Tri Hard, With a Vengeance

: Tuesday, 06 December 2011 20:55; Matt Sedlar

Some would think that the natural progression after running a couple of marathons would be to run an even longer distance, like an ultra-marathon. No thanks, training for a distance of 26.2 miles is already time-consuming and hard enough. But I do enjoy a challenge. Instead, in 2012 I'll be tackling a new type of race: an Olympic-distance triathlon.

How hard can it be? You swim for a little while, bike for a little while and then you run for a little while. Easy! I'm totally kidding. The challenge behind a triathlon is exactly that: you swim, you bike and then you run. For an Olympic (or Intermediate or Standard, depending on whom you ask) distance race, that means a 1.5 km swim, a 40 km ride and a 10 km run. My comfort level for each sport, from most to least, runs in reverse order of the race itself - the run, then biking, then the swim. I'm not a particularly terrible swimmer, but I know from my running (and pretty much every other hobby out there from playing guitar to going up against a bunch of teenagers in Call of Duty) the more you do something, the better you get at it. The less you do something, well, you just end up sucking at it.

So I have a list of things to accomplish between now and the end of May, when I should technically start training.

Bike repair 101 or bike shopping 101: A couple of years ago, a good friend gave us her brother's old mountain bike, which I guess makes it a third-hand bike. I replaced the tires, the seat and pedals, but I haven't done much with it since then. I've only been using it occasionally for commuting and joy riding, so I haven't invested a lot of time in the bike. Now that I have to decide whether I want to race with it, I have to consider a few things.

A new chain. I have no idea how old the current one is, and I haven't been taking care of it. I'm surprised it hasn't snapped on me yet.
A new freewheel. The current one is also of indeterminate age, and I constantly have problems shifting between the highest and second-to-highest gear. Looking at the thing up close the other day made me cringe. Note to self: I should probably clean out the crud that has gathered between the sprockets before I ride it again.
Road tires, if I want to add some speed.
Weight. Mountain bikes are heavy. I'm probably better off with a road bike, but that means spending money. I have to weigh repair time and costs to the cost of buying a new (or newer) bike. Which is cheaper?

My ride, minus some parts.

Swimming lessons: Yes, I'm thinking about taking swimming lessons, but not beginner's classes, obviously. If I were that unsure about swimming, I would have signed up for a Sprint distance triathlon or another marathon instead. An intermediate class on perfecting strokes and endurance should be enough to get me comfortable in the water again. Time is on my side, as long as I use it wisely.

Running: If I don't break anything or kill myself doing any of the activities above, I'm pretty much covered here.

277 days until the race!