Sunday, February 04, 2007

St. George Triathlon

Well! I have started to train for one of my Lofty Aspirations (see sidebar). It's official, I will be competing in the St. George Triathlon on May 12 providing I'm still living within driving distance when May rolls around. If not, then I will be participating in some TBA triathlon.

Participating in a triathlon seems like a natural step since I used to swim competitively and I'm currently obsessed with biking. In fact, I now own a snazzy new road bike named Martin Jay. Woohoo! The only problem is the running part. I've never been much for running. It's boring, painful (mentally and physically), and worst of all you can feel yourself dripping with sweat while you're doing it. No good. People who love the sport baffle me. But I digress. I will not bore you with my training details (zzzzzz....), but I will say that the other day I successfully ran 3 consecutive miles without completely dying of boredom doing it.

Why didn't I die of boredom? Well, let me tell you. The fieldhouse (university gym) is a goldmine for those who like to people watch. There's the people playing tennis in front of you, all the wanna-be-bodybuilders trying to out-lift each other, the frat boys trying to pick up on the girls wearing sports bras and barely-there shorts, the people not-so-slyly trying to avoid people they don't want to talk to, and my personal favorite - the old, speedy Asian dude on one of the elliptical machines. Since I go to the gym at very random times each day, it's amazing that he's there 75% of the time. Totally kicking the trash of the twenty-somethings next to him, never breaking a sweat, and smiling through it all.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

you are my hero!

Tara said...

Jen...
I'll run with you if you need me to. Just call! Hey...you should try running outside in a beautiful area!! I can't run more than 3 miles inside as well. Even people watching, which I love, will not sustain me!
Good luck with your triathlon...darb and i are doing spudman in July - so we should train together!!

j said...

bawdy - thanks! I might just take you up on your offer. Now that it's not frigid anymore, running outside it might be doable :)

Anonymous said...

the people not-so-slyly trying to avoid people they don't want to talk to...
this woould be my fav. line..
:]