Day One…

I'm not sure what the average times are for the Triathlon I'm running,
I'll have to find out. I swam the required 750m today after running the
required 5km. It was bloody hard! I even had a little break between to
drive to the pool. The swim took me about 17 minutes. I want that down
significantly. I forgot to time the run, sorry. I promise I won't let
you down next time.


I run and swim fairly regularly but not to this intensity. I never bike,
so I'm a little nervous about 20km of biking. I'll start my training on
a stationary bike tomorrow morning after my swim at 06:30. I know, I
know… those of you who know me are probably peeing yourselves laughing
and thinking, “yah right, as if Jennifer Wright is going to get up
before the crack of 10:00” but it'll happen. I'm on a mission! A mission
to get crazy-fit and complete my very first triathlon.


Those of you who don’t know me personally might be wondering why this is
such a big deal for me. There are a few reasons. As I mentioned earlier
I've not had much of a routine as of late and want, well feel, the need
to develop one. I also have some fitness goals I want to reach. I want
my nineteen-year-old body back, damn it! I know I won't get exactly
that, but I will get pretty darned close. I thought about posting before
and after pictures, but I'm not that brave.


The main reason I'm so excited to do this is because I can. Yup, that is
the biggy. Why is that the biggy? A few years back, I could hardly walk,
let alone run. I had an accident when I was welding and hurt my back
quite badly. On top of that, I was having the first and very severe
symptoms of Ankylosing Spondylitis, a form of arthritis that affects the
spine and lower back. It's a hereditary disorder. My father’s spine is
almost completely fused. I also had developed arthritis in my feet, I'm
guessing from a combination of the cooler temperatures in the shop,
heavy steel-toed boots and concrete floors. I was a mess. Every step I
took and every move I made was excruciatingly painful. I had to give up
my career in welding and move on to recovery, and train for a new
career. I sometimes needed two canes to walk even short distances around
my house. I was terrified of fusing up like my father did. The condition
I was in made me worry that I would never be able to do many of the
things I loved to do. Thank heavens I was mostly wrong.


Growing up, and into my early adult life I was a very active person,
particularly in the water. As a kid I played soccer, swam and was active
in martial arts. I also spent a lot of time hiking and fishing; anything
to be outdoors and active. I'll likely not be able to go back into
martial arts, at least not sparing. I can swim and run again, with care
of course. It’s great. I know there are people out there with more
difficult challenges, but this is mine and I'm grateful to have this
opportunity.


That being said, if I slack at all, and I mean at all, chew me out! I'll
be giving myself Sundays off training and blogging but that's all I'm
allowed.


I'll report back tomorrow to let you guys know how the bike thing goes.
Oh, and that 06:00 thing. Yikes!