First entry

This is really just another way I am procrastinating while writing my finals, but this is for a good cause!

At the beginning of May (I can't believe it's June already!) I signed up with Team In Training, to do a triathlon! Can you believe it? Me? So I can swim, and I can ride a bike, and I can kind of run, but doing all three of those one after the next and within a timed period?

I'm doing this to challenge myself. Part of it is a really good way to get back into shape. I have known several people who have done this in the past, and a friend of mine in Texas is doing the half marathon this year. I figured I'd check it out, talked to a few of the people who I've known to have done it, and they pushed me in the triathlon direction. I have to admit, I'm kind of glad, because I don't think I really would have wanted to try and run a marathon.

So back on May 9th, we had our kickoff, where we got to meet our team and get some fundraising ideas. I honestly don't know how many people are on my team. Due to people's schedules, not everyone is at every training practice, but I'd say there are probably 15-20 of us training together, some for a sprint triathlon in Longmont, and others for the Olympic distance triathlon in Washington, D.C. While I am currently signed up for the sprint triathlon, we'll see how training goes and everything, and figure it out from there. I have to make my decision in July, so that gives me a month.

Another difference between the two is the fundraising. The local triathlon is $2400 to raise, the nationwide triathlon is $5000. But I think the events themselves are going to be the biggest difference for me. A sprint triathlon is a 1/2 mile swim, a 12 or 16 mile bike ride (I don't remember), and a 5K (3.1 miles) run. The olympic distance is a .9 mile swim, a 32 mile bike ride, and a 10K (6.2 mile) run. So it's basically twice the distance on everything. Then you get the really crazy people who do the long courses and the Ironman lengths....well, I'm not even going to go there.

We meet up for training three times a week: on Tuesdays we run, on Thursdays we swim, and on Saturdays we bike, trail run, or later in the training, open-water swim. I already feel like I am benefiting greatly from these training sessions. I haven't ridden my bike for anything other than commuting in quite some time. In fact, before I started riding my bike to and from school this past quarter, I don't think I had touched it in at least 5 years, maybe longer! Swimming has always been second nature to me. Despite the fact that I have never swam competitively, I did grow up with a swimming pool, and, partially for safety reasons, I could swim before I could walk. And then there's the running.... Anyone who knows me knows I'm not a runner. Yes, I did track in high school, but did the field events for a reason. I have participated in 5Ks and 10Ks, but have never ran the entire distance. This is the harder of the three events for me. Even motivating myself to run is difficult. Riding a bike and swimming are fun activities for me. Running, not so much. But I will make it across the finish line even if I'm crawling. :) Hopefully that won't be the case!

Fundraising has been going really well for me. I have some really generous friends and family. I also had a bake sale last Friday, which some wonderful friends from school helped me bake for it. I ended up making over $100, which is really good, considering it was a slow Friday. Officially on my site I think I am at $800-something, but the reality, after I get the matching gift from my mom's company and the cash and check donations I have received, I am actually over $2000! Amazing! And I'm only a month into this.

Well, I must get back to writing for finals. Hopefully this woke my brain and fingers up to crank out about 35 more pages. The next two weeks are going to be pretty slow as far as training is concerned, but I have two very good reasons. The first is finals. Although my training sessions are definitely a nice break from writing, and yes, I'm actually looking forward to the running training tomorrow night. It will be a nice break from writing papers. Secondly, as soon as I turn in my finals, I am getting on a plane to go to Hawaii for a week! What a great way to end my first year of grad school! And, I will get some swim practice in (snorkeling), and there will probably be bike riding and hiking involved too. Plus laying out on the beach...not much for training, but great for relaxing!