On Sunday while driving home from Suzi Storm's wedding in upstate New York, I was tracking my friend Tara from A Life Changing Journey OWN her first Half Ironman. At the same time, Krysten from The Misadventures of a Darwinian Fail was ROCKING her first Triathlon.
How could I not be pumped and inspired by all of that awesomness?
So what did I decide to do yesterday morning?
Attempt my own personal Sprint Triathlon at the gym.
On March 3, I somehow landed on the Boston Triathlon (Sprint Tri) website and registered for it (happens August 4). Don't remember, check this out to refresh your memory!
Training has been slow. I finally bought a bike on May 5, but getting the running-biking-swimming training schedule down has been tough. I am trying to train for the Sprint Tri (1/2 mile swim, 9 mile bike and 4 mile run) while also keeping up with training for a slew of half marathons, marathon and Dopey Challenge - which are all on the horizon.
But with all the awesomness that happened on Sunday, I woke up yesterday morning and committed to attempt to do this whole Sprint Tri at my Boston Sports Club location.
I didn't really want to tell anyone what I was going to attempt in case I failed. I confided in Dacia from Run. Ride. Repeat. since she is a non-judgmental cheerleader! :)
I made sure to get #PoweredByBits before embarking on this endeavour thanks to ENERGYbits!!
I got to the gym about 10am dressed for the swim with a backpack of clothes for the bike/run.
Thankfully between google and my math degree I was able to figure out that I would need to swim 32 lengths of the pool or 16 laps in order to reach the 1/2 mile swim the Boston Triathlon has.
I popped my X-1 Audio waterproof headphones on the back of my goggles, started my timer and I was off. I was going for nice and even strokes and hoping not to go out too fast.
Boy did the music help keep me focused on the swim and on the correct lap number. :P
I finished the 32 lengths in 15:04.
Can you tell I was excited?
My arms felt GREAT! And I owe a huge thanks to my wife since the bathing suit, swim cap and goggles were all borrowed from her. :P
I quickly headed into the locker room to change for the bike.
It has been AGES since I used a regular gym bike...
... since I normally get my bike on either outside with Roxie or in Spin class!
It was an awkward bike experience, but I was determined to finish the 9 miles on the bike no matter what.
I definitely know the bike section will be better 1) in the moment, 2) with more practice and 3) on a more comfortable bike!
My legs were feeling a little tired - I think from the awkward motion from the oversized bike ;) but I was ready to hit up the treadmill for the 4 mile run.
As I was running, I decided to keep myself at a nice 8:30 pace. I obviously was not doing this little experiment for time, but to prove to myself that I could.
But, as the run got to the 5k mark, my legs were feeling good so I started upping the pace a little each tenth of a mile. Because why not, right?
I ended up with a 8:31 min/mile pace and I was A-ok with that!!
I DID IT!! I successfully completed a swim-bike-run in that order and with minimal time in between each one.
I know the actual Sprint Tri will be a whole different experience, but boy did completing each distance within a 2-hour timeframe make me feel a tad more prepared!
I ended up finishing my challenge in 1:21:33.
At least now I have a jumping off point for the rest of my training. I have about 5 weeks before actual race day.
Now I need to work on getting outside and swimming in the open waters, bike on the street and put the sneakers on the pavement.
But for now, I will bask in my own awesomeness and inspire myself to get out and do more!
