Monday, March 28, 2005

Why couldn't I pick a sport I might actually be good in?

Well, it's no secret that endurance isn't my strong suit. (Just look at me). The problem is that triathlon is an endurance sport. Strength, that I'm fine with. I used to compete in powerlifting for a few years way back in the eighties (before my Great Decade of Sloth) and I was naturally quite good at it with minimal training. I just got really bored with the hours in the gym it would take to get better, and dropped it.

Just the opposite is true for endurance sports. I have no talent for them, and definitely not the physique! Oh well, I guess it's the challenge that attracts me. It's like taking on the Impossible Dream, almost.

Toronto Tri Gal despairs because she "only" rode 80 minutes on a bike trainer a couple of days ago, and not the 150 minutes her coach specified. If I rode 80 minutes on my bike trainer in the living room I'd be jubilant, and dreadfully sore, and I'd probably have to tip over the entire bike trainer and stand together and fall to the floor just to dismount. If I rode 150 minutes I'd be on the verge of disemboweling myself with a dull knife for the entertainment value, just to relieve the boredom.

Today's workout. I made it as far as 15 whopping minutes on the bike trainer today. That's good for 3 miles. Add to that another 15 minutes last night. 3 miles more. Jeez, I'm really going to burn up the roads when I get out there with that kind of training, aren't I? It's a damn good thing my first teensy sprint tri of the year on April 17 only has a 10-mile bike segment. Gosh, I've done that all of once in the last couple of years. This is going to be ... interesting.

Tomorrow morning: OK, here's my commitment: I will get up and get my fat butt over to the gym and sweat like a pig on the treadmill for at least a couple of miles and splash and thrash across the pool for at least 1000m. Hold me to it. The rumor around here is that the weather is turning much nicer - can it possibly be true?

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