My triathlon “career” started with just sprint tri’s. I had been a long distance biker and enjoyed organized, multi-day group rides for a few years before one day — a couple of friends of ours challenged my husband and I to sign up for a triathlon. After that, we were hooked. We loved the option of training for multiple events. If it was rainy outside you could swim, if you didn’t feel like running you could go for a bike ride.
Running had always been my nemesis. Not usually what triathletes complain about. (They usually dislike the swim.) But running was a love/hate thing. I knew I wanted to sign up for a longer tri. In fact I had signed myself up for a 70.3 race. So I was going to have to run. To get over this hump, I signed up for my first 1/2 marathon. (Of course I signed my husband up too, anything worth torturing yourself with is worth torturing your spouse with, too – right?)
11 weeks of training building up to the 13.1 mile distance. I finished my first 1/2 marathon in 2:49:52 on a hilly, Seattle course. Of course I was proud that I finished, but disappointed at after all that training, the scale had not budged. Seriously?
It wasn’t evident until later what I had gained. No, the scale had not budged. But one day after work I was headed to catch the bus. I got to the end of the block and saw my bus go whizzing by and I knew it would be 30 minutes until the next one. In my head I said “I can catch it…” and I sprinted 2-1/2 blocks to the next bus stop in a race against the Seattle traffic, stop lights and the bus. And I did catch the bus.
As I sat down, I expected to be huffing and puffing and drenched with sweat. But even after that 2-1/2 block sprint…. I was able to sit quietly and get back to a resting heart rate quickly. I thought… there really is something to this fitness thing…
The moral is keep moving forward. Keep running, keep training, it’s worth it.
Athena Triathlete 