Highs and Lows of Each Discipline

This triathlon training and competing can be addictive and frustrating at the same time. Please allow me to share some of my recent experiences in each discipline. But first, some background. This is the 12th week of my life as a triathlete. I had never swam for fitness prior to 28-Jan. I had a mountain bike, but recently purchased a second-hand road bike. I have been a runner all my life.

Swim - I go through alternating phases of optimism and fatalism in this sport. 12 weeks ago, I could not even really do 50 meters. This morning, I did 250 meters without stopping. Tuesday, I did 8X100 with small breaks between sets. So I think I am getting somewhere, but then I think that I am going to try to do an Olympic in July and a Half-Ironman in September, and I have only made it 1/6th of the way through the swim of the Oly! How am I ever going to make it?!? So I have been trying to become a TI swimmer - and I have seen my strokes per length go from 26 to a best of 13. That's good, right? In my 250 this morning, my worst length was 21. But the problem is that I swim too fast. You read that right. My slowest speed to keep kinda horizontal still makes me tired to quickly. The guy next to me swims lap after lap after lap at 26 or so strokes. I am faster than him when I swim, even on the last 100 of my 8X100, but he just keeps on going. I know that I am on a mountain and I know that I am climbing, but I still don't feel like I can see the summit. But determination will keep me going.

Bike - I suck at hills. I suck in the wind. I am faster now on my road bike than I was on my mountain bike, I think, but I still do some rides in the low 17's (MPH). I rode with my brother-in-law in Texarkana last weekend, and was dropped like a rotten stinky sock after 5 miles of a 20 mile ride. Some weeks I don't get to ride as much as I would like on account of family obligations. However, I have just got a new handlebar and aerobars, and the last ride I was pretty comfortable in the aero position, so I am thinking that the speed will come. Yet, I still think that I need to convince my legs that they can pedal harder than they are right now.

Run - Now we are talking. Just beginning this section makes me feel less stress than a moment ago. I did an easy run yesterday - 6 miles at 7:30 pace. It was at Memorial Park in Houston, where the entire city was out to exercise, or so it seemed. I was the fastest dude going counterclockwise - nobody passed me. Before I dove into triathlon training, I did a 60 minute run to try to validate my desire, and it was at 8:15 pace for a little over 7 miles. And this run yesterday was with a slightly tired body. I feel like very soon I will be able to do a 5K in less than 20 minutes. I think that with enough time, I could do the entire half-marathon at the end of the triathlon at 7:30 pace. Running is so easy and almost never disappoints. It is my favorite discipline, yet it is the one at which I need to least work, but I find myself running more than biking way too often. But the best thing about this sport is that the run is last.

Whew.