A few months back, I guess it's probably closer to 7 months ago now, I had to break up with a friend.
It was really hard to do. I'd know her for many years. I'd noticed over the past year, we were starting to become toxic to each other. Our lives had gone in different directions, and we had different priorities and....well, just different everything. I was bad for her, and she was bad for me.
The break up hit me really hard. I mean, here was someone that I used to talk to ALL THE TIME. We'd call. We'd text. We'd email. She was one of the last people I talked to before I went to bed at night. All of a sudden that was gone.
For months, I was at a loss. Who do I go to when I'm having a bad day, and I just want to scream irrationally?
Over the past few months, I've gotten to know a few people. People who have very similar interests to me. It's been really great. Especially since given my work situation, I'm not around a lot of people during the week.
I never even really considered how much this was going to affect me. All of a sudden, when I go do some type of training, sure enough, I'll run into someone that I know. This triathlon web of mine has become huge. I love going out on my Saturdays now because I never know who I am going to run into.
I like to train by myself. But there's a lot to be said for being able to swim, bike or run with another person or a group of people. It's the "we're all in this together" mentality.
This coming Saturday, I have a race. This week, I've been talking to people. I've been amazed at the number of people who will be at the races on Saturday. Even though, we tease each other, and give each other a hard time, we are also each others biggest supporters. I don't know if there is anything more fun that cheering on a friend as they run by during a race.
As hard as it was to let go of one relationship, I realized that I had allowed that relationship to take over my entire life. I missed out on meeting all these truly great people before. I really enjoy meeting my new friends on Saturdays for our swim/bike/run sessions or doing insane races with them.
It's like getting a group of crazies together and seeing how far we can push each other. I've gotten to do things that I would never have done before; things that I never would have even considered.
So, I'm racing on Saturday. Although, I won't have my normal group of "crazies" there, I'll get to see some really great people and cheer them on.
I can finally appreciate what it means to have a triathlon family.
