Frogman- Why We Enter the Water

I didn’t know the emotional effects signing up for the Tampa Bay Frogman would have for me.  Sure I have had nerves at the start of a race or during training and I have cried at crossing the finish line, but the Tampa Bay Frogman swim would bring other emotions to play on my training ad race preparation.

My Mom, Seaman

My Dad, Second Class Petty Officer

First, was the emotion in writing the initial blog about the event, talking about my relationship with our US military through my parent’s service, the service of other family members and friends, and the influences of growing up and living in a military community.  As I personally recalled the memories imprinted on me related to military influences on my life, I realized the depth of these memories and my overwhelming thankfulness for these service men and women.

Second, I was taken back by the support.  Not only did I have friends who believed in the cause I was representing, donating funds to the Navy SEAL Foundation; I also had friends who braved water conditions with me to swim in the cold for hours and miles, friends along the way who gave words of encouragement when I was frustrated or worried, friends who offered breakfast after training or drinks after a long day, and a loving husband who spent hours on the kayak to keep me safe and who wrapped his arms around me to warm me up.  There have been days after days where all I can say is “my cup runneth over.”  There has never been a moment where I doubted the belief others had in me and that is an incredible feeling.

Then yesterday there was a new emotional reality.  The Tampa Bay Frogman Swim benefits the Navy SEAL Foundation; therefore, each racer is assigned a Navy SEAL who has passed.  As the list of wave assignments came out attached to it was a list of names.  Next to my name was the name Danny Dietz.  Danny was a Gunner Mate Second Class.  He was a part of SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team Two, Naval Special Warfare Unit, stationed in Afghanistan.  Danny died on 28 June 2005, in Kunar Province, during an engagement with Taliban forces.  If these places and times seem familiar it is because Danny was a part of the four man team who are featured in the book and movie, Lone Survivor. 

Danny Dietz; Gunner Mate Second Class

Danny was the first of three men on the ground to be killed; additionally, eight SEALs and eight Army Night Stalkers would be killed in this engagement as their helicopter was shot down by a rocket-propelled grenade, as they were responding to a radio call to aid the four SEALs on the ground.  Danny was reported to have taken a hit early on the in conflict; however, he continued with his team members to fight and respond to the enemy fire until taking a mortal hit.  For his actions that day Danny was awarded the Navy Cross.  

Danny’s body was not recovered until seven days after what would be the second deadliest combat event in Navy SEAL history.   The publicity of the events surrounding Danny’s death makes the events stand out but as I read about Danny the events of his death were not what stuck out to me.  Danny was born on 26 January 1980, one year and 2 days before me.  He was an outdoors man, a dog lover, and a man who loved his wife (also a service member) and family.  Those things stood out to me, because those things make him who he was, a dedicated and strong man who was a solider, who gave his life for all of our freedom.  Those little things about him may to others not be as big as the story of his death, but in reading about him and his family those little things were always mentioned- his love of others, commitment to the military, his enthusiasm for life, his joy of watching a movie or hanging out with his wife; those are the things that made him walk in to those mountains that day without a second thought, he was there to defend what he believed in, in all those little moments of life. 

On Sunday every swimmer will enter the water with a Navy SEAL on their heart and soul.  This will be an imprinted moment for all of us.  A swim across the waterway will never compare to the challenges these men face in their daily work, but on Sunday morning we will swim for them, a testament to what they have sacrificed, with proof that their will to push on will never die. 

I can never say it enough—Thank you to all the men and women who wear the uniform and to those who support them.  May we always know such freedom and may we protect that freedom by respecting the sacrifices given in the name off such freedom. 

I am are continuing to raise money for the Navy Seal Foundation.  For more information please read this: Supporting the Navy Seal Foundation- Frogman Swim 
We've been blogging for a while now. If you enjoyed this one, you may enjoy others. Look though the Blog Archive on the right, for more of our experiences and random thoughts. 

Thank you for your ongoing support of our adventures.  
Please feel free to share our blog.

Silly Scars

Patrick's 1st Race Crash

25K Swim Wetsuit Damage

As I was trail running this weekend and took a tumble- with no injury (there is a first for everything)- I got to thinking about the scars I have and how they tell a hundred different stories.  I have scars that tell stories of wetsuit rashes after long swims, mountain biking adventures, and night time trail run falls.  Those are the stories that are cool to tell hanging out with others.  
I started to think of the stories of other athletes I know from the epic scars from surviving a bike crashes to the little scars from toppling over at a stop sign.  As I ran this story line in my head I turned to the not so epic scars.  I know we all have them those scars because you forgot to step up on a curb or because you forgot your tri glide application to ALL friction points.

Me vs. Woods

I have some favorites of my own silly scars.

Who knows!!!!

I have two such scars on my ankle.  The first one is on the back of my left ankle.  I was doing an Olympic tri back before we had our own chip holder anklets- which are soft and made of neoprene. The race had these bands like the arm bands many races have or that you get at the fair.  They are plastic and with sharp edges.  Turns out after 3 miles of running these bands tend to dig in.  There was little I could do to fix it and I only had 3 more miles to go.  I did what most athletes do in the moment and pushed on- singing the whole way to makes myself forget how much it hurt.  At the finish line my happiest moment was when they took that damn band off; of course that moment was followed by the moment of realizing my sock was bloody from the incision the stupid band had made.  Good news is I learned from the experience and we bought soft anklets for race chips.  Turns out the race community must have learned too, because it seem like after this purchase every race has the nicer timing chip bands.  No more scars from that! 
The second scar is one of my favorites because it proves I can get hurt by just being near my bike during a great adventure.  It happened at RAGBRAI.  This is an event where you bike across Iowa over the course of a week while camping.  There is of course lots of opportunities to get scars while crossing a state on your bike, but I didn't get this one while on the bike or out riding.  Nope, this one came from exiting the tent.  The tent's had this little space near the door where it was a little covered.  One night we were going to have some bad weather so we placed our bikes into this space to give them a little cover from the rain.  One bike was at one door of the tent and the other bike was at the other door of the tent so there was no way out without finding a bike.  Well, I was trying to get out of the tent to go see what the day had in store.  I remember carefully placing my foot for my first step out in to the day then carefully placing my second foot, then taking my next step with, I guess, a sense of danger because in that moment I slammed my lower shine right into my bike gearing.  I managed to jab the gear into my ankle creating two puncture wounds.  Nothing major of course, but it did bleed and hurt like a son of a gun. 

The scar is now very faint as it has been a few years since this incident.  I remember it as one of my favorite scars because it takes me back to a memory of an amazing adventure, with great people.  Silly scars do that, they remind us of the little silly things we do.  They remind us we are human and this is a sport where some times being human is the Achilles heel. 
We can learn a lot from our scars, even those created by events we would rather forget.  We can learn patience with others and ourselves, we can learn who we are when faced with adversity, we can learn how to over come, and we can learn to laugh at those silly scars.  


I am are continuing to raise money for the Navy Seal Foundation.  For more information please read this: Supporting the Navy Seal Foundation- Frogman Swim 
We've been blogging for a while now. If you enjoyed this one, you may enjoy others. Look though the Blog Archive on the right, for more of our experiences and random thoughts. 

Thank you for your ongoing support of our adventures.  
Please feel free to share our blog.