Clueless Runner: Attempting a Triathlon

Fish. Out. Of. Water.

I should probably stick to running! I see why sometimes 'pure-ist' runners don't mesh with with triathlons/triathletes. The mentality/experience is a whole different ball game.

How did my triathlon go? Well, it was hard, but fine.
After the race was over, I felt way more exhausted--and beat up--than I did after 26.2 miles of running. And I did the short version of the sport.

Here are some pics:

Everything about my experience=awkward.

Mentally?
Huge difference between runners and triathletes. I see that now.

Also, triathletes I feel are more about crossing it off the list, whereas running is a release. As a list-crosser-off-er, I enjoyed the training! I had so much fun swimming and it even turned into another love of mine. Training for the swim/run of this race was actually a blast, and it was fun to switch it up. I also gained a ton of muscle and thus gained some weight in the process, which is again another awkward for me who is used to the opposite happening in running.


Training Summary.
Cindy's Bicycle: 1 Cindy: 0.
Well, I definitely did train. For the swimming. Alone.  I focused my energy on swimming--assuming it was the hardest part. Well, I ended up being able to swim a mile in 45-50minutes after a month of training. However, my Awkward Race went something like this.....

PANIC--okay--Swim, swim, swim--Lost nose clip PANIC--Swim, swim, swim. Where am I--Right, Out of pool, PANIC,  Run, run, run. Find bicycle, put on gear, What the heck am I supposed to do now, Right, Bike, bike bike. Still on bike, it's been 25freakin minutes are you serious, Bike, bike, bike. Am I still on this thing,  What's that,  I have to do TWO loops, why did I sign up for this, Another hill, no way. Getting off bike, running with bike up hill, now I'm making some progress. Other cyclist sees me, gets of his bike, does the same, We're all running with our bikes this is ridiculous. Get back on bike, finish loop, find bike rack, Get off bike, What the **** happened to my legs, Oh my gosh My legs are gone,  Knees hurt, Keep going, run, run, run......Finish.

Collapse.

And I came out alive but minus one buttock. Whatever, I'll do it again I know. Even though nothing about triathlons feel 'natural' or 'normal' to me, it was a fun and challenging experience I wouldn't mind doing again before baby #2.