And So it Begins
This is what he posted on facebook:
I
find evil joy in signing others up for races. This week I have signed
my mother in law up for a Half Ironman in AZ and my wife for another
Half with me in Indiana. These women are rock stars.
An full Ironman Triathlon consists of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bicycle ride and a marathon, 26.22 mile run, raced in that order without a break. The race typically starts at 7:00 a.m.; the mandatory swim cut off is 9:20 a.m. (2 hours 20 minutes), the mandatory bike cut off time is 5:30 p.m. (8 hours 10 minutes), and the mandatory marathon cut off is midnight (6 hours 30 minutes).
Thank goodness Matt only signed me up to do half of that, but considering I am an overweight 62 year old grandma who hasn't biked or swam or run in over 40 years this is going to be interesting :)
All I have to do is swim 1.2-miles, bike 56-miles, and run 13.1-miles in less than 9 hours, I think.
To tell you the truth, I am not sure I can do it, but I'm excited to try. A couple years ago I watched Alyssa (my daughter) and Matt compete in an Ironman Triathlon in Florida. It was fun, and really got under my skin. I especially enjoyed standing on the sidelines as the participants ran the final distance to the finish line. Some were full of energy, some were just pushing themselves to get to the end, but everyone was excited for them. The course was lined with people on both sides, cheering and shouting encouragement, slapping the hands of the runners. There was a kind of energy there I had not felt before, and it made me wish I could do something like that.
At the beginning of last summer I spent a week at Alyssa's house, babysitting. Since she had a community pool in her neighborhood I spent the mornings while the kids were at school trying to swim laps, and I rode the exercise bikes in the gym. It was invigorating and made me want to do more. When I got home I checked out the Deuces Wild Endurance Festival in Showlow, Arizona, near my home. I wondered if I could do the Olympic distance triathlon? You swim .93 miles, bike just under 25 miles, and run about 6 1/2 miles. Surely I could do that, right? After all, I walk 4 miles every day, I swam about a mile in her community pool 3 time, and I biked an hour. Piece of cake, right? The only problem was the race was less than a month away, it cost a lot of money, and I didn't own a bike.
The Saturday after I got home I asked my husband, Moe, to look for a mountain bike when he went to garage sales. We live in the country, on dirt roads, so I thought it would be better to have a mountain bike to start practicing on. To my delight, he found one that day! It was a beauty! As soon as I finished cleaning the house I tried it out. I didn't have a helmet yet, but I figured riding it around our dirt roads would be fine. After all, I walked them every day. What could happen, right?
As soon as I got on the bike I knew I was in trouble. I'm tall, but this bike was still too big for me. I couldn't get my leg over the cross bar without laying it on the side, and I couldn't touch the ground when I sat on the seat. Moe moved the seat down all the way, which made it possible for me to stand but then my knees had to bend too much to peddle, so he moved it back up a ways. I could barely reach the ground with my tiptoes, but started out anyway. It was great for the first 2 minutes. I rode out our driveway, onto our side street, then turned onto the main road, feeling like a million dollars. I was at the top of a hill, and it was exhilarating riding down, the wind whistling past me as I picked up speed. I thought about trying to slow down, but to tell you the truth I couldn't remember for sure how to use the hand breaks. I figured I could ride to the bottom of the hill and then coast to a gentle stop. Right.
An full Ironman Triathlon consists of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bicycle ride and a marathon, 26.22 mile run, raced in that order without a break. The race typically starts at 7:00 a.m.; the mandatory swim cut off is 9:20 a.m. (2 hours 20 minutes), the mandatory bike cut off time is 5:30 p.m. (8 hours 10 minutes), and the mandatory marathon cut off is midnight (6 hours 30 minutes).
Thank goodness Matt only signed me up to do half of that, but considering I am an overweight 62 year old grandma who hasn't biked or swam or run in over 40 years this is going to be interesting :)
All I have to do is swim 1.2-miles, bike 56-miles, and run 13.1-miles in less than 9 hours, I think.
To tell you the truth, I am not sure I can do it, but I'm excited to try. A couple years ago I watched Alyssa (my daughter) and Matt compete in an Ironman Triathlon in Florida. It was fun, and really got under my skin. I especially enjoyed standing on the sidelines as the participants ran the final distance to the finish line. Some were full of energy, some were just pushing themselves to get to the end, but everyone was excited for them. The course was lined with people on both sides, cheering and shouting encouragement, slapping the hands of the runners. There was a kind of energy there I had not felt before, and it made me wish I could do something like that.
At the beginning of last summer I spent a week at Alyssa's house, babysitting. Since she had a community pool in her neighborhood I spent the mornings while the kids were at school trying to swim laps, and I rode the exercise bikes in the gym. It was invigorating and made me want to do more. When I got home I checked out the Deuces Wild Endurance Festival in Showlow, Arizona, near my home. I wondered if I could do the Olympic distance triathlon? You swim .93 miles, bike just under 25 miles, and run about 6 1/2 miles. Surely I could do that, right? After all, I walk 4 miles every day, I swam about a mile in her community pool 3 time, and I biked an hour. Piece of cake, right? The only problem was the race was less than a month away, it cost a lot of money, and I didn't own a bike.
The Saturday after I got home I asked my husband, Moe, to look for a mountain bike when he went to garage sales. We live in the country, on dirt roads, so I thought it would be better to have a mountain bike to start practicing on. To my delight, he found one that day! It was a beauty! As soon as I finished cleaning the house I tried it out. I didn't have a helmet yet, but I figured riding it around our dirt roads would be fine. After all, I walked them every day. What could happen, right?
As soon as I got on the bike I knew I was in trouble. I'm tall, but this bike was still too big for me. I couldn't get my leg over the cross bar without laying it on the side, and I couldn't touch the ground when I sat on the seat. Moe moved the seat down all the way, which made it possible for me to stand but then my knees had to bend too much to peddle, so he moved it back up a ways. I could barely reach the ground with my tiptoes, but started out anyway. It was great for the first 2 minutes. I rode out our driveway, onto our side street, then turned onto the main road, feeling like a million dollars. I was at the top of a hill, and it was exhilarating riding down, the wind whistling past me as I picked up speed. I thought about trying to slow down, but to tell you the truth I couldn't remember for sure how to use the hand breaks. I figured I could ride to the bottom of the hill and then coast to a gentle stop. Right.
It was the washboards that got me. Our roads are always kind of bad, but it hadn't rained in months and the washboards were at least 2 inches deep. I hit them and there wasn't a thing I could do to stop myself from crashing. The next thing I knew I was lying on the ground, dazed. I tried to get up but my head spun and blood ran into my eyes. A neighbor stopped to help me, and he drove me home. Moe helped me mop up some of the blood and then he took me to the doctors. I had a slight concussion, a lovely black eye, cuts on my forehead and forearm that needed 14 stitches, scraped knees, knuckles, and lots of bruises. I was a mess, though it was kind of fun showing off my battle scars. Still it put an end to my thoughts of competing in a triathlon that year.
The cuts healed, the black eye faded, the aches and pains eventually stopped, but I didn't get back on that bike. I thought about it, but couldn't get up the nerve. Boy! do I have my work cut out for me!
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