If you've ever considered doing a triathlon, I can tell you that it's an amazing thing! The training requires lots of dedication, but the feeling you get when you finish is like no other.

Danskin offers a great entry-level triathlon, which I will be doing in just under two weeks (August 26th). It's super supportive! Their motto is great, too:

The woman who starts the race is not the same woman who finishes the race.

It's so true! Once I finished my first tri, I started believing that I could do anything I set my mind to do.

I've been sidelined for a few years from injuries that required surgery (not from triathlons!). So I'm really excited and nervous about my first triathlon since 2009.

Tonight I did a test run as part of my training. I did 35 minutes on the bike, 18 minutes running, and 18 minutes swimming. I used a programmable spin bike for the first time ever - that was fun, but hard! It wiped my legs out, but I still managed to do 1/4-mile intervals at 12-minute miles. By the time I hit the pool, I was slowing down a lot. But I finished it all and treated myself to a nice stretch session.

I managed 10.1 hilly miles on the bike, 1.3 miles on the run, and .33 miles in the pool. If I perform at the same speeds during the race, I'll hit these times:

1/2-mile swim: 27.5 minutes
12.4-mile bike: 43 minutes
3.1-mile run: 43 minutes

My goal is to finish in less than 120 minutes, so that leaves me a 6-minute buffer for the transitions (getting from the swim to the bike, and then from the bike to the run). That's a little tight, but I think on race day I'll perform a bit faster. It's hard to be on peak performance after a long day at work!

With such a great workout tonight, I'm now more excited than nervous about the race! I feel fantastic. I want to recruit people so they can feel this great, too!

Care to join me?