I Survived

Triathlon training Day 2
On Tuesday I endured the swim portion of the training. Last night it was time for the bike and running. We arrived, set up our spin bikes, similar to the one shown below. We strapped our feet into the peddles and away we went. These things are amazing. Before long I had a nice sweat going, and not much longer after that I was breathing in such a way that resembled my dog. Panting, yes that is how you could describe it. The bike routine was led by an instructor who called out our resistance, speed and position on the bike. Such as sit and stand. Uh, yeah I always thought it was easiest to stand and peddle up a hill, it kicked my butt. I made it through the workout. Sadly, realizing that I have some major improvement needed in the bike category.


Then it was on to the run. We went upstairs to the track, got our class syllabus and headed out on a 5 minute warm-up. The warm -up had my heart beating and breathe increased. It did not take me long to realize that I am at the bottom of the running totem pole. After the warm-up we stretched. Apparently it is best to warm-up first before stretching. This is why I am taking the class to learn. After we stretched it was time for our base mile. Everyone at once was off and running. The idea was for the instructor to get an idea of what everyone's running abilities are and to get our base time. About half way into the first lap everyone else had pretty much broken away. We were told to do a comfortable pace "for us." So I stuck to my stride and went around and around and around. I was lapped by everyone. More than once. Oddly enough I was not discouraged I kept plugging away. I finished with a time of 11.29. Eleven minutes and 29 seconds. I was actually happy with this time. I thought it would be closer to 15 minutes. Distance running is not a strong point for me. I know the three miles is going to challenge me. I also know that as I go through the class I will improve. There is so much I can learn from the instructor. My next running goal is to complete the mile at the end of the 7 weeks in under 10 minutes. I have some work to do.
We left class with a weekly assignment. We are to run a hard 1/2 mile in 2-3 days and then 1 1/2 miles at a moderate pace in 4-5 days. It's all good!

THANK YOU to everyone who left comments about running shoes! I am making a trip to Playmaker's on Monday. I will let you know what I end up with. Whatever it is, IT HAS TO BE BETTER THAN MY $9 WAL-MART SPECIALS.