Greetings! My name is Cindy and I am about to embark on a two-year journey and you're invited to come along. Where are we going? The final stop will be a finish line in the dark somewhere, a few yrs down the road but for this year, I'm focusing on St. Louis, where I hope to do an Olympic-distance triathlon. This is a big goal for me as I am just now learning to swim, at the ripe old age of 45.
First, a little history...
I've been wanting to do tri's for a long time and I've actually done two already, but they were short triathlons (not Olympic distance) with a pool swim. REAL triathlons, so I'm told, have lake swims. This means swimming out into a lake or ocean (with 5 million other swimmers) and then swimming back.....which means there is no edge to hold onto....and there might be snakes (or sharks)....or I might get giardia from the dirty water....or I might get trampled on by the other swimmers....my list of excuses goes on and on and on...so I've never done a lake swim.
The other problem is that I don't really know how to swim. Oh, I can swim from one edge of a 25-yard pool to the other but to keep going for an hour or so is like telling Donald Trump to hold Rosie O'Donnell's hand: it aint gonna happen. At least not right now.
But I am married to a triathlete and I have a strong running background (12 marathons) so the running part is fairly easy for me. Actually, the biking part is fairly easy too; it's just that darn swimming part that keeps me on the sidelines and I don't like being there! I'm a tried and true endurance junkie with an itch to try something new.
For awhile, I told myself that I didn't want to do triathlons, that running was just fine, I didn't need to complicate my life with THREE sports to perfect. After all, I have two small children, a part-time private practice, and a to-do list that was longer than a 25 yard pool. But I found myself continually lulled into the triathlon world....reading my husband's Triathlon magazines when he wasn't looking and envying his "brick" workouts. And because my knees are starting to talk to me, I've decided that a little cross training is not such a bad idea.
The other reason for this blog is to hopefully help other women who are wanting to try a triathlon, esp women with children at home. I've been running for years and have had many women ask me "how do you find the time?". I've even started a book for women who want to run their first marathon (more on that later). Training for anything is hard to do when you have children and since I've had so many women ask about it, I decided that if I kept a blog, then I can refer them to it and/or gain insight from them as well.
But the MAIN reason I decided to start this blog is accountability. If I put this out there, then I can't back out....I have to follow through. The pressure's on and I need the pressure or I'll never cross that finish line. You might think that someone who has been running for years would be able to cross over to triathlons easily but it's harder than you think. Especially when you absolutely HATE swimming. So, if I know people are reading this (and who knows if anyone will), it will keep me accountable to those readers and I just might finish my goal.
So, I'm going to keep my training log and journal on this blog with the primary goal of finishing an Olympic distance triathlon and then, next year, hopefully, finishing an Ironman triathlon (did I really write that???). Feel free to comment and give me advice any time you want. I can use all the help I can get!
Cindy D
First, a little history...
I've been wanting to do tri's for a long time and I've actually done two already, but they were short triathlons (not Olympic distance) with a pool swim. REAL triathlons, so I'm told, have lake swims. This means swimming out into a lake or ocean (with 5 million other swimmers) and then swimming back.....which means there is no edge to hold onto....and there might be snakes (or sharks)....or I might get giardia from the dirty water....or I might get trampled on by the other swimmers....my list of excuses goes on and on and on...so I've never done a lake swim.
The other problem is that I don't really know how to swim. Oh, I can swim from one edge of a 25-yard pool to the other but to keep going for an hour or so is like telling Donald Trump to hold Rosie O'Donnell's hand: it aint gonna happen. At least not right now.
But I am married to a triathlete and I have a strong running background (12 marathons) so the running part is fairly easy for me. Actually, the biking part is fairly easy too; it's just that darn swimming part that keeps me on the sidelines and I don't like being there! I'm a tried and true endurance junkie with an itch to try something new.
For awhile, I told myself that I didn't want to do triathlons, that running was just fine, I didn't need to complicate my life with THREE sports to perfect. After all, I have two small children, a part-time private practice, and a to-do list that was longer than a 25 yard pool. But I found myself continually lulled into the triathlon world....reading my husband's Triathlon magazines when he wasn't looking and envying his "brick" workouts. And because my knees are starting to talk to me, I've decided that a little cross training is not such a bad idea.
The other reason for this blog is to hopefully help other women who are wanting to try a triathlon, esp women with children at home. I've been running for years and have had many women ask me "how do you find the time?". I've even started a book for women who want to run their first marathon (more on that later). Training for anything is hard to do when you have children and since I've had so many women ask about it, I decided that if I kept a blog, then I can refer them to it and/or gain insight from them as well.
But the MAIN reason I decided to start this blog is accountability. If I put this out there, then I can't back out....I have to follow through. The pressure's on and I need the pressure or I'll never cross that finish line. You might think that someone who has been running for years would be able to cross over to triathlons easily but it's harder than you think. Especially when you absolutely HATE swimming. So, if I know people are reading this (and who knows if anyone will), it will keep me accountable to those readers and I just might finish my goal.
So, I'm going to keep my training log and journal on this blog with the primary goal of finishing an Olympic distance triathlon and then, next year, hopefully, finishing an Ironman triathlon (did I really write that???). Feel free to comment and give me advice any time you want. I can use all the help I can get!
Cindy D
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