Thursday, September 24, 2009

Fail.

It's rarely this clear, is it?


Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Tri it, you'll like it!

2009 was my year to tri out tris (there are just so many puns with triathlon, it is hard to resist!)

My decision to give triathlon a whirl was neither a epiphany or a resolution, just an eagerness to check it out and see what all the hub-bub was about.

Admittedly, I'm a runner. I like the simplicity of it...you lace up, you go. There are no wetsuits to squeeze into, no buoys to round, no tires to worry about, no transitions to contend with. Yet the allure of triathlon was real....and at the same time such a far gone reality.

First problem: I didn't swim. Not even a little. I've actually spent most of my adult life trying NOT to stick my face in the water, so the thought of willingly doing so terrified me.

Second problem: I didn't bike. Actually, let's preface that by saying that I did have a pink Schwinn cruiser bike with a basket for my dog. At around 40 lbs before adding said dog, it is decidedly not "aero" but definitely cute.

Yet, I felt that somehow having a mastery of 1/3 of the disciplines was pretty good odds. :)

Fast forward to September 2009....
I took swimming lessons.
I got myself a road bike, and then replaced it with a (pretty) carbon model for good measure.
I damn near drowned at my first sprint tri in July.
I bought a wetsuit and took open water swimming lessons.
I did the Olympic distance and didn't drown.
I even placed 2nd in my age group.
...and best of all, I discovered that this triathlon *experiment* is actually a whole heck of a lotta FUN!

Then, on August 31, 2009, I took the plunge and forked over $600 for an entry into Ironman Canada 2010.

3.8km swim.
180km bike.
42.2km run.

It's almost unimaginable. I am slowly coming to accept how much work (and fun!) it is going to be to learn, train, learn and train some more.....and decided to blog my experience.

So here we go. Cheer, laugh, and heckle galore.


New blog!

Here goes! My training log...um, blog.

Do or do not. There is no try!