This year, I will finally put swimming, cycling, and running together and start doing triathlons. That began yesterday. My local YMCA is coordinating a “Bit by Bit” triathlon, encouraging participants to complete an Ironman-distance triathlon at their own paces. I hope to finish in five days, completing three common triathlon distances MWF with the remainder TR as rest days. Call it the “DiY tri.” Here’s how it breaks down:
- Monday: Olympic triathlon (1.5 km, 40 km, 10 km). I biked and swam at the Y, then ran outside. Exercise time 3:01:13. I started at 9:40am and finished at 2:15pm–yeah, a lot of “transition” time, as I played with the girls and ran a few errands between legs.
- Tuesday: rest; run 3.8 mi, bike 10 mi.
- Wednesday: Half-Ironman triathlon (1.2 mi, 56 mi, 13.1 mi). I plan to split this up, swimming at the Y, biking at home on my trainer, then running outside (if the weather is good) or at the WIU rec center track (if it’s not). After Monday, I’m unsure I’ll be able to finish the running–I was pretty tired after the Olympic distance.
- Thursday: rest; bike 8 mi.
- Friday: sprint triathlon (.75 km, 20 km, 5 km). I’ll do this at the Y, in order, and as fast as possible–a mock triathlon.
If my total time is less than fifteen hours, I’ll be quite happy. This “DIY tri” is stage one. Next: getting a good book about triathlons, addressing my poor swimming technique with some lessons, and finding a local race or two.
