Back to Basics

I swam today. It was the first time for me to be back in the water after Reymond. It was so liberating. 2,000 meters and it didn't feel like I was absent for 5 months. Yes, sigh. By August 10, it would've been five months already.

Swimming is actually my first love. When I was younger, I would swim everyday. I would join inter-club and age-group competitions. The water was my second home. But when I developed skin problems, I quit cold turkey. At 14, my skin was more important than swimming. Especially to the boys. LOL. 

Fast forward to 2009. Reymond had already gotten me into cycling which he started doing in 2005. From cycling, he wanted to progress to triathlon. Since he knew I was a swimmer, it was easy to convince me. I just had to learn how to run. He however only knew how to float. He had to swim from scratch! In October of that year, he willed himself to finish the NAGT Speedo Tri despite getting out of the water near last. It was both our first tri. 

By 2010, he was already thinking of Ironman in Camsur but was hesitant about the swim. I was able to convince him na relay muna. "Ok, but who's gonna swim? Hon, will you do it for me?" Sigh. Those of you who know me -- you know I could not refuse Mr. Cruz. So I swam, Reymond biked and my baby brother ran. Thus began his love affair with Ironman. Reymond and my baby brother went on to conquer the individual events in 2011 and 2012 while I was happy simply doing relays and training with him. 

His last race was actually only my second individual triathlon. The first being the pool tri in 2009. All relays in between! TU1 in Subic was my first open water individual tri. Reymond was so excited and anxious. He would've been proud of my finish. 

But I digress. This was supposed to be a swimming post! So yes, close to five months after Reymond's death, I'm back in the water again. Scary but it just feels so right. I feel close to Reymond in the water. It keeps his memory alive. Is that such a bad thing? 

I've recently registered for an open water swim race taking place this September. Haven't told my family and friends. Only my brothers and teammates. Hmmmm. How to tell my daughters. I pray they will understand the need for me to train, to still race despite Reymond's death. 

Reymond, how do I tell the girls? Pls give me strength.