About a month ago, I decided that just losing weight and getting into better shape was no longer good enough. In a moment of contemplation and thinking about my personal goals and life-dreams, I had a temporary lapse of sanity and decided that I was going to train for a...... triathlon.
Yes, you read right. A triathlon.
Now, before you go off looking for a burial plot for me, understand that I have no pretensions about doing an "Ironman". That is the one that most people think of when they think "triathlon". 2.25 mile swim, 113 mile bike ride, and 26 mile marathon.
I don't think so, scooter.
Nope, I'm shooting for a "sprint" triathlon, something a little more in the realm of us mere mortals. 1/2 mile swim, 13 mile bike ride, 3 mile run. Much more doable. Really. Surely. Just...... too bad the swimming comes first! Ah, swimming- that glorious realm of the "I could swim to save my life if I needed to, but I don't really want to admit that if I fell off a boat, I would probably freak and drown in plain site of the life ring floating next to my head"
The swimming is the only portion of the triathlon that gives me the sweats. The portion that sometimes makes me think-- "what on earth am I doing?!?" I can ride a bicycle. I may come in last over 13 miles, but I know how to ride a bike. I can run... and if I'm tired, I can walk. Been doing that for 38-some odd years or so. But swimming-- ah, therein lies the rub.
And so... now I'm training to be a competitive swimmer. Now I need to get ready for an 800m swim. That's 8 laps in an Olympic-length pool. 16 laps at the pool in the 24-hour Fitness gym I frequent. And I have found out that competitive swimming is HARD. 15 minutes in the pool is far more exhausting than 45 on the treadmill. Hands down.
My coach (my beautiful wife, a former Water Safety Instructor), is teaching me, helping me develop a better crawl technique. My previous crawl (read: flopping thrash) would be the equivalent of a Picasso... all the parts are in unexpected places. So now,I'm trying to work on bettering 15 million parts of a swimming crawl stroke, and put them all together sometime soon enough to actually start swimming using this new-fangled crawl and build up my endurance for the triathlon. Somewhat like this:
sigh
I'll get there. I've given myself a lot of time to do this, and I've got determination like you wouldn't believe. This triathlon goal means a lot to me, maybe more than any goal I've ever set for myself. And, if nothing else, I have a new found respect-- above and beyond what I already possessed-- for the men, women, boys, and girls who do this *swimming* thing for competition.
I may not be Michael Phelps, but suddenly he seems even a little bit more like a Swimming Superman.
Yes, you read right. A triathlon.
Now, before you go off looking for a burial plot for me, understand that I have no pretensions about doing an "Ironman". That is the one that most people think of when they think "triathlon". 2.25 mile swim, 113 mile bike ride, and 26 mile marathon.
I don't think so, scooter.
Nope, I'm shooting for a "sprint" triathlon, something a little more in the realm of us mere mortals. 1/2 mile swim, 13 mile bike ride, 3 mile run. Much more doable. Really. Surely. Just...... too bad the swimming comes first! Ah, swimming- that glorious realm of the "I could swim to save my life if I needed to, but I don't really want to admit that if I fell off a boat, I would probably freak and drown in plain site of the life ring floating next to my head"
The swimming is the only portion of the triathlon that gives me the sweats. The portion that sometimes makes me think-- "what on earth am I doing?!?" I can ride a bicycle. I may come in last over 13 miles, but I know how to ride a bike. I can run... and if I'm tired, I can walk. Been doing that for 38-some odd years or so. But swimming-- ah, therein lies the rub.
And so... now I'm training to be a competitive swimmer. Now I need to get ready for an 800m swim. That's 8 laps in an Olympic-length pool. 16 laps at the pool in the 24-hour Fitness gym I frequent. And I have found out that competitive swimming is HARD. 15 minutes in the pool is far more exhausting than 45 on the treadmill. Hands down.
My coach (my beautiful wife, a former Water Safety Instructor), is teaching me, helping me develop a better crawl technique. My previous crawl (read: flopping thrash) would be the equivalent of a Picasso... all the parts are in unexpected places. So now,I'm trying to work on bettering 15 million parts of a swimming crawl stroke, and put them all together sometime soon enough to actually start swimming using this new-fangled crawl and build up my endurance for the triathlon. Somewhat like this:
- Head down
- Left arm back, elbow tight to the body, rotating the upper torso.
- Left elbow out of water, bent above line of spine and head.
- Left arm enters the water, hand at an angle, directly on the centerline of my spine just in front of my head
- Left hand turns slightly, catches the water, as I pull back.
- Meanwhile, the right arm is already pulling back, elbow in, ready to come out of the water.
- Oh yeah... I'm supposed to be kicking. Divert mental resources to the legs, ah, there they go... they are moving again, participating in this madness rather than acting as a sea anchor
- Right arm forward, centerline, catch....
- Left arm back, elbow in, up, centerline, catch....
- Right arm forward, centerline, catch....
- Still kicking? Yes, good! I'm forgetting something... what the heck is it? Oh yeah... I NEED TO BREATHE!
- Ship a mouth full of water and stop the lap, gasping.....
sigh
I'll get there. I've given myself a lot of time to do this, and I've got determination like you wouldn't believe. This triathlon goal means a lot to me, maybe more than any goal I've ever set for myself. And, if nothing else, I have a new found respect-- above and beyond what I already possessed-- for the men, women, boys, and girls who do this *swimming* thing for competition.
I may not be Michael Phelps, but suddenly he seems even a little bit more like a Swimming Superman.
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