Almost 55 and Tri-ing

Hello fellow newbies,

I'm a relatively new runner, bought a lovely-enough LIV/Giant bike after a Duathlon last year (one Du on a hybrid bike was enough), and am determined to learn proper swimming. So I signed up for a Sprint Tri! I had intended to aim for a Tri this fall but liked my running coaches so much it made sense to commit to running—I'm glad I did as I had never run 13.1 continuous miles in all of my 54 years until last June and feel it's built a good foundation.

My goals for 2014

-- sign up for the O-town Triathlon Club on my 55th birthday. (Next month!)
-- complete the 3 half marathons I've signed up for in 2014; match my flat-course PR on a course with hills. (Still slow as molasses but who cares.)
-- start learning how to swim well in advance of the October 2014 Sprint Tri I've signed up for; my Tri is in the ocean, a cold ocean.
-- build upper body strength by swimming; lift my own darned SUP board onto my CRV w/o hubby's help because I'm building upper body strength through swimming! (Thus allowing me at least one am or pm SUP sesh per week.)
-- embrace early morning training!
-- resume gluten free eating and lose the 11 pounds that crept up while I wasn't paying attention.
-- take the Metabolic Efficiency test.

If you're on Daily Mile please feel free to friend me. As beginners we all need as much encouragement as we can get!