forget my first race - and I know those of you reading this who also are triathletes know this as well – race morning I was in an almost full panic and anxiety attack. To this day, I can still feel the butterflies in my belly driving to the race, and even more butterflies when standing in the lake water with about 40 other women just waiting for that horn to blow! I wore a wetsuit with spandex underneath. Two sturdy, hardy fabrics that kept me warm and (quasi) comfortable throughout the .9 mile swim, 12 mile bike and then that 5k run. I am forever in debt to what I now call my uniform of armor. I thought this Sprint distance was the longest race ever.... but then fast forward a bunch of years and I'm doing 1/2 Ironman (70.3) races.
I found my joy. I found a community I never knew I needed. I started to excel and thrive in all aspects of my life. I was told that I am an endorphin junkie. I embraced my new life. My life of consecutive day training for months in preparation for race day became my joy. And a very welcomed life-changing way of being.
Wetsuits and spandex were my security blankets.
I found my purpose. I found my WHY. I got my ‘self’ back. I was home.
Welcome to Wetsuits & Spandex - a place where we share our trials & tribulations, our highs and lows, the mundane and the exciting, the heavy and the uplifting – in our triathlon and surfing lives. And then who knows, we may just throw in other high-performance active stuff into the mix.
* Inspired by Larry Smith’s ‘Six Word Memoir Project’
