Back in July I went and watched my friend Matt participate in the Spudman. The Spudman is the local triathalon considered "Olympic distance" consisting of 1.5 km (0.93 mi) run, 40 km (24.8 mi) bike, and a 10 km (6.2 mi) run. Also known as "international distance", "standard course", or "short course". Watching Matt and the other athletes made me think that if I really wanted to, I could do the Spudman. Heck, I played sports in high school and still played basketball during the winter. Sure, I have gained some weight since high school (40 lbs.) and my main form of exercise is mowing my lawn. Not to mention that the last time I swam 1 mile was for the swim check at Camp Bradley when I was 13 years old. I rode a bike alot on my mission, but that has been over 10 years ago now. The main thing that I am worried about is the bike portion. Most everyone that partcipates in the event rides a road bike or a tri bike....I don't have any bike.
A week after the Spudman, Andrea and I had gone down to Utah for our anniversary and we stayed with her Uncle John and Aunt Leslie. John use to ride alot and has a road bike hanging in his garage. In visiting with them we were talking about some of the rides that he went on and I mentioned that I was thinking about training for the Spudman. I asked if he would be willing to sell his bike. Without hesitation, he said that I could just have it. That is how
I got a free bike. Now, this bike needs some work to get it up to riding condition. I have spent $110 on new tubes and tires, handlebar wrap, $27 for new pedals, and $20 for a wireless bike computer. I have a neighbor that has offered to sell me his helmet for $50, but that will have to wait until next month. Andrea's cheap flower helmet will have to do for now.
A week after the Spudman, Andrea and I had gone down to Utah for our anniversary and we stayed with her Uncle John and Aunt Leslie. John use to ride alot and has a road bike hanging in his garage. In visiting with them we were talking about some of the rides that he went on and I mentioned that I was thinking about training for the Spudman. I asked if he would be willing to sell his bike. Without hesitation, he said that I could just have it. That is how
I got a free bike. Now, this bike needs some work to get it up to riding condition. I have spent $110 on new tubes and tires, handlebar wrap, $27 for new pedals, and $20 for a wireless bike computer. I have a neighbor that has offered to sell me his helmet for $50, but that will have to wait until next month. Andrea's cheap flower helmet will have to do for now. I have decided to keep a diary of my training to see my progress and to get some tips from anyone out there that has or is training for a triathalon. I think that the swimming part will be the hardest part to train for, so I will focus on biking and running for now and worry about the swim when the Spudman gets closer. The next Spudman is July 31, 2010 and the registration opens on January 4, 2010. With fall upon us, I will not have much time to train until it is time to register. I started riding last night, but it was a short ride and I was testing my new computer. Tonight was my first official ride and here were my stats:
Distance: 3.607 miles
Time: 15:17 minutes
Max Speed: 23.2 mph
Avg. Speed: 14.3 mph
Calories burned: 187.1
Fat Grams burned: 22.2
Weight: 215 lbs.
I went hometeaching tonight, so I didn't start until about 8:30 pm and the sun was just setting. I rode down our street and turned E. on 27th, stayed E. on 100 s road, S. on 150 E. road. I had downshifted and when I upshifted, I lost my chain. I forgot to mention that the bike is a 21 speed, with the shifters on the uptube, so I found out that you have to get the levers just right or they rub on the chain, and if you go too far, it throws the chain off. The chain got stuck between the rear sprocket and the frame, and I had to pull on it pretty hard to get it unstuck. My hands were black with grease, so I walked into the potato field and washed them off with the sprinkler. I decided when I got back to my bike that it was too dark and I had better head back home. I got home and was pretty spent. My legs are pretty sore and I was sweating pretty good. I am so out of shape that I am not sure what my goal should be. I guess that I need to do some research on training to see what I should be shooting for. Keep you posted.
Distance: 3.607 miles
Time: 15:17 minutes
Max Speed: 23.2 mph
Avg. Speed: 14.3 mph
Calories burned: 187.1
Fat Grams burned: 22.2
Weight: 215 lbs.
I went hometeaching tonight, so I didn't start until about 8:30 pm and the sun was just setting. I rode down our street and turned E. on 27th, stayed E. on 100 s road, S. on 150 E. road. I had downshifted and when I upshifted, I lost my chain. I forgot to mention that the bike is a 21 speed, with the shifters on the uptube, so I found out that you have to get the levers just right or they rub on the chain, and if you go too far, it throws the chain off. The chain got stuck between the rear sprocket and the frame, and I had to pull on it pretty hard to get it unstuck. My hands were black with grease, so I walked into the potato field and washed them off with the sprinkler. I decided when I got back to my bike that it was too dark and I had better head back home. I got home and was pretty spent. My legs are pretty sore and I was sweating pretty good. I am so out of shape that I am not sure what my goal should be. I guess that I need to do some research on training to see what I should be shooting for. Keep you posted.
2 comments:
What's with all this posting in August!!! Are you turning over a new leaf? Is this Carl?
Christy and I mentioned wanting to train for a triathalon...must be the in thing now. I think Don did the Spudman or was going to... That's awesome that you are doing this. I need to get in shape as well. My knees have been aching pretty badly since April...so much that I couldn't really walk on them somedays without them really hurting and they would wake me up in the nights throbbing. I have been taking glucosamine for about a month now and that has really helped...but they are still too sore for me to run on or play basketball anymore...it kind of worries me.
Way to go though. If I can get my knees back, I'd really like to work out more as well.
I just decided that I wanted to keep a log of my beginning riding hoping that I would be able to see my progress (hopefully) and want to keep improving and keep at the riding. If others know what I am doing it helps to keep me motivated.
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