On the left is my new racing bike. Yup, a Giant TCR C2 all-carbon light-weight great-component amazing bike riding machine. Aaaaaah.I'm in the second week of training for the triathlon and it feels like I'm starting all over again in not 1 but 3 different sports. Seriously. Let's take a look:
Swimming: apparently I'm a lead-legged, energy depleting swimmer. We have now learned, after two coached-swim sessions, to balance better in the water, keep our bodies very flat (still working on that one as my legs like to sink), rotate our whole body when coming up for air, keep your arms and hands close to the body on the "down" stroke and how to drink maximum amounts of pool water in 45 minutes (yeah, hopefully I'll get better at that last one...)
Bike Riding: I figured this would be the easy one. It's just a bike, right? Well... Not only will a decent bike help by the nature of it's light weight, but the components should be upgraded for durability, smoothness and weight. Let's not forget the seat-post, brakes and wheels. The bike above is what I ended-up with and it's a beauty. I stretched a little and got the next model up from my initial target, but it was well worth it. The fun part? Learning how to get on and off the thing: I'm now using clipless pedals. Spent an hour between last night and this morning holding on to the couch and practicing getting in and out of the things, and finally screwed-up enough courage to take it on the street. First time stopping: got it. Second time stopping: didn't get out in time, slowed to a stop, and tipped right over (ouch on the hip and knee). No worries though, the bike made it through the ordeal unscathed. Next 20 times: nailed it. I can even clip-in on the downstroke now. Oh yeah! This weekend I'm going for a RIIIIIIIIIDE.
Running: Another easy one. I can already do the 4 miles that are in the race, but apparently, once again, I'm doing them wrong. Yikes. Last Saturday I learned to run on the front part and balls of my feet, using little to no heels. Sound weird? Feels weird. After a 40-minute run doing this my calves were so spasmed that I couldn't walk for 4 days. The kids had a terrific time laughing at me walking down the stairs backwards because going down forward was, literally, going down: on my face.
So there you have it: I am officially a triathlete-in-training and pretty much learning how to do three sports I wasn't bad at much, much better.
My team by the way is great! Everyone is super friendly and helpful and this really helps with the motivation.
The obvious question: why am I doing this?
The answer: it's one of those things in life I decided I wanted to do and now is the time to do it. My friend Gerry did it last year but I was too busy and promised to do it this year so here I am. To make it a bit easier, I joined Team-In-Training which is run by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. In return for the training and some equipment we all pledged to raise $2,800 by August. 75% of that goes directly to helping cancer victims and research, the other 25% covers race, training and equipment costs. A pretty fair shake I'd say. You can help me and the LLS by contributing at my donation page.
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