Today I competed in a sprint biathlon. Well, "competed" might be stretching it a bit. "Participated" is probably a better word.
Quick background: A triathlon, as most of you know, is a combination swim/bike/run. A sprint triathlon is the same thing, only with shorter distances. Today in Key West there was a sprint triathlon. (0.6 km swim (a bit over a third of a mile), 16 km bike (10 miles), and 5 km run (3.1 miles).)
A friend of mine has been trying to get me to do this--and I've been saying I would do it--for some time. Well, this time I did it, finally. Well, not the whole triathlon. As I tell people, I swim just well enough to not drown. For a while I was trying to get a relay team together, with me on the bike, and 2 others doing the swim and run portions. But for this, I merely did the biathlon of biking and running.
My bike portion was bad, but since I have not trained at all, have not even been on my bike in months, and am really not in great shape, it wasn't that much worse than I thought it would be. Bad, yes. But not surprising. However, the run was truly pathetic. Since it wasn't really a run, but a jog, walk, jog, walk, jog, walk kind of thing. At one point I believe an old lady with a walker passed me laughing.
For the first time since my 40th birthday, I truly felt 40. My times were sad, I was totally gassed, and this whole thing was a wake up call to me--a bitch slap in the face from life reminding me how out of shape I truly am. Some people would see these pathetic times I posted and hide from them. Not me. I am using these times as motivation. I am embracing them with a grimace, hugging them to myself to remind myself of this day's disaster. I am determined that this failure will motivate me to get my ass back in gear, back in the gym, back on the bike, and back in shape.
My times? 28:09 on the bike. I was happy that I did it in under 30 minutes. Well, "happy" in the sense that over 30 minutes would have been, to me, truly pathetic. My total time for the biathlon was 1:13:03. For those of us too lazy to do the math in our heads, that's a run time of 44:54. The last time I ran a 5k (many years ago), I posted a 28:30.
And there are many excuses that could be offered.
"You ran a 5k after you rode 10 miles!" I don't care.
"At least you did it." Badly. So I don't care.
"You didn't train for it." True. And I don't care.
"You're 40." Also true. And I still don't care.
"That old lady with the walker was pretty fast." Fuck off, smartass.
"You're not a runner." I don't care.
"You haven't been on your bike in months." I don't care.
"Most of those other people ahead of you do this all the time." I don't care.
I. Don't. Care.
Today was a wakeup call. A call to arms, as it were. I am madder than a hornet at myself for letting myself get to this point, and I will not let this happen again.
28:09.
44:54.
1:13:09.
These are numbers I am going to post very prominently somewhere in my room, to constantly remind myself of this completely lameass pathetic sorry piece of shit "athletic" endeavor of mine.
There is another spring tri in September.
And the only thing that won't change drastically is the fact that I still won't be swimming. But I am going to crush these times. Destroy them. Annihilate them. Eradicate them from the planet. Hunt them down and kill them and all their family members with extreme prejudice.
I am PISSED!!!!
Quick background: A triathlon, as most of you know, is a combination swim/bike/run. A sprint triathlon is the same thing, only with shorter distances. Today in Key West there was a sprint triathlon. (0.6 km swim (a bit over a third of a mile), 16 km bike (10 miles), and 5 km run (3.1 miles).)
A friend of mine has been trying to get me to do this--and I've been saying I would do it--for some time. Well, this time I did it, finally. Well, not the whole triathlon. As I tell people, I swim just well enough to not drown. For a while I was trying to get a relay team together, with me on the bike, and 2 others doing the swim and run portions. But for this, I merely did the biathlon of biking and running.
My bike portion was bad, but since I have not trained at all, have not even been on my bike in months, and am really not in great shape, it wasn't that much worse than I thought it would be. Bad, yes. But not surprising. However, the run was truly pathetic. Since it wasn't really a run, but a jog, walk, jog, walk, jog, walk kind of thing. At one point I believe an old lady with a walker passed me laughing.
For the first time since my 40th birthday, I truly felt 40. My times were sad, I was totally gassed, and this whole thing was a wake up call to me--a bitch slap in the face from life reminding me how out of shape I truly am. Some people would see these pathetic times I posted and hide from them. Not me. I am using these times as motivation. I am embracing them with a grimace, hugging them to myself to remind myself of this day's disaster. I am determined that this failure will motivate me to get my ass back in gear, back in the gym, back on the bike, and back in shape.
My times? 28:09 on the bike. I was happy that I did it in under 30 minutes. Well, "happy" in the sense that over 30 minutes would have been, to me, truly pathetic. My total time for the biathlon was 1:13:03. For those of us too lazy to do the math in our heads, that's a run time of 44:54. The last time I ran a 5k (many years ago), I posted a 28:30.
And there are many excuses that could be offered.
"You ran a 5k after you rode 10 miles!" I don't care.
"At least you did it." Badly. So I don't care.
"You didn't train for it." True. And I don't care.
"You're 40." Also true. And I still don't care.
"That old lady with the walker was pretty fast." Fuck off, smartass.
"You're not a runner." I don't care.
"You haven't been on your bike in months." I don't care.
"Most of those other people ahead of you do this all the time." I don't care.
I. Don't. Care.
Today was a wakeup call. A call to arms, as it were. I am madder than a hornet at myself for letting myself get to this point, and I will not let this happen again.
28:09.
44:54.
1:13:09.
These are numbers I am going to post very prominently somewhere in my room, to constantly remind myself of this completely lameass pathetic sorry piece of shit "athletic" endeavor of mine.
There is another spring tri in September.
And the only thing that won't change drastically is the fact that I still won't be swimming. But I am going to crush these times. Destroy them. Annihilate them. Eradicate them from the planet. Hunt them down and kill them and all their family members with extreme prejudice.
I am PISSED!!!!
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