Opportunity Knocks

On Saturday I received an email from my swim coach, Laura Tiedge, asking if I have ever thought of leading a women's trialthon team. Hmmmm that sounds like something that I would be interested in for so many reasons but had never actually thought about for just as many reasons. I replied that I would be interested although I am not the strongest triathlete but I have drive and endurance - I say this because I train with women who are faster, stronger and more physically fit than I am.

Since women's specific skis came out I have really done a lot of thinking about promoting and pushing for women in sports. For so long we have been looked at as tiny men which clearly we are not. I went to see Jeannie Thoren speak about women skiers and our needs - she's REALLY one of the pioneers for women in skiing. She has designed boots that are specific to our feet along with skis that cater to where our center of gravity is - by the way it's in a different spot for us then it is for men...funny huh? After seeing her speak I was even more energized about womens sports. While living in San Francisco I raced in two women's races presented by Nike: the Nike Women's half marathon and the Nike Women's marathon. I cannot explain the feeling of lining up with women for a race that is all about US. There is a buzz that I have not gotten from any other race and I am not just saying that it really is true. I have also been taking women's specific ski clinics for the last 5 years. I have made some fantastic friends at Okemo's WAA WAA program - again there is a bond that is amazing when women can ski like women. When I was in Nor Cal I only skied with guys so I skied like a guy which I loved but once I took my first clinic I was hooked. See there is something about getting the unwaivering support of your peers.

In September I raced with other women for breast cancer research in the Danskin SheRox triathlon. As I said in my race report this was like no other race. There were survivors, mothers and daughters along with women you would most probably not see at a typical triathlon. There is a certain comfort level knowing that you won't get run over by the men (no offense I LOVE racing and training with men along with men in general) who are starting in a wave behind you. When I was talking to Laura about this race, she has done one too, she said that only when women are racing do they say "excuse me" if they bump you on the swim. I personally search out women's races for the reasons above plus it's part of promoting women in sports.

When this idea was put in my head a few questions and thoughts crossed my mind: 1: Could I really do this? Would anyone take me seriously as the leader? 2: Would we be able to get Ray's support (I could not do this without him - he's the heart of the tri team) and 3: I needed to call a fellow tri girl to see what she thought.

I called my friend who went with me to New Jersey to support me for the Danskin Women's Tri - she's one of my closest friends and someone I know will always be honest with me no matter what. She told me that I would be perfect for this kind of thing. I love bringing people together and organizing stuff plus most importantly I LOVE triathlon. We talked about how the team could focus on raising money for women's causes, how it would bring our community even closer by planning races together as a team, we could train together. I say this because although we do train together sometimes it's intimidating to train with the guys - I had a friend tell me last night that she scans the email to see who else is going on the ride since she doesn't want to get left behind, not that it happens on purpose but sometimes it happens. With her positive and kind words I was ready to talk to Laura about the proposition.

Thursday before Endurance Swim training I met with Laura who had discussed this idea with Ray at lunch. He thought that I would be the perfect fit for this position. OK check that off the list. She and I talked about what we thought it would look like if we had a women's tri team but then she tasked me to find out what my fellow women triathletes thought the team would look like. I sent an email this morning to my friends to get their input. The response has been slow and at opposite ends of the spectrum. Some gung ho and others not wanting to leave the co-ed team. I did explain that was not what we wanted to do, we are ALL a team we'd just be a subset of the larger team. Ray would still be our coach and we would show up at the track and open water swims with everyone else...this would be an added bonus. One of the bonuses I explained was our own shirts - in women's sizes that fit us (someone suggested pink but I am not 100% on that HAHA).

The one last piece of the puzzle is - can I really do this? Am I the right woman for the "job"? I would like to think so. Clearly people believe in me and my ability to bring people together, they believe that I would be a good fit and that with their support we can make this team happen. The more I think about this idea and as I reflect on 2009 I really do think that this is something that I not only want to do but that I CAN do. It is important to me to continue to grow as a person and to give back to those who have really helped me realize my potential athletically and personally.

I am putting this out to all of you in the cyberworld...if you were going to create a women's team what would it look like to you?