Ten Things I Probably Should Have Blogged... #7

Today’s post is part 7 of a 10-post list of events in our lives that we probably should have blogged about during the past two years.  I’ve enjoyed taking a step back and remembering those moments.  I hope you do too!

7.  Getting Active - Summer 2013

Savva and I love to be outside and try to be active as much as we can.  Unfortunately, this has been a big struggle for me especially as I try to learn the balance of teaching, spending time with Savva, and making time for me.  It’s hard.  I’m tired all the time and frankly, when I have a day off, I sometimes just want to do nothing.

This summer we did try to make more of an effort to be active again and I hope this continues and becomes a big part of our lives like it used to be.  Growing up is hard!  It’s so easy to let your job consume you, and that’s a hard lesson I have had to work every day at overcoming.  I’m still working on that.

So back to this summer - Savva and I entered in competitions of a new kind.  It was new.  And scary.  And we loved it.

Savva entered in his first wakeboarding competition.  I have watching him wrestle all four years of college, but NEVER was I as nervous as I was during that wakeboarding competition.  It was so different, but I am so proud of him for taking that step to become a competitive wakeboarder.

The competition was in Burlington and he entered in the Masters division.  Most of the other competitors knew each other - I’m sure it’s very similar to travel softball or club wrestling where you meet up and compete against the same people often.  By the end of the day, many of them were pretty welcoming to Savva so I was happy to see that.

We weren’t sure what to expect when we got there, but we were there bright and early for registration.  Lesson #1 we learned: we didn’t have to get there until later in the morning.  Or really like noon.  But we were there at 7:30.  We went ahead and registered and then went to breakfast with my parents (who were awesome and so supportive all day!).  When we came back, we sat on the shore of the lake and cheered on the junior divisions.

When it was time for Savva to go, Demetre set up the video camera and we all held our breath just hoping he would complete his run.  If you fall twice, you are done, so that’s what we didn’t want to happen.  He did his first trick and landed it, then went HUGE for a next big trick and busted HARD.  The announcer said that was by far the hardest fall of the day.  He was ok and so he got back up.  All of a sudden, the tension lifted and he was out there having fun and doing his thing!  He looked awesome out there!  Or “totally rad” as my favorite pro rider would say ;-)

I compared it to that first inning of softball or that first pitch during an at-bat when you get whatever nerves you might have out of your system.  After he fell, he looked like a completely different rider and completed his two passes perfectly.  Lesson #2 we learned:  in competitions, you have to do your tricks a little faster so you get them all in in the allotted time.  He was a little slower, but we both agreed that he landing his tricks was the most important thing this time around.  We can work on his speed later.

We really weren’t sure what to expect when it came time for trophies.  I, for sure, don’t know how they score it and we weren’t quite sure if he would podium.  We were so excited when they announced that Savva had won 2nd place!!!  I was so happy for him and so proud of his accomplishments.  He is hoping to enter more competitions throughout next summer and start moving up in the wakeboarding world.  It’s pretty difficult to do that in the location we live in because we have good lake weather only a few months out of the year.  My favorite pro rider, Harley Clifford, rides year-round by living in Florida for 6 months and Australia (his home country) for 6 months.   Wouldn’t that be nice?!?

Now, my accomplishment doesn’t come close to that.  My accomplishment is just the fact that I did it.  I competed.  Without any training (or any real running since my ball playing days), I called one of my closest friends and asked her to enter in a 5k with me.  When?  That weekend.  Ha!  

We ran once the week leading up to the race just to prove that we could still do it.  Times sure have changed since she and I played at ASU.  We decided that on the day of the race, we would start off by walking to get our legs warm and then we would start running and take it at our pace.  Our goal would be simply to finish - who cares about podiums and times anyway?

Well, we didn’t...until the gun went off and our competitive instincts took over.  We started running right out of the gate!  No warming up, no stretching, and, keep in mind, no training.  What were we thinking?!?  But we did it together!  When you are teammates, you are teammates for life.  We pushed each other and never stopped.  I would’ve never done it by myself, but with Kayla, I was able to do it.

We have no idea what our time was, but we crossed the finish line together and tied for 3rd place.  We were just happy we made it to the finish line and didn’t fall out in the middle of the woods!  Can’t wait to do it again, but maybe this time we will actually train and do it the right way ;-)

Like I said, Savva is hoping to compete more next season in wakeboarding.  As for me, I’d like to potentially run a triathlon, but I’ll be happy with just getting myself in better shape.  We’ll see!