Waaaayyy back in February my friend and co-trainer at Wimberly Training asked me if I wanted to train for a Sprint Triathlon with her - I thought, SURE, I'm basically terrible at all of those things, so I can only improve - right?
Things you need for a tri :
1. Swimsuit or Wetsuit
2. Bike + Helmet
3. Running shoes.
I had running shoes, so we got started with a 20 week training program that Katie designed.
Luckily I had a friend who let me borrow her wetsuit and bike (shout out to MaryAnn D!). We started swim training at Evergreen State College and, well... I was terrible. I couldn't swim more than 10-15 meters at a time before having to stop and grab the wall. Yup, it was a good thing we had 20 weeks.
Every week we did a swim, run and biking session. I added in an extra run or bike when I could, but not any extra swimming because we had to pay for each session and I wasn't trying to win or anything ;). We also tried to keep up with weight training - but as personal trainers ourselves, its hard to squeeze in a ton of extra workouts. Gradually I got better and better and before I knew it, I could swim 50 meters at a time and was just taking short 20 second breaks or so! The running got WAY better (started at over 10 min miles) and we were doing 4-5 miles at right over 9 min pace.
*(Katie is WAAAYYY faster than I am, but she was so sweet and stuck with me always).
With about 4 weeks left in our training we decided to do a practice tri and I finally got to wear a wetsuit in the water. WOAH. I had a panic attack about 5 seconds into our first lake swim. I felt like I was choking and it was so dark I couldn't see and then my goggles got fogged up and I couldn't see when my head was up out of the water either. I totally FREAKED. Luckily Katie was there and doggy paddled next to me while I tried to get it together. We swam about 50 meters at a time, from dock to dock (she seriously is the best). Eventually we made it back to land and quickly changed into our biking attire. The bike was going GREAT and I loved every second on there. I did have to stop and pee at one point (in the bushes, lol). Eventually I called out to Katie (who was leading) WHERE THE HECK ARE WE? Turns out we missed our turn, so instead of a 5k at the end of our 17 mile ride, we just rode for 33 miles. Ha!
In a few weeks we were going to race, so we started doing weekly 'block' training days, where we would ride for 12-14 miles and then run 3 miles, to prep our legs for what was to come. I was super excited and nervous - I had never competed in something like this and I had no clue how it was going to go. I just kept doing everything Katie told me to! We now even have a triathlon training group running out of Wimberly with sweet swim caps and Bike jerseys! I highly suggest having a training group if you are going to do something like this. It helped so much having a buddy to go on runs and those long bike rides with!
Here we are after our first 5 mile run! I was shocked that I made it the whole way!
I'll tell you all about the race next week! Woo!
xxoo
Things you need for a tri :
1. Swimsuit or Wetsuit
2. Bike + Helmet
3. Running shoes.
I had running shoes, so we got started with a 20 week training program that Katie designed.
Luckily I had a friend who let me borrow her wetsuit and bike (shout out to MaryAnn D!). We started swim training at Evergreen State College and, well... I was terrible. I couldn't swim more than 10-15 meters at a time before having to stop and grab the wall. Yup, it was a good thing we had 20 weeks.
Every week we did a swim, run and biking session. I added in an extra run or bike when I could, but not any extra swimming because we had to pay for each session and I wasn't trying to win or anything ;). We also tried to keep up with weight training - but as personal trainers ourselves, its hard to squeeze in a ton of extra workouts. Gradually I got better and better and before I knew it, I could swim 50 meters at a time and was just taking short 20 second breaks or so! The running got WAY better (started at over 10 min miles) and we were doing 4-5 miles at right over 9 min pace.
*(Katie is WAAAYYY faster than I am, but she was so sweet and stuck with me always).
With about 4 weeks left in our training we decided to do a practice tri and I finally got to wear a wetsuit in the water. WOAH. I had a panic attack about 5 seconds into our first lake swim. I felt like I was choking and it was so dark I couldn't see and then my goggles got fogged up and I couldn't see when my head was up out of the water either. I totally FREAKED. Luckily Katie was there and doggy paddled next to me while I tried to get it together. We swam about 50 meters at a time, from dock to dock (she seriously is the best). Eventually we made it back to land and quickly changed into our biking attire. The bike was going GREAT and I loved every second on there. I did have to stop and pee at one point (in the bushes, lol). Eventually I called out to Katie (who was leading) WHERE THE HECK ARE WE? Turns out we missed our turn, so instead of a 5k at the end of our 17 mile ride, we just rode for 33 miles. Ha!
In a few weeks we were going to race, so we started doing weekly 'block' training days, where we would ride for 12-14 miles and then run 3 miles, to prep our legs for what was to come. I was super excited and nervous - I had never competed in something like this and I had no clue how it was going to go. I just kept doing everything Katie told me to! We now even have a triathlon training group running out of Wimberly with sweet swim caps and Bike jerseys! I highly suggest having a training group if you are going to do something like this. It helped so much having a buddy to go on runs and those long bike rides with!
Here we are after our first 5 mile run! I was shocked that I made it the whole way!
I'll tell you all about the race next week! Woo!
xxoo
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