RunMyssieRun

Tears. Lots of incredible, grateful, embarrassing, joyful, heartfelt tears!!!

Every Team in Training marathon event I did in 2012 – Austin 1020, San Diego Rock N Roll Marathon, San Antonio Marathon and the Nike Women’s Marathon – Jeanice was always by my side and sharing my hotel room at each of them. She, thankfully, didn’t have a personal connection to cancer when we first began our journey together. She did it because our offices were adjacent to each other at work and she saw how much it meant to me to do this. She did it really for me. I never forgot that.

In 2013, I transitioned to triathlons and cycling and strayed away from running. However, she continued and went on to mentor many more team mates through TNT’s marathon training program.

This year… This year was different. My office is no longer next to hers. My events no longer correspond with hers. And somewhere along the line… We had to put a stop to that.

She surprised me on the last day to sign up for the triathlon team and ran with me for two miles. We chit chatted just like we used to and she signed up a few days later not knowing how to swim nor having a bike ride on.

I set out immediately to get her ready for swimming and biking just as she got me ready for all those marathons not so long ago. I got her a swim cap and goggles and began the hunt for a bike to fit her that wouldn’t break her bank.

Before I go any further about Jeanice, I need to tell you about her background. Jeanice is a former Mrs Washington. Ya, I’m talking major beauty queen… Like Miss America beauty queen but MRS America!!! She’s stunning. I’m talking drop dead gorgeous stunning. Have you ever seen the music video of the song “Vacation” by the Go-gos? You know the fabulous water skiers that do the human pyramid on skis??? Ya, she does that.

Ok, so she did great on her first few swims. She struggled with breathing but let’s be honest, who doesn’t struggle with breathing??? I loaned her the bike I had borrowed from Xavie to learn to ride. Since she and I are about the same height, I figured it would work for her as well.

Not two hours from her very first bike ride with me, I received a photo from Wally, my bike guru, saying that she had bought herself a new bike.

There is no stopping us now!!! Beauty queens wear a crown for just one year… But my rhinestone mafia is built of real queens who reign over a kingdom, see something that needs to be done, roll up our sequined sleeves and get ‘er done…. All the while wearing five inch heels and spreading glitter and sparkles all around.

We are not princesses. We are much more than that. We will reign over cancer. You just watch and see.

This woman is a queen.
Bow

I can’t.

CAN’T – that’s a pretty powerful word, isn’t it? It has enough power to demolish a dream, a goal or all your hard work.  Someone can yell to you: “YOU CAN’T DO IT!”

Someone can sarcastically whisper it under their breath: “You’re delusional! You can’t really do that even if you tried!”

But what is most destructive is when you say it to yourself in your head: “I can’t do this.”

Whether you can or you can’t, you’re right.

These first few weeks of triathlon training with our new Team in Training Triathlon team has been such an eye opener to me. My teammates truly are super heroes.

See, we all have marathon training. We’ve all run together and are used to adopting each other’s pace and running side by side if we see a team mate struggling with those voices that tell each of us “I can’t”.  We’re all used to those silly fans and cheerleaders with hilarious posters waving us on to the finish line that promise Ryan Gossling is just a few meters ahead without a shirt on.

But triathlon… triathlon is different. It is hard to swim side by side and cheer each other on, hold a conversation or keep the pace of the song playing… because there is NO music in the water and you can’t talk in the water between strokes to your friends nearby!!!  And then after the swim, the chances of finding someone to be beside you on the bike is not only unlikely but downright illegal in triathlon rules nor can you draft from their tire. By the time you get to the run… you’re so exhausted from the two prior sports that you are immediately in the “bite me” zone once you begin the run portion of Tri. Triathlon is a very individualized sport.. something that we, as a team, have not been very accustomed to.

So on Tuesday morning, on my Birthday, I went for my usual 5am Wake Up Ride. A few of my TNT team mates, Brenda and Christina, joined me there.  However, I jumped up to the next level from Beginner to Intermediate and did the 25 mile loop instead of the 16 mile short loop with them. At the end of the ride, I got my coffee (we always get coffee after our rides at Starbucks) and to my surprise saw my fellow team mates come in after doing the same distance!!! I’m not sure if you’re getting this… I’ve been with the 5AM group for about nine months now… I just jumped up. They’ve been here two weeks… and jumped up!!!!

See, what I’m getting at is that in their minds… they didn’t let “I can’t” enter their heads at all. They saw that I wanted to jump up in distance, so they went out and did it, too. They did the “airport loop” which is about 25 miles with two tough hills.

And then the next day was swimming. Now, we have some excellent swimmers on our team. And they’re quite intimidating… but downright super helpful!!! I took myself back to this time last year when I asked my son to go help coach me and teach me to swim. I was so afraid of the water and embarrassed that I in all my years of living, I didn’t know how to swim. But I never let “I can’t” get the better of me. Nor did my son.

My son taught me how to swim.

And that’s when I saw her face… the same one I wore that day with my son. Janie had fear pouring out of her eyes. And she jumped into that pool anyway. She struggled just as I did that evening with my son on my first lesson. And she swam with all her heart anyway. She would pop up and hold on to the lane rope to catch her breath scared to death. And then she went on to finish her lap anyway. She didn’t let “I can’t” mess with her plans.

No wonder she’s my mentor.

There’s no “I Can’t” in CANCER. But CAN sure is!!!