Fourteen More Hours . . .

. . . until my first official triathlon of the year.  The Bryan LifePointe Indoor Triathlon.

It’ll be 10 minutes swimming, 30 minutes cycling, 20 minutes on the treadmill; with 10 (!) minutes between each activity.  Over 30 people have signed up, the best number for any indoor triathlon in which I’ve had the pleasure of participating.

I headed over today to pick up my packet, which basically consisted of a nice little mesh-type book bag with a rule sheet, pen, and $.75 off a smoothie at a local place here in town.  They also had a golf towel and a shoe bag (?) freebie.  Oh, and the always typical MEN’S shirt (even though the majority of people participating are women).  Perhaps some day, someone will get smart-ass enough to order women’s shirts, and if the men complain, they can simply explain “hey, how many years have the women had to put up with men’s shirts that don’t fit them?  Deal with it.”  And I will laugh.  But, I will be asleep–that could only happen in my dreams.

Reminds me of when I did the TNT triathlon last year with mostly women.  The only triathlon kits they had were for men, so of course I didn’t wear it.  They realize we’re shaped differently, right?  I put on one of those men’s tops and my first two strokes in the water and I have half the lake in between the material and my chest.  Jeeezuz.  Please people.  Oh, did I digress?

One last shot.  And apparently companies that manufacture women’s tri gear think that only 2x4s actually participate.  2x4s that do not wear anything over a size 12.  Sorry, there’s a lot of us out there that do Triathlon that couldn’t hope to fit into a size 12 (especially considering even my sister–who is a size 10, I believe–couldn’t wear the XL Triathlon shirt she got last year at a race).  If it says size 12?  They mean 8.

Okay.  Back to me, because that’s what this is, a vanity blog (although you wouldn’t realize it from the above rants where I am expressing I’m too fat to wear athlete’s clothing, eh?).  ANY-HOO!  (Speaking of overweight–you have to read this awesome article:  So you’re feeling too fat to be photographed).

Back to the Triathlon.  I drove 25 minutes across town to find Lifepointe, pick up my packet, and check out the equipment.  The pool is 4′ on either end (and it is warm in that room!), four lanes.  Not bad.  After the swim, we hop out and head over to the spinning room to make sure that the bike fit is right.  I hopped up on the bike just to test it out, make sure I knew how it worked, and test the seat and handlebar position.  Yup, this will be fine.  It is a typical spinner, nothing too scary.  Brake/resistance lever is in a different place, but far more logical than our gym.

After the bike, we head upstairs to the treadmills.  I checked them out on the way into the building.  It’ll be in a room rather crowded with equipment, but only 8 of us will be running together, so that’s not too bad.  Cool.  I must remember to bring a hat.  Ever since I donated my hair, I have no idea what to do with it when I run.  A hat would be good.

I looked outside.  Snow falling, big beautiful flakes.  Lots of them.   Heck, I couldn’t see but a 1/4 mile up the road.  The treadmills all face the window.  That’ll be nice.  No distractions.  Oh, my headphones, I need to bring my iPod.  I should pack while I’m thinking about all of these things.

I headed out into the snow, wondering why I wasn’t nervous.  Was it because I’ve been sick for 10 of the past 14 days and know I have an excuse?  I doubt it.  While I was messing around on the bike, I stressed about how I would get my accurate numbers about Heart Rate and cadence, and would I beat my last indoor triathlon numbers.  I was trying to figure out if I could keep up a 100 cadence for 30 minutes, or should I set the resistance higher and hope it gives me the same benefit of shifting on a trainer (in miles).  No, it wasn’t that.  I just wasn’t nervous.  At all.

I started thinking about how I’m actually training for the first outdoor Triathlon in April (almost 11 weeks away), how that was my “A” race–just like the Olathe in September–and that I would just train through this one and not worry about times.  And then I started laughing.  Hard.

I must have looked like an idiot.  But this is the first thing that came to mind (I have posted it before, but I cannot believe I actually said a line from the following):

And, of course, the ever popular and must see again, “shit triathlete’s don’t say”

So, while you’re all doing your early morning sets, sleeping in, playing with the kids or puppydogs, or maybe just heading off to bed (for my Aussie friends!), send me good vibes!  I want to “just train through it”, but I’m too competitive and I know I will want to make sure to get a PR.

In the meantime, have a great weekend, everyone!  Race report tomorrow!