Triathlon, here I come!

I never thought I'd be the type to attempt a triathlon, but a local non-profit here hosts a month-long triathlon challenge every January/February to raise money for its programs. From Jan. 19 to Feb. 19, participants have to swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles and run 26 miles.

That's totally doable.

It's even more manageable once you factor in substituting exercises, like walking counts for running, rowing for biking and such. The goal is for it to be an attainable triathlon for the average person. I'd say I'm pretty well average, especially when it comes to working out (seeing as I barely do it), so I think this is a good challenge for me.

In order to not have my butt totally kicked come kick-off, I joined the gym last week and have been trying to exercise a bit to prepare. I've biked a bit, used the elliptical a bit (that counts for running) and started taking swimming classes with Stef. I've got to say, even though I'm not a swimmer, I kinda love these classes. It's no lie that being surrounded by water has a very calming effect. And as long as you work at it, it's a great work out with low impact (perfect for me and my pathetic knees).

The hardest part (I'm predicting) is going to be the biking. That is a lot of miles. I don't have an actual bike, so I'm only going to be able to bike at the gym. I'm going to finish, though. I'm determined, especially since I have the swimming part down. (That's the only reason I didn't do it last year - didn't feel the whole swimming leg of it.)

It's funny. I started exercising last Saturday. I started eating healthier Sunday. I've been taking vitamins every day since Monday. And man, do I feel 110% better all around than I did last week. I even donated blood yesterday and it didn't drain me of all energy like when I donated a few months ago - I stayed up really late with John last night and buzzed through today no problem, finishing up tonight with a swimming class. I don't even get why I fall back into bad-eating, no-exercising, forgetting-vitamin funks. I just feel so much better. I'm sleeping better, too.

Anyway, back to the triathlon. It starts a week from Monday. I'm sending in my registration tomorrow (kept forgetting to do that all week) and should have my chart and everything by mid-week next week, I'm hoping.

My tentative plan is to knock out the running with Piper (that will be a cinch) and to take swimming twice a week with Stef. That kills 2 miles of the swimming (one class equals a quarter mile swim), so I'll just have to go one or two other times to finish the laps. The days I don't swim, I'll stop by the gym to knock off at least 10 miles a pop. That means I should be able to finish the biking in 12 days over the course of the month, which isn't so bad as long as I can commit an hour of exercise for those portions. (I'm guessing it will take me about an hour to bike 10 miles, but I could be wrong.)

We'll see how it all goes.