This past Saturday we were cooling down from our long run in front of the local running store when one of the guys said, "there's a triathlon next Sunday at Tradewinds Park. You should go" to my friends and I. We laughed it off. But as the day went on, I kept thinking about it. A few encouraging posts from some of you guys and a lot of internet research later, and I registered. It's a reverse triathalon run 3mi/bike 10mi/swim 300yds.<br><br>
So I gathered up most of the things I needed for the event over the last few days, and prepared to get a little training in today. I read about bricks, and decided I would run 3 miles and bike 10 miles and see what it felt like.<br><br>
I headed down to the gym and cranked out 3 miles in exactly 30 minutes. But I had to pee. So afterwards, I put in another .25 miles at high speed to bring my HR back up (into the 150's, in fact). Then I put on the helmet, grabbed the bike and headed out the door. (I don't have cycling shoes, so no shoe change; the transition was fast.)<br><br>
I'm using my DH's Trek mountain bike, so I hopped on and took it out on my usual run route. It took me several minutes to get used to the gears, the brakes and the helmet. It's definitely not the most comfortable bike I've ever been on. But it's not bad. I really "learned" a lot on the bike; things I forgot b/c it's so long since I've been biking, or never know:<br>
how to deal with traffic<br>
how to give a guy the finger for speeding up and honking at me when I had to merge off the bike lane in a construction area<br>
how to handle the water bottle w/o swerving<br>
how to take a drink w/o slowing<br>
how to handle the gears<br>
how to find push through the "hills" (causeway bridge)<br>
and much more.<br><br>
And most importantly, I learned that I could do this. I had enough left in the tank to sprint it in. I was sure my Garmin read 33 min and change, but when I uploaded it, it read 40. (I had trouble w/ the sat uplink today.) So I'm not sure of my time.<br><br>
And while I'm sure I'll be tired going into the swim (and I'm not practicing the swim beforehand), I can do that to. I WILL own that last 300 yards. That last 300 yards WILL NOT own me.<br><br>
Thanks for all of the help and support from many of you.
So I gathered up most of the things I needed for the event over the last few days, and prepared to get a little training in today. I read about bricks, and decided I would run 3 miles and bike 10 miles and see what it felt like.<br><br>
I headed down to the gym and cranked out 3 miles in exactly 30 minutes. But I had to pee. So afterwards, I put in another .25 miles at high speed to bring my HR back up (into the 150's, in fact). Then I put on the helmet, grabbed the bike and headed out the door. (I don't have cycling shoes, so no shoe change; the transition was fast.)<br><br>
I'm using my DH's Trek mountain bike, so I hopped on and took it out on my usual run route. It took me several minutes to get used to the gears, the brakes and the helmet. It's definitely not the most comfortable bike I've ever been on. But it's not bad. I really "learned" a lot on the bike; things I forgot b/c it's so long since I've been biking, or never know:<br>
how to deal with traffic<br>
how to give a guy the finger for speeding up and honking at me when I had to merge off the bike lane in a construction area<br>
how to handle the water bottle w/o swerving<br>
how to take a drink w/o slowing<br>
how to handle the gears<br>
how to find push through the "hills" (causeway bridge)<br>
and much more.<br><br>
And most importantly, I learned that I could do this. I had enough left in the tank to sprint it in. I was sure my Garmin read 33 min and change, but when I uploaded it, it read 40. (I had trouble w/ the sat uplink today.) So I'm not sure of my time.<br><br>
And while I'm sure I'll be tired going into the swim (and I'm not practicing the swim beforehand), I can do that to. I WILL own that last 300 yards. That last 300 yards WILL NOT own me.<br><br>
Thanks for all of the help and support from many of you.
