The Spirit Cape

Once a week at our Group Training Sessions, the team gathers for two small moments together. The first one is our "Mission Moment," where someone speaks to the team about their connection to the cause. It's always touching and inspirational, and an important reminder that yes, we're there to learn how to do a triathlon, but there's a much greater reason and importance to what we're doing.

The second moment is the presentation of the "Spirit Cape," which is awarded to a member of the team who "exemplifies the spirit and mission of Team in Training." It's usually presented by a mentor, and last Saturday, my mentor Ashley presented it to me! I was surprised, honored and humbled to receive it, and in all honesty, I was also really, really proud. I had arrived at the Saturday morning session with mixed feelings; it was a Brick session (bike + run), and I knew I'd only be able to do the bike portion due to my foot injury. I always feel great for the first half, and sad during the second as I miss out on a part of training. But Ashley's dedication really touched me and made me feel fantastic. As I was biking through the park, other members rode up to me and offered me congratulations, asking me questions like "Did you really shave your head for the cause?" It was a great feeling.

I don't know if there's an actual cape in other chapters, but in our NYC Triathlon chapter, it's actually a large Team in Training Shirt. Each recipient takes it home and decorates it, either with writing or some sort of bling.

Front:

Decorated across the neck are silver letters that say "SWIM * BIKE * RUN." The "Y!" is representative of the corporate Yahoo team.

Back:

I love that quotation at the top.

I am not a visually artistic person. I'm terrible at this stuff. So I decided to keep it simple and wrote a lyric on the sleeve that a very important friend and I share with each other all the time. It's from an Indigo Girls song called "Pushing the Needle Too Far."