First Steps

Today I learned that you should always bring an extra hair tie to the gym. Why you ask? Well maybe you would know better than me and you aren’t asking but I’m going to tell you anyway. When the one you have snaps, working out with hair in your face sucks a whole lot.

This wasn’t my first time in the gym, but it’s the first time I really was there with purpose.  Today is the first day of my sprint triathlon training. I am going to swim a ½ mile, bike 12 miles, and run 3 miles in the same day, one right after the other.  Now if you’ve ever met me, you will understand how silly this seems. I’m not athletic. I am not a “swimmer”, “cyclist”, or (and I stress this one seriously) a “runner”.  I am just a gal who is turning 25 next week and I don’t have much to show for it. Sometimes I feel like I’m just waiting for my life to start.  Like I’m waiting for when I finally finish school and start my career, which are still a few years off. So I’m stressing about the things I can’t change (you can only work so many hours and take so many classes at the same time) and I am going to change the only thing I have complete authority over  – myself.

Enter: Slow Fat Triathlete by Jayne Williams. I found this book while I was browsing and thought, well hell – I’m slow and fat, this books for me! It was. It was funny and informative and got me thinking that even though I am not an athlete at all, maybe I could become a TRIathlete.  So I did some research and did what I do best, I bought some more books! After spending a lot of time with Your First Triathlon by Joe Friel and Triathlons for Women (4^th ed.) by Sally Edwards, I decided that I might as well TRI. (Yes, this corny joke will be a recurring one- deal with it!)

So I modified some training plans for the next 25 weeks and I will be doing my best (aren’t you glad I didn’t day TRI-ing) to get my fat ass into a shape that is, hopefully, less round and finish the Danskin Women’s Sprint Triathlon on August 26^th with a smile on my face. I have no crazy ambitions. I just want to finish…and preferably not be last.

Why the blog? Well. Some folks (mostly Kait, my sister) will tell you I have a tendency to get into something and then forget about it. Well, I will record my effort in this blog and hold myself accountable for my training with it. I also paid the non refundable entry fee of $100 so I would hate to waste the money.

I am excited and terrified.