Why I Tri

After suffering some 600 miles of training runs over 5 months and surviving SD RocknRoll Marathon in June, 2011, I decided the single sport of pounding the pavement was just not worth the glory so I reached out to triathlons.  I watched the Mission Bay Sprint and was amazed at the variety of fitness but the transitions scared me the most.  I was terrified and excited to figure out this puzzle as soon as possible but I am a type A scheduler so I needed a plan.  I started with TCSD Cares through the TriClub San Diego. With a charity donation of $350, they mentored and taught me everything about triathlons over 8 wks.... Coach Steve even held on to me when I was jumping in over my head! My first beginner club race in June was the greatest adrenaline rush ever! I thought I was an Ironman after 250M swim, 7 mile bike, and 2 mile run!  It was exhausting and I probably ate more calories than I burned at the incredible breakfast buffett where I was introduced to Dawn's bread pudding and now I race for it every time we have a club event.  It literally gets me around the last loop knowing I need the calorie burn to eat the bread pudding without guilt! Since my first baby tri in June 2011, I finished my first half ironman 10 months later and 70.3 miles in Oceanside March, 2011.  Looking back, I feel like I learned at the speed of light from so many wonderful TCSD mentors and blogs and Facebook groups. TCSD is the most amazing connection of people that I have ever found.  I feel so priviledged to be part of this group and I just love giving back too.  After the TCSD Cares team completed their Sprint in Solana Beach in July, suddenly the peer pressure got strong to race at the Oceanside 70.3 event.  I was terrified but eventually gave in and worked really hard to step up my game.  I really need to go back and build that race report so I can reflect on it when I repeat it in March, 2013.  I can say I did a lot of things right and a lot of things wrong and that's what I'm working on in 2012!  here's my path to revenge....

1. SWIM: Try a variety of swim coaches and focus on learning technique for efficiency and speed. Goal: swim 2.4 miles within 2:20 cutoff at the TikiSwim on Sept 30, 2012 (secret goal unde 2 hrs). Get a structured swim schedule. Learn all 4 strokes for variety. BEAT 53:29 at Oceanside 2013
2. BIKE: Conquer short sharp grade hills. That first hill at mile 28 kicked my ass. I had to walk up half of it during the race. GOAL: Ride repeats on Randall/Pacifica until it seems easy. Ride atleast 112 miles at one time. Raise comfort base to 40 miles minimum rides. BEAT 3:31 at Oceanside 2013
3. RUN: Push harder, further, hillier especially when you are tired.  Time to finally get that foot surgery so running isn't so painful. GOAL: Run a half marathon every month. Run one back to back weekend (2 halfs in 48 hours).  Raise base by running 6 miles minimum every run. BEAT 3:08 at Oceanside 2013 (and run foot pain free)

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:
April 2012:  Medio Fondo 60mi ride, La Jolla Half run
May 2012:   OC Half run, SD Century 105 mile ride
June 2012:   Training Ride 116 mi, SDIT tri, Mojave Narrows Half run
July 2012:    Scripps 50mi ride, SF First Half
Aug 2012:    Chula Vista Challenge Oly tri, AFC Half
Sep 2012:    Disney Half, SD Classic Oly tri, Giro di SD 66 mi ride, SD Women's Half, Tikiswim 2.4mi.... and celebrate my new age group bracket! Go 50's!
Oct 2012:    Long Beach Half
Nov 2012:   SB half/Malibu Half... Foot surgery :(
Dec 2012:  Recovery, water exercises
Jan 2013:   Recovery, water excercises, stationery cycling
Feb 2013:  Surf City Half -Huntington Beach
Mar 2013: Superseal Oly tri (revenge on Mother Nature), Oceanside 70.3 Revenge and BEAT 7:45

Let the rewards begin.....

"MY BODY IS IN TRAINING....IT WILL ADJUST... OR I WILL KILL IT!"

by Sharon Chaix