December 20, 2010
I have been doing triathlons for 2 years now with my first year (2009) really just trying to find out if triathlon is something I want do and do seriously!
I have been a competitive athlete all my life! I played tennis when I was young, and then it was basketball that overtook my life for the next 13+ years. Basketball became my passion; basketball became my life, and my ticket to the United States! If you asked me what I wanted to do when I was growing up, I would have told you I wanted to play professional basketball! I went to a sports high school in Prague (stayed in the doorms ever since I was 14 years old, only seeing my family on weekends). We practiced 5 days a week, every morning from 7:30 – 9:30 and then again for 1:30 to 2 hours in the evening after school with the clubs we played for. Weekends were for games! When I was a senior in high school, I received a full basketball scholarship to play basketball in the U.S. One step closer to my dreams of becoming a professional ball player! I jumped on the offer, packed my bags, and found myself near Buffalo, NY in a school with plenty of people who talked way too fast for me to understand them! Ha! That was little over 12 years ago! While playing bball, I had a chance to master the English language, meet new people, learn about new cultures, and explore a totally different part of the world! How much more can one want! I had a blast, and I would never want to take any of it back (Even though it would be nice to have my family just a bit closer than they have been)
When I graduated from college (University at Buffalo), I was accepted into grad school, got my MBA, and actually took a good year off from any physical activity. Now this is what you call a burn out! I was so burned out, I didn’t want to do anything, and I had no desire to play basketball ever again! How could it be? Once a thing I couldn’t live without, and now I didn’t want to have anything to do with it. I was just tired, my body was tired, my mind was tired, and I simply needed a break. I was so burned out, I actually swore I would NEVER, let me repeat it, NEVER run again! (I am laughing at that statement now) J.Funny how things change! It lasted about a year before my competitive spirit came back, and I signed up to play co-ed intramural bball. I had a blast! It was so much fun to beat up on guys who automatically assume just cuz you are a girl, you can’t play! J Then one day out of nowhere, one of my friends said to me “I bet you couldn’t run a marathon”!!! Really? Really? Did you really just say I COULDN’T do something? Those words were all it took. We started to train together few weeks later for the only marathon that starts in one country and ends in another – The Niagara Falls marathon! Marathon training was fun, and I loved it to only learn later that I won’t be able to run it because race day was few weeks after my U.S. visa had expired and I could potentially have a hard time getting back into the U.S. … bummer! No marathon for me! L At least I knew I could do it J
Then I graduated with my MBA, and it was time to open up another chapter of my life – time to get to work! I have had to learn how to balance a full time job while still trying to get in my daily exercise in. It wasn’t easy, but I joined a local gym and started to run/spin/strength train pretty regularly. 2 years later, I got a new job in Boston at Reebok International. The facilities there were amazing, and fitness, working out was encouraged. I now got to work out at lunch, which was amazing and super convenient. No more excuses of why I couldn’t make it to the gym. The gym was right there! Not a year went by when one of my friends who was into triathlons, asked me to join her during one of her teams offseason practices. I always ran, I did a lot of spinning, so why not! This could be fun! This could be a place where I could unleash my competitiveness again! And that’s how it all began!!! To Be Continued ….
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