Triathlon Tryout with Trek
I heard grad school admissions love to see their candidates complete the U.S. Triathlon. (proves that you have what it takes to succeed or is it because you live a healthy life?) If you’ve never heard of the triathlon, you must have heard of the Ironman.
A triathlon is an athletic event made up of three contests (from the Greek). In contemporary usage, the name triathlon is mostly applied to a combination of swimming, cycling and running, in that order.
Since I’ve completed the two marathons in 2005, I decided to challenge myself to register for the sprint version of the triathlon, followed by the olympic version, back to back.
To get started, I started the cycling training with a new bike.
The bicycle gave me a new meaning to go to the library, super market, post office, you name it. The last time I sat on a bike was at Santa Monica beach riding as a recreational sport. This time it is all about endurance and agility. I choose the curviest walkway, painful uphills, and the sunniest day to go bike riding. The bike does ride very well but not very comfortable with its current suspension, could be because it is a hybrid bike.
As easy it may sound, without the proper training and discipline, it will be one hell of an experience. Swimming in itself can be challenging and breath-taking depending on your physical conditions. No time to lose (but catch some breath) as you’ll need to transition right away into cycling. An interesting rule I read on the wikipedia page is the ‘no drafting’ rule. If you watch Tour de France and other famous cycling competitions, you commonly see a bunch of cyclists peddling together as a group. “Also known as the peloton, bunch or pack is the large main group in a road bicycle race.Riders in a group save energy by riding close (drafting) near (particularly behind) other riders. The peloton travels as an integrated unit, like birds flying in formation, each rider making slight adjustments in response to the riders around them.
The real challenge is the final transition into running. Your body has gone through rigorous and muscle-aching events. Do you think you have enough juice?
