Introduction and Litmus Test

For arguments sake of this blog, I will assume that if you are reading this, you know who I am and that an introduction to myself is not necessary. If you did, however, stumble upon this and are curious, here are the basics...my name is Courtney. I used to write a lot for fun, but then I got older and got a job where writing isn't as common. But I still love it! I'm 25 and live in Indianapolis, IN. My life is pretty great. I have an awesome family, amazing friends, and the best boyfriend imaginable. This blog is intended to chronicle the next year or so of my life relating to a specific event... 

Introduction

I'm not a stranger to doing crazy things. In fact, for as level-headed as I am, I can definitely relate to making impulsive decisions. Here are few examples:

• Tattoo #4: I inked 'From Within' on the inside of my right ankle on impulse on May 14, 2010 after my best friend (and now boyfriend) was fired from my place of employement. It was my reminder that no matter how crappy things got, I was responsible for my own happiness.
• Vegas: Nick and I went to lunch one day with his friend Jen. She was talking about her all-inclusive trip to Mexico and I was curious how much said trip would cost. My curiosity led me to Expedia and two hours later, it led me to booking a trip to Vegas with Nick for Valentine's Day in 2013.
• iPad/Laptop: Both same-day technological purchases made after innocent inquiries into the price and whether or not I could afford them. The answer was I could...at least I could with some creative budgetting.

There are more than that in my life. I'm pretty sure that my decision to do an internship in DC was made during a walk across DePauw's very small campus. I decided to tell Nick I loved him out of the blue one night while we were making dinner - thus changing the course of our friendship and relationship for good...and for great! I bought Fiero my Ford Fiesta in the span of two hours after work one day. I just believe that when you know something, you know it. Some decisions should take time, but some of them just need to be made and dealt with.

This is one of those decisions. I am going to swim/bike/run a triathlon.

To be fair, this is not an idea I had on my own. Anyone who knows me, knows that I would NEVER come up with this idea on my own. I do not swim...I float. I do not run...I walk. But...I do ride. And I actually love to ride...more than any other form of exercise. Apparently, riding is the gateway work out.

Enter Allison. Allison is awesome. She is engaged to Nick's best friend Marshall. Allison and Marshall are the first friends that Nick introduced me to, and I think we hit it off right away - bonding over our shared interest in cycling. Because they are so very busy (Allison is a nurse and Marshall has to drive to Kokomo every day for work, plus he coaches track...oh and they are planning a wedding on top of all of that), we don't get to see them all the time, but it's always a treat when we do. Allison and Marshall are a very active and adventurous couple, and upon hearing that Nick bought a bike, they invited us to ride in the B&O Trails bike ride in Brownsburg, IN. We gladly accepted. Nick and Marshall rode the 11 mile course and Allison and I rode the 25. 

Allison and I after the 25 mile ride.

Look how attractive we look! Very accomplished, if I do say so myself. The most I had ridden before that day was 32 miles with my friend Jason. And we stopped and started a lot during that trip. I usually ride between 12 and 14 miles when I ride on my own, so for me, 25 was a lot. Plus - I had so much fun bonding with Allison. Well another awesome thing about Allison is that she's a triathlete. She's hardcore, if you can't tell. I knew this about her and admired her for it, but it was, of course, something far off and distant I could never hope or desire to achieve.

And then a week ago, Allison asked me to do one with her. I was sitting at my desk at work and I just laughed at my phone. She was crazy...I don't swim and I hate running. I told her this and being persuasive as she is, she insisted that now was the time to learn to do those things. The triathlon wasn't until August 2013, which gave us a whole year to train.

So then I looked it up...maybe she wasn't crazy. I knew that I could roll out of bed and ride the 10 miles. Which meant that I essentially had a year to learn how to swim 500M and run 3 miles. And then I knew I wanted to do it. I knew I could do it. I could learn to do these things. I saw a montage of me training and running and swimming like Michael Phelps play through my mind, all set to "Stronger" by Kanye West. He was saying, "Yeah...go get it girl." Well Mr. West is mighty convincing...so I told Allison yes.

And then I got Pink Eye, a Sinus Infection and Allergy Rhinitis. So my internal montage shifted to real-life images of me on the couch eating pudding and watching many episodes of Keeping up with the Kardashians. Weirdly, Kanye was still there saying, "Yeah...go get it girl." But I think that might have been to Kim. Either way...training was tabled. So I had a week to sit and dwell on this decision. I wasn't really sure why, but I was scared. 

I was scared because I am not a runner. Silly as it is, the swimming piece of this whole thing didn't scare me. Don't get me wrong, I know that will be the hard part. But I am not focusing on that until December or January. My initial (and very vague) training plan is this:

August - December: Run and Strength Train
January - March: Swim and Strength Train (I picked this specifically to get me in better physical shape to buy a new swim suit and better financial shape to get all appropriate equipment like goggles and a nose plug. Do I need a swimming cap? Agh...I'm not sure!)
April - August: Combine Forces...outside!

So as you can see...running is the immediate concern. I am not a runner. In fact, I HATE running. I've tried several times in my life to be a runner...and they have mostly failed. But...I never had a goal. So now, with a goal, I felt a bit more confident. And that's when I got the blog idea. I needed something to be accountable to. It should be enough to be accountable to myself, but somehow the idea of being accountable to something else makes me want it more...and makes me want to stick with it more.

Plus...I love to write. I've been giddy at the thought of starting the blog. I almost did it while I was recovering last week, but I decided that I wanted my first entry to be done after my first day of training. So here we are. I will do my best to record each day (or every couple of days) what I did at the gym. I will also share a bit about my life. As well as a bit about my past physical fitness experiences. I really wanted to get into that with this first post, but I think it might be better served for later. Surely, if you are still reading this it's only because you really like me. This post is LONG! 

Take on Today's Training:

I went to the gym at 6:30 this morning and I was a little nervous. Remember - I'm not a runner. But...I was optimistic. I had spent some time the night before putting good running songs on my iPod Shuffle. My goal for today was just to see what I could do and then weight lift. I walked (increasing speed from 4.0 to 4.6 MPH) for .25 miles and ran (5.5 - 5.7 MPH) for .75 miles without stopping. I walked for .25 miles and then ran for .15 miles more. Finished out the 20 minutes with a quick walk. Then, at Allison's suggestion that I do some strength training, I did some weight lifting focusing my on legs.

This is just the litmus test. So, at this point, I can run .75 miles without stopping. One of my friends suggested that I buy the "Run 5K" app for my iPhone as a trainer for the run. I am still debating about whether or not I should do that.

If I don't, my plan is just to run tomorrow for .75 miles again (which will be tough, because my legs are killing me after the weight lifting and the week of lack of activity due to illness). Then Thursday (I can't run Wednesday morning because I have an all-day training session for work...but I might try and ride afterwards) I will increase to .80 and .80 on Friday to adjust.

Again...maybe the app is better? It's not a free app (a whopping $3 investment!) but it still might be the best way to go. I'm really not sure. Any input on this, tips on running, or triathlon wisdom would be great!

And your final food for thought...every time I type triathlon...I want to type triathlong. Probably subconsciously how I'm feeling!

Summary
Distance Run Today: .90 miles
Continuous Distance: .75 miles
Mind: Nervous, but excited
Body: Sore, but energized