Tri Plans

After focussing on running and the upcoming half marathon for the longest time, I am setting myself up to commence my triathlon training next week. In my case that involves creating excel sheets and mapping one or two things out. First, I created my training plan based on two tri-books I have and some advice I found online. It's a 12 week plan with 5 days of training each week. It does not include specific strength training units but I figured I will fit them in as I see fit (haha). Probably in the evenings after work during the week. Some pre-set training plans don't give you distances you need to complete in training but they tell you how long each session should be, i.e. 70 minutes of biking. I must say that I prefer the style where you get a target distance and an intensity level to go by. This way I make sure that I'll get in 10 km for sure, whereas I might not, if the training plan asked for a 60 minute run.

The other thing I took care of is writing down the gear I would like to purchase for my first triathlon and possibly after. There's some things I know I'll definitely need, like a tri-suit. Others would be extremely nice to have but are not a must (like aero-bars). That's why I came up with list of a few things, figured out what I would be willing to pay for them and prioritized my need for each item. 

Things like this make this whole triathlon endeavor more accessible for me. I know what lies ahead and I can literally cross things off my list when they're done or purchased. Another plus is that I can hang up a sheet of paper on my fridge and don't have to remember everything I will need to do, to get me to that starting line. 

Bike Anxiety

One of the first major investments I made after deciding to pick up triathlon training was a road bike. In fact, this is the first bike I ever bought since the ones I had before were city cruisers that I got from my parents as a child or that were somehow passed on to me. It was pretty exiting to go to the bike store and tell the guy that I wanted to do a triathlon but figured I would start cycling on a road bike since they are cheaper than the actual tri-bikes and I didn't know if I was going to stick with the sport. After the guy measured me an told me about the different sizes of bikes I ended up purchasing a basic road bike from the German company Cube. It is in fact a "Cube Aerial" with an aluminum frame.  Additional purchases that day were a bike helmet, pedals, spare tubes, a pump, bottle holders and bottles, a bib and bike pants,  and after my first ride on the bike a saddle that would allow my sit bones to actually fit on it. The funny thing is that the saddle is more like a mountain bike/touring model but it's really comfortable and I figured that for somebody like me who is just learning to handle a road bike it's not going to have any negative effects as far as speed and performance goes. So here I go, all proud of my new bike and ready to ride. Well... what I've since figured out is that I am uncomfortable riding the bike around the many other bikers out there. I mean the guys (I rarely see other women) that just look so professional in their gear and on their crazy bikes. I always feel very intimidated like I don't belong out on the road with them. I am really still learning the basics such as properly shifting my gears and I don't wear the clip-on-pedal-shoes yet. The fastest I ever went on the bike were 34kmh (21mph) and it makes me feel anxious and awkward to be out there. It's not actually a fear of riding the bike itself, it's more of a fear of making a total idiot of myself pretending to be road biking... I have talked to people about it and everybody said that I shouldn't worry about it but somehow I can't help myself but feel a little lost on the bike. Although I am not a swimmer and runner either it just feels more natural to be in the pool and the park. A big difference is that I can actually see what the other people around me are doing since they are not just passing by me in lightning speed which gives me more of a perspective on their and my abilities. This bike anxiety is not going to stop me from learning to handle and race my bike but so far it makes the riding the hardest part of my triathlon experience. I will keep you posted on my progress and hopefully will be able to overcome this unique condition!