Six Weeks of Crazy

Whew. It's been a whirlwind 6 weeks. 6 weeks ago I watched my husband race in his fourth sprint triathlon. (The last 3 were done last year when I was VERY pregnant or 5 days out of having the baby, which is why I hadn't seen him race). As I sat on the sidelines that morning, two thoughts kept running through my mind: 1) As hard as it looks, it HAS to be more enjoyable than wrestling 4 kids on the sidelines and 2) This was my first time cheering on a participant and not BEING the participant. I did not enjoy that role-reversal.

That night I decided to do the next one with him. And the 'next one' just happened to be 6 weeks away. To answer the most common questions I have been asked recently--No, I had not been swimming. No, I had not been biking (much) though D had just given me a road bike as an anniversary gift 2 weeks earlier and we had been out twice. Yes, I had been running, but not much! My weekly running had consisted of two short 3 mile runs, eked out slowly and grudgingly, and then some running interspersed with stadium stairs on an occasional Saturday. In addition to the small running base, I have been doing personal training sessions twice a week since early November, so I do have some muscle ... but unfortunately I was about 20 pounds over my goal weight, making it all that much more difficult. Mancub was 8 1/2 months when I made this choice and still waking around 4:00 am to eat.

And so, insanity aside, I began. It has been incredibly motivating. Nothing will get you jumping in a cold pool at 5:30 in the morning (yes, outdoors and not heated) like a healthy fear of drowning in a lake. Swimming happened twice a week, one evening and one very chilly morning. I generally swam a little over a half mile.

The biking training has been my favorite. D and I get a babysitter one night a week and do about 17 miles, 12 of which we do flat and fast and then once we reach the hills we do some repeats. We have also gone out on 3 Saturday trips--30, 34, and 36 miles apiece. These have some serious hills; D claims they are much worse than anything I will see on the triathlon. Sharing something he loves so much has been exciting and fulfilling. Also terrifying, but I have been able to put that aside for the most part. :)

And running? Well, I've upped the running because about 3 weeks ago, insanity popped by for a visit and convinced me to sign up for a half marathon in Utah on July 28. D and my sil Meridith jumped aboard too, so it will be exciting! Three mornings of running 4-5 miles is all I've been able to squeeze in. I've kept up on my (at least) twice a week weights training too.

The race is a sprint distance: 500m swim; 20K bike; 5K run--all relatively simple distances on their own, but putting them together will be the trick. As part of training, one day I ran 4 in the morning, biked at 6:00, then swam 1000m at 9:30pm. Then on Wednesday of this week, D and I rode a fast 12 miles and ran a 5K immediately afterwards. It wasn't as bad as I had expected.

The good news is that I've lost 7 pounds--about a third of my goal. I haven't missed a single day of exercising (aside from Sundays) and in fact, many days I have done 2 or even 3 workouts. Mancub started sleeping through the night entirely, bless his heart ... possibly because I was too tired to hear him in the night? :) It has all been very positive.

And TOMORROW morning is the big race! Am I ready? As ready as one can be in 6 weeks I suppose. I'm nervous about a lot of things: swimming in a wetsuit (I did practice it in the pool this week); swimming in a FREEZING cold lake (68 degrees); transitioning; biking without crashing, drafting, or breaking any other major rules; being the last to finish (I will be toward the end for sure but I would appreciate NOT being dead last!); and this just on top of the general race jitters. Should be fun!