We're TRI-ing - SIX Weeks To Go!

Karen:  When there are fewer than 40 days left on the Reston Sprint Triathlon Countdown Clock, things get real - really, really real. We are ~finally~ focused on our training, thank goodness – we NEED it.

We attended a lecture “Preparing for your first Tri” by our guiding angel, Margie Shapiro of and what we learned proved invaluable this week as we stumbled and limped and floundered our way through our workouts.

For the first time, we got in a pool and swam laps. For me, it was a happy homecoming. I once was a swimmer, but it’s been years since I regularly smelled of chlorine and had pruny fingers. My body remembers the water, even if my stroke technique is uncouth and my endurance laughable.

We also did our first “brick” workout wherein we stacked a short run on top of a long bike ride. It was an eye-opener. Tim is the stronger biker of us, and quickly flew ahead as I struggled with even the minor hills of the W&OD trail. Running after the tortuous effort on the bike was hard (she says with the British flair for understatement.)

I am trying not to pay too close attention to how long it takes me to finish each of these workouts, but focus on the fact that I am finishing. I did swim 400 meters in one session with only brief pauses to rest. I did bike 13 miles in one ride, even if I was a panting, sweating, cursing mess during most of it. I did run 3.1 miles, even if my speed at points was no faster than walking.

We have six more weeks to put each of these events together and improve our form; six more weeks to grow stronger and faster and more confident.

And confidence is something I am going to need. This week, I purchased a used tri-suit off eBay. For someone who has weight-related, body-image issues, the choice of clothing color can be critical. Everyone knows black is slimming.  Me? I’ll be racing in bright orange.

Oy.

Tim:  Thank you, Karen, for that inspiring post.  While you may not be paying attention to how long these runs and swims are taking, I am paying very close attention and writing it all down.  Men don’t care what color our speedos are!  We want to know: How Fast? How Far? How Much?  How Many?  Men need Metrics!  And Beer! 

You cannot manage what you cannot measure.

We had a huge week here at Club Tri.  We (technically, just Karen) finally swam.  We (mostly) ran the actual race day 5K course.  We continued to push pedals.  We got advice from someone who actually knows what the hell she’s talking about.

This week’s metrics:

100 Meter Swim – Karen completed it in 3:15, all using a lovely breast stroke. [Insert sophomoric breast stroke joke here.]  Tim nearly drowned on his way to a 4:50, using a variety of strokes (mostly the one called “panic flailing”), walking on the bottom whenever he could, and taking long rest stops at each end of the pool. Good times. [Note: the actual swim distance in the TRI is 400 Meters, but until Tim can actually swim that distance, we will use our 100M time to measure improvement, if any.)

5K Run – Not too bad.  Tim in 42 minutes, Karen close behind in 43 minutes.  We mostly ran, but had several stops each where we would walk 100 yards or so to recover.  Our legs seem to be functioning at a higher level than our lungs at this point.

20K Bike – We’ve biked quite a bit, but won’t start to measure this until next month.

The highlight of our week was Margie Shapiro’s seminar at Potomac River Running.  Did you know Triathlons have rules?  I didn’t.  I thought it was going to be this Gladiatorial-style free-for-all. 

Margie said, “The first rule of triathlons is No Nudity.”  This surprised me quite a bit.  Not because I thought there would be naked triathletes, but because they felt the need to have a written rule prohibiting it.  And that rule would be Rule No. 1. 

I was a baseball umpire for many years and no sport has more rules than baseball.  I had that rulebook memorized and I can guarantee you that the sport with the most rules does NOT have a rule that says “No Nudity."

The rest of the rules are a little fuzzy because I suddenly couldn’t stop looking around the room and trying to picture what everyone would look like … um … in a triathlon suit.

Disclaimer:  We are not medical professionals or fitness experts.   Read this blog at your own risk.  If you know of any triathlons that do allow nudity, please post the information in the comments section below and we'll see you there.