I gave it a tri

It was at the Thiel family Christmas gathering that my triathlon adventure began. My brother-in-law, Matt, was trying to recruit Mark to do the running leg for a triathlon relay team along with their brother, Steve, who would bike. All they needed was a swimmer. "I could swim," I piped up without really thinking about it. Thus, Team Chanasha (Steve's hometown of Chanhassen, Minn. combined with Menasha) was born. We would compete in the St. Paul triathlon in August.

When I joined the team, Matt had told me that the swim would be 1,000 meters. I felt comfortable with that distance. The longest event when I participated on the swim team in high school was 500 meters. Twice that distance - I could do that. Soon after, I learned that the race actually was a mile. Three times longer? I began to lose my nerve. After all, I hadn't swam seriously in 16 years. I didn't want to let my team down, however, so I decided I would give it a try. Anyway, way back in December, it somehow seemed like Aug. 22 was a very, very long time away.

I came up with a plan to start my training in April. Two mornings a week, I arose at 5:30 a.m and headed to the Y to swim laps. I've always loved to swim, enjoying exercising in the cool water, watching the tiny bubbles fly off my hands as I plunged them into the water. As I began to swim, I was pleased to find out that it still came quite naturally to me. Fairly easily, I was able to make it through the workouts in my book.

As spring turned to summer, my anxiety began to grow. In June, we made a trip to Madison so I could practice lake swimming with my sister-in-law, Emily. We arrived at Lake Wingra on a Saturday morning to find weeds up to my chest and very choppy water. Nonetheless, I plunged in. "Let's just swim a few yards," Emily said. We did, and when we stopped, she told me to look up. Emily pointed out that rather than swimming in a straight line, I had swam in a circle. That was my introduction to the need to spot, lifting my head every few strokes so I could look at a fixed point and swim straight. I knew that swimming in open water would be a far cry from the relatively sterile environment of lap swimming in a pool, but I hadn't even thought about this dimension. Another thing to worry about! Emily assuaged my fear, assuring me that the race lake would be much less weedy and much calmer.

That Aug. 22 that seemed like it might never arrive quickly came upon me. The morning we arrived at the race was beautiful, nonetheless I was filled with anxiety bordering on panic. We signed in and picked up our packet. I have to say, as the volunteer marked our team number on my arms and legs, I felt pretty cool, maybe even a little bad-ass. I sized up the course. I would need to swim two laps. Matt and Emily both were doing the entire triathlon - a mile swim, a 40K bike and a 10K run. Nervously, I went over with them again and again what I would need to do. I was certain that I would make a technical error and sink my team or that I would become paralyzed with fear and need to drop out of the race. My heart pounded as I took my place in the water. Just as my angst was peaking, there was Matt, who was in the same wave as me. His reassuring words and kind smile were enough to get me through.

The race began and I was off. As soon as I had the first length of the race completed, I felt great and confident. I could do this. Nothing I had worried about - that it would be scary to swim in open water, that spotting would be difficult - came to fruition. All in all, the experience was exhilarating. It was unbelievably gratifying to have months of work culminate in this.

I didn't feel fatigued as I swam, but by the time I was sprinting out of the water to hand off the recording band to Steve, I was tired. "I'm going to puke," I told him as I made the hand-off. I didn't, of course. After that, I was able to sit back and enjoy. It was fascinating watching the competitors as they transitioned from one event to the next. I'm in awe of people who do the whole thing, especially my brother- and sister-in-law. Matt was a year ahead of Mark and me in high school, and I have always known him to be a preternaturally kind and decent person. Emily is a paragon of awesomeness. She is a tremendous, elite athlete, but she is ever humble and always supportive.

And then there's Mark. I felt so proud and emotional as I watched him come in strong to finish the race. I also felt a little sad that the experience was already over. I can see how people become addicted to competing. Me, I'll never be a serious competitor. But you'd better believe that come next triathlon season, I'll be ready to swim again. After the race, Steve asked how long it would take for the markings on our arms and legs to fade. I secretly wished that they would stay as long as possible, because for me, they are a mark of accomplishment.