The swim, and my first prissy girl moment

I haven't forgotten to mention the swim.

You need a suit, goggles, and a swim cap. I have no idea how to put a swim cap on. My biggest question: Has anyone ever lost an eye trying to put one of those on? I am so going to end up hurting myself with that dang thing.

I have heard you can also pick up fins, and...a buoy? I think I am getting some of the terms wrong, but basically they are tools that help you train your lower body or upper body separately to work on technique. Luckily, the team I signed up with has a contract with a swim masters club in the area and they have all that covered.

The Swim is probably the event I am most worried about. I still say if you dropped me in the middle of the lake I wouldn't drown, right away. I mean I can sort of swim...sigh, fine...I look like a drowning rat, me swimming is not pretty at all.

Warning Prissy Girl Moment: Okay, I have to get this out here, I hate to swim for the normal girl reasons. Mostly, the fact that you have to wear a swim suit in public...no surprises, right? The other thing I am dreading is chlorine...it is going to kill my hair!

Ugh, curly hair + chemicals = Don King like hair.

I said it, I admitted to it, I have a prissy girl living deep inside me and she hates the idea of having crappy hair. Is that going to stop me? Well, no...but deep down inside we all think about it. No excuses ladies, train anyway!

The Gear, well just the beginning really

What I find just crazy about the triathlon is the huge amount of gear you have purchase. Now I don't want to scare anyone off, I just didn't realize how much stuff would be involved.

I mean, really...most of us have been biking, swimming and running most of our lives. (Not competitively, but most of us know how to bike, run and swim) So when you first decide to do a triathlon you think no biggie, I got this.

WRONG.

Lets start with the run: You need a great pair of shoes, not good, not okay, but great. My recommendation is to go to a run store and have them fit you for the right shoes. Otherwise you end up with all kinds of leg problems. It has been 3-4 weeks since I got a great pair of shoes, and I am just now finishing up healing from shin splints. Mine cost about $100.


Biking/Cycling:

Look into Tri shorts that have some padding to help you with the whole bicycle seat going up your bum thing, and you can still swim in them.

Bike: I am looking into a hybrid bike, which has big wheels and skinny tires like a road bike, and straight handle bars like a mountain bike. The plus side is that this bike is half the cost of the road bike, but much faster than a mountain bike. This is a personal preference thing, from what I understand it isn't unusual to see people racing mountain bikes.

Pedals: You can upgrade to pedals with a cage, or the ones that clip onto special shoes. I am holding out on those until A.) I know I like this crazy sport. B.) I can cycle well enough that I trust I can remember to take my dang feet out of the pedals before I fall over.

Helmet: Bike shops have good ones, I like them because they are lighter than what I could find at Walmart and they have lots of ventilation. I.Live.In.Texas. More ventilation = less cranky me.

THE plan

Allright, allright...I have been meaning to post THE plan as I call it for a week or so now. I feel like I have to capitalize "the" just because it sounds like that when I say it out loud. :)

So I am not coordinated or naturally athletic, what is a girl to do? Get a coach and training partners of course. Last week I began a running class at a local run shop, and just Monday I went to a triathlon training orientation. Which was pretty funny.

We went around the room introducing ourselves and our athletic prowess, everyone in the room was commenting about being a competitive swimmer, or running half marathons. My response was I began running last week on Tuesday, so tomorrow will make it an entire week.

Now I know this might sound like I am doubting myself, but really this a training group designed with couch potatoes like myself in mind. So I didn't feel self conscious about it, and I honestly believe if you don't take yourself too seriously you will have a heck of a better time in awkward situations. That and I talk a lot when I feel nervous.

So here is THE plan: Run training from April 18th-May 15th, Triathlon training begins May 3rd. 1st triathlon: July 19th...20th...somewhere around there.

There is a little overlap that I am going to have to figure out, or just skip one workout or the other. I haven't worked out all the details just yet. The hardest part is that 50-75% of the training is happening about 30 min from my apartment (55 in traffic...which there will be because evening practices start at 6pm, so good times in rush hour for me.)

Prologue, Flashback, whatever

I feel compelled to offer some background on myself, to give a little perspective.

I am not even remotely athletic, never have been. In high school I debated, really on the debate team, and a little art...which is terrible. My parents still have pottery in their house from 9th grade, I wince every time I walk by it. The clay looks like it's in agony.

The closest I have come to athletic were some cool PE classes in college, one of which was self defense and mostly I got the wind knocked out of me. I wore not being athletic like a badge. HA! I said, all you athletic chipper people are irritating, only crazy people excercise for fun.

And yet, here I am.

So, why now? Fair question, so let me give you the 411 on recent events I call my life.

1. I graduated, and now I am adult with bills, and a 401K and it makes me feel old. Being an adult sucks, no one ever tells you that...they should.
2. Moved back to my hometown, sort of. If you are from Dallas, I am from one of those million little suburbs around Dallas. If not, I live in Dallas. The problem is not many of my friends moved this way.
3. Finding people my age who are not creepy is a lot harder when you don't have class with and live near 45,000 other people who are your age.
4. I need a hobby, bad. Someone asked me last weekend what I was doing, and I said unpacking my apartment. Trust me, I was as mortified at the answer as you are. Packing is not something you do on the weekend, it's something you have to do, and put off for doing as long as you can.
5. For whatever reason, this whole crazy adventure doesn't feel impossible, daunting yes, but not impossible. I like that feeling.

Lesson #2: It takes at least 2 weeks to get over that shock that you actually committed to competing in a triathlon...

Crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap

Crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap...

Okay, not the most inspiring opening sentence...but that is what I immediately thought when I first agreed to do a triathlon. Lucky for me, my brain is a little ADD and got tired of repeating that and so switched to"What in the heck have you done!??!?!"

So the loop in my head sounded something like:
crapcrapcrapWHATINTHEHECKHAVEYOUDONEcrapcrapcrapcrap (repeat as necessary)

That my friends is the mental toughness of a champion.

LESSON 1: The first stage of triathlon training...utter and complete shock at agreeing to do it in the first place.