30 Days to Go!

I am doing the NYC Triathlon for the 3rd time this year. I picked up the sport after the end of a relationship and a 6 month stint on match.com. I thought it would be a good challenge for a new year, and completed my first one in 3:06!

I couldn't have done the race in 2006 without Team in Training, and really believe that anyone can accomplish an athletic goal with this great organization. And it supports a really great cause.

With extra time on my hands these days, I've committed to training more this year and use ontri.net to track my training. I'm pretty obsessive about it and don't miss a workout (even if it means I have to double up one day). And now I own a bike, bike gear, clip pedals, many swimsuits, a wetsuit...and so can't retire yet.

This is a shot from the day before the race in 2006, with all the bikes ready to go for the next day.

At one point earlier this year, I committed to a half ironman in CA. I think this is going to have to be a goal for another year, as I wasn't ready to train so many hours each day. So I set a 3 hour goal for this race. With 30 days to go, I'm not sure yet this is possible. The posting from a bschool classmate (with a 2:35 time) made me wonder if 3 hours wasn't enough of a goal. And then when I added up a 30 minutes swim, 1:30 bike ride and hour run...it's hard to figure out where I'm really going to cut time out.

After a few minutes of analysis, I realized I can cut the most time from the bike ride. My tush would agree, as it doesn't like to sit for hours on the small seat on a bumpy road! But my legs can only go so fast, and as I watch the beer belly 50 year old men whiz by on their $5K bikes, I wonder what I'm doing wrong here.

Oh, and my flat tire strategy: Right now I pray every time before I head out, and take $20 to get a cab home.