Hello everybody.
It's been a while since I've blogged. My last blog was about my training for the NYC marathon, and the fundraising that went along with that.
Well while it was fantastic to be part of Team DetermiNATION, and raise over $7,600 for the American Cancer Society, it was time for me to take a break from marathon running and rather than doing something for charity do something just for me.
After a little bit of soul searching, it came to me. I was going to do my first Triathlon this year.
For those that may not know what that means, it basically going for a swim, then a bike ride, and then a run - without stopping from one to the next.
Now there are all kinds of Triathlons, of various distances. An "Iron Man" triathlon (or Tri) is the ultimate endurance event. You swim 2.4 miles, then bike 112 miles, and then run a full marathon of 26.2 miles. I AM NOT DOING THAT!
I will be doing what is called a "sprint" triathlon for my first experience. Its pretty much the shortest of the distances. I will be doing the Chicago Triathlon in August. I will swim 1/2 a mile in Lake Michigan, then a 15 mile bike ride followed by a 3 mile run through the downtown area. So I'll cover a distance of about 19 miles for the day.
The biggest part of my decision to do my first triathlon is the SWIM. I have never swam in open water, just a pool. So this is going to be a BIG deal for me. The wind, the waves, the water temp, all the other swimmers in the water right next to me...I'm not prone to panic attacks, but this has be a bit freaked out.
I do know how to swim, I learned as a kid, but it was never something I was great at. However I started to swim as part of my cross training for the marathons I trained for last year, and I think I made some solid improvement as a swimmer.
There is one more reason I decided to try my first tri - I wanted to do something that kinda scares me a bit. I figure if I can show my kids that it's okay to be afraid, but that doesn't mean you don't still try, maybe they will remember that when they get older and not be afraid to try new things.
Anyway, I thought I would start a little blog about my experience. I hope you enjoy the journey with me.
- Ben
PS - so why do I call this "Punching the Shark?" Well I'm pretty sure that even thou Lake Michigan is a freshwater lake, there is somehow going to be a shark in the water. And I don't mean some distant cousin from the Mesozoic Era offshoot called the "fluffy puffy toothless shark," I mean a great white like the end of Jaws. So I am going to have to work on my uppercut in case I need to bop it in the nose when it tries to get me.
Well while it was fantastic to be part of Team DetermiNATION, and raise over $7,600 for the American Cancer Society, it was time for me to take a break from marathon running and rather than doing something for charity do something just for me.
After a little bit of soul searching, it came to me. I was going to do my first Triathlon this year.
For those that may not know what that means, it basically going for a swim, then a bike ride, and then a run - without stopping from one to the next.
Now there are all kinds of Triathlons, of various distances. An "Iron Man" triathlon (or Tri) is the ultimate endurance event. You swim 2.4 miles, then bike 112 miles, and then run a full marathon of 26.2 miles. I AM NOT DOING THAT!
I will be doing what is called a "sprint" triathlon for my first experience. Its pretty much the shortest of the distances. I will be doing the Chicago Triathlon in August. I will swim 1/2 a mile in Lake Michigan, then a 15 mile bike ride followed by a 3 mile run through the downtown area. So I'll cover a distance of about 19 miles for the day.
The biggest part of my decision to do my first triathlon is the SWIM. I have never swam in open water, just a pool. So this is going to be a BIG deal for me. The wind, the waves, the water temp, all the other swimmers in the water right next to me...I'm not prone to panic attacks, but this has be a bit freaked out.
I do know how to swim, I learned as a kid, but it was never something I was great at. However I started to swim as part of my cross training for the marathons I trained for last year, and I think I made some solid improvement as a swimmer.
There is one more reason I decided to try my first tri - I wanted to do something that kinda scares me a bit. I figure if I can show my kids that it's okay to be afraid, but that doesn't mean you don't still try, maybe they will remember that when they get older and not be afraid to try new things.
Anyway, I thought I would start a little blog about my experience. I hope you enjoy the journey with me.
- Ben
PS - so why do I call this "Punching the Shark?" Well I'm pretty sure that even thou Lake Michigan is a freshwater lake, there is somehow going to be a shark in the water. And I don't mean some distant cousin from the Mesozoic Era offshoot called the "fluffy puffy toothless shark," I mean a great white like the end of Jaws. So I am going to have to work on my uppercut in case I need to bop it in the nose when it tries to get me.
