Triathlon

Something new on the agenda for this weekend; Sunday I'll be competing in my first Triathlon. I'd been running 3+ days a week in training for the marathon, and also biking 2-3 times a week...so I figured a triathlon might be a fun way to pull them all together.


The race is known as a 'Sprint Triathlon' - which is the entry level triathlon distance. It's a quarter-mile ocean swim, 11.5 mile bike ride, topped off with a 5k run. The swim will probably be the most challenging part - dodging waves, other swimmers, and perhaps the occasional shark. I've spent the week doing laps in the pool at my building, and also hitting up the Rutgers aquatic facility for some longer swims. I've got a fairly decent stroke, but it's amazing how quickly you get winded.

Surprisingly, most people I've told about the race have said, "Well, that doesn't seem too hard." I've been a bit surprised at the cavalier attitude from the peanut gallery. True, I think each one of these distances don't sound terrible individually, but the back-to-back-to-back nature...while racing for the fastest time should be a challenge. As a friend of mine said, "If it were easy, everyone would be running triathlons."

The race is being held at Belmar on the Jersey Shore, at the deliciously early starting time of 7am. Just another day at the beach.

If you're curious, the famous Ironman Triathlon is a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride, finished off with a full marathon of 26.2 miles. Just wrong.