Triathlon Training

A few years ago I began training for a triathlon. Unfortunately, two months before race day I had surgery to remove half my thyroid. Needless to say, the triathlon was put on hold.

I enjoy working out. I enjoy sweating (when you're suppose to be sweating ie. working out; not ie. b/c it's 103 and humid outside and you're simply walking 20 feet at a leisurely pace). I enjoy the feeling after a good work out, when you're tired but energized. AND I do much better about motivating myself when I'm working toward a goal.

Recently, I decided to look up triathlons in Texas with hope for some motivation. With triathlon season coming to an end, I'm pushed to find times/days/places that would work with my transition from here to Georgia. I found one the weekend before I leave. That may be pushing it. So I started looking for some in Georgia. There IS one at the end of August. After getting super excited and mentally preparing for training, I realized that's the day of our doctoral retreat. Bummer.

All this to say, I've begun training anyway. I'm following some sort of schedule from beginnertriathlete.com. I'm not sure if I'll be able to find a race this season or not, but if not, I'll just be ubber prepared for next season (if I keep it up). ;)

I'm going to do a sprint... someday. Although distances varying, the general milage is as follows (usually no more than):

800 meters (.5 miles) swim

18 mile bike

10k (6.2 mile) run

For me, the sports get progressively harder. Swimming is my most comfortable, then biking, and then...running. I want to be a runner. But I don't love it. Anyway, I swam a couple of days ago (I'm out of swimming routine/shape), ran 5 miles yesterday (I didn't know I could run that long), and biked 12 miles today. I think I can do all three individually just fine. It would be a matter of putting the three together, yikes.

Anyone who has ever done a triathlon, any tips? Or anyone who wants to train for one, feel free to join in the fun! :)