Triathlon Newbie

Over the weekend, I received an email from my friend Liz asking me if I would be interested in doing a triathlon with her this May or June.

I almost always say yes to any type of athletic challenge, so I almost immediately said yes and started getting excited about the process. Liz signed up for two triathlons--one in Memphis, TN in May and one in Washington, DC in June.  I signed up for the one in DC, and am still considering doing the one in Memphis as well.

 First, a little bit about Liz:  I know Liz from doing Teach for America in Philadelphia.  Like me, she is a former college athlete. She is originally from Alabama and went to the University of Georgia for undergrad.  She is currently getting her PhD in Education and Economics from the Teacher's College at Columbia University (smarty pants).

I give you all of this information for a reason: It is no coincidence that people who thrive in difficult circumstances often make the best athletes.  Both Teach for America and being a PhD student qualify as "difficult circumstances" in my book, so I'm pretty confident in her ability to train seriously and to be a great partner in the process.

This will be the first time that I do a triathlon on my own.  It will require me to do a 1500 meter swim, a 40 kilometer bike ride, and a 10 kilometer run.  I will have to train for all three sports and I have to buy the equipment for all three sports. This will be both  time intensive and expensive.

For me, the biking portion will be in the wild card in the mix.  I swam competitively for fifteen years and I have run a number of road races in my life.  I don't know a lot about what kind of gear to wear in open water swims, or how to transition between the three different events, but I know I'll be able to handle it.

Biking is a totally different story.  I don't own a bike.  I know how to ride a bike, and I've even been on long bike trips before. However, I know nothing about racing on a bike.  In fact, recent history has made me a little terrified of bikes.

Last May, a distracted-by-his-iPod biker ran me down from behind while I ran down the Westside Highway.  The accident resulted in a trip to the emergency room, whiplash, some head trauma, and black and blue all over my face and body.

When I visited Bicycle Habitat in SoHo on Monday afternoon to test out a few bikes, riding off the sidewalk made me uncomfortable.  I was so terrified of the traffic, someone hitting me, or worse--me hitting someone else.  It is scary to get on a piece of equipment that you don't know how to control very well.

There is some hope for me though.  I rode a bike when I was home in Manchester this October.  Although I think I hid my tension from Aunt Ruth and Erik, my white knuckles gripped too tightly the entire restless ride, and felt a little emotionally exhausted by the end of it.  This happened in a town where traffic isn't terribly bad, though, and where I'm confident in my ability to navigate the roads.  New York City is a totally different ballgame.  Still, my October bike ride gives me some hope.

This triathlon is one way to help me get over my cyclophobia.  I hope to get a bike by early next week. I'm going to need an extra dose of courage to start training on it, especially when I have to ride on the Westside Highway.  I am hoping that I can get over this fairly quickly, otherwise I might have a pretty difficult time with preparing for this triathlon.