so a week from saturday i'm going to "compete" in my first ever sprint triathlon. around sept. of last year my brother challenged me to do a sprint triathlon and i accepted the challenge. today i've decided to record a few things i've learned along the way:
1. the trip of 1000 miles (or, more specifically, 16 miles) begins with one step.
2. when talking about triathlons, the term "sprint" sounds more impressive than it is. all it really means is you are doing half an olympic length triathlon. (0.5 mile swim, 12.4 mile bike and 3.1 mile run).
3. when learning to swim, make sure to kick your legs hard.
4. when starting from ground 0, triathlons aren't cheap even when you try to go cheap:
- $40 for running shoes (you NEED good running shoes)
- $170 for a new bike
- $10 for bike helmet
- $10 for bike gloves (may not be needed. my hands kept going numb so i thought i'd try some.)
- $24/month for a gym membership (only needed for access to a pool with swim lanes)
- $75 registration fee for the actual triathlon (but hey, you get a t-shirt!)
- $100 for a trisuit
- ~$25 for sports nutrition
- $40 doctor fee to be told your foot pain is plantar fasciitis (but hey, the dr. DID print out the wikipedia article for me!)
Total: ~$700
5. if you decide to not use a trisuit, consider what you are going to do between the swim and bike portion of the race. you are standing there in your swimsuit ready to get on your bike. there are no changing rooms. your choices are to a) get naked in public and put on your shorts or b) buy an expensive trisuit that will dry quickly and can be used for both swimming and biking.
i decided not to get naked and to buy the trisuit. it looks great if i'm going for a mexican wrestler motif.
6. triathlons have old, fat guy divisions (more p.c. termed "senior clydesdale" division). anyone over 39 is "senior" and any man over 200 lbs is "clydesdale".
7. the big women division is called "athena" since describing a woman in terms of large farm animals is apparently pejorative.
8. women are more supportive than men. most common response i hear from women when they hear about my triathlon training are a variation of "you are an inspiration". most common response i hear from men: "can i watch? i've never seen a heart attack before".
i'm sure there are more things i've learned but that's all i can think of for now. wish me luck!
7 comments:
Best of luck to you Brian! I'm impressed with all that you've done in the past 9 months to prepare. You are an inspiration!
You almost make it sound like fun, Brian.
"Can i watch, i have never seen a heart attack before."--Dale
Hillary and I are going to do our first 'tri' in the small Idaho town that my parents live in for their town days. It is a 400M swim in the reservoir, 6 mile bike, and 2 mile run. Our biggest concern: 400M swim in probably super cold water. And we are going to be riding our mountain bikes for the bike part.
It should be humorous at best. Any advice (we don't have $700 x 2 to really get ready...plus it's a small town...)??
Kim Brown
that's awesome Kim! i'm sure ya'll will do fine since the hardest part is getting in shape and ya'll are already in shape.
make sure you are biking at least some to get your rear accustomed to a 6 mile ride (riding to the chevron and back across unity pass is 12 miles).
lastly, get in the water asap to swim some laps and get the feel down. i was first really concerned about this because i've never really learned how to swim. but if you've done some swimming in the past, i'm sure it'll be no problem for ya'll. if you are where i was, then get in there and just start doing it.
@Laura, thanks! let's hope i live!
@Pam, it IS fun. you should do it!
@Brianne, he wasn't the only one to say that. i'm beginning to think i have a group of friends who hate me.
Good Luck Brian! I hope to do one of those someday too. Can't wait to hear how it goes....
thx julia! you should set a date like next summer. it's a good thing!
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