I am not an athlete. In grade school, I was the last kid chosen for the dodge ball team. On cross country run days, I was the last one to finish. Or next to last. Me and the severely overweight boy struggling against the stigma of being the slowest kid in the fourth grade. In junior high and high school I earned my only B’s in P.E. I tried to convince doctors that I needed a note to excuse me from the whole semester of P.E. because of shin splints. I was trying to spare myself the humiliation and save my GPA.
Despite all of the trauma of childhood P.E., I’ve always been lean (until some middle age creep of lately) and reasonably aerobically fit, just not competitive in sports in any way. So in an effort to stay in shape, I’ve taken aerobics classes, dance classes, regularly walked long distances, and engaged in active play with my kids. Anything but competition. And did I mention that I hate to exercise, even on my own? I’ve never felt the runner’s high or anything like that.
My husband is a competitive road bike racer. He likes the long races with lots of hills, and places best in those races where most of the other racers drop back from sheer exhaustion. My daughter is a competitive swimmer at her high school and specializes in the long-distance butterfly events. My son plays football and does well at any sport he tries. And then there’s me. I don’t see how I can even be related to these people.
And then, six months ago, I swallowed fear, common sense and who-knows-what-else, and signed up for a sprint distance triathlon. Even as I write this, less than one month away, I can barely believe I did that. It’s a half-mile swim, 16-mile bike ride and 3-mile run. That might not seem like a big deal to some of you, but considering my situation, it might as well be climbing Mt. Everest. I have two goals: to finish, and to not come in last.
I’ve been writing blogs about the journey so far and will be posting them over the next few weeks, in condensed time, up until the big event on June 10th. I’ll share with you my struggles, successes and everything I’ve learned along the way. The blogs won’t be totally self- indulgent (I can’t decide to quit if I go public with this!), because I’ve gained so much knowledge and accumulated resources about such things as proper running shoes, fixes for shin splints, joining a gym, proper training and nutrition that I’d love to share with you.
So please join me on this crazy ride, and we’ll see what happens!