For all us old and slow wanna be triathletes

Somewhere around the age of 48, I got tired of carrying around an extra 20 pounds so I started eating smarter and though I'd start running. My first run was 1/3 of a mile and I threw up afterwards. Not a pretty sight. I won't even begin to tell you what kind of shoes I was wearing.

But I kept running, and somehow got to where I could run a 5K--slowly. Then a 10k--slowly. Then three half marathons--slowly (average pace 11:21 min mile). Then I got bored with running and bought a bike. Which I started riding a lot (slowly--a 13.3 mph day is a fast day for me--at least for now). I entered and rode some minor bike rallies up to 35 miles, although I was always one of the last to finish. I put on areobars and had one spectacular crash while trying to learn to use them. Aerobars are not easy for the uncoordinated like me.

Next I read the book Slow Fat Triathlete which inspired me to enter a sprint triathlon which was near my house. No matter that I can swim about as fast as a turtle can...well, turtle. This tri was on Labor Day 2009 and it was 99 degrees by 10 a.m. and I did it in 2hours 5 minutes and almost died in the heat. But I did finish.

And I was hooked. Entered the next sprint tri 4 weeks later and improved my time to 1:55 and didn't almost die, in fact, enjoyed the run that day (as much as you can enjoy running when you are old and slow and have just done a swim and a bike).

Then I entered my first Olympic distance tri in May of 2010 (.9 mile swim, 24.1 mile bike. 6.2 mile run). I finished in 3:53, 223 of the 225 Olympic entrants. I hired a torturer--er, coach--to help me structure my workouts and learn to swim better before this event and she really did help my swim form. I'm still a very slow swimmer--was one of the last swimmers in the Olympic staggering out of the water--but I am confident in my ability not to drown, or at least not drown quickly. Yes, I finished close to last place. But I am not discouraged.

I turn 53 years old on July 9 of 2010. I am a slow runner, slower biker, and even slower swimmer. However, I've set my goal to do a 70.3 in May of 2011, slow and old or not. And I'm gonna finish it before the cutoff time of 7 hours 30 minutes. It won't be easy.

For all of you who have never thought you could run, swim, or bike without falling over, don't despair. Yes, you can. I'm livig proof of it (okay, I have fallen over a few times--but I survived each one). You can be slow and still do triathlons, even 70.3s. You don't have to be buff or skinny or fast or even a good swimmer. You even can have a full time job and a family and other things that you do--I have all of those things.

So get up and come do this with me. You know you want to.

Yeah, I'm already scared to death and the tri is a long 11 months away. There's a lot of sweat and chlorine between now and then I have to expend and swallow.

When you are training for a triathlon, you need to focus on all three events (swim, bike and run) and also focus on "bricks"--bike followed by a run, because believe me, the most important aspect of a triathlon of any distance is how well you convince your legs that it's fun to start running right after doing a long bike ride (they will strongly disagree with you). Most triathletes (yes, anyone who is training for a triathlon can CALL themselves a triathlete) work out six days a week--2 runs, 2 bikes, 2 swims, and one of those bikes or runs can be a brick (which stands for bike-run-ICK, by the way). For shorter triathlons, you can certainly train less. And if your name is Lance Armstrong, you can train a lot less.

Oh, and triathlons are all different distances. A full Ironman (TM) consists of a 2 mile swim, a 112 bike ride, followed for dessert by a full marathon run (26.2 miles). A 70.3 is half of that fun: 1.2 mile swim, 56 miles on the bike, and a half marathon (13.1 miles). And yeah, you have to do it all on the same day, and within certain time frames. Us slowpokes are always terrified of the clock ticking.

But there are smaller triathlons out there. The sprint distance is very popular--it consists of a swim that is anywhere from 300 yards to 800 yards, a bike ranging from 12-18 miles, and a 3.1 mile run. Anyone can do a sprint. You heard me. Unless you are suffering from a serious disease or have physical limitations (that do not include being slow, old or overweight), you. Can. Do. A. Sprint. Triathlon. Yes, you will have to buy/borrow a bike, and yes, you will have to train. No, you will not have to learn to swim like Michael Phelps (I've seen lots of sprint tri entrants breast stroke or dog paddle the swim leg), you will not have to be Sir Lanceabike, and you can walk the entire 3.1 mile run if you really need to. Just get out there and train for it, and do it. Generally, there are no time cutoffs, or if there are, they are very generous in nature. Go to www.beginnertriathlete.com and learn some stuff.

Another popular distance is the Olympic distance, which is .9 mile swim, 24-25 miles on the bike, and 6.2 miles on the run. For those of you where a sprint wasn't enough torture, the Olympic distance is perfect for you.

So today's a run day. I've been thinking I need to get more acclimated to the heat when I run. This is Texas, where it's hot in February and by March you are turning on the AC (yeah, you cackling Northerners, see how you like it up there in January when I'm out in shirtsleeves). I've avoided running in the heat for the last 6 years. It hurts. It's not fun. But I have to get over it if I'm going to really be strong on my run.

So last week I ran in 92 degrees for 40 minutes--I took a 2 min walk break each 10 minutes and did a 11:53 min mile run. Not too bad. Not for me, anyway. Did I say I was slow?

But today...today is 98 degrees with a heat index of 101. I'm not sure that the old treadmill isn't looking dadgummed beautiful right now. Still, I'm debating about trying the heat. I read on line it takes two weeks to get acclimated to running in the heat. I figured it will take me twice as long, since it takes me twice as long to do anything. (I also read about 12 week programs to train for a 70.3. I laughed. That program is for someone younger, fitter, and faster than me, who doesn't have a full time job and kids, and who eats chlorine for breakfast and bodyglide for dinner).

But I digress. Well, let's go. Nothing ever got accomplished by just talking about it. I'll be running somewhere tonight--45 minutes, using my heart monitor to be sure I am aerobic the whole way. More on heart monitor training in another post.