Life is cheesy

Most of you know that I have been involved in triathlons for quite some time now.  But that was put in the back burner for a whole year when I got pregnant with my youngest child Solana. However, the whole time I was carrying her in my womb, I continued my swim workouts in order to stay in shape.

Because my delivery was all-natural, having been via a water birth method, recovery for me came easily.  After a month, I was back in the pool and then in a couple of months, I slowly got on my feet to jog and then bike.  It was a slow but sure re-entry into the sport that I have for the past four years fallen in love with.

Since then, I have tagged along with my children as they participated in a variety of races that included the Alaska Ironkids series as well as a few fun runs.  I leveled up a bit by joining races on my own like the Bert Lozada memorial swim meet, Ateneo aquathlon, and the Run United 2 where I did my first 21km run.  Such were actually preparatory races for my much-coveted races  the Cebu 70.3 Ironman and the New York marathon, both of which I bravely signed up for.  Oh, don’t ask me why, haha!

I must admit that training for these grueling races is a challenge because I have had to squeeze it in between nursing my baby, finishing our house, conducting seminars, attending to all my five children and husband, and running my household.

There’s also what we call recovery time which is as crucial as training time.  It is when we have to rest our muscles after strenuous training sets.  What I have learned so far though is that it hurts more when we don’t train consistently and enough and definitely when we miss races, as opposed to enduring pain from having sore muscles throughout this whole cycle of madness.

I remember having had such a negative attitude about triathlons after I couldn’t walk for three whole days upon the completion of my first 21km run.  I was inconsolable and unapproachable.  It was such a terrible state to be in because I had entertained negative thoughts due to the pain I was experiencing physically.  Then I vowed to quit and never again train or race.  Unfortunately, it was actually a week after a race I had been looking forward to joining but because of my attitude, I didn’t log in enough races to be fit for it plus we had to attend to so many personal commitments that we failed to join the race.  It was then that I came to my right senses about triathlon.  I was reminded of how it was a mental as well as a physical sport. That my body will respond to what I feed my mind.  So that if I was seriously contemplating on doing this for a long time, I must have good thoughts about it and love it.  So I decided to repent for my bad attitude and commit to doing triathlon 101 percent and so I signed up for the next race I could join.

The TriUnited 2 Sprint triathlon proved to be the most exhilarating race experience for me this year.  The well-organized team of BikeKing Philippines headed by Raul Cuevas provided us with a safe, well-planned-out race venue that had an overflowing supply of hydration and race marshalls. It was set in the well-paved roads of Laiya, San Juan, Batangas where my Batangueño kababayan (my mom is from Cuenca) well-wishers excitedly cheered us.  My husband Anthony paced with me from start to finish so he could guide me through every step of the race.  So many times, I kept telling him to go for a great finish because I knew he could go faster and even bring home a medal.  But he stuck with me till the end.  He said he was there for me so I could remember my love for triathlon. It was an amazing bonding time for both of us. We talked about the technicalities of the race, the goals we would try to achieve to finish well and, yes, other cheesy things like our love for each other, our schedules, our budget, haha! So many people were teasing him about his winning love points.  Some local folks thought he was courting me  haha  and we endured their corny remarks.  We were in it to finish together and we did.  I ran away with the first place podium finish for my age group  an icing to an already beautiful cake.  I am forever grateful to my children who helped us with our gear setup, photos, cheers, and baby-sitting, too! That is why we tri together! In the end, our bodies may ache and our minds tested beyond their capabilities, but when we seek to see the experience with a positive mindset, our bodies respond wonderfully and we get to enjoy the cheesy things in life. Bring on the wine, cheers!

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Follow author on twitter @ mommymaricel.