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Well, that did not go as planned…

by Gifted With Grace ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

For the past month I have been training for my first sprint triathlon. This has been a goal of mine for a few years. I swam competitively in middle school and high school and have always enjoyed biking and running. The thought of combining all of these activities into one event always intrigued me. 

Last winter I signed up to do an indoor sprint triathlon and it got cancelled due to a blizzard. I was pretty bummed. I had been training for a few months and was not going to be able to put that training to use. In March, I found out my school was hosting a sprint triathlon called “Fruit at the Finish.” This sprint triathlon included an 800 meter swim, 12 mile bike, and 3 mile run. I was hesitant to sign up at first, but one of my friends encouraged me to do it with her. I figured, why not give it a shot. This has been something on my list of life goals and I felt like this would be a great time to do it! I had about a month to training and I got right to it after signing up. I enjoyed having a goal while training to keep me encouraged. 

The day finally came for the triathlon! I was so excited. My body felt ready to go. When I got to the event, I took my bike out of my car and noticed that my tire was very flat. It was so flat that it was starting to come off the rim. I was freaking out on the inside, but I tried to keep my cool. I found someone with a bike pump and we filled the tire with air. It seemed like the air was staying in the tires. My bike made it to the bike racks where the biking section started. I left it there, hoping the air would stay, and went off to sign in and get ready to swim. 

My swim felt amazing! It brought me back to my swim meet days. I had so much fun and felt so fast in the water. I changed after my swim and was ready to bike. I went out and saw that my bike tire was completely flat… All of that training and I was not going to be able to do the triathlon. I was so bummed, but once again I tried to keep my cool. I went back into the pool area to cheer on my friend as she did the swimming part. I decided to do the run anyway and make the most out of the race. 

“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” 

I was really sad that after all of my training I couldn’t even complete the race. I tried my best to make the most out of the unfortunate event. I did my part in the swim and still got to participate in the run. When I got back to school, I biked on the stationary bike in the gym so I could sort of finish the race. From this event, I learned to be flexible. Sometimes the things that we work so hard for do not work out for us in the end. We have to make the most out the situations that life throws at us.

Looking forward to next year’s triathlon! I’ll be back with a functioning bike ready to crush my goals. 

  • Grace

I forgot how to study…

I forgot how to study…

by Gifted With Grace ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

College has been quite the adventure. It is nothing like I imagined it to be. I have been learning so much. I am finding out what I like and don’t like. The weeks have been going so fast. I cannot believe I have almost finished my first semester. This semester has been tougher than first semester. First semester was new and exciting. This semester I am taking mostly pre-requisite courses and not finding them very interesting. It has been a challenge for me to find motivation to study and keep up my grades. 

After taking the first exams in all of my classes I saw that I should to be putting more work and focus into my school work. So, I started spending all of my time in the library. I thought that going to the library would magically make my grades better. It did help me to study with less distractions, but I realized I was spending all of my time on my homework and studying. I forgot to do the fun things. I forgot to take time for myself and enjoy my time in college. I would put off spending time with friends, because I thought I needed to be studying. After taking the second round of exams, I realized that my grades were improving, but not by much. All that time in the library wasn’t actually helping me learn. I was exhausting my brain because I forgot to take time for myself and give my brain a break. 

One of my coaches always told me, “work smarter, not harder”. I realized that instead of spending ALL of my hours in the library, I should be learning how to actually study and retain information, instead of exhausting my brain and then forgetting everything. I also learned that it is completely acceptable to take brain breaks. It is good to take a break and catch up with friends, volunteer, or do an activity of some type. I managed to do all of those things in high school and saw good results in my school work, so those things should work in college, right?! Giving the brain a break really does help. 

As I go into my next three weeks of college, I am focusing on managing my time better and studying effectively so I can enjoy my last couple of weeks at school. The weather is getting nice and I cannot wait to get outside and explore more at St. Ben’s. There is time to do more than just study. Schools does not have to take over. It is important to enjoy where I am at in my life right now. Grades matter, but they are not everything. College is all about learning. For me, I am learning how to study effectively. I am looking forward to next semester and getting the chance to take more classes that interest me.

Thank you for taking a few minutes out of your day to read about what my semester has looked like. Remember to work smarter, not harder! 

  • Grace