Tri This: 11 months in

I’ve been training as a triathlete for eleven months now. I’ve done two mini sprint races, one in August, and one last January. I finished the first one with a painful 2 mile run, but given that I’d started from zero in running, finishing was my goal. January‘s event was a reverse and time driven indoor race, and it went well overall.

Now I have a bit more training under my belt, and I’ve raised the stakes. My race on June 23, five weeks from now, will be a longer sprint length, with its half mile swim being “open water” at Cherry Creek reservoir. I’m in the second half of my 12 week training plan. So far things have gone reasonably well.  I’ve been happy with the addition of twice weekly strength training, and have noticed a general improvement in my personal sense of strength and agility. This week also brought the first of the “combination” workouts, having bicycling followed by running, as occurs in an actual triathlon.

“Combo” workout #1 happened Friday morning. Theoretically, it was a weekend event on the schedule, but our weather this weekend is predicted to be quite stormy, so I took advantage of Friday morning’s weather and did it then. I did a  6.3 mile bike around town (actual race will be 10 miles) in a little over 35 minutes, and followed it with a 15 minute run. Directions were for 30 minute bike, 15 minute run. I was happy with today’s effort, primarily because my run was okay. My legs were slightly stiff starting out off the bike, but NOTHING like in August’s race and I was able to run steadily enough for the 15 minutes.

Progress is evident, and its hard to believe race day will be here soon. I’m looking forward to improving weather, and hope to test my new wetsuit out prior to race day, that’s my goal for the next few weeks on top of “ordinary” training.

Monthly questions and answers: Is it still fun? Yes. Worth my while? Yes. Shall I continue? Yes.