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On 21 August 2011 I will be competing in my first Triathlon, the Tri to Beat Cancer. The event is taking place in Athens, Georgia, and is a sprint triathlon. A sprint tri is the shortest length triathlon type event. The swim will be 400 yards, followed by a 16 mile bike, and then finish with a 5k. Why they switch to metric for the run is beyond me, but that is the way it is done. Proceeds from the even are going to help cancer research.

Training for my first triathlon has been interesting. I had already been swimming and cycling, so I was not to worried about those two events. However, I have recently switched to minimalist running, and as such, have not built back up my running endurance length. That means that I have to get back up to the 3.1 mile distance before the 21st. The last run that I did was 2.75 miles at a 9:00min per mile pace. This is not bad, but the distance needs to be at least 3.1 miles. I would prefer to be running 4 – 5 miles, but I will have to work up to that point.

At work I was bombarded by some guys that road ride about joining them for some rides. At first I blew them off, but the more I thought about it the more I thought that it might be nice to get back on a road bike again. I continued to push back, but slowly started to waiver.

Years ago, and by years ago I am talking about 1988, I used to own a road bike. I remembered the rides that my brother and I would go on, and how much fun they were, but for the past 4 years I have been solidly into mountain biking. What fun could come from doing a road ride? However, there was always something that I enjoyed about going for a ride and the wind in my hair.

And then recently I started running and swimming again. People started taking note, and asking me if I was training for a triathlon. I have been doing 6 hour endurance bike races, but they take all day, and I always putter out at 4 hours. Plus, I just do not have the time to train for that.