I'm just not that into it afterall I suppose

It was going to become my tradition.

My first triathlon was a women's only, .25-mile swim, 12-mile bike and 2-mile run. It was the inaugural Tri for the Cure and it was a life changing day for me. As soon as I finished the race, I began thinking of finishing it the next year - with better times.

I signed up for it again the following year and killed it. I improved my time overall by approximately 25%. Another great day at Alum Creek.

I was planning on always doing this triathlon no matter what my schedule, to establish it as my own, little, triathlon tradition.

I went to register for it recently, wanting to take advantage of the early registration prices, only to discover that the early registration fee, that had been $45, was now $65.

So much for saving money.

I understand costs go up for businesses. I understand that 75% of the money goes toward a good cause. I understand that, compared to other regions in this great country, pricing for triathlon registration fees is very good to us here in Ohio.

I also believe in the free market. This is a good race company, but they've increased the price past my threshold. So, as a result, I have taken this race off my schedule.

If I were to sign up for this Sprint race on race day, the price would be the same as my half iron distance race later on this year.

So much for a tradition being born.

I'm optimistic, though. Another jewel of a race could catch my eye, or I might just do an open water swim race that I might not have done had this been on my schedule.

Give me a cloud, I'll give you a silver lining.

Give me a price increase like that, I won't give you my dollars.

Beware the ideas of March

My good friend Melissa blogged about the Ides of March today and her confession that she'd accidentally typed in "ideas of March" into Google served as a source for a little mid-month inspiration for me.

I am, therefore, embracing the typo and offering a lesson, not only to you, but to myself:

Beware the ideas of March.

March is a strange time for us triathletes. The winter is opening the back door, ready to walk out. Springtime has its grip on the front door, ready to open and enter once Winter takes its final steps.

March is a little bit of both Winter and Spring, but really not much of either.

The excitement that the season ahead holds can make us want to do crazy, crazy things. As we get a taste of the warmer weather, we begin to imagine all the races we'll conquer, all the personal bests we'll set and how we're really going to get up early and train in the pre-dawn hours of the morning.

All of those ideas are great, but it's important to step back just a little and get realistic. For me, I want to do two races a month, but since I'm training for a half iron distance race, that's just not practical. I want to get up early in the morning and train, especially as it gets lighter outside. The reality is that I'm not a morning person - at all - and I must adjust my life to get the training done in the evenings.

So, follow your own Marching orders, just beware of the ones that run you into the ground.

Ironman challenge and last minute me

I have all kinds of excuses (weather, sickness, change in job schedule), but the fact remains I'm short of my goals.

You see, I'm doing one of those train the Ironman distances in a month challenge: Swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles and run 26.2 miles. Right now I'm at:

• 950 yards (or a little over a half mile) for the swim
• 64 miles for the bike and
• 12 miles for the run

Oh, and I have until Sunday to complete it. So, here's the plan.

I'm taking a spin class Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. I'm averaging about 20 miles per class, so that'll nudge me right over the goal and then some.

On Tuesday and Friday, I'll run 5 miles each day and on Sunday I'll finish out the remaining 4.2 miles.

On Thursday, I'll swim 1,500 yards and on Sunday I'll finish it out.

I'm running out of time on this challenge, but by golly I AM going to make it! (That's right. You just read someone use the phrase "by golly.")

I joined the Pod

I'm heading in to my third season of triathlons. When I first started researching this sport, I quickly learned that audio devices (we'll just call 'em iPods for the purposes of this post) are illegal in a race and you can get penalized if caught using them. I also quickly learned to train like you race.

So, because you can't listen to an iPod during your race, I didn't want to train using one because I didn't want it to throw me off come race day.

With it being so cold and my reluctance to venture outside increasing, I started going to the Y to hit the treadmill. As usual, it's difficult to go even a half mile before I begin to daydream about the belt malfunctioning and me fatally hitting my head.

This boredom presented a dilemma. Because I'm training for a half iron distance, I need to be putting in more mileage and if the treadmill's the most practical place to get it done, I needed to find a way to make it work.

I decided to revisit my iPod philosophy.

I've heard so many say how much easier it is to get through a treadmill run with an iPod. Despite my aforementioned reasons for not using one, I went to Best Buy and purchased an iPod Shuffle.

WOW! Why did I wait so long? The first time I used it, I found myself at mile three with the desire to go even further! The only reason I didn't is because I had to get ready for spin class.

What a gift! I feel like my training has a sense of renewal and I'm hopeful about keeping up my running mileage the remainder of the winter.

Maybe I'll ditch the iPod when I go back outside running, or just practice running without it a couple weeks before a race.

What I will do is never, ever head to the Y without this little buddy in my pocket to keep me company.

Thank you all you technology people!

That's why I don't like rest days

I had written this on my GOTRIbal blog, but thought I'd bring it over here.

For me, the tragedy of a rest day exists not in not taking it but in taking it.

Unfortunately, I'm either on or off. When I get into a training groove, I rock it - for days. When I have to take my rest day (which IS, of course, absolutely critical), it's quite difficult to get back into my training.

First night: Legitimate rest day.

Second night: I really need a night to catch up on housework.

Third night: Gary's leaving for a couple days in the morning and I need to make sure he's got all he needs.

Fourth night: Gary's out of town tonight, so I'm just going to veg with the dogs on the couch.

RIDICULOUS...but that's how it goes. It is, though, not how it should be. I just need to find a nice place in the middle...

But, tonight, the middle's going to be on the couch between the Great Dane and the Yellow Lab.