I didn’t play sports in high school or college. I like to refer to myself as an adult onset athlete. Joining the iracelikeagirl team was a bit of a stretch for me. However the team came highly recommended and I joined last year. I have enjoyed meeting people at races and participating in challenges, but I didn’t realize I NEEDED my team until this past weekend at Challenge Daytona.
I had been looking forward to this event since participating last year. It was a super fun race, and I was cautiously optimistic that it would actually happen – unlike most of the races in 2020. I was planning to race the sprint on Sunday and be a Sherpa for my roommates for Saturday’s 70.3 distance.
I woke up Saturday morning with Rebecca and Mary – ready to cheer them on and do everything I could to make it a great race day for them. We got to the race venue and I helped them get set up. We were less than 30 minutes from race start and I got a text from my Dad asking me if I was awake. I knew instantly that something was wrong. I replied “Yes” to the text and waited what seemed like an eternity for his reply. The text came back and he informed me that my Grandmother had passed away the night before.
The information overwhelmed me instantly and I had to sit down. Mary stopped what she was doing (which was getting ready for her first ever 70.3, and stressing about a forgotten wet suit) and just held me and let me cry. I tried to pull back from her after a few moments and she held me tighter and said, “I’m not done”. In that moment, I was so moved that somebody who didn’t REALLY know me, who didn’t know my Grandmother at all, and who really had better things to be doing, was taking the time to care for me.
Throughout the day of the race, I was thankful for the distraction of cheering for my teammates. Essentially, I put my grief aside and decided to focus on what was happening in front of me. Later, as word traveled about what I was dealing with, several other teammates came up to me to offer condolences. They were genuinely concerned about me and wanted to let me know they cared. I am very good about giving encouragement and support. Accepting it isn’t one of my strengths – I am learning.