28 Oct If you are waiting for a sign…

After I joined the Cross Country team in 2005 at College of the Desert, I met Adara Garcia and Arturo. They were also running for the Cross Country team. When they told me they were both triathlon athletes, I wanted to be one too! I knew how to swim, ride a bike and run, so I said to myself, “why not!” A friend and I asked them if we could train with them and soon enough, we were training together.  I didn’t have a road bike back then and I have never ridden one before. They let me borrow one of their bikes just to try it out first. I felt kind of weird riding road bikes and wearing the outfit and helmet. It felt like I didn’t belong to that sport for some reason. (and maybe I was right feeling that way) I did my first Tour of Palm Springs with them and a few months later, I tried to do my first triathlon… Unfortunately, I failed the swimming part. I always trained in a pool but I never trained for the real life experience. When I jumped in the water, I was not able to see anything and this kind of freaked me out a bit. It was a failed mission but it motivated me to keep trying.

A few months later, Adara Garcia and Arturo went back to Mexico. I continued training on my own but after a while, I lost a bit of motivation and I eventually stopped training. It took me a few years to get back into it.

After I graduated from College in 2004,  I continued going to COD the following year to study Architecture. In 2006 I took a break from school thinking I was going to go back next year but it didn’t happen. From 2006 to 2008 everything was going right! I started a new job doing graphic design work, and I also bought my first car.  Everything was going perfectly fine in my life, but then in 2009, I lost my job. I really didn’t like what I was doing with my life from 2009 to 2012. These were the years where I felt kind of lost. I knew I had to do something to change it. It took me a while but as soon as I let go of all the things that weren’t making me happy, things started to fall into place. Everything was starting to make sense. It was around this time when I decided to get back to training for triathlons.

I remember telling my sister, “I want to invite people to train with me, but I am not sure people are going to join me” My sister then said, “Do it Vane, even if no one shows up, keep doing it!” …So I did! This is how iAMHealthy&Fit idea started!

I started to print a few flyers and just put them everywhere on the streets and on my Social Media. The first day I set up the meet up to run, no one showed up. Only my sister… lol But, I did what my sister told me to do… “Keep doing it even if no one shows up” and she was right! To make the story short, the group grew without me even realizing it! It was just so cool to meet new people that had the same passion, motivation and drive! I wasn’t trying to coach anyone. I simply did this just for fun. Everyone was welcome to come and the best of it, it was free to join!

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU

WISH FOR!

Just like in life, things have to grow and keep moving…iAMHealthy&Fit group didn’t last that long though, but iAMHealthy&Fit kept moving. The only way I could be a triathlon athlete was to train with Triathlon Athletes.  Once I met them, I decided to join them and a new story began!

Training with Alan and Sergio really helped me overcome some fears…swimming in open water. 

LET THE TRIATHLON TRAINING

BEGIN!

We were on our way to Lake Havasu for my second attempt to finish a triathlon. The day before the race, Alan had us swim in the lake with our wetsuits…but did I mention we actually swam at night? Yes! We swam in the lake at night! I was thinking to myself:  “ok great! I freaked out the first time I tried to swim in a lake because I was not able to see anything underneath the water and now we have to swim at night? Good thing I wasn’t going to do this alone.

We started to swim in the lake. Everything was dark! I could not see anything at all! As I started to swim more and more, my heart started to beat faster. Then, I felt I was not able to breath. The wetsuit started to feel so tight too. I thought this was the reason why I was not able to breath but it wasn’t. It was just me freaking out. When I got out of the water, I asked Alan, “do we really need to wear wetsuits?” 

Swimming before the race really helped me to gain more confidence and I overcame my fear to swim in open water. 

The next day, I was ready for the race!  I jumped in the water and started to swim. While I was swimming I was telling to myself, “I know how to swim so I am ok. I can do this” The wetsuit didn’t even bother me at all! I did however close my eyes every time I put my head down in the water…lol I kind of went off track at the beginning but then it all went ok. I made it!  I finished my swim! I was so happy! I then took off to ride my bike and then run!

It all went smoothly! It was cold, it was painful but there were no accidents or falls…lol! My dad calls me “La campeona de las caidas” (the champion of the falls) He knows me better! 

Once we were done and ready to leave, I heard someone called my name. I didn’t even realize I made it 3rd place in my age group! My first fully completed triathlon and I got 3rd place? I was definitely ready for my next race! hehe! It was so much excitement!

Training with Alan and Sergio really helped me at all levels. Mentally, and physically.  They pushed to do more and more every day in my training and I felt I improved a lot. My body felt really strong but I knew still had a lot of work to do.

It was a great experience to train with them but just like in life, all good things come to an end. At the end of 2013, our triathlon group decided to split and at the beginning of 2014, I started a NEW CHALLENGE