TNT Kick-Off and My First Sprint Tri

I love me some shwag!

This has been an exciting few weeks in my budding triathlon career. Last weekend was Team in Training's summer season kick-off breakfast, and it was such an awesome way to start the season off. There are TNT teams doing two different tris, training for the Marine Corps Marathon, the Nike Marathon/ Half Marathon, as well as a few different 100-mile bike rides. There were probably about 500 athletes at kick-off, and the energy in the room was awesome. Running, swimming and biking 6 times a week won't be easy, and neither will the fundraising. But I'm excited to be doing it with such an awesome group of people. I met some of my teammates, and am excited to get to know them better, and to meet the ones who weren't able to make it. 

Our first group training session was this past weekend, but I actually wasn't able to make that. But, I swear I had a good reason...and I even have the pictures to prove it:

Starting the run, about two thirds of the way through
 my first tri! That smile is all endorphines, I promise.

A few months ago, my friend Audrey told me about a sprint tri she was training for in Richmond. May sounded like a long time away, and I knew I wanted to run a tri, so a little bit on a whim, I decided to sign up myself. I wouldn't say my training went fantastically well, especially in the last few weeks. I was running often enough, but hadn't swam enough and had only practiced one bike-run transition, and no swim-bike transitions. I had many thoughts of backing out, and even emailed the race director to see if I could get my money back. Thankfully I was three days too late in emailing them, so I decided to tough it out and do it. How bad could it be, right? 

I was surprisingly un-nervous the whole weekend. I think mostly because all I wanted to do was finish, even if I had to do so crawling. But the race went surprisingly well. The swim sort of kicked my ass, but thankfully I got that over quickly and was able to shake it off for the rest of the race. The bike course was gorgeous, and I realized on many occasions that I was smiling for no real reason in particular. The run was a fairly easy 5k, and before I knew it, I had finished my first tri! Now, I know that 1 tri does not an expert make, but if this race is any indication, here are the top three things that I'm going to like about this sport (in no particular order):

1. It's humbling. I consider myself active and relatively fit. But I finished after all sorts of people at this race, including senior citizens, people who wouldn't strike you as physically fit, and most notably, a woman with one leg. Yes, with one leg and one of those curved prosthetic legs. If that doesn't put your life in perspective, I'm not really sure what would.

2. It's uplifting. And somehow, this isn't contradictory to #1. I'll say it again - I was passed by all sorts of people. And I passed a good number of people too. But there wasn't a single person who made me feel bad about being slow, was angry about me passing them, or made me feel like my 12-minute swim time was a bad thing. In fact, it was just the opposite. Almost everyone who passed me, and many of the people I passed, made it a point to share some words of encouragement. It's an individual's race, but I really did feel like there was a great sense of community, and from what I've heard from other triathletes, that's not at all unique to this race. 

3. It's fun. No, really it is. Having three different sporting events to complete in a row may seem daunting, but changing it up that often makes the race a lot of fun. It's a mental challenge in a very different way than a running event is. You're constantly thinking about the next leg, and it breaks it down into manageable pieces. Aside from the 12 minutes I spent in the pool, I truly enjoyed every minute of this race. 

Audrey and I, now official triathletes!

I know I'll have a lot of training to do between now and September, and specifically a lot of laps to log in the pool. But if it's anything like this race at all, it'll be an absolute blast. 

Why a tri? And why TNT?

Yes, why indeed? Why did I decide to swim in the Potomac, bike past the beltway (and back) and then run 6 miles around Haines Point and the Mall? And why did I decide to do so while also committing to raising over $2,000 for the The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society? Well, to be honest, after writing it out like that, it doesn't sound so appealing... But! There are plenty of reasons that I signed up, and I'll share a few here. Hopefully this will give you a better idea of why I decided to take on all of this.

I like a challenge. This one is pretty straightforward, right? Give me a goal and a challenge, a benchmark to meet, and once I commit, I'm in.

I have no idea how to train for a tri. I am actually running a smaller sprint tri in about 2 weeks, and my training has not gone well. I have no idea how to efficiently and productively train to swim, run and then bike all in a row. I'm excited to learn how to do all that in an effective way.

It'll be fun. Well, sometimes. If study abroad, rugby, CBC, Peace Corps, and, well, my life, has taught me anything, it's that I like community as much as I like a challenge. Even though early Saturday workouts will be challenging, I'll be doing them with a great group of people. I'm excited to meet my teammates and I'm sure there will be plenty of laughter to get me through the long miles and early mornings.

and, most importantly...

It's a good cause. We all know I'm a sucker for a good cause. My life, as well as the lives of most of the people I know, has been touched by cancer. And while LLS supports research into a very specific type of cancer, working to cure any type of cancer is working to make the world a better place. But don't take my word for it. Just take a few minutes to read through some of these stories.

Admittedly, none of these reasons make swimming in the Potomac seem any more appealing. But even that seems a small price to pay for such a great cause.

My season officially starts this weekend with a kick-off breakfast, and training starts the week after that. I can't wait to get started.