I'm gonna TRI it

So this weekend is my first ever triathlon. whew. i get a little woozy just thinking about it. my goal for the event is to finish ... and not finish like 30 minutes behind the person in front of me. finishing last is ok, as long as it's a reasonable last.

i am extremely nervous and apprehensive about the swim, and have been having dreams about creating an efficient transition area. lol. but in all seriousness, i know i can finish the event, and i know it won't kill me, and that's all that matters.

you know, it hasn't even been a year since i woke up one morning and thought, "hey, i want to do a triathlon next season." i didn't really start thinking much about it till mid-summer, when debbie and i decided we'd start a running program. she used to run a lot in college, but me? never. i had never run for more than like 3 minutes in my entire life. i tried before to learn to run, thinking it would improve my cycling, but after one run session (of three minute intervals) i hurt so bad i never tried again ... until last summer. so we started this walk/run program that was really tough, but it followed a specific plan, and this suited my anal-retentive planning needs, and so it stuck. so now i can run about 4 miles before i keel over. i try not to often toot my own horn, but i'm damn proud of myself for making that long-ago goal a reality come this weekend. and i know 4 miles doesn't sound like alot, but we're each different and have different talents and abilities. running was never one of mine. just knowing i can now do it gives me a great sense of pride in myself.

so enough of the yeah renee, and back to the nerves. the bike will be no problem. i could ride around that park all day -- ha! and i did last weekend! the swim has me scared. seriously. i'm afraid that the adrenaline, coupled with the cold water, and the asthma has me a little freaked out. it didn't help that i got online and read all this stuff about how you get kicked in the head and your goggles sometimes come off during a mass start. great. but aside from the physical assaults, i'm worried that i'll get out there, waaaay out there, and have an asthma attack. there's no side to float over to. there's no inhaler close at hand. and if i stop swimming, i'm going to get run over by the 4th wave of swimmers, who start behind me. so what do i do? (insert plea for advice here) i've practiced at the pool trying to fight through the asthma with a change in stroke. side crawl seems to work the best. but then again, maybe i'll just doggy paddle. :)