Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Reality Check

Yesterday afternoon my nephew called me.

“Aunt Meredith, do you want to go swimming with us?”

From there it became a 5 minute long conversation of, “when?” “Swimming!” “J, when?” “Swimming!” “No, J, when?” “Swimming!!” “J, put your mother on the phone.”

The kids wanted me to join them at the Y, where Amy and I would work out first and then join the whole family for swimming. I thought, well I can get in my nice easy run while Amy is walking beside me on the treadmill, then I’ll play with the kids for a while, and finish with my 2000 yard swim I had scheduled. After 27 years of having a sister, I should know there is no planning with Amy.

As I meet her at the Y she says to me, “do you want to take a cycling class with me?” Oh crap! I wasn’t prepared for a cycling class. Not only I had done an 11 mile threshold run on Monday, I only had a pair of running shorts with me. The class was small and not all that intimidating (you know what I’m talking about). The teacher was intense, though. She would say things like, “turn your dial to the right two times.” TWO TIMES! By the end of the class I thought I was going to throw up and had to spend the last 15 minutes just pedaling it out in the seated position.

You know, I have these grand plans: do a half Ironman this summer, do the full Ironman next summer, but I guess I didn’t fully think out what the heck I was getting into when I decided to make these plans. Truly, I haven’t been on a bike in three years. That includes not even taking a spinning class. And, oh yeah, I don’t particularly like to ride a bike. If I can’t handle a one hour spinning class, how in the world am I supposed to ride my bike for 7-8 hours and then run a marathon?

Today, I’m a little bit more nervous about all this than I was yesterday.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

baby steps, m, baby steps. you're talking about an event that over a year away. you forget about the dynamic of the sport and how cycling doesn't beat the body up like running does.

plus, spinning is not at all like road riding.

are you coming down off the ledge, yet? im austria looks much more manageable from this perspective. ;)

Meredith said...

Did Jeff just publically announce that it's IM Austria that we're doing?!

Tomorrow Dave and I get fitted for our bikes and get to take them home with us for the first time. I'll reevaluate how I feel after my first ride on my own bike.

TRI TO BE FUNNY said...

You will amaze yourself with every workout. Don't worry--no one can fathom their first Ironman until they're in the throes of training! I'm four weeks out from my first one, and have no idea how I'm going to finish! I just know I will!!

Dave said...

Jeff, I told her that last night (that spinning isn't the same), but she didn't listen. Maybe a second opinion will help. :)

Jeff said...

Well, I can't say much about the swim or the run. I can say though that several years back, when I was horribly out of shape and quite over-weight, I biked 50 miles in a day. I have full confidence that it will prove to be a non-issue for someone like you!