Tag: triathlon

learning to ride a bike

I’ve mentioned a couple times that I’m planning to do my first triathlon in August.  (Technically, my second.  I did an ‘indoor tri’ at the Y and–spoiler alert–I finished far and away on top.)  I swam up through highschool (and have tried to stay in the pool on a *fairly* regular basis since then), I teach cycle at the Y, and I run regularly.  For awhile now I’ve felt like doing a tri would be a no-brainer, I simply haven’t ever felt like it was ever a good time to start training.  I’m not sure what it is about this summer, but THIS SUMMER I feel the need to do a triathlon.   Continue reading “learning to ride a bike” →

I tri’d…and WON

I did!  The whole, darn, THING.

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The first of three heats began at 6 am.  I started in the second heat at 6:35 am with a 10-minute swim, in which I was able to finish 26 laps (650 yards).

Then, after a 10-minute break, we began our 30-minute cycle, in which I was able to ride 18.8 miles.  I set the bike at about a 9 or a 10 for resistance and just pedaled as hard as I could at a pace I thought I could withstand.  I couldn’t believe how tired I was after simply swimming for 10 minutes!  The fatigue soon wore off and I was able to go at a brisk, even pace the entire time.

Lastly, after another 10-minute break, we headed upstairs to the treadmills and hopped on for 20 minutes, in which I ran 2.8 miles.  This was the trickiest part for me, as I wasn’t sure how fast to set the treadmill at the beginning. I asked Andrew for advice and he suggested starting all-out, and backing off later if I got tired. I set the treadmill to 7-minute miles and only got faster from there!  Lesson learned:  you really can go faster and harder than you think.

When all three heats were finished–approximately 15 people–they announced the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places for men and women…and not only was I the first-place woman, I happened to accomplish the most distance in all three events!

This was the second annual ‘Tri at the Y’ held at the Southtowns YMCA. I didn’t compete last year–must have been out of town–but I definitely think this is something I would do in the future.  Speaking of the future…perhaps I should take up triathlons!