Sure, I'll Tri Anything!

So as I am on sitting in front of the computer after having finished the half-marathon, on day two of no.goal.whatsoever, I'm am feeling all post-run-ey. And sad. Like a fat, lump of heap of something, (I know it's only been two days, but still...) but it's easy to get depressed without a goal! And all I have been doing is scouring the internet for my new goal. Something non-marathoney but equally as challenging. Because it's like a sickness. I am addicted to goalsetting and goalreaching. I need something. Ineedmynextfix. And I NEED.IT.NOW.!!

Can you feel the anxiousness pouring out of my keyboard!?

It's Killing me!

Whilst finding my next adventure and feeling this cool, yet burning sensation (kind of like a Peppermint Patty) in my gut, that kind of fire that seems to have remained lit after having gone through a year of goal stairclimbing, I found it. A goal so perfect it appears to have my name written alllllllll over it.

The Morton Plant Mease Triathlon. At beautiful Sand Key park near Clearwater Beach. At 6:50 in the morning on July 12.

Running. Biking. Swimming. A giant gaggle of goggles, swimcaps, spandex and a bathing suits. I do not ask myself why. I ask myself why not.

A triathlon! (I can do this. Right?) And it's official. I am officially signed up. This summer, I will have black marker written on my leg and will be wearing spandex and a bathing suit and goggles and a swim cap. There is no question about it.

So now I am all excited about said goal and am getting prepared by acquiring all tools necessary to train for said goal. And where do I start?

With the bathing suits, of course.

Because why wouldn't I.

I am considerably smaller than this time last year, how bad could it be? I am excited, even! I may even *cough* like bathing suit shopping! For once!

So I go to Sports Authority to pick out a new, fully functional, bathing suit for the purpose of sport (because I've never purchased a functional bathing suit before, only a beachy one and usually in a size "ginormous" in which I usually think afterward, "Why bother? There's less material in a full pantsuit...") But this year, it's different, right? I've lost a bunch of weight, things have to look better! And I get all excited because the bathing suits are on sale in lots of brands and lots of very fun, competitive, racing colors and I can literally see myself zipping through the water like Dara Torres. Running on the beach toward the water like a true competitor!

That is, of course, until I actually try one on.

Did you know they're actually a lot tighter than normal bathing suits?

I guess it has something to do with physics or aerodynamics or something, but the amount of spillover that my body had in conjunction with the bathing suit I tried on would, I am sure, completely counteract the aerodynamic-ness of that particular bathing suit.

Did you also know that the cuts on said bathing suits are not very flattering?

I figured this out pretty quickly, too. It was like the perfect storm. My pasty-white-fresh-out-of-winter skin, the harsh glare of the florescent lights, coupled with the dimples that haven't quite made it off the lower half of my body like I had previously thought and the tightness of the spandex in some strategically unflattering spots -- well, let's just say there's nothing like trying on bathing suits to knock someone down a few pegs.

Riding that high of finishing a half-marathon must've swelled my head a little. Because that little scene in the dressing room was, how do you say, NOT GOOD.

So here's where I try to stay focused on the fact that regardless of how said bathing suits looked on me during this horrifying dressing room session, I will be "cup half-full girl" and counteract the negatives with the positives.
Positive: I completed a half marathon. (Woot!)
Negative: It took more than 2 hours and 30 minutes. A marathoner passed me.
Postive: But I finished! And I even passed some dudes!
Negative: I still look hideous in a bathing suit.
Positive: Even more reason to do a triathlon!

See? So we'll end on the positive here.

And yes, in the end, I made the purchase. A lovely black and blue number that is reversible (how cool is that! Black on one side, blue on the other -- depending on my mood!) I would venture to say that it was in quite a larger size than my normal clothing size, but whatever, it was the least damaging to the corneas of onlookers. (Another positive! I'm on a roll!)

The training for said event begins for me next week, where I will begin a program we found on a website called Tri-Newbies. And I will happily plunge my body and bathing suit into the water at my gym. I haven't swam (swum?) in a while, so we'll see how that goes, (do I remember how? How hard could this be??) But I am sure that I will keep you updated (whether you like it or not).

Now, to get a bike...

Sure, I'll Tri Anything!

https://babytealeaves.blogspot.com/2009/03/sure-ill-tri-anything.html