So yesterday I began the countdown to the triathlon: one month.
I still hate running. I still am having crazy tension in my shoulders. Haven’t been able to swim for about two weeks now. And I still don’t have a bike.
No problem.
The one thing I do have is my tri suit. This amazing feat of engineering is a swimsuit, bike suit and running suit all rolled into one. The idea being that there is nowhere to change at a triathlon, so the less you need to be naked the better.
Mine is hideous, but it was cheap. It is lavender with lime green trim. I told you it was hideous!
So, they say that you should train for at least a month in the clothes, shoes, goggles, whatever that you are going to use on race day. The idea being that you won’t be surprised by any new chafing, pulling or “hey, that swimsuit wasn’t see thru in the store”.
This meant being out in public in my suit. After I got the hyperventilating under control, I had a flash of brilliance: I would disguise my giant belly underneath a large t shirt. It might not have looked any better but I felt better.
I ran two miles (which for me is a huge moral victory) in the skimpy little thing and to my wonderment, it was pretty comfortable. There was a weird point where it started to drift to the left on me, but it either didn’t end up bothering me or it self corrected. Other than feeling like a git, it worked out fine.
Next, I will have to swim in it. No getting away with a t shirt for that little experiment. My only fears for the swimming are that the zipper will bother me or that the padding for the biking portion of our program won’t dry. And, of course, I’m hoping that it’s not see through.
The bike is the biggest obstacle. Now I know it should be easy enough to just walk into a store and buy a bike. But there is nothing easy about me. I am cheap and horribly wishy washy. Plus, the garage is already bursting at the seams, and I’m not exactly sure where we’d put yet another bike. There are already three suspended from the ceiling. One more and the rafters may collapse. Well, no one said this would be easy.
I have gone through the despair of feeling like there is NO WAY IN HELL I would ever finish the race. I was relieved to find out that almost everyone goes through this for their first ever race at any new distance. I just need to relax and remember that I am not training to win, just to finish.
So June 13th, ready or not, here I come!
The Blahg 