Pete and I attended the Northwest Indiana Triathlete’s party. We got an address to someone’s house we’d never met. We hopped in the car, flipped on the Magellan, input the address and drove off into the sunset…okay well…maybe not…although the sun was setting. We arrived at the subdivision and of course the Magellan announces that we have arrived. We are sitting in front of a person’s house, it’s dark and there are some balloons flailing from the mailbox. We thought that had to be it. After all, who the hell would put balloons on their mailbox if they weren’t having a party. The only reason I can think of is to give something to a disgruntled postal worker something to shoot at–target practice. We soon realized, however, that we weren’t on the right street. So…we turned around and backtracked to find the house. Thank goodness there was a giant banner plastered on the front entry way that said in giant letters “NWI Triathletes”.

What a warm and welcoming crowd! I was really nervous and went into my shy mode like I always do in unfamiliar situations. I tend to hide behind Pete. Only we weren’t there for Pete–we were really  there for me. Pete was there for backup. Once we were inside the beautiful house, we were surrounded by triathletes. Talk about feeling like a newbie in the crowd. That’s a hard place for me to be. I’m so used to being at the top of my game with dancing. It’s hard to be the worst athlete in the room. I was the person in the room that had read all the books and manuals but had none of the biking gear! I have a little bit of running experience which I’m not the greatest at, but that at least gave me something to talk about with people. I had to face the facts that I was the low (wo)man on the totem pole and the only way to go was up.

I found out a lot of great tips and information that night. I signed up for the club. The next step is going to be getting my butt to bed earlier so I can make these crazy swim practices on Thursdays and Saturdays at Omni that start a little too early in the morning for my tastes.

There was a lot of food at the party. I signed up that night. Pete was my wing man and didn’t sign up. Since there wasn’t any food I could eat at the party, Pete ate it all for me. He gobbled it down and waddled home like a penguin. So we both had fun!

Sometimes you have to force yourself out of your comfort zone and into a new situation. I was nervous about taking Pete since this was a party where there were a lot of athletic-minded people there and that’s not exactly Pete’s crowd. However, he did find someone to chat with about the Disney marathon so he was happy. I found out a lot of tips about bike buying and just got to talk to other triathletes and ask them some questions that I had.

If I hadn’t gone to the party I wonder if I would’ve signed up at all. The warmness of the people and the kindhearted, welcoming atmosphere made it so easy. You’ll never know if you don’t go to the party–even if there was nothing there I could eat. That’s why you take a buddy. They can eat food for you and help you feel more secure in an unknown world.

Sara