An Exercise in Exercise

An Exercise in Exercise

(My mini-triathlon)

This past weekend, my two sisters (Sue and Lauren) and I, along with about 60 other people, participated in a mini-triathlon in Duncan Oklahoma.  I’ve always been a pretty decent athlete, and I typically enjoy exercise, so this seemed like a good way to start the year.  For those who don’t know what a mini-triathlon includes (I didn’t until lately), it involves a 300 meter swim, an 8 miles bike ride, and a 5k run.  As this event  is all done inside, February is a good time for it.  This one was hosted in Duncan’s Simmons Center, which is a nice facility.

Sue, my sister from Amarillo, had done a mini-triathlon last year, and enjoyed the event.  She challenged (my sister) Lauren, and (my brother) Andrew, and I to join here this year.  As I was a pretty good swimmer (many, many) years ago, and I still work out with both spinning classes and running, I thought that I would be able to pull this off.  After the first of the year, I started serious training in each event, and worked on building up my endurance for the combo of the three.  I’ll briefly discuss each event, and my training regime.

The race started at 6:30 AM, so Sue, Lauren and I met at Lauren’s house in Chickasha on Saturday night for carb-loading.  We had spaghetti, salad, and Jell-O with blueberries, for dessert.

I was an Oklahoma state champion in swimming way back in 1976.  Back in “the day”, I could swim 100m in just under a minute.  I was definitely a sprinter, meaning that I would fade fast as the distance increased.  The swim was a 300m swim, snake-style, up and down the pool for 6 laps (or 12 lengths).  For training, I swam 500-660m two-three times a week, since January.  I hoped that I would be able to do the 300m in about 6 minutes, and I did really well, finishing in 5 minutes and 20 seconds.  This was the strong suit of my race.  In-fact, only one swimmer beat my time, and he was 19 years old.  As pleased as I was with my own performance, I was awed by Lauren’s.  She finished just a few seconds behind me, and if it weren’t for the trouble she had getting out of the pool, she might have beaten me!

The biking was done on a stationary bike, for 8 miles.  To train, I attended spinning classes, about once a week, in which you ride the bike anywhere from 8-15 miles in under an hour.  I had hoped to do this 8 mile ride in about 20 minutes, as I was pedaling at low resistance.  I did get a bit of a cramp in one calf about halfway through, but still finished in a decent split of 22 minutes for the 8 mile ride.  The transition time between the swim and bike was about 5 minutes, but I started breathing hard after only a mile or so.  I jumped off the bike dripping sweat, but I did get to drink down a Gatorade before moving to the run.  Sue had a nice run on her bike, beating a number of competitors.

Last on the list was the run.  It’s a 5k, or 3.1 mile route on an indoor running track.  I do not like to run, period.  I do not like to train to run, double period.  Last year, I ran two 5K races, one as part of the Memorial Marathon relay and one as part of the Turkey Trot.  Both of these were outdoors, with hills, and unpredictable weather.  What’s to complain about running on a nice, smooth, indoor, level track, right?  Still, I died!  After swimming and biking, my legs were worn out after only a mile or so.  I ran this 5k in just under 31 minutes.  My split time for the Memorial Marathon (outdoors, in weather) was 29:57, so considering that I had already done the swim and bike, I should be happy with the 31 minute time.  But I know that I was really tired, and I had to walk a few of the 33 laps around the track.  I was ever so glad when the race was over!

In all, I accomplished my goal of beating a one hour time, by finishing in 58 minutes and 20 seconds!  Woohoo!  I was also lucky enough to win first place in my age group, so I got a gold medal.  Had I been 55 years old, instead of 54, I would have finished third in my age group!  I was very proud of my sisters too.  Sue finished first in here age group, and Lauren finished second in hers.  I think we all agreed that the woman who beat Lauren was really a robot.  In all, it was a fun experience and I’m glad we did it together.  Whether I’m crazy enough to ever do it again is debatable!  We’ll see

So you know what I did on my weekend.  What did you do on yours?