Imbued With Confidence!

I have been getting up early to go workout at the gym five or six days a week. Depending on the class I'm headed to, I have to set my alarm for between 4:45-5:50. Yeah, it's early. You'd think I'd adapt and it wouldn't seem so early, but I haven't- yet anyway. It's nearly always a battle to get up, but luckily my self-discipline has proved conquerer and I pretty much always get up.

The other day, i had stayed up too late again and the kids had kept me up a bit again. When my alarm went I was so tempted to just fall back asleep, but I ripped myself out of bed and headed to the gym. I have been nervous about the swimming portion of the sprint triathlon. It's not that far, but I get tired swimming freestyle lap after lap. In talking with some friends, I learned that it's not necessary to front crawl the whole time. With that in mind, I decided to just see how many laps I could go without touching the bottom or pushing off the sides. I tried to go freestyle for the most part, but nearly half of the laps ended up being breast or back stroke. With switching off, however, I was able to go the sixty laps to make 1500 meters. I didn't do it fast, and my technique was sloppy, but I swam the distance of an Olympic triathlon!

Well, that sealed the deal. If I can swim far enough, then I'm determined to bike and run far enough. It's going to be tough, but I am going to do an Olympic distance triathlon! I'm so glad I got out of bed so I can be filled with confidence. . . not regret.

I'm a little crazy to be doing the Olympic distance tri. Swimming across a cold reservoir for nearly a mile, then biking a full marathon on mountain roads that have big elevation changes and then running a 10K when I'm already tired from the swimming and biking. . . Yes, I am crazy!

I hope I'll survive! Finishing and not being last are my goals. I have been exercising daily, but I really need to to step up the training. I haven't been running more than two miles at a time and I've just been doing the spin classes, not any on the road biking. I've decided though and I'm a DETERMINED SOUL when I put my mind to something.

That swim filled me with confidence and I'm going to work hard to keep it! Wish me luck!

I'm Determined to be the Master of my Fate

I've decided that I am definitely going to be competing in my first sprint triathlon this summer. I am no where near fit enough right now, but I'm determined. I may or may not have the opportunity to train in future years, but the stars have aligned for me now and I'm seizing the opportunity.

The swim is definitely my hardest leg. I know how to swim, but my technique is really sloppy. For the last few Saturdays I've been swimming laps after my regular workout. I did 14 and 16 laps respectively, and probably could have kept going, but it wasn't a pretty sight. I started out okay, but after a few laps I had to switch it up with breaststroke. A sprint tri requires a half mile, or about 33 laps. Most likely, however, the triathlon will have me swimming in the middle of some lake, so that's an added challenge. Lucky for me, I have access to some swimming instruction. My mother-in-law was a swim coach and my husband is a great swimmer. With their tips and my hard work practicing I'm sure I can pull it off.

Part of the reason that right now is a good time to train is that I have this gym membership. It expires in 6 months and I will probably no longer get the killer deal I've got now. The gym provides access to a pool, which is vital for training. They also offer incredible cycling classes that can get me in great shape for the bike leg. The running is the easiest part to do. With the runner's bootcamp and other cross-training classes offered at the gym, I should be able to improve my times significantly.

Even though it hasn't been very long since baby #3 for me, I could probably finish a triathlon if I had to, but it would take criminals chasing me or the offer of a million dollars to push me through and it wouldn't be fast. My desire is to get to where I don't "just finish" a sprint triathlon, but do it in a reasonable time.

It's a battle to get up at 5:45 every morning to go to the gym. It's a bigger battle to try to eat right, especially measuring to get small portions.

Despite the challenges, I'm determined to be the master of my fate.

That fate will be that I will be a triathlete in five or six months.