The Purpose

I'm going to do a triathlon for the first time in my life. In August. That's only 5 months from now. That's really not much time. I have a training plan of sorts, and if I'm going to complete it up to my somewhat lofty standards I need to stick to the plan. That's not as easy as it sounds. You may know this if you've ever tried to accomplish anything that takes an extended period of time. In high school I used to put off research papers until the night before and then pull an all nighter to try and get it done. This works for research papers, not very effectively mind you, but 3 times out of 10 you can usually pull off a passing grade. Not so with endurance training. You wait until the night before the race and you can pretty much kiss the next 6 to 10 days good bye because you can barely move, much less do anything productive. Then you spend the next 3 months in physical therapy trying to undo all the bad things you did to your muscles in the short time it took you to do the race. And you spend the next 3 years trying to convince yourself that if you just train a little it won't hurt quite so bad the next time.

So, I've decided I'm going to start my very own blog. I have a couple of reason for doing so, but mainly it's for self motivation. You see, this way, I can pretend I have thousands of adoring fans that I need to keep training for. If I don't train and then post on this blog I will feel the wrath of my cultish followers. Not to mention, I may be able to help someone in their own journey to completing their very own race. Mainly by learning from my mistakes, but I'm not picky. Or someone reading this may be thinking, "What the hell is this guy doing? I better say something before he kills himself." They will then go on to dispense their knowledge upon me saving me from impending doom. Don't think I won't listen. I'm not so full of myself that I'm not above learning something new. Just don't be offended if I don't follow through on your advice, I'm a little thick headed when it comes to that. Considering that I may be the only one reading this, it may just be a case of the first reason.... assuming that I am going to read it, which I probably won't. I really don't have that kind of time.

A little about me and my sporting past. I was a runner in high school. Distance mainly. I did everything from the 400 to the 2 mile and cross country. A friend introduced me to my first road bike in 1990ish. I have been in love ever since. I transitioned from running to doing duathlons. Which is basically a triathlon without the swimming. It basically consists of a run in the 5k range, then a 15-20 mile bike followed by a 5kish type of run again. They're a lot of fun, but they're fairly difficult to find. I did that for a few years and then I decided to try bicycle racing. What a rush! I immediately fell in love with criteriums. If you've never had the pleasure of watching a crit I would highly recommend it. It's about as physical as bike racing gets. Nothing like screaming around 90 degree corners at 25+ mph while riding elbow to elbow with about 30 to 100 other guys. It can be dangerous at times. I have some scars to attest to that fact. It takes a lot of time to train for something like that, and you need to race a lot in order to keep your edge. Crit racing really isn't something you can go out and do once a year just for kicks. Well, unless you like getting your butt handed to you on a silver platter. I'm not saying that triathlons don't take a lot of training, but it doesn't seem to be quite as mentally involved as crits are. So, since I don't really have the time to spend training and racing for crits, I thought I would give tri's a.... try.... sorry.... Now, I don't swim much, which I figure is good and bad. Bad, because that's generally how tri's start and it'll put me in the hole early. Good, because I haven't developed any bad habits that I'll need to undo. So, that's the abbreviated version. I'm trying to keep it brief because I have an awful tendency to ramble. I also have ADD so I have a tendency to jump around a lot. So if your confused, keep reading, I'll probably get back on track at some point..... or not.

I make my own training plans. I spent a lot of time in college studying for a Phy Ed degree and getting very good at ping pong (which, btw, is not a skill that you can just pick up 10 years later and wow the crowd. You'll wow them alright, just not how you vision it in your minds eye...), so I've learned a few things about the body and how it works. I've also read a ton of books on training and building plans, I guess you could call it a hobby. I'm just good enough at it to be dangerous, so it's probably not wise to ask me to build you one without getting a lawyer first. Anyway, it's cycling heavy, since I don't have much pool access and I really don't like running all that much (it's really painful). I figure, if I can get out of the lake without drowning, I stand a pretty good shot of gaining enough time on the bike that I can cruise through the run and still end up in the top half of my age group.... hopefully, there will be more than two us.... If it goes that well, I'll work on the swimming a little more over the winter and really give 'er hell next year. It's a trial thing. I may end up selling the bike and take up cross stitch, but we'll see how it goes.

After my ride tonight, I'll post again... Or maybe I'll recap early next week. I'm kinda lazy like that. Anyway, I'd like to take this moment to thank all my adoring fans for their support (you know who you are, mom), and thanks for reading. I'm not entirely sure how this blog thing really works, so.... I guess that's it!

May you all find smooth roads and little dogs, and remember to keep the rubber side down!