I‘m gaining a newfound respect for triathletes.
Their discipline and hard work already impressed me, but now that I’m training for the Great Chesapeake Bay Swim and a sprint triathlon on consecutive weekends, I’m even more impressed — particularly with triathletes training for the Ironman.
Triathletes who take on the Ironman have to train for a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run. And many of them have jobs and families. I have a job that takes up a lot of time, but no family — and my boyfriend is more obsessive about training than I am, so that is not an issue.
Trying to train for both the 4.4-mile Bay Swim on June 13 and a small sprint triathlon (half-mile swim, 12-mile bike race, 4-mile run) the next Sunday is difficult, and I try to squeeze in workouts whenever I can.
No more “sleeping in” on weekdays. Now I’m up early and doing a 30-minute run or an exercise video before work.
On weekends I work out at least twice each day, with chores and maybe some fun in between training sessions.
Last weekend I went to a longtime friend’s wedding. But before that, I had swim practice at 7:30 a.m. After the wedding, I mowed my lawn, finishing in the dark. On Sunday, swim practice was canceled, but that didn’t mean a day off — instead, I headed to the new Wilson High School pool to swim 4,000 meters. In the afternoon, I did an 11-mile bike ride and worked on the lawn some more.
When I signed up for the new D.C. Triathlon, I knew I wouldn’t be in as good of triathlon shape as, say, in August, because I have to spend most of my time training for the Bay Swim — my first priority. I signed up because I wanted to compete in a Washington triathlon, and the Nation’s Triathlon in September is too much for my surgically repaired knee.
Still, I don’t want to have to walk my bike up any hills.
Washington D.C. Triathlon
» When: June 20
» Where: Washington. The swim starts in the Potomac River next to West Potomac Park. The run ends in Federal Triangle.
» Distances: Sprint — 0.8k swim, 20k bike course, 6.7k run
Olympic — 1.5k swim, 40k bike, 10k run
» Information: dctri.com.
The triathlon is only six weeks away, the Bay Swim five weeks away. I need to swim or bike or run six days a week. Plus, I need to continue with weekly yoga classes and exercise video, which help with my strength. And, importantly, I need to rest one day a week. This takes more discipline than you’d think. It’s easy to fill up every day of the week with workouts. But a day of rest is critical for resting mind and muscle.
To prepare for the Bay Swim, I feel I need to swim five days a week and pile up about 11 or 12 miles. My first crossing — between the Bay Bridge’s twin spans — was successful last year, following that training plan. So I’m sticking mainly to the same routine this year.
I am trying a couple new things this year, including taking one lighter “rest” week a month to conserve myself both physically and mentally. During rest weeks, I swim 12,000 to 15,000 yards during three or four practices. Also, I’m only swimming nonstop once a month instead of every week. Swimming for an hour to two hours nonstop is great mental preparation, but it can eat up an entire weekend afternoon. Instead, I’ve been scraping myself out of bed before 7 on Saturday mornings for swim practice.
For the triathlon, I’m trying to bike 20 miles a couple times before June 20, with more frequent 10-milers. By comparison, longer-distance triathletes routinely bike 60 or 100 miles (if not more) on weekend training rides.
My first ride of the spring was a wake-up call. I hopped on my bike a couple weekends ago to ride 20 miles down Beach Drive, a trip that seemed so easy last summer. I was feeling good after the first 10 miles. But when I got to my turnaround point, my legs were shaking. The way back — uphill — was a slog. I was miserable, I was exhausted and I barely made it up some hills without walking.
I learned a lesson — I was not in bicycling shape. So the last two weekends I’ve done a more manageable 10 or 11 miles, adding a hard hill climb up Beach Drive past the Mormon Temple. I feel like I’m starting to get in shape and am almost ready to tackle 20 miles.
I’m not as concerned about the run. I ran throughout the winter, and I’ve been out at least once a week for the last two months. I’m more worried about pain. I’ve been on the trail for about 30 minutes at a time, running for five minutes at a time, separated by one-minute walks, with a bandage wrapped around my knee for support.
So far I’ve been successful in my attempts to run without pain. But as I shuffle along on the trail, I see other runners wearing shirts from past triathlons flying past me, while I hobble along, wishing I could go as far and fast as them.
