So I left off with a teaser - telling you I had planned a half-sprint triathlon for myself, then didn't tell you how it went. Such a bad storyteller! Or a major cliffhanger?!
Here I am, updating you!
Sunday, September 15th, 2013 I set off on my bike, via a roundabout route, into town and the high school track. With me were my two daughters (Kassidy and Rylie), and my DH (Kaylin). My goal at the track was to jog as much of the mile and a half as I could manage. Guess what? I did the whole thing! At first it felt horrible, so I had to talk to myself and convince myself that my legs felt better than when doing the Lincoln grade. Then a funny thing happened...I settled into a groove. At the finish I knew I could have kept jogging, so on the brief bike ride from the track to the fitness club I decided that next Sunday I would do 2/3 of a Sprint Triathlon. I completed a 300 yard swim, and feeling just fine, definitely decided to increase my distance next week.
I was very proud of my family for following along, despite the fact that they didn't complete as many miles as I did! Kaylin even walked 3/4 of a mile at the track!
Art Fiker Stadium
I felt so great about the morning, that I decided to travel to REI to look at triathlon equipment, including road bikes. I hadn't reached my 50 pound weight loss, but knew that this was the time of year that bikes would be on clearance.
At the Richland REI I found an awesome Novara Strada. This is a men's bike, in red and white. I'm a tall girl and after trying out the women's and men's version, decided that the men's bikes definitely fit me best. The bike, normally $1150.00 was on sale for $659.00. I convinced Kaylin that I wasn't likely to find a better bargain, and left the store the proud owner of a new road bike! Incidentally, Rylie decided that she wanted to buy the women's version, same price! On the way home I vowed not to ride my bike until I lost the last 7 pounds to reach 50 pounds lost. Rylie informed me that this was ridiculous! She said "That's the same as saying you're not going to walk on a new treadmill until you lose 50 pounds. If you walk on the treadmill you'll lose the weight faster!" What a smart cookie!
My new Novara Strada! And my Nutcase helmet (isn't it cute)!
The following Sunday, September 22nd, we set out to complete 2/3 of a Sprint Triathlon. Rylie and I took off on our new bikes, leaving Kaylin and Kassidy in the dust on their mountain bikes. I had just finished 3/4 of a mile at the track when they got there. I kept chugging away until I completed 2 miles, this time with a positive attitude and a grateful sense of accomplishment. We rode our bikes to the pool to swim 400 yards, then went to FroYo for a celebratory yogurt for lunch. I decided during my 4th scoop of yogurt that next week I would try for a complete Sprint distance triathlon training.
Sunday, September 29th:
No one else wanted to join me, in fact, I felt like I was battling the world in getting to go. Rylie had spent the night at a friend's house, so she wasn't home, Kassidy's hip hurt, and Kaylin was whining about needing to clean the garage. I told him to send Kassidy to pick me up at the fitness center...
So I set out on my bike on the route I mapped out on google earth (awesome tool). Only once did a dog jump out at me - during the downhill portion into town. I cried a little during my 3.1 mile jog, but out of happiness that this body that I have a hard time loving could do so much for me. I finished my 500 yard swim and noted that my polar watch clocked the entire trip at 2 hours, 2 minutes from when I left the house, until I hit the wall in the pool.
It was a bit of a grouchy day as Kaylin was complaining about not getting much accomplished due to the fact that he decided to pick me up instead of sending Kassidy, then didn't tell me he was waiting on me to finish to pick Rylie up from the friend's house...
Not sure which grump he reminds me of more...
So that brings us to this last Sunday, October 6th:
I managed to convince Kaylin to join me for some of the bike portion of my training. He started out on Rylie's bike, but after a few miles I traded him bikes. A few miles later he decided to head back home, so we traded back. I hope he enjoyed himself a bit - I'm trying to get him into riding his bicycle again!
Kaylin is way too small to see in the distance...but he's there!
I rode into town by myself and completed my 5K jog and 500 yard swim. I hit the wall in the same 2 hours and 2 minutes, but subtracting the time I spent stopped waiting for Kaylin to catch up means that I probably did it about 5 minutes faster than last week! Yay me!
Me and my Strada!
So that's my triathlon training in summation...hope you're all caught up!
Keep bounding away at something you love!
The Marsupial Maven!
GO AM......I couldn't be prouder, love ya, Ma
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