A good idea

Often on the way out the door for a ride or a run I will grab a business card - so they can identify the body. It's sort of a joke, but how would someone identify me and contact my family if I had an accident? Then I heard about a comfortable wrist band called "Road ID".
I just ordered one. This seems like a good idea.
If you want to get one for yourself, here's the web address: www.RoadID.com

Goals

As I mentioned in my post about "Boot Camp", it caused me to set some new goals. Ready?
Ok. Instead of just two "sprint" distance triathlons, I am going to try to do those as preparation for two full "Olympic" distance triathlons. As you may know, the Olympic distance is 1.5/40/10 km (roughly .9/24.8/6.2 miles) of swim/bike/run. The Sprint distance is half that.

Here's the schedule:

1. May 31 - Sprint; Black Bear Triathlon in the PA Pocono mountains
   
2. June 27 - Sprint; Philadelphia Insurance Triathlon
   
3. August 16 - Olympic; North East Triathlon in North East Maryland
4. September 13 - Olympic; The Nation's Triathlon in Washington DC

My plan is to use the first two sprint events as part of my training plan to get up to the Olympic distance. Then, the North East will be a shake down to make sure I can go the distance - culminating in a grand finale in our nation's capital.
I hope you will share the adventure with me. If you would consider making a pledge to support SATC, that would provide some great motivation for me to hang in there. It doesn't need to be much. My suggestion would be to pick a number per event (say $5), then pledge that amount for each event that I complete. If I can complete all 4 events, consider doubling the total. That would mean that if I completed all 4 events, the total donation would be $40. In order to keep things easy, you can just wait until September and fulfill your pledge directly with SATC. If you would be interested in participating in this way, just post a comment (I won't "publish" these comments) or send me an email with your number. Then I will share the total amount of pledges with everyone.

Boink!

According to Wikipedia, "the bonk" is when "in endurance sports, particularly cycling and running, hitting the wall or the bonk describes the condition when an athlete suddenly loses energy and becomes fatigued, the result of glycogen stores in the liver and muscles becoming depleted".
This is a condition that can be extremely serious. So, I'm adopting a new term - "the boink".
Last evening I joined a group that goes for a 15-20 mile ride every Tuesday and Thursday evening from a location near our home. I've ridden with this group before and really enjoyed it. My expectations of really keeping up and having a great ride were high after the "Boot Camp" experience.
We got off to a great start and I was feeling great. Then, about 5 miles in I "boinked". It did not seem to be serious but I felt like my bike was glued to the ground. Rather than stop, I rested a few minutes, drank some water, cut off a few miles and took it easy getting back to the car - probably went only about 14 miles. That was a disappointment, but I'm trying to listen to my body. This whole thing gets stupid if I go into cardiac arrest.
When the rest of the pack got back, they reassured me that it happens to everyone and that my long ride over the weekend had probably taken more out of me than I realized. They encouraged me to keep at it. And I will. A little dose of reality.

I survived Boot Camp! (and, I'm glad I went)

Today I completed the Triathlon Boot Camp that I had been stressing about. Happily, I came away very confident that my goal of completing a Sprint event in May is well within reach. The event not only helped from a skills perspective, but eliminated many of the question marks and concerns that had been haunting me.
My cycling skills improved a lot, and I've got some great drills that should make me a safer and fitter cyclist. I went with the intent of participating in the planned 20 mile ride (after a 5k - 3.1mi run, to warm up) . Since things were feeling pretty good, I went ahead and took off with the 30 mile group. At a brief rest stop, we caught up with the 40 mile group that had been on the same route to that point. Feeling strong, I chatted with the leader and took off with them. So, I surprised myself and completed the 40 mile ride! It was a blast, and I was very encouraged by riding with some of the better cyclists.
Swimming, it seems, is a "full contact" sport in the triathlon! We practiced mass starts, buoy sighting and got our stroke analyzed by the head swim coach from Villanova and a couple of nationally ranked swimmers. It is interesting that the fundamentals of swimming have changed so much since I was swimming competitively in the 70's. It all makes sense, and it was very helpful.
This morning, we had the option to run 3, 5, 8 or 10 miles. Now, after two runs, a 40 mile ride, a killer "spinning class" (where we determined our "lactate threshold") along with the swimming and everything else, I was feeling like 0 miles might be better. But, I bucked up and went for the 5 mile run. The camp director encouraged the 8 miler, but I felt I might hurt myself. After completing the run (and worrying about my heart rate), it was clear that I made the right decision! We had our "gait" analyzed by a professional running and fitness coach that had been a world class 1500 meter competitor. The good news was that my weaknesses are simple and addressable - just need to strengthen my core and bring in my elbows to put more power to the pavement.
I'm really glad that I participated in the Boot Camp. I made some new friends (as in most sports, everyone was really nice and fun to be around), increased my confidence, created a great new training plan (more on that later), and set some new goals (also, more later).

Boot camp

By now you may have figured out that I really don't know what I'm doing.
In a desperate attempt to solve that problem, I signed up for a "Triathlon Boot Camp" - and it starts on Friday. If you want to check out the itinerary, just click on the logo.
Now, I was feeling pretty good about this program. They promised that beginners would be treated kindly. Then, today I received an email with the four - yes 4! - liability release forms that I need to sign. Hmmm....
I am really looking forward to the swim, "gait" (running), and cycling analysis + coaching. This will be a mix of coaching, classroom stuff and training. The options for the group bike rides are 20, 40 and 60 miles. I'm thinkin' 20!
I'll keep you posted on my survival.
I'll be fine... really!
Glad my mom's not worrying anymore.

