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!

Rainstorm!

I rode my bicycle home in a complete downpour today. I'm talking all out thunder, lightning, and rain the entire 7 miles. At one point, I was crossing the Stone Arch Bridge when lightning lit up the sky, and I could see clearly (maybe a little too clearly) how fast the water was rushing below.

I usually hate the rain on all occasions, and that is because it's always raining when I need to reach a destination for an event. Example, riding my bike to meet someone for happy hour and it starts raining. Then I show up with crazy hair, generally feeling angry at the world. However, on rare occasions when the only place I am riding is home, I LOVE the rain. I think bicycling in the rain is exciting. I roar through as many puddles as possible, relish in being soaked down to my underwear, and generally just enjoy the overall experience. Tonight's experience was topped off by the fact that I had the foresight to bring my new Cannondale jacket, purchased from the REI Outlet and it was AWESOME. It kept my upper half completely dry and protected from the wind. My arms did feel a little warm, but I think that had a lot to do with the fact that I was wearing a tank top and my bare skin was sweating against the fabric.

I was supposed to run 37 minutes today as part of training. After that ride, I quickly changed (it was 9:15 and my gym closes at 10), drove to the gym in the storm, and ran for eh, 20 minutes before I said eff this I'm tired. I only feel sorta bad for skimping on the run because I did so much bicycling today. But I'm justifying my laziness, which needs to stop immediately. As much as I thought I had fixed my mental block about running, it is still the activity that I dread the most out of the three.

Moving = Exercise?

Working out this week has been seriously hindered by the fact that I'm moving to a different apartment this weekend and have been slowly but surely packing up all my stuff each night after school. I had been feeling really badly about not running as planned, BUT THEN my cousin told me about this fun moving company in Chicago called Move-tastic! The movers are triathletes who run back and forth from your apartment to their truck. It's a speedy move and it sounds like they get a lot of exercise too. GENIUS.

Therefore, this Saturday, I will be re-creating my own Move-tastic company as I run back and forth to my Uhaul trailer. And it won't just be for exercise. Oh, you haven't seen the forecast? Yeah, it's supposed to rain...


Have I ever mentioned how much I HATE rain?!