This weekend I took the plunge – I registered for not one, but two triathlon sprints. Why? Well, for one, my brother-in-law said he would do one with me. Check. That’s the second one. However, I know myself, and I know that I can sometimes not have a good showing on my first try at a new sport. So, I thought to myself, “Self, you probably want to try this out before going into a race with your brother-in-law.”
Thus, the first race is an all women’s race, which I love because it takes some of the pressure off somehow. Racing with women feels great, and the medal usually has pink on it somewhere, which, lets face it, I love.
You may be asking yourself, what exactly is a Triathlon Sprint? Well, it is shorter than an Olympic diatance triathlon (yay!) with most races having around a 0.5 Mile Swim ~ 13.9 Mile Bike ~ 3.11 Mile Run. An Olympic distance triathlon has 0.93 mile Swim – 25.82 mile Bike – 6.17 mile Run. It will be a while before I go there.
I will begin training pretty much now. For example, I have already begun long bike rides once per week with my husband. They are usually 15-20 miles to various parts of the greater Seattle area. However, until this weekend, I was just doing it for fun and taking the bus home from strategic locations b/c I live on a HUGE hill. I am not very good at hills….YET. Today, I did not take the bus home; rather I biked up those hills and only had to walk up the last two blocks of hills. I feel awesome! Kind of like Superwoman or Wonder Woman.
The swimming is my greatest challenge as I have not done lap swimming for a long time. Actually, I have not really been swimming since moving to Seattle b/c it is so cold up here. I’m sorry, but 70 degrees Fahrenheit does not constitute swimming appropriate temperatures. Especially not when one is used to the Southeastern US 100 degrees F and 100% humidity. That’s pool weather folks. Plus, the southern lakes actually get above 85 degrees F sometimes!!! What? The water is around 70 degrees F here….in August???? Okay. I can get a wetsuit. Yes, I’m going to get a wetsuit. That’s cold water.
Anyway, I am looking forward to the challenges and the workouts. I think this will definitely get me off this here plateau. See y’all on the other side!!!!
Tags: biking, running, swimming, Triathlon Training and Races
#1 written by Kelly June 11th, 2012 at 11:37
“It will be a while before I go there.” (Re: Olys) HAHAHA- that’s what they all say! 😀 There are a couple tri training groups in Seattle that do swim clinics periodically. I’d highly recommend doing something like that to help develop your race stroke.