Saturday, July 31, 2010

Just TRI and stop me!!

Sometimes seeds get planted long, long before they every grow into anything. One of my many "seeds" starting sprouting a couple months ago - thanks to some sunshine and fertilization, this sprout has been growing..over the weekend it happened.




It's OFFICIAL!

I am registered for my very first triathlon~The Mainiac Triathlon!











For many months I was following the triathlon journey of fellow DailyMile and CafeMom SuperMom~Heather aka runnermom. Now, this gal is just amazing. A Mommy and wife, full time student while working and training. Balancing it all and inspiring others in the process. Following her blog (Run Faster Mommy) and reading about her training is great (she's pretty dang funny too-check it out!) It sounded so fun~ I love to run! I love to bike! I love to swim! Yeah, that makes sense, let's do them ALL!!


I had been eyeballing the Tri for a Cure in Portland on Aug 15th for a couple weeks but did not feel I had the time to properly train for this event. I also took stock of my racing schedule for the summer and fall deciding that next year would be better for me to start doing triathlons; I should use this time to learn and train.



But...when I heard about The Mainiac from a gym-friend, I could NOT pass this up. Trigger pulled. Registration paid. Joined USAT (why not~Im gonna need it anyway for next season!!)

Let the fun begin!

The running part I got. The biking part, well I'm pretty green when it comes to outdoor cycling but I started getting more and more miles outside this summer.

Then I started adding bricks (biking then immediately running) to my training and they certainly changed the dynamnic and make it a little more challenging.


About a month ago I started swimming. I love the water- All my life I have been swimming in the ocean, lakes, ponds, pools, bathtubs, puddles. ANY BODY OF WATER I COULD GET WET IN, I WOULD SWIM. I surf, I waterski...Yup. This would be easy.

or so I thought.
Oh you mean there is actually a technical way to swim? and breath??

So this has certainly been an eye opener for me. It definately is a process learning to swim, stroke, breath and keep moving in the right direction. It is such a different animal to me and really requires my concentration right now. I have been swimming in the pool, lap after lap. Learning what is working and what isn't. I have banged into the edge of the pool several times, swallowed alot of chlorine. I have had to stop and catch my breath. But I am determined to get this! I have seen some improvment over the last couple weeks but I really think that some instruction is needed here. So I picked up the book Total Immersion and while I am only about 60 pages in and have yet to complete my first "lesson" it's making sense to me on a logical basis. Putting those thoughts into action will be a different story.

I did head to the beach yesterday, put on my wet suit and hit the water for my first open water swim. And guess what? I loved it.

I am looking forward to learning over the next several weeks. This is just another challenge which I am embracing with open arms. Now just TRI and stop me!!

1 comment:

Relentless Forward Commotion said...

yaaaaaay! I'm so excited for you! It's funny because when I wanted to start swimming everyone was like "pssh you are a surfer girl, you'll be FINE in the water!". Umm, not so much! Swimming laps has been such a struggle for me! But it's awesome when you can overcome that struggle and progress.

I'm so excited for you, you are going to LOVE tri's!