I was at the Y today sporting my adorable although skin tight white TriGirl tee shirt when a woman in the locker room turned to me and asked, "Do you do triathlons?"
"Um, well, ah..." I stammered as excuses and my own limitations ran through my head. Well, yeah, only one and it was just a sprint. And I'm not very good at it; in fact I totally choked my bike ride this weekend. Although you know, any weekend that includes a two hour bike is a good weekend. "Yes," I finally managed.
Turns out, she only wanted to know about the masters' swim program at the Shady Grove Y. I filled her in, then scampered to the shower to laugh at myself for all my negative self talk. Why do I do that to myself? I am a triathlete, damn it.
Now the question is, am I willing to step up to the plate for a longer distance?
Susie Q posted a quote on her blog recently that I really like... something like, "If at first you succeed, try something harder." That must be why there are four different triathlon distances, after all.
I am definitely stepping up to an Olympic this year and will either do Luray or Naylor's Beach. But do I have the courage - or at least the time - to step up to the Patriot Half? I really want to do it and appreciate everyone's encouraging words. (Don't know what the hell I was thinking asking my blog readers for an opinion - like any of y'all are going to say NO WAY ARE YOU CRAZY?!?!?! since you are all doing it too, if not something longer).
The pros of doing the Patriot Half are:
- Train longer and harder with a really cool group of women
- Challenge myself and push my preconceived limits
- Be a good role model for my children
The cons are:
- Training time - the Eagleman half Ironman group trained for 4+ hours on Saturday. Can I really expect my husband to cover long workouts on a regular basis?
- Cranky spouse - My kids have been particularly heinous lately, fighting with each other constantly, which means Scouter is very happy to turn them over to me when I get home from work. Yes this is effectively a repeat of #1 but it is weighing heavily on my decision and therefore bore repeating with a slightly different twist. A cranky husband is a very bad thing.
- I've never done anything further than a sprint - am I pushing limits or am I shattering them? My legs are shot from my training last week, which wasn't what it should have been if I were actually training for the Patriot. I need to fit in one more swim, one more bike, and one more run. Each.And.Every.Week.
- Plantar fasciitis is still painfully present in both feet. Hopefully the custom orthotics for my running shoes will arrive this week. But have I mentioned, my feet really hurt?
Melissa, who just committed to the Patriot this morning, suggested that I start doing the training, see how it goes, then commit if it seems as though it will work out. Brilliant! Why didn't I think of that?
Am I a triathlete?
Why yes, I just may be.
7 comments:
glad you are willing to give the training a shot and see how you feel. i think you will do amazing and when scouter sees how far you have come he will be so proud of his hunney!
and unlike me, you ARE a triathlete!
YES, you are a triathlete.
Of course you are a triathlete!
I think Melissa gave you great advice. Do as much of the training as your schedule allows - and then decide about the half IM later in the summer. If it doesn't work out this summer - no worries. There will be other season to do it. :)
SQ
Melissa is wise beyond her years. And to be honest - the training this past month or so has been tough and long at times - but it won't be that way again until a month or so before the Patriot race.
If you pick the Olympic this year, then do the 1/2 next year. Whichever one you pick I'd flip-flop them every year to allow you to spend time with your family. Shorter races one year - longer ones the next. Adam will do IM's every other year for that reason. The year he does the shorter races gives us more time together. Just my two cents :-)
I used to have a cartoon where one character asked the other "What do you call the person who finishes last at a Triathlon?" The other answers "A Trathelete!"
Don't listen to the negative self talk. You're doing great!
Jon
Of course my comment would sound better if I could spell triathlete correctly...You can tell I'm not one.
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