#29: Complete a Triathlon

This week I began training for #29 on My List: Complete a Triathlon. You should know that I know absolutely nothing about triathlons. I had the idea that they involve biking, running, and swimming but not much else. A few days ago, I didn't even know that there were different lengths of triathlons - nor which order the events were in. However, my life took a 180 this Summer. The boyfriend & I finally broke up... something that should have happened months ago... I rededicated my life to God, reorganized my values, and started living for God for the first time in years and years. I have NEVER been happier than I have been in the past 2 months. =) And now that I've made-over my religious life, family life, and social life, I am making over the fitness area of life by working toward #29: Complete a Triathlon.

Here's what I've learned so far:

1. There are lots of different lengths of triathlons. Common ones are the Sprint triathlon (swim ~half a mile, bike 20km or 12.4 miles-, run 5km or 3.1 miles), the Olympic length triathlon (swim 1.5km or .93 miles, bike 40km or 24.8 miles, run 10k or 6.2 miles), a half Ironman (swim 1.9km or 1.2 miles, bike 90km or 56 miles, run 21.09 km or 13.1 miles), and the Ironman (swim 3.8 km or 2.4 miles, bike 180 km or 112 miles, and run 42.2 km or 26.2 miles -aka a marathon).
2. First you swim, then you bike, and you end with the run.
3. You don't wear the same thing the whole time.
4. Transitioning from one event to the next isn't easy.
5. Triathlons are expensive

I have a lot to learn!

I did choose my Triathlon though! It is on June 19, 2010 at Sandy Pines Resort in Hopkins, Michigan. It's Olympic length. I decided on this one for a few reasons. First, I'm probably only going to do this once, and it has to be worthy of crossing off the list. All of the trainers and websites told me NOT to start with a half-Ironman. They all suggested a Sprint triathlon (or a Super Sprint, which is even shorter) but a sprint triathlon just didn't seem long enough to qualify as REALLY doing a triathlon. Then someone I work for suggested I try an Olympic length Triathlon, and thus, I found Johan's Trifest on June 19th.

I started training this week. I realized I left my only pair of tennis shoes (left over from my one year of high school cross country) in Guatemala. Thus, I began running in some random pink shoes that are definitely not meant for working out. And then I started getting shin splints. (My shins and I hate running). So I went to Dick's yesterday and bought myself a good pair of running shoes. And fell in love.

These are the coolest shoes I've ever seen. First of all, they have my favorite color of blue. But better than that is the chip I bought to put in them. It's this little piece of plastic that fits into the sole of my left shoe. I plug a corresponding chip into my iPod and my shoes tell my iPod how fast I'm running, how far, and all sorts of things. A guy's voice comes on my headphones telling me how many calories I'm burning, how fast I'm going, and whatever else I want to know. Not only that but it plays my Workout Playlist and when I need a boost, it plays the song I chose as my "PowerSong." When I'm done, I can plug my iPod into my computer and it downloads all of my workout information into a program that tracks my progress. Needless to say, it's the coolest thing ever.

Not only that, but that guy's voice makes me want to run a thousand times faster. Yesterday was only my second time running in over a year and his voice got me to run 7 minute miles (faster than I ran in cross country!). Today, despite my screaming muscles and the fact that today was supposed to be rest day (where I ride my bike instead of running), I opted for a 2 mile run and went at a 6:45 pace. Course, I didn't pay attention to how fast I was going while I was running... otherwise I would've slowed down a bit. But, alas, I went too fast and now I can barely walk.

Ah well, it'll pay off in 295 days! (I hope!)