triathlon

i've started training for the chicago triathlon coming up in august. clearly this represents a huge commitment of time and energy and in fact resources, as i will require a wetsuit and a bike.

swim (1.5K; Sprint .75K) - this is what i'm most worried about. i haven't been in the water for years, and i've never tried to swim competitively. it's a whole new ball of wax for me, and apparently there's gear involved. entry level wetsuits start at around $150, and pro level gear is over $600. clearly, since this will be my first (not necessarily, but maybe, last) go at it, i'll be fine with the schmo level gear.

bike (40K; Sprint 22K) - i feel most confident about this leg. i've casually ridden 25 miles with no issue, never after swimming, but i'm confident. i'm not confident about my bikes. either of them. i have a 90's era Trek hybrid and a 70's era Univega 16 speed with friction shifters (stem mounted). neither of those will be competitive on a race course without major overhaul. maybe the Univega with a single speed hub, bullhorn bars (debating aero bars) and aero rims. but it's got a lugged fork, clearly not made to race. i could (probably will) do a whole post on this leg of the race.

run (10K; Sprint 5K) - i really hate running. the internet is jam packed with running tips, schedules, gear, groups, etc. running is my least favorite of all activities, including chores. i would rather clean my apartment top to bottom than run. i'd rather go to the dentist and the urologist than run. i hope this is abundantly clear. i just ran a little more than a 5K with my friend Joel and we're neither of us athletes (any more) but we're going to train together. on our run today we talked about how much we hate running.

the reason i listed all the distances and sprint distances is that we're not sure which to do yet. we have several months to train, so we're going to train for the sprint for the next month and if that seems like it's well within our ability we're going to stretch to the full distance. might as well right? we also talked today about how much more fulfilling and driving it is to have a goal for why we're working out beyond to "be in shape". that's for the birds. working out for the sake of working out is like writing book after book and never trying to get published. but the ChiTri is in our sights. we're aiming at that. and perhaps beyond, but who knows. one thing at a time. what are you up to lately?