Crazy Idea! Triathlon! That means bike!

Crazy Idea!  Triathlon!  That means bike!

It occurred to me that since I could run a 5K and swim a mile, the only thing I was missing for a triathlon was the bike.  As an experiment, I swam a mile, immediately got out of the water and ran two miles.  I was exhausted, but I had done it.  So, I didn't tell anyone but made it my private goal to do a triathlon.  I read a lot and discovered that there were different triathlon distances.  I adjusted my goal to be a sprint triathlon.  The distances vary depending on the course, but it's basically 400-750 meter swim, 12 mile bike, and a 5K run.

BIKE

I didn't own a bike.  I hadn't been on a bike for 40 years.  But . . . the gym where I did my bootcamp had a spin class so I signed up.

Oh my gosh, is SPIN ever hard.  At my first class, the instructor was so nice and patient.  She helped me adjust my bike and I suspect she made the class a little easier that night.  But, it was the hardest thing I've ever done.  When I got off the bike at the end of the hour, my legs would not support me.  They literally buckled and I had to support myself with the bike.  When I stepped off the curb on the way to my car, they buckled again.  For four days, I could barely walk and going up and down stairs was out of the question.  But . . . I recovered and was there the next week for a second attempt.

My biggest challenge was getting "out of the saddle" which means you are standing as you pedal.  My first goal was to be out of the saddle for 20 seconds before my rear end came crashing down on the saddle.  Our instructor told us to control the transition from standing to sitting.  Fat chance.  I crashed every time.  But with time, I mastered 20 seconds, then a minute, then five minutes.  It still isn't easy, but I'm doing it every week.

Swim!

Swim! 
June 2012

I was a competitive age group swimmer growing up.  I did pretty well - age group state champ and set two state records.  At the time (before Title 9), there were only two sport that girls could participate in:  tennis and swimming.  So for me, it was swimming.  But . . . at age almost-60, I had not swum laps for 40 years!

I was scared to death to start swimming.  For the entire first summer, I wore a bathing suit with a long skirt attached!  The first time in the pool was terrifying.  I made sure my emergency information was in my swim bag just in case.  I walked down the stairs into the pool and kicked a very slow lap with a kick board.  Then another lap.  Then I did a lap of breaststroke, and then 1/4 of a lap of freestyle.  I think I did 5 laps total that day and felt extremely satisfied.  Then, I felt faint.  

Passing out in the pool was not something that I wanted to do so I got out.  I walked to the bath house, stopped to steady myself as things started getting dark, walked into the dressing room and sat on the bench with everything getting fuzzy.  I debated whether or not I should tell someone that I might pass out.  I imagined the young people who worked there would call an ambulance which would have embarrassed the heck out of me.  So I just sat there and eventually, everything became normal.  I slowly drove home, ready to pull off the road if things got fuzzy again. 

I'm not sure why I came back a few days later.  I think it was because I just love swimming.  I love the way the water supports you.  I love hearing children playing and shouting.  I love feeling my muscles.  I think in a past life, I must have been a seal or a dolphin.  I just love the water.  I was very cautious on my second attempt at laps and everything was fine.  So . . . I kept coming back day after day, week after week.  By the end of the first summer, I could swim a mile without stopping.  At first I used hand turns and then flip turns.  I was incredibly slow (3:05 for 100 meter freestyle), but I didn't care.  I was swimming!