I have a declaration to make: I have signed up for a triathlon in September. There, I said it. Now, I have to follow through or else I risk public shame and disappointment! Step one was stopping by a local triathlon shop to determine what I need and how to start training, the guy in the shop said a wetsuit, a bike and running shoes so I purchased a wetsuit, got my bike tuned-up and signed up for the Santa Monica Classic (which is a local 10k) to assess any leftover running ability I may have retained. Sure we only used to race 5k's in high school, and sure I haven't run in about a year but
come on - it is only six miles for goodness sakes, who can't run six miles?! Me. That picture is of me at the finish line and it may be hard to tell, but lets just say that I FEEL like the guy behind me looks - ouch. Onto sport two, swimming. About a week later I suited up, rode down to the beach and (as I cockily zipped up my suit and pulled on my goggles) decided to swim for about an hour. 15 minutes later, after achieving nothing more than getting my goggles knocked off while dodging surfers and trying to swim out past the breakers (only to make it to the surfer-free zone past the breakers and have a panic attack about being eaten by a shark) I literally washed back up, like some kind of neoprene clad shipwreck victim, amongst the giggles of little kids playing on the shore. Two sports down, one to go. Of all things I should be able to not worry about, biking is at the top of the list. I bike every day to work (OK, I don't bike the
entire way, but it is the thought that counts right?) and, worst case scenario, I could always sit back and glide for a minute or two if I need to catch my breath. Well the guy at the shop talked me into something called 'aero bars' which attach onto your handle bars and let you lean forward on your forearms to both get you in a more aerodynamic position and allow you to rest your upper body after the swim portion of the race. They looked cool and that sounded like two valid points so I had him install a set when he did my bike tune-up. Apparently I am not the only one who thought they looked cool because about a week later I go down to my car to get my bike (it was locked to my bike carrier because I had used it to ride part of the way to work the night before) and I see this:
Thats right, somebody stole it. Shit. Needless to say, the training is going poorly enough that I felt as though I needed the public declaration to keep me honest - wish me luck!
I have a declaration to make: I have signed up for a triathlon in September. There, I said it. Now, I have to follow through or else I risk public shame and disappointment! Step one was stopping by a local triathlon shop to determine what I need and how to start training, the guy in the shop said a wetsuit, a bike and running shoes so I purchased a wetsuit, got my bike tuned-up and signed up for the Santa Monica Classic (which is a local 10k) to assess any leftover running ability I may have retained. Sure we only used to race 5k's in high school, and sure I haven't run in about a year but come on - it is only six miles for goodness sakes, who can't run six miles?! Me. That picture is of me at the finish line and it may be hard to tell, but lets just say that I FEEL like the guy behind me looks - ouch. Onto sport two, swimming. About a week later I suited up, rode down to the beach and (as I cockily zipped up my suit and pulled on my goggles) decided to swim for about an hour. 15 minutes later, after achieving nothing more than getting my goggles knocked off while dodging surfers and trying to swim out past the breakers (only to make it to the surfer-free zone past the breakers and have a panic attack about being eaten by a shark) I literally washed back up, like some kind of neoprene clad shipwreck victim, amongst the giggles of little kids playing on the shore. Two sports down, one to go. Of all things I should be able to not worry about, biking is at the top of the list. I bike every day to work (OK, I don't bike the entire way, but it is the thought that counts right?) and, worst case scenario, I could always sit back and glide for a minute or two if I need to catch my breath. Well the guy at the shop talked me into something called 'aero bars' which attach onto your handle bars and let you lean forward on your forearms to both get you in a more aerodynamic position and allow you to rest your upper body after the swim portion of the race. They looked cool and that sounded like two valid points so I had him install a set when he did my bike tune-up. Apparently I am not the only one who thought they looked cool because about a week later I go down to my car to get my bike (it was locked to my bike carrier because I had used it to ride part of the way to work the night before) and I see this:
Thats right, somebody stole it. Shit. Needless to say, the training is going poorly enough that I felt as though I needed the public declaration to keep me honest - wish me luck!
1 comment:
Good luck Paige! I'm doing a tri in September too, but it is only a 1/2 mile swim, 15 mile bike and 5k run....We tried it last weekend....it is hard.
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