Newbie

Shelly and I officially started triathlon training this week. We're training for the Capital of Texas "First Tri" on Memorial Day, and we're going to do the Windcrest Freshman Tri at the beginning of May as a practice race. It's all very exciting.

Shelly and I have a great plan (we think) - we're tri training through the spring. This is recovery after 9 months of base building last year that culminated in a marathon attempt last month. After the Windcrest Tri, we'll know if we like it or not. Maybe we'll pick another tri this summer to train for. Or maybe we won't really like it and we'll drop swimming and biking and start building our running base earlier for the marathon we're planning to run in November.

I'm a newbie again for the first time in 10 years. It's a really weird feeling. I'm not a great runner, but I know how running works. I've read the books and the message boards and I've gotten advice from other runners, and I know how to sign up for a race and train for a race. I know what to wear. I know when to replace my shoes. I know how to do hill repeats and speed work and long runs and recovery runs, and I know why you do all those things.

Now I have to learn all that stuff for triathlon, and it's kind of daunting. I've read a couple of books about triathlon training, and we got a 12-week training program out of one of the books. I have a book on swimming (Total Immersion), and we're using that to learn to swim.

After our first week of training, I have some takeaways:

• I'm not tired for the first time in 20 weeks. The first week of beginner sprint tri training is way easier than a marathon taper.


• I love swimming. It feels amazing to slip through the water, and I think I could be good at it. But I hate chlorine, and I hate putting on a swimsuit. I also hate shopping for a swimsuit, which I need to do because we're going to be swimming twice a week and I don't want to do a ton of laundry.


• I love spin class and I love to ride my bike. I especially love that bike riding involves Robert. It's so much fun to ride with him.


• I don't know how to practice swimming so I can prepare for a triathlon.


• I don't know how to practice riding my bike so I can prepare for a triathlon. I don't even know how to shift gears properly.


• I miss running. I went out for an extra unscheduled run on Saturday just to feel my legs move.


• I miss running. I don't think running three miles, three or four times a week, is going to work for me.


• I miss running. I want to go out and run 10 miles just so I know I still can.


• I miss running. I miss that feeling of satisfied tiredness that I have after I run long on the weekend.


• I miss running. I think I underestimated how running takes the edge off my anxiety.


• I miss running. I've got to figure out a way to get more running into this training plan.