Well, it's official! I have lost my mind! Somewhere along my way in the quest for fitness I have become infatuated with endurance events. I have recently had my interest piqued by the idea of participating in a triathlon. There is what is called a sprint triathlon scheduled for August and I have decided to train for it. I know that we are all aware of the Ironman Triathlon held in Hawaii anually and eventually I would love to make it there. For now I will train for what is called the fastest-growing distance in triathlons in the United States: the sprint triathlon. The event that I will be particiating in will be: swim 300 yards, cycle 11 miles, and then run a 5K (3.1 miles).
Running the 5K will be ok - I have done this several times. The cycling is a little more of a challenge as I didn't own a bike when I decided to train for the event. You should have seen us when we entered the local cycle shop and began to ask all the right questions. "You see," the young, relaxed gentleman with the work apron around his waist said as he paused in his repair of a bike in the upper corner of the shop, "you can get them all the way up as high as you want to go, or you can start as low as $440." I tried not to let my jaw drop. $440? gulp. As we looked at what they had in stock and they let me test ride several I found one that fit all my needs - BUT - it cost $850 (which is more than all three of my first vehicles put together).
My wife asked the kind young man what the difference between the bikes they sold and the ones at Wal Mart. He referred to the bikes sold at Walmart as BSO's, or Bike Shaped Objects, and mentioned that they were virtually unrepairable. If something goes wrong with them, you basically have to replace them. We realized what he was saying but I had not ridden a bike in years and could not see spending 450, 550 or 850 on a bike I might ride only a couple of times, so... I bought a BSO from Walmart and began to ride.
Our local pool sets aside an hour every day for adults between 12-1. Since I work everyday Saturday is the only day that I can swim and I went this past Saturday. Swimming is much harder than I remember. For those of you who don't know I swam on a swim team when we lived in Maryland but I was 12 when moved back.
Basically, I have 6 weeks or so to prepare myself to swim for about 10 minutes, cycle for 45 minutes or so and follow that up with a 30 minute run. The winners complete the entire course in an hour or so. I hope to complete the course. There is only one area for transitions and no place to change clothes so what you swim in is what you cycle in and run in. It should be interesting. Wish me luck. And, maybe in a few years, I'll be headed towards Hawaii.
