The last place I worked had almost no opportunities for exercise, which I always thought was weird since it was the administrative center for a giant hospital. Plus it was very near a bunch of good restaurants. Those factors combined with my general lack of willpower and food issues to cause me to totally obliterate all the progress I'd made in losing weight. My new work is right next to a great bike trail I've always liked (the trail where I first learned to really ride actually) and has a deal with the nearby gym (the same one I used to go to when I lived in this part of town) so I've been really looking forward to getting back to working out and exercising. I haven't ridden my bike in like 6 months for pete's sake.

So to make a long story even longer, somehow the idea of doing a Triathlon got lodged in my head and for the first time in my life I’ve been running. Only twice so far but that’s 2 more times than I’ve ever even wanted to run in my life so it’s a step in the right direction. I bought some running shoes and some goggles for swimming, along with a Triathlon book, a running book, and a swimming book I read about a few months back in the Cool Tools mailing list. The triathlon I’m aiming for is at the end of July and it’s what’s called a Olympic distance: Swim 1500 meters (almost a mile), Bike 25 miles, Run 6.2 miles. I figure that’s enough to make it tough but not impossible. I don’t know if I’ll make it given that I can really only train at lunch and a little on the weekends but I’m giving it my best shot. I’ll be writing more about my training as it goes along hopefully.

One thing I learned today about it is that I’ll be competing in what they call the Clydesdale division, that is the division for people over 200 pounds. I’m not sure how I feel about the Clydesdale definition but since I have no chance of actually winning I don’t care one way or the other. If I just finish it’ll be a miracle so whether I’m beat by skinny people or fat people doesn’t matter to me as long as I cross the finish line and get healthier doing it.

Wish me luck. I need it.

[tags]triathlon,Clydesdale,training,swimming,cycling,running[/tags]