My wife signed me up for a triathlon *faint*

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David

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Joined
Feb 13, 2006
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Location
Naples, Florida
I came home to my wife telling me that we're going to do a triathlon. She, "Needs goals to work towards" and I'm going to do it too. The triathlon is May 12th. 1/4 mile swin, 12 mile bike ride, 5k run.

:ywow:

:sign0085:

Now, my symptoms are very negligible at this point but I haven't ran or swam in god knows how long. I've run a 5k before and can ride 12 miles without too much trouble, but all three events? Stuck together? And I have to be ready in 2.5 months?

I don't even know where to start. Anyone here done a triathlon before? Any tips? Is this doable? Or should I talk her out of it?

I'd kinda like to do it as if I help her work towards her goal, she has to help me with mine...
 
Lol- my daughter was asked to do the swim portions for some friends. She was in Jr high school and High school- may want to find a swim kid!!
 
I have a friend who did one but he doesn't have any medical conditions. I do remember him bragging and being very proud (which he should I guess). It was the one thing he wanted to do after reaching his ideal weight goal. Its something HE wanted to do though. I can't imagine being forced to do something I didn't want to. Do you want to or are you just afraid you're not quite physically capable? If you do in fact want to do it then go ahead and try training and in the end if you don't think you're capable then your wife will at least know that you tried and shouldn't be upset with you... right?

You don't HAVE to do it if you sign up right? Serious question, I have no idea.
 
Hi David
Thats a big commitment and Im sure you will really enjoy it. I started cycling to work 20 mile round trip. It takes my mind of things and keeps me positive. it dont happen every day but it does happen.
 
Well my first thought is...suck it up and deal with it princess...:ylol:

Seriously though, work towards the goal together and have faith in yourself David. You know your body and you know your limitations. Listen to your body and your trust instincts.

Go out and have fun spending time together. Start some training and work from there. If you do feel up to participating and you do better than you expect then it's a bonus but if you can't finish it then there is no shame in that. The main thing is you had a go. :)

Dusty. xxx
 
Fair play mate, I know I couldn't do it, I walk a few kilometres a day and I do be wrecked after it, I'm so unfit and lazy. :lol2:
 
I would makes you have the correct gear 1st of all (trainers, bike gear, swimming suit) so its easier for you. Then i'd do them seperately, maybe 2 of them per week (say mon, fri running, tues and sat swmming) for a couple of weeks and then rotate. Then once comfortable, do 2 of them after each other but then rest for 2 days and go back to only one for a week after just to let your body rest

Just make sure you give youself enough rest and dont push it if you dont feel too good. And im sure you know but warm up before and stretch after each exercise.

Might also be good looking at protein shakes as well :)
 
I'm with Nic, I think it sounds like fun! And hey, you've got over 2 months to train, that's plenty of time. Maybe try the couch-to-5K program to get yourself trained to do the run, that sounds like the hardest part to me. The swimming shouldn't be too bad and the bike part sounds nice. You'll have to keep us posted with how your training is going and how you do at the triathlon itself. Good luck! :)
 
Thank you all for your support, information, and the laughs :)

I've decided I'm going to do it though I'm not feeling overly motivated right now. Hopefully that'll change as I train. My goal will simply be to finish.

Rygon, I like your training suggestions, that makes a lot of sense. And I'll be sure to get the right gear.

Thank you all again! :)
 
Hi David, all three of children have completed ocean swim. The club like them to be able to swim non stop in pool twice the distance of the ocean swim.

If Sarah experience is everything to go by you will have most trouble with the run if you have active disease due to the jarring when you run.

Catherine
 
I'm sure having your wife there to train with you will help quite a bit (BTW, wife? Last I heard you were referring to her as your fiancee - did you guys get married recently, David? If so, congrats!!! Is the new profile pic from your wedding?). But make sure you're doing this for you, not for her. (Motivational speech time) I've been exercising regularly since May of 2010, and I'm doing it for me. Specifically, I'm not doing it to look good or get buff or get skinny or win a race or anything like that - I'm doing it to fight this illness tooth and nail and reclaim my health as much as I possibly can. As soon as I hit remission back in May, I hit the gym and didn't look back. As long as my goal is to get as healthy as I can and continue fighting this illness into submission, I stay motivated to continue exercising. So long story short, maybe don't make your goal about finishing a triathlon. If you make your goal about being the healthiest David you can be, everything else that falls into place will simply be a bonus. That attitude has been working very well for me.

Good luck! I look forward to hearing about how your training is going!
 
Thanks Cat :) Yeah, I got married in mid January :) And yes, the new profile pic is from the wedding.

You're right that I should be doing this for myself. But I get a LOT of exercise working my little farm in the backyard. I need to retool my thought process and figure out how to do this for myself on a mental level. Thanks for the advice :)
 
I get a fair amount of exercise too from stuff like walking the dog and cleaning my house and shoveling and doing yard work, etc, but somehow it's not quite the same. There's a different purpose and different mindset when I'm doing chores as opposed to when I'm exercising. I think a lot of it is mental - I know I can walk the dog for an hour because I have to walk the dog, but I need to get in a different mindset to think that I have to do 20 reps on each weight machine in the gym because that's just what I have to do. There is no "I don't want to exercise today", I'm to the point where those thoughts don't even factor in. I have to do chores, and although I don't have to exercise, I do have to exercise! If that makes any sense.
 


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