Tri Shorts

I bought my first pair of tri shorts today. Tri Shorts are a combination swim trunk and bicycle short. It was very intimidating buying them. There were so many choices. From length and material to leg grips and chamois. I was a little overwhelmed. I decided on the cheapest pair they had in the length I want. They were made by Sugoi. I love the name it reminds me of a scary store My grandfather Mosu` used to tell about the Strugoi. That's something for a different day. I figured I'll probably need to buy more down the road and at that point I'll know what I want in a Tri Short.
The other really intimidating part was discussing my triathlon goals with the people in the shop. if you go to a running store and tell some one that your training for a marathon they say "That's great! Good Luck." When you tell some one that you're training for an Ironman they ask "Are you sure you want to do that it's really hard." As if I wasn't aware that training would be hard. But in the end I have the shorts they feel great. I went out for a combo ride/swim and they preformed well.

Setting Early Goals

Over the weekend I started setting some early goals. The major training for an Ironman is 26 weeks or about six months. I'll need to be in a lot better shape before I start. So I've set some goals for the first 3 months:
- Be able to swim 2.5 miles
- Be able to bike 125 miles
- Be able to run a Marathon (I've done this)
- Be able to exercise for 5-6 hours
I'll re-visit this list on July 1st and see if I'm there.

In the mean time I've got my first ever triathlon coming up in two weeks. This one will be a quarter ironman triathlon. That's a .6 mile swim, a 28 mile bike and a 6.5 mile run. I'm definitely nervous about this race. I want it to go well and kick off the Ironman quest with a bang. I have to admit I'm most nervous about the swim. I'm least nervous about the bike because I've been cycling a lot recently. Also having done a Marathon in February I've been giving running a rest so I may be a little rusty there. Overall though I'm very excited.

Terrified

So I did it. I took the first step. I've been thinking about doing an Ironman Triathlon since I finished my first marathon. For anyone who doesn't know, an Ironman is a triathlon that involves a 2.4 mile swim followed by 112 mile bike ride and finishing with a Marathon 26.2 mile run. Just writing that gives me pause.
So today I registered for the event. I'll be competing in the Ford Ironman St George in Utah. This is by far the craziest thing I've ever gotten involved in. I'm starting this blog to chronicle my journey. I realize that there are about 1264 things I need to do between now and May 1, 2010 and I'm on step one. I invite you to share in the journey.