Cycling

Cycling is definitely my weakest link. Sure, I rode a bike a lot when I was a kid. But this is different.
First - I'm not a kid. The first time I spent a half hour on a spinning bike at the "Y" I could barely get off. My lower back was SO sore! Then, I went to a spinning class and got introduced to a concept called "adjusting the bike" to fit your body. MUCH BETTER! But, the 60 minute spin class nearly did me in!
Second - Technology. When I was a kid my bike had one "speed" (gear ratio). This new thing has 20 gearing options. The sweet part is that shifting is super easy now (no more levers where you have to "feel" your way to the next gear). Just "click" "boom". It takes some getting used to, but after riding about 100 miles on the new bike it started to be more natural. Now I have to learn to go straight - 'cause getting hit by a car would be a real drag.
Today, I was cruising down a nice wide shoulder on Rt 1 at about 35 mph and suddenly learned that the shoulder did not extend onto the bridge at the bottom of the hill. Yikes! I managed to avoid the bridge abutment and the cars in the lane I had to "crowd" into. I will NEVER go that route again! At least I didn't need to pee anymore.
I had my longest ride, so far, today - 18 miles. The event will require 13, so I better bump that up to 20-30 over the next few weeks. I'm not sure what the right distance is for training, but I imagine it's way more than 18. My legs hurt!
Last Thursday evening, I met up with some really nice chaps who led me up and down the hills around here (there are NO flat roads! We're not in Kansas anymore!) and I was exhausted. Then, the guy says "give me your phone number and we'll take you on one of our weekend rides." How far are those? "Oh, 40-50 miles." Heaven help me!

Training - Swimming

Okay, I've talked about why. The toys are fun. Doing good is a plus. But, don't you eventually have to sweat a bit to get ready for a triathlon?
The answer is yes. When I started this process earlier in the year, I literally did not know if my body would handle the stress of more intense training. The good news is that I am cautiously optimistic - so far, so good.
Swimming; "Back in the day" (circa 1975) I could go two practices a day and cover roughly 10,000 meters - every day. The sprint distance is only about 750 meters. So, how hard can this be?
Well, let me tell ya'. My first "workout" I started to get really tight after about, oh, 100 meters! I did a few flip turns but pretty soon I'm too out of breath and my "turns" were getting a bit sticky (meaning I was cheating and hanging on to catch my breath). I made it 15 laps - or, about 375 meters. The good news is, my speed is coming back and my endurance is improving at a decent pace. My work out on Sunday morning (before Church) was 2,000 meters (that's 40 laps) and I felt strong - and no hanging on the wall! Watch out!

Now the "good" part

I have to admit that I'm feeling a little uncomfortable with the toy thing. In this economy, I should just be delighted to have an income and the love of my family. What if I could do some good with this?
My goal is to raise at least as much money for good causes through my efforts as I am spending. If you watch this site, you will soon see an easy way to make donations to one of my favorite causes: Serving at the Crossroads. It is a great group of people that are supporting a local NGO in Honduras. Jodie has been on the Board of Directors for a couple of years now. Miracles are happening there and it is a really efficient way to help poor people - over 95% of what we give goes directly to serve these folks that have so little.
So, if you have an interest in helping out it would be great if you would make a donation for each event that I enter. That will give me some great motivation to keep training and looking forward to getting to the finish line.

Toys, toys, toys....

The coolest thing I've learned about this triathlon adventure so far is that it requires the acquisition of several very cool toys. The coolest is shopping for a road bike. This whole process spread out over about a month before I found a crazy good deal on a bike that I did not expect I would be able to afford (I probably still shouldn't have "afforded" it - in this economy).
Then I put some money down on it - to figure out how to convince Jodie that it would be a great "investment". (I don't think I convinced her, but she's really sweet that way). I waited another month and then... I sprang for it.
Here's a picture.
I have it set up on a spiffy "Cycle Ops" trainer (another "toy" that you absolutely NEED to do this triathlon thing) to work out and to get used to the shifting and stuff. My rear end is getting used to it.
Of course, I had to buy pedals separately. Then, there were the shoes. And the spiffy bike computer for speed, cadence, heart rate, altitude, heart rate, etc.
Is this a great sport, or what!?
Now I need some cycling shorts, a groovy jersey, a special "Tri" swim/bike/run suit ... I'm in toy heaven!

How did this start?

I have this awesome niece who recently graduated from medical school and has a very inspiring blog (you should check it out). Well . . . she trained for and entered the Tri Indy triathlon last summer and did very well. So, I thought - "hey, maybe I could do that". I'm in reasonably good condition - for my age. Back in the day I was a pretty fair swimmer - and most folks find that to be the most difficult stage of the triathlon. I can run 5k pretty easily and, riding a bike should be - well, you know . . .
So, the next thing I know I've signed up for my first event. Okay, I just signed up for the "sprint" distance (roughly half the Olympic distance) but that seemed like a prudent move 'cause I'd hate to pop a valve in my first race. That would sort of defeat the purpose of wanting to get fit so I can be around to meet my grandkids!
So that's how it started.
I hope I don't hurt myself.