So, yah, I'm doing a triathlon...

So here's where I'm going to talk a bit about this triathlon thing I'm doing. If you're feeling all "WHATEVER lady, I came here for the crafts" then you should hop over to One Pretty Thing about nowish, I guarantee Rachel has something awesome to look at.

Otherwise, I'm going t'be talking about me me me here for a minute...

So yah. A triathlon. It's just a tiny one, teeny distances, super rookie-friendly. It's called a Try-A-Tri. They prolly have cupcakes and hugs for everybody. But you guys. I have/had the gut wrenching terror about it.

See, way back in '09 the very second post I ever wrote was this one. It's about the first aquafit class I ever took. Now, Aquafit (then later Deep Water Running) was the only exercise I ever stuck with for more than 3 months. On account of how it's FUN. Swishy, mermaidy, fun. It genuinely changed my life.

Then in June of last year I realised that swishy-mermaid-fun wasn't cutting it anymore. So I took a spin class, and I did Julia Jones 5K training plan. I wrote about that here.

Those first sessions were barf-inducingly hard, but I kept at it and they got easier. And eventually they even got to be FUN. Running with my fuzzy dog girl on warm summer evenings - genuinely nice. WHO KNEW?!

I had planned on doing a 5k race in September. But by early July I hit a big-deal-for-me milestone, 3k (there was a sunset, it was pretty, I didn't puke; you can read about that here). And by August a 5K run was just what I did on a Friday. I guess I still could have done a race, but racing was never really the point for me.

So, cut to October, I'd settled into my running/spin/pilates routine, I guess I must have seen something on the internetses and the idea of a triathlon passed through my mind super briefly, like REALLY super briefly. But here's what happened, as written to my good chum Ian

me: So I was idly wondering about triathlon, and talking to Elliot about it 'cause M (his ex) used to do triathlon.And he and Andy both rolled their eyes in a YUH HUH way(*they DID. Polite incredulity totally yanks my chain).
Ian: you could do a triathalon. The secret to these things is that once you reach a basic level of fitness, it's all psychological
me: I didn't really want to before but now I'm like, "WHAT? Yes I could. Sure, I'd be the world fattest, slowest, triathlete; but I could finish a sprint race"
I might have to learn something a bit more effctive than old lady swim, but essentially the distances are just a spin class and a friday run. So I'm pondering.
Ian: Your basic front crawl isn't that hard. You can totally do a triathalon. And it'd be worth it just for the "I told you lazy fatasses* I could do a triathalon" effect.
me: I KNOW right?

So, I did a little more research and hit upon the Guelph Lake Try-a-Tri. And I'm in (or I will be once registration opens for reals).

And I managed to coerce another chum into this same gig. She's training for a half marathon anyway (crazy!).

So that's that. I think maybe I'm going to do a few more posts on this, but I won't be offended if you skip them. And here's a picture of my Non-Human training partner, so this post doesn't look all nekkid.

What's funny is that this girl could kick a triathlons' ass. She run's 16-19K with Ian. She swims like a fuzzy fish. And she's super happy doing it. The bike is the only problem, though I betchu she could manage on a Big Wheel. Hmmmmm.....

* for the record, neither of those boys are actually fatasses. They are skinnny men who can eat whatever they like. Which is WORSE!