The Tiniest Tri

I intended to focus on swimming for my Friday gym time. However, lap one gave me the beginnings of a foot cramp. Lap two assured me that said foot cramp was not going away. By lap four I was completely unable to focus on anything else, even after an attempt to massage my foot between laps two and three. So I ended up hobbling out after only 1/16 of a mile in the pool. One quarter of a Sprint Triathlon's distance of swimming. A bit bummed with my poor performance, I made my way to the locker room ponder what I should do next.

What on earth could I possibly do after swimming that could also help me train for a triathlon?! If only there were one, maybe two more activities I could do that would help me prepare for--hey wait a second! I've got it!

So I changed as quickly as I could into terrestrial gear and hopped on a stationary bike. I was determined to accomplish the tiniest triathlon--one quarter of a Sprint--right there in the YMCA over my lunch break.

The biking was great. While I couldn't agree more with Lauren on the matter of stationary bikes sucking almost 100% of the fun out of biking, I still feel strongest and most comfortable on this leg of my journey. I ended up between 17-18 mph for the 3.8 miles I biked and then hustled my increasingly tired self over to the treadmill for a run.

I ran so slow. I ran just about as slow as you could while still calling it running. My normal pace was stymied by the fact that I had just exerted my legs on a bike and (very short) time in the water. I picked up my pace after a few tenths of a mile, commanding my legs to keep moving, despite their obvious preference for the opposite.

Taking on all three events--even in quarter size--was enlightening. The challenge isn't just in each event, nor the events in succession, but also the transitions to and from each activity. I got a little closer to the brink of "pukey" than I wanted to, and that was only tackling 25% of what I'm going to be doing come June. And this was in placid water and predictable terrain--comforts I know are going to disappear on game day.

I feel comfortable enough ramping up my individual event skills. But what should my strategy be for moving from one event to the next?