Nice Moves

It's 11:20 on a Wednesday night and I'm just sitting down to a dinner of Triscuit nachos and Gatorade.  I completed a pretty intense brick session with my training group today which consisted of a 1-hour outdoor bike ride followed by running with speed work at the Lake Shore Park track (5 x 800 meters).  We didn't finish until almost 9:30.

I have to say that I kicked ass, averaging 3:15 800's (half miles) - fastest girl by far.  I think I impressed my coach, though he seemed to struggle to give me credit despite recognizing others and patting them on the back.  Maybe he didn't want to acknowledge me because I'm so darn fast that he didn't want to make the others on the team feel bad ;-)  Maybe he didn't acknowledge me because I'm so darn fast that I was only 1 second slower than him at the Firefighters 5K race last week (I placed second in my age group - woo woo!) ;-) Maybe he didn't acknowledge me because I forgot my backpack in the back of his car after our bike ride and he had to cycle to the Lake Shore Park Track from his car wearing his backpack and mine (classic!) and he was annoyed with me.

I'm always doing things like that; overshadowing any of my abilities with my complete clumsiness and awkwardness.  Like last night at the pool, after our workout, I grab my keys and my towel and head back to my locker, but I can't get my key to work in the locker.  Am I that mechanically challenged?  Maybe.  But I finally realized that I had someone else's key and towel.  Awesome!  So I go back into the pool area to exchange keys and explain myself to my team mate (who was wondering where his keys were) with both of my coaches standing by, laughing.  (Did I mention that my coaches are attractive?  Well they are, and I suck around people I'm attracted to) So, I laughed too, because it was kind of funny, and I'd rather be laughing than be laughed at.

Anyways, I know I'm making a big fuss over nothing, and my clumsiness probably doesn't get to my coaches at all - they probably don't even think about it.  And even if they did think about it, that's fine because I don't really care what they think of me...for the most part...

Running Total

I feel the need to acknowledge the extended length of time that's passed since I wrote my first (and only) blog entry. As it turns out, training for a triathlon takes up a lot of time - surprisingly more so than training for a marathon.
Given that this is my first triathlon training experience, every training session I attend, every interaction I have with someone from my team, presents me with a thin layer of understanding of what it takes to do a triathlon; to be a triathlete.

So, thus far, I've learned that triathlons are quite technical - not even comparable to a marathon. You're switching between three entirely different sporting events - and the transition between them is a sport in and of itself. And, with the technical comes the necessary (or seemingly necessary) equipment...the toys. The cost of these toys adds up quickly. I feel the need to vent about this right now because, at the moment, I'm panicking about my triathlon tab and how I will go about stopping the hemorrhage of cash without compromising my ability to train and race successfully. Anyway, The Tab:

$360 Cost for Tri-Monster training program
FREE Bianchi bicycle (thanks again, Dad)
$90 Helmut (I bought the first small one I tried on...stupid)
$30 Gloves
$110 Bike tune-up, cage and water bottle (I got ripped off here - turns out I didn't really need a tune-up)
$250 Triathlon shorts (yes, a must have for the ladies), tri sport bra, tri tank (a sad waste of $40), bike equipment bag, bento bag (for storing nutrition - that's a whole blog entry there), wetsuit rental (funny story there, too) and suit juice (wetsuit lube)

That put me up to $840 BEFORE my training group had a private fitting and shopping session tonight at Fleet Feet. There I was given a stride analysis and flattered by my middle and forefoot running style, and subsequently dropped $110 on some new shoes (I kind of needed these) and nutrition (electrolyte replacement - apparently this is a necessity). New total: $950.

Now, here's where I get to bring my dad back into the picture. The other day I get a call from him. He's on a layover in Seattle and stopped into a bike shop where he found a great deal - an open box special - on some LOOK Keo Sprints. That's a fancy brand of clipless pedals - yet another piece of equipment everyone says is necessary for biking faster and more efficiently. For those of you who don't know what clipless pedals are - they are the special pedals that require you to wear special shoes to clip into them (which seems so odd that they're called clipless pedals when you are, in fact, clipping in...) Anyway, my dad was kind enough to drop $120 on some pedals that normally go for $160-$180. The shoes, he says, are up to me to purchase.

What girl (or any athlete, for that matter) doesn't love to buy shoes? As soon as I heard about the pedals I quickly got online to get the scoop on bike shoes designed specifically for triathlons. As you may have guessed, these things don't come cheap. A decent pair (basic, the experts would say) cost around $110. I really love the Sidi tri shoes - these are $169 (this is a bargain price, 2007 models, without our lovely IL sales tax of 10.5% or the shipping costs). What's another $60 when I'm passing the $1000 mark? Right?? At least I'm not out there buying aerobars or computers or heart rate monitors (though these last 2 are on my "Strongly Desire List")

In summary, triathlons are an expensive sport. As I look back sentimentally on marathons, I see them as simple sport for purists. All you need is a good pair of shoes. But do just one triathlon (all I've done is a practice sprint distance - I'll tell you about it another time), and chances, are you'll be hooked. You'll want it all...you'll need it all.