"Perrine is Doing a Triathlon!!??"

Ya- I've been hearing the comments.  If it's not behind my back, then it is more subtle- like a the reaction I got from a good friend the other day who said “next year – right”?

No not “next year”.  This year- as in June 1, 2008.

What is amusing to me is that I am going in to this triathlon as (what is known in the business) a “Clydesdale” - which is to say, an overweight male.  The definition of a Clydesdale is a male over 200 pounds.  At 295 pounds at this very second, that puts me firmly in the “overweight Clydesdale” category I would guess.  On the optimistic side I plan to be 270 by the time June 1st rolls around.  

Since I got my new bike last week there has been no opportunity to ride it with the snow and cold.  So a few days ago I put the bike in the car and while in Big Rapids, MI found a church parking lot with no snow.  So I donned the gear and rode around in circles trying to figure out the gearing.  It was about 34 degrees.  Yesterday I found a secret location right here in Gaylord that is snow-free and clean pavement with no debris and almost no traffic.  So I will start training there.  By the way, the bike is a Giant OCR A0 which is great- but I have to get use to the seat negotiating my substantial derrière'.

On the swimming scene- I swam 1,450 yards yesterday.  It was half of what the Master's swim group did (2,900 yards) – but since they are all doing full triathlons and I'm doing a sprint- I cut everything in half.  More than likely, I will do the same full practice that they are doing soon.  It only makes sense since it improves stamina, cardio endurance and makes me   a better swimmer.

This morning I looked at the statistics for the Seahorse Triathlon from last year.  The fastest swimmer (and overall winner) did the 550 yard swim in 7:33.  What is exciting is that I CAN DO THAT!  But, that would be an all out sprint for me and ruin me for the rest of the race.  The winner (a guy named Matt) also killed the competition in the 3.25 mile run at 20:58 which is a pace of 6:45 minutes per mile!  My pace right now with a rested body is 14 minutes per mile – more than double Matt's.  I have a LONG way to go on the running thing.

I'm not really sure on my biking yet.  Matt did the 12.4 miles in 32:07 at a pace of 24.3mph.  I will have to make the adjustment from the gym bike where you sit back and pedal forward – to the real thing.  I'm not sure how that will effect my leg muscles.

On the Clydesdale rankings of the Seahorse Triathlon the winner was a guy named Jonah who did the whole thing in 1:17:45.  A realistic finish time for me at this point would be 1:30:00 or something close to that.  In the same rankings, the slowest overall time was 2:15:13.  I KNOW I can beat that- so at least I won't be last in this gig.

So for all you naysayers out there – watch me finish this thing.

Oh and for you, mom.  I had my doctors check-up yesterday and they did a urine test and EKG heart test among other things.  My heart is in normal condition (no problems) and my urine had no glucose in it!  Which may sound benign to you- but for me (a diabetic) whose glycohemoglobin has been terrible (over 10.0) and with high blood sugars for the last 6 years- that was awesome to hear!  Still, the doctor said that it is routine to get a EKG stress test after the age of 35- so that is what he schedule for me at the hospital.  If that goes well, too, I will consider it a “clean” bill of health to pursue my new “triathlon lifestyle”.

By the way- when the doctor did the feather on the feet test to check for diabetic nerve damage (numbness)- I felt every tickle.  He said that no diabetic he had tested in the last few weeks had done as well as me.  So that is good news!  Plus no signs of retinopathy in the eye test.  Granted it was a quick un-dilated test- but I'll go with that for now.