Impromptu Triathlon

Having set my sights on the Square Lake Triathlon in September, I settled back into the usual humdrum of law school and exercising when I had time or the weather cooperated. Enter Ann, a fellow law student and great friend, the Fruit at the Finish Triathlon, and why I decided to enter.

First, the chance to see the St. Johns/St. Bens campus, which I have heard about since my relocation to the Twin Cities was a huge incentive for participating. The bike and run course were to wrap through campus, the Lake Wobegon Trail, into the school arboretum and throughout a set of woods. A lovely way to start a spring morning in April!

Next, I was tempted by the indoor swim. April is way too cold for lake swimming in Minnesota, and I am still pretty scared of unknown lake creatures lurking in the depths. I can't do flip turns, but I knew my swim time in a pool would be far faster than my lake time last summer.

Ann also assured me that this was a relaxed race, not that competitive, and a great way to start the season. I was initially a little nervous, because I haven't been training anywhere near as hard as I did last summer, but with those words of assurance, I paid my $17 and made the commitment!

Flash forward to April 30. Minnesota is inundated with severe storms and heavy downpours. We drove to St. Johns hoping the entire ride that the rain would stop and we would have the sunny spring day we had planned on. The rain did eventually stop...2 hours after we had finished the triathlon. Competing in this so-called relaxed triathlon turned out to be one of the most hardcore things I have ever done. The swim was great, but the bike ride. Oh, the bike ride. Limited visibility, high winds, CROSS winds, cold, stinging rain, slick surfaces, it was nuts. By the time we got off our bikes and began the 5K, my feet were numb and my legs felt like sandbags.

But you know what faithful readers? This is just one more testament to willpower and friendship. Ann and I did the race side-by-side, had a FANTASTIC time, horrible weather aside, and the excitement from the race kept me in high spirits throughout the rest of the weekend, which during law school finals is saying a lot. I saw a bald eagle and heard about a million frogs chirping to each other, totally loving the rain. Now I'm concerned that the Square Lake tri might be too far away for my increased triathlon appetite, and I'm looking for a June or July race!

52 Degrees in the Twin Cities

Having become obsessed with the ten day forecast upon my move to Minnesota, I use this weather predicting feature fairly often to plan outdoor events. Today was no different. Knowing it was going to be in the 50s, I scheduled a run with Claire earlier this week, and we had a really great run together this morning along the Mississippi River. We were both working off hangovers, and today's run proved to be a satisfactory treatment.

Running with Claire is great, because she keeps a good pace, challenges me to pick up my speed, and we don't get to see each other too often, so we chat the whole run and the time just flies by. I canceled my gym membership earlier this week, so my last day at the gym is going to be April 14. But between scheduling running dates with Claire, and Rachael, who I run fairly often with as well, I think I will have ample opportunities to exercise. Claire is running her first 10K next week, Rachael signed up for a half marathon, and another friend, Lanser, is competing in her first triathlon this summer! Working towards my new triathlon goals and having some friends to keep me accountable is going to make this summer especially productive.

Second Open Water Swim

Last night I attempted another open water swim in anticipation of my upcoming triathlon. While I am hesitant to say it went well, I will say that the experience was much better than swimming in Cedar Lake. I drove up to Clear Lake, MN with my friend, Phillip, and after surviving torrential downpours and flash flooding in Maple Grove, we finally it there around 7:30 pm. The section of the lake we were swimming was .4 mile, and I thought once we swam that leg, we would have a leisurely break on the beach and then swim back. Just kidding. Because once you swim out the .4 mile across the lake, there isn't a beach or place to exit. So we just had to turn around and swim back immediately. It felt like we had been swimming forever, and for one of the first times in my life, the thought of drowning briefly crossed my mind. Then Phillip reminded me that we had only been swimming for 17 minutes, and I realized I was being a HUGE baby and started swimming again.

While I was swimming, I tried practicing sighting, which involves turning your head forward to see where you are on the course, as you take a breath. It is definitely a practiced skill, but I was happy to try it out in open water, because going off course means being in the water longer, and I would very much prefer to be in the lake the shortest amount of time as possible. As I was swimming back to the beach on the second leg of the swim, I found myself thinking how great it would be to be a dolphin and have sonar. While this lake was clearer than Cedar Lake, I still could not see anything in front of me while my face was in the water, and I was slightly, read majorly, fearful of swimming directly into a sunken tree or a school of piranhas. I definitely felt more confident when I was swimming beside Phillip, which gives me hope that during the race, I will actually seek comfort in the fact that swimmers are close to me, rather than claustrophobia, which I have been anticipating feeling. Plus, all that splashing from others will drive away any creatures in the lake, right?

