Tri it. You might like it.

{I love a good pun.}

You may recall that about in mid-June I discussed a new goal. I decided to train for a triathlon and wanted to beat Bryan who would be racing the same day, only going about twice the distance. I'm happy to report that it wasn't even close...my husband is MUCH faster than I am, but not TWICE as fast :)

I want to remember the day, learn from my mistakes and convince more people to join me next time so here are all the details:

1/4 Mile Swim.

The race started with the swim. The part I had no worries about. The part I felt prepared for. The part that I sucked the most in, naturally. Think about going to Noah's Ark and trying to swim through the wave pool when the waves are winding down a bit, only the water is black and people are everywhere. You need to keep moving forward, but you can't quite find a rhythm because you don't want to get kicked in the face or breathe in the water that won't stop splashing in your face. Ultimately, I tried the side stroke, back stroke, doggy paddle and breast stroke to get myself from A to B....the front crawl, which I exclusively trained with, was useless.

The good news was that I was in the seventh wave, which meant there were six waves of people peeing in the water before me to heat it up (or maybe it was from all the 90 degree days we've been having) so the water temperature was beautiful, perfect even. Also, despite tiring out unexpectedly early and having to leave the front crawl at the shore, I felt safe. I knew that at any time I could just tread water, float on my back or flag down a lifeguard if needed. Next time I will use a wetsuit to feel even safer and to conserve my energy as they provide buoyancy.

My point? The swim was crazy, but doable. Definitely worth the challenge and definitely not nearly scary enough to turn me away from more triathlons....and shouldn't be enough to turn you away either.

16 Mile Bike.

This part was fun. Until that day, I had never used a road bike (think super lightweight frame and anorexic wheels). I learned how to use the gears going slowly around our neighborhood the night before, but that was it. As it turned out, spinning regularly was a really effective way to train and I felt like my legs could handle it. I kept hearing my spin instructor yelling "HIT IT" and I would amp it up every so often. If I really knew how to use the gears I think I could have shaved more time off, but it kept grinding at me and I kept worrying that a wheel was going to fall off so I would slow down just in case (luckily, I did not fall nor did the wheel fall off).

All in all, this was probably my favorite part and coincidentally the part that was always my reason for not wanting to do a triathlon until now because I simply didn't care for biking. Just goes to show that sometimes you can surprise yourself.

3.1 Mile Run.

I was the most afraid for the run because it's at the end. I've run 3.1 miles hundreds of times probably, but never after both swimming and biking. It was impossible to gauge how fast I was going. I was just trying to propel myself forward by putting one foot in front of the other. The old quads were tight from the bike and I was convinced that the first mile marker had to be wrong. After that initial mile, though, I started to feel normal and was able to pick up the pace a little. Ultimately, the run felt a bit odd but I was happy with my time (despite the fact that my sister beat me on the run by 13 seconds...I think she cheated).

1 Hour 33 Minutes.

It was a fun hour and thirty three minutes. One that I'd like to repeat, only faster. It didn't take an obscene amount of time to train for it and I never got burned out on any one part (which happens to me if I run too much). All in all, it was a great experience and so much fun.

You (yes, YOU) should do it.