How hard should I tri?

I’ve been focusing pretty heavily on running these last few posts, so I decided to dip into the triathlon world a bit this time. (A pattern which roughly reflects my life, as well.)

In 2010, having been a runner for many years, and having burned myself out on too much running, I found myself in want of a new challenge. Team sports have never held any appeal to me, and I was not ready for the slow pace of yoga quite yet. My husband had begun doing triathlons of various distances a few years before, and I had accompanied him to many events, helping to set up his transition area, ensuring that his number and age were visibly marked on his body and bike, and generally figuring out how to navigate the triathlon landscape as a spectator. The idea that *I* would ever participate in a multisport event, though, seemed lofty at best. I was not a strong swimmer, nor did I find any comfort – physically or psychologically – on a bicycle. Part of my love of running lay in its simplicity, and triathlons just seemed too complicated.

Around this time, my husband got deployed to Iraq with the Air Force, and I needed distraction. I was working two jobs, involved in two book clubs, and was fortunate to have a lot of friends to spend time with (the babies hadn’t come yet), but I needed a physical outlet and a new challenge. I received an email announcement that my university was starting an alumni triathlon training group to prepare for a sprint triathlon in Hagerstown, Maryland, and I went for it. I suppose it was only a matter of time, since apparently participation in triathlons has been growing, especially among females. (Check out the USA Triathlon demographics report for more info on this. Some really interesting numbers here!)

My training group! I'm fourth from the left. Notice it's all ladies!

Having support helped enormously, and having people to join for workouts, happy hours to discuss race day logistics, and workshops showing us how to change a flat tire on our bikes was way more important to me than I had realized it would be. But there was still a LOT of work to do.

Phase 1 consisted of me enlisting the help of a friend who happens to be a former college-level swim coach to help me with my stroke. I worked with her weekly to get to a point where I could do multiple laps without causing the lifeguards concern about my well-being, and will be forever grateful to her for her time, patience, and skill as an instructor. I ended up loving swimming and regretting that I had not started “real” swimming earlier. I knew these monkey arms had to be good for something, and it sure wasn’t for buying normal long-sleeved tops off the rack! (Although, helping small old ladies reach things off high shelves in the grocery store is another benefit, but I digress…)

Phase 2 involved me purchasing a bicycle. That’s right, friends, this gal did not even own a bike at this point, and hadn’t since the Huffy I had won in a department store raffle as a child. This task was daunting, at best, but the folks at Hudson Trail Outfitters in Arlington, VA, which has sadly since closed, were kind and patient and got me set up with something I could ride.

Phase 3 was getting comfortable on a bicycle. This never happened, but I settled for being at least confident that I could reasonably travel the 11 miles required in this race. There was a bike path about a mile from my house, but I was living in Washington, DC at the time, and had to travel through multiple death traps traffic circles in order to reach it. I finally ended up just walking the bike through that mile until I got to the car-free path. It wasn’t cool or glamorous or particularly athletic, but it got the job done, and I did the bare minimum of training that I needed to do. (Or, what I had considered the bare minimum until I arrived at the same race two years later even less prepared than the first time.)

Phase 4 was just finishing the race. I didn’t bother working on my running or doing any workouts containing all three sports because I had been a runner for so long it was second nature and the measly 5k run would be no problem. Right? Wrong.

Yep, that's me, rockin' a sports bra under a swimsuit and wearing regular running shorts. Cutting edge of athletic fashion and height of athletic professionalism, right here, people! Still shocked no companies sought me out for sponsorship...

Result: I did finish the race, which was awesome. Predictably, overall I finished about mid-pack in the swim, in the top fifth of the run, and the bottom fifth of the bike. No surprises there. What WAS a surprise though, was that I learned that if one is not properly trained and participates in both swimming and biking, one’s legs just might feel like Jell-O at the start of a subsequent run. It was one of the hardest 5ks of my life! Lesson learned.

I’m so grateful to have participated and to have had the experience, and look forward to doing a few more sprint tris once I get my bike confidence back.

Any suggestions on how to do this? Please put them in the comments!