Okay so I do the Du's. Duathlons that is. I like them. I like riding my bike and I like short fast runs. So of course Duathlons are a great chocie for me. But try and tell people, "Oh, I'm a Duathlete," and you always get the same response, "Oh don't you mean Biathlon?" Of course I don't but oh well, stupid skiing and shooting. Tell a person you compete in Triathlons and they know what the heck that is.
One of my early season goals was to complete / compete in a triathlon. While I mentioned my love of running and cycling I didn't mention my love of swimming. Now don't get me wrong, I love popping in a lake or ocean to putz around and cool off. But I don't really swim. In fact I have this great ability to hyperventilate with my face in the water. Yes, "in" the water. Therefore sucking in loads of wet goodness. Not a great trait. In the past i solved this problem through the use of scuba equipment.
Well in order to do a Tri I was going to have to learn to get over this and actually figure out how to "swim." I took lessons and finally figured out the front crawl and breast stroke. Good. But I still have a little issue with breathing while swimming and the endurance hasn't come along quite like I hoped it might. Part of that is due to a leg injury I had and part is due to 30+ years of water to face phobia which I am slowly overcoming.
So that brings us to my first Triathlon. I wanted it to be a pool swim (this allows me to stand up, cough up the water I have sucked back and continue) and I wanted the swim to be relatively short. I also didn't want it to be held at the same time as a Du (remember from the first bit where I said I do Du's). This left very few choices for the year. But along came the Wolfville Tri Festival. A 400meter swim, 10K bike and 4 K run. Well the bike is a bit short but that's fine, the run is nice (I said I liked short and fast) and the swim is doable.
Part of me does feel a little silly entering a Try a Tri type event. I mean these are supposed to be for those that have no idea what to expect or also for kids who aren't old enough to enter full Sprint and above Tri's. But then I think, heck, I suck at swimming so this type of non-competitive (yeah right) event is what I need to get started. And to that effect I entered the darn event which will be held in 2 weeks from now).
I know my swim will be slow, maybe 9 minutes for 400 meters is not going to win anything. But I can ride fast and run fast as well, and I can have some fun doing the transitions.
Of course all this assumes I won't drown in the pool. Can you use flutter boards in events?
2 comments:
I just completed my registration. As long as we're not attempting to share a lane, there should be no lifeguards diving in after us :)
As long as my rest periods take place in the shallow end I should be fine. And remember those floating rope things can hold your weight, so they are a nice place to stop for a chat.
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