Bicycle Ride to Hopkins

After work yesterday, I completed a bicycle ride to Hopkins, MN and back. The ride took about 70 minutes, including time spent stopping to take pictures. I wore my bicycle jersey that I purchased at the Microsoft campus when I was in Seattle in March. Actually, Giul and I bought these together - twinsies! As you can see, it's not nerdy at all and obviously something that only very sexy, cool people wear while bicycling.

Anyway, this was the first time I had ridden to Hopkins and back by myself, and I was mildly nervous about getting lost. But with the help of my friend, Lee, I wrote down some detailed directions on a scrap of paper, stuck it in the nifty back pockets of my jersey and was off. I referred to the directions a couple times on the ride, but really they served as a safety blanket, because I was always going the right way and recognized the turns and trail changes from my previous rides.

As evidence of my dedication to this blog, I remembered to bring my camera along for the ride and capture one of my favorite parts. This is a beautiful tunnel on the North Cedar Lake Trail (obviously), and it's a lot of fun to ride a bike through. The temperature drops, you're momentarily sheltered from wind and outside sounds become muffled. It also separates two distinct worlds: the forest you can vaguely see at the other end of the tunnel and a series of baseball fields and starter homes on the other side out of view. The baseball fields were packed last night with kids in uniforms and parents perched on top of coolers. Summer in Minnesota really is one of my favorite times of the year. I mean it's not Christmas or my birthday, but it really is a close third.

First Triathlon

So last spring I was eating a bowl of Wheaties for breakfast (already off to a great start with my diet btw!), and as I sat there spooning the bowl...read third... into my mouth, I read about Hunter Kemper. Prior to this day, I had never imagined doing a triathlon. Triathlons fell into the category of impossible things like marathons, speed skating, dancing, etc. Things that my body cannot do basically.

Sure I was on the track team in high school, but I joined to hang out with my friends and let's face it, I threw javelin, and I sucked at it. My favorite days were when we got to stab pop cans with javelins in an attempt to improve "aim" and "return to our cave man roots." In college I mainly worked out at our campus gym, but that workout schedule strictly evolved around the days when I was not hungover.

In an attempt to try a team sport (my concern with maintaining a firm sense of a physical personal space boundary kept sports that involve other people from being "my thing"), I joined the law firm softball team where I was working one summer. This short lived attempt ended with a black eye and the nickname, Rocky, for the rest of the summer. Real professional, guys. Oh yeah, and I got this shiner during "practice" when a paralegal threw a pop-up towards me. Biatch.


I bought my first bicycle in college to avoid riding the metro or paying for cabs in DC, and somewhere along the way, I really began to enjoy bicycling. Likewise, swimming has always been fun. I was a lifeguard in high school and could swim the distances required for weekly trainings, but I was always last. Never mastered that flip turn. So, reading about Kemper inspired me to challenge myself and work off some of those cheese curds. I actually enjoy two of the three aspects involved in the competition, and after a brief Google search, I found plenty of triathlons in Minnesota.

The real journey here will be developing endurance, and hopefully, an affection for running. I have always been a fan of the brisk walk. I bust it out on city sidewalks and the hallways of the Mall of America alike. No one can hustle it to make an elevator like me. My 7th grade gym/health teacher once told our class that you could burn just as many calories running as walking the same distance, and as much as I've tried to forget the Richard Simons dances we were forced to learn, I have kept that simple equation (running calories = walking calories) at the forefront of my mind. Until NOW.

Dissuaded about the amount of time I would have to prepare, I delayed participating in a triathlon until this year. I sent in my registration and $65 fee last week and IT HAS BEGUN. Thus far, my training has consisted of running/walking around Lake of the Isles or Lake Calhoun and attending a 90 minute hot yoga class. I'll be participating in the St. Paul Triathlon, sprint distance, and I am hopeful! 160 days until race day. Stay tuned!