February 19, 2010 By lisa
You remember that Monday Project a few weeks back that asked us to try something new and report back? And this week’s Monday Project that asks: Who is your kickass superhero alter-ego? What does she do? How do you channel her? When does she come out? When do you wish she came out?
Well, my answer for both Monday Projects is one and the same. I did something new on Thursday and frankly, what I did, makes me a Superhero in my eyes.
I joined The Sisterhood Olympics and took on the mini-triathlon event, along with my sisters Christie and Brook and Jessica.
What is a mini-triathlon?
- 500m swim
- 12 mile bike ride
- 3.1 mile run
One right the other after the other. Consecutively. No real rest breaks, or not much at least.
I have been toying around with the idea of trying a triathlon, but you know, LIFE got in the way, and then the training for the 1/2 marathon got in the way and I pushed all thoughts of the tri to the back burner. Until Wednesday night at 9pm when I threw caution to the wind and said to myself: I’m going to do the triathlon on Thursday. I am not going to think about the fact that I have no training WHATSOEVER in swimming or biking. I am just going for it and I WILL finish it, no matter how long it takes me.
You know what? It wasn’t so bad. Long- yes. Horrendous- no.
The swim portion of it allowed me to re-realize my love for swimming and that I am actually GOOD at it. I mean, I knew that I loved to swim and I knew that I was a natural at it, but once again, life got in the way and I had forgotten about all of that as I churned out three babies. I haven’t swam laps in a very long time and yesterday- I jumped in the water and cranked out 500m in 11:30 minutes.
Folks, I am going to toot my own horn and say that is a FANTASTIC time for someone who has not TRAINED ONE SINGLE BIT for swimming. I wasn’t even pushing myself – that was my natural, easy-going pace. I am going to go out on a limb here and say that I am 100% certain that with proper training, I could bring down that time, significantly.
The bike portion was my weakest leg, and longest leg and the one that I obviously need the most work on. I was on a stationary bike and man, was that boring. Put me on a bike outside and I think I would do much better. 12 miles in 1 hr 6 min.
The run was good- not my best, but hey, I had just come off a 12 mile bike ride and practically jumped on the treadmill and started running. My legs felt like jello, my right knee was aching a bit, and my left calf was TIRED. So yeah, not my best run but still a respectable 3.1 miles at 37.04 minutes.
My superhero swims, bikes and runs and she kicks ass and takes names while she is doing it. She doesn’t quit even when her right knee is feeling wonky. She doesn’t quit when she is bored out of her mind on the stationary bike. She doesn’t quit when she is breathing heavy while she is running. She doesn’t quit when she realizes that she has been exercising her body for 1.5+ hours non-stop.
She keeps going and refuses to QUIT.
That superhero is me and I can channel her whenever I want.
One last thing- I totally want to high five Christie, Brooke and Jessica for completing the mini triathlon with me. It was awesome to do it together, even virtually!