I'm lame
I'll post a follow up to last night's post tomorrow. You still have time to comment.
A friend of mine from work e-mailed me this morning and asked if I'd be interested in participating in a nearby triathlon event this summer. I read the e-mail and was so confused that I immediately called her and asked if she was serious. She was dead serious. She is trying to get people to join her at this event this summer and thought I was a natural fit since she knows that I swim and ride the bike when I work out at the JCC (where she happens to be a member as well). Given my ability to handle those events well, she thought I would have no trouble with a 5K as well. Obviously, she has never seen me run.
I went through three stages of thought about this today:
1) No way in hell. I don't run 5K. I don't even run 60 feet without getting laughed at by my softball team. The swim section is 1/2 mile in the Long Island Sound. While it is a short distance for me, I hate swimming in the ocean. Hate it.
2) Contemplation. I regularly swim 1/2 mile or more at the JCC. I could probably complete the swimming leg of the triathlon in 15-20 minutes. The bike is 12 miles through flat terrain. Once again, that wouldn't be too difficult. I could manage that distance. I could train for this by riding with Redneck occasionally after work since he likes to go for long bike rides. With some dedicated training for the 5K (i.e., running a few miles a week), I could probably complete the 5K without embarassing myself too much. If I could finish in 1.5-1.75 hours, it wouldn't really be that difficult of an event. It's nothing like training for a marathon. This is a "sprint" triathlon, not a real triathlon. It would be cool to try something new as well. Besides, I'd probably be in pretty good shape in July if I took this event seriously and trained a little each day after work between now and then.
3) Once again, no way in hell. I started looking at the event website tonight. I read some of the sites that provide training tips for triathlon first timers, and I was very initimidated. Maybe the sites were tailored to people running a more difficult distance than this triathlon, but it still scared me off a bit. I looked at the results from last year's event. If I needed about 1.75 hours to finish (20 minute swim, 55 minute bike, 30 minute run), I'd be in the bottom 10%. I'd have to get in much better shape just to barely bring up the rear in this event.
I'm pathetic for coming up with excuses, but I don't think this event is for me. Feel free to call me lame. You may point at your computer screen as well while you call me names. It's all good.
I'm not totally against this yet. Something tells me that I'll end up giving it a shot as long since there really isn't anything to lose. I'll need to go out and buy a bike and a ton of other triathlon "items" in the next week or two should I decide to pursue this, but that's not too big of a deal.
A friend of mine from work e-mailed me this morning and asked if I'd be interested in participating in a nearby triathlon event this summer. I read the e-mail and was so confused that I immediately called her and asked if she was serious. She was dead serious. She is trying to get people to join her at this event this summer and thought I was a natural fit since she knows that I swim and ride the bike when I work out at the JCC (where she happens to be a member as well). Given my ability to handle those events well, she thought I would have no trouble with a 5K as well. Obviously, she has never seen me run.
I went through three stages of thought about this today:
1) No way in hell. I don't run 5K. I don't even run 60 feet without getting laughed at by my softball team. The swim section is 1/2 mile in the Long Island Sound. While it is a short distance for me, I hate swimming in the ocean. Hate it.
2) Contemplation. I regularly swim 1/2 mile or more at the JCC. I could probably complete the swimming leg of the triathlon in 15-20 minutes. The bike is 12 miles through flat terrain. Once again, that wouldn't be too difficult. I could manage that distance. I could train for this by riding with Redneck occasionally after work since he likes to go for long bike rides. With some dedicated training for the 5K (i.e., running a few miles a week), I could probably complete the 5K without embarassing myself too much. If I could finish in 1.5-1.75 hours, it wouldn't really be that difficult of an event. It's nothing like training for a marathon. This is a "sprint" triathlon, not a real triathlon. It would be cool to try something new as well. Besides, I'd probably be in pretty good shape in July if I took this event seriously and trained a little each day after work between now and then.
3) Once again, no way in hell. I started looking at the event website tonight. I read some of the sites that provide training tips for triathlon first timers, and I was very initimidated. Maybe the sites were tailored to people running a more difficult distance than this triathlon, but it still scared me off a bit. I looked at the results from last year's event. If I needed about 1.75 hours to finish (20 minute swim, 55 minute bike, 30 minute run), I'd be in the bottom 10%. I'd have to get in much better shape just to barely bring up the rear in this event.
I'm pathetic for coming up with excuses, but I don't think this event is for me. Feel free to call me lame. You may point at your computer screen as well while you call me names. It's all good.
I'm not totally against this yet. Something tells me that I'll end up giving it a shot as long since there really isn't anything to lose. I'll need to go out and buy a bike and a ton of other triathlon "items" in the next week or two should I decide to pursue this, but that's not too big of a deal.
posted by GaryGinew at 9:53 PM
5 Comments:
OMG. DO IT!
you can totally become one of the tribloggers. I can direct you toward some tri people who could give you tips.
and running isn't hard, gary. I do it, like, every day... and i'm just a weak little girl. you'd be fine doing 5k distance. and I can just about guarantee you'd be able to finish well under 1.75 hours. a 5k won't take long to run, even for "poor" runners.
oh, and did I mention that finals seriously fucking suck? I've been discussing this with shadoweyes for the past hour. talk about procrastinating. (feel free to voice your opinions, boys.)
haha! I'll buy you a beer next time I'm in town, how's that sound? or, the next time gary brings you to the mighty mitten state.
Another comment from random girl...I think you should totally do it. I trained for and ran a half-marathon and even though I ended up throwing up (three times) all over the EMT who was trying to give me an ice pack at the end of the race, it was totally worth it. PS I had to give up running after that because I really wasn`t very good at it.
I'm with Mouse and Erin (whose blog I totally enjoy, BTW) - you can totally do it. If you can already handle the swim and bike part, it's not much of a stretch to get in shape for the 5K part. YOU CAN DO IT! :)
a bunch of people on the west coast are asking me the same thing (when I'm coming to visit) so I may have to make my next trip out there. Although, if there were, say, a crazychica reunion in NYC...
Post a Comment
<< Home