February 25th, 2012. That’s the date of my first tri. It’s a reverse tri, starting with the run and ending with the swim, held on the Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos. I like the idea of a reverse tri because the swim is almost always in a pool. I’m creeped out by jellyfish and eel, so, you know, a pool is a good idea and stuff given that all fresh water sources in California are a fair distance from Long Beach. I’ll be racing in the 2nd wave. That’s the wave for people over 40 (me), “Athenas” and “Clydesdales”, (porkers - also me) and “challenged” athletes. I don’t know what “challenged” means, but I’m starting to feel good about my chances.
I’d feel even better about my chances if the swim were longer than 200 meters. I mean, I can do 200 meters in my bath tub. It’s nothing. I may not even get wet. And I’m a much better swimmer than I am a runner. I come from a long line of offensive linemen. We’re really good at pushing things breaking things. Not so much chasing things. Since the 4.7-mile run is at the start, I picture everyone, including the challenged athletes, getting to the pool about 30 minutes before I do. On a longer swim, I might still be able to catch up because most triathletes are better runners than swimmers. As it is, with only 200 meters to swim, I picture myself swimming alone. Perhaps some of the other athletes will come to watch me after their showers. Perhaps they'll bring me a mai tai.
I’ve put aside any guilt I may feel over spending the cats’ tuna allowance on a race. For the last 6 years I couldn’t have done this and I’m not sure how much longer I’ll be able to. I have every reason to believe I’ll be fine for the rest of my life, but I lived with the ups and downs of good weeks and bad weeks for years – times I could do most things and times I couldn’t do most things. That changes you. Every day that you feel good becomes an all-out race to do stuff you love. So the cats will have to be satisfied with kibble for a couple of months. They’ll get over it.
I have downloaded the “1stTimeTri” app on my iPhone. I plugged in my race date and my perceived levels of fitness in each area – "intermediate" for swimming and biking and "beginner" for running. Choosing advanced for any category is not an option, presumably because if you are advanced you don’t need an app to tell you how to train. The training schedule that my phone spit out seems appropriate to me. Here’s this week’s schedule:
Saturday (today): bike 30 minutes. (Pssht. Only every day)
Sunday: Off. But, I am biking with friends. The rides usually last several hours, but are way casual.
Wednesday: bike 45 minutes
Thursday: Swim 850 meters
Friday: Run 20 minutes (for like, the second time in life if I make it).
