The boards are a little slow so I am mixing things up a little.

After about 20 years of biking  and 11 years of running I decided in May 2011 to do a local ladies only

Sprint tri. It was something I was always interested in and at age 49 time was ticking away . We had been

Racing duathlons since 2008 had done 8 up to this point and while they were fun I always felt like I was

being left out of the real fun when i watched the triathletes jump into the water. I dont ever want to have

any regrets in life about not trying something  I had an interest in so i decided to finally "just do it".

Plus after  road racing and my first half in  2003 and every distance including the full and the duathlons

I was looking for a new challenge.

The tri i chose was RD by good friends and geared to first timers in early June, an  outdoor  pool swim of 500

yards. I went swimming in the local river a few times and thought "hmmm i am a good runner and a decent

Cyclist,  I can do this easy peasy"

Yeah not so much. The race environment was of course a lot different than a leisurely swim for a few minutes

By myself. The churning water, sharing a lane and getting elbowed in the head and swallowing lots of water,

the fact that I really couldn't swim and after 25 yards had already switched to breast stroke made for a less than

enjoyable experience and taking 19xx  minutes to do a 500 yard swim was just plain embarrassing. Came 90/100

in the swim but  60th overall which told me if I could actually swim I could get fairly decent placements.

However marathon training ( 2 PR fulls,  one wogged vacation full and major surgery over the next 18 months plus

about 20 other races) didn't leave any time for learning to swim. Or in fact I didn't make time.

But the fire for triathlon had been ignited despite my miserable showing that day.

So exactly one year ago today I made good on my 2013 resolution and hubby and I joined the local pool and did our

first group swim with the local tri club. With some excellent swimmers that was more than a little intimidating.

Hubby could keep himself afloat but that was about it. I swam a lot growing up but hadn't done anything close to

real swimming in 30 years. I could barely get down the 50 meter length of the pool doing something resembling

freestyle without feeling like my lungs were going to explode. It was hard, damn hard, and the early hours

Required to get a 50 yard lane required early mornings including group swim at 7:15 am Saturday on cold dark winter

Mornings were not always fun.

It was very humbling and damn hard work but we kept at it 3, 4 and a few times even 5 times a week, a few times.

Not easy considering we were both also training for a May full marathon. By end of March I was swimming

400 yards continuous. Within  a week after that had a huge breakthrough with my breathing and

Swam 1,000 yards continuous for the first time. It was a great feeling of accomplishment.

Ran the May marathon with a 9 + minute  PR (4:10) which i totally

attribute to the swimming as i was still running my normal 35 mpw for marathon training, continued

swimming and in June 2013 ( by this time i am 51) two years after my "first"tri I did the same one

and kicked its ass.

Well not really because I am still very slow at this point but I did the 500 m  a full 5 minutes faster

than the first time at under 15 minutes.  Went on to do 3 more sprint tris over the summer, hubby

did these also, 2 lake swims and an ocean swim. Then on Aug 31 st we travelled 12 hours to

Ottawa to visit our son and  signed up for our first Oly tri (1,500 yard swim, 45 km bike,

10 k run). I came 5/5 out of the water in my 50-55 AG but ended up 2 nd in AG because the other

3 faded so much on the run and I gradually picked them off.

Hubby did fantastically well coming in 4 th  in his AG 45-50.  3 rd place came in less than a minute

Prior but hubby had a 7 minute delay because the crank fell off his bike and he repaired it mid race.

So here we are exactly one year later to the day. A 2,000 yard non stop swim is considered normal

And we are signed up for our first Half Iron distance on July 6/2014.

First we have another marathon in May.

I can honestly say I am more proud of learning to swim and doing my tris than my marathons because

It was a much greater challenge for me.

Long term goal for us is Full Iron August 2015.

Lesson to myself. Never stop trying and don't be afraid of  trying things you never dreamt you could,

Even if you are getting older, just makes it more fun

And for those of you interested in adding swimming to your workouts it is a great cardio and

Stretching tool.

Very very cool, Beth, You are one heck of a special lady and you and your DH make a terrific couple. I'm glad that you are living all those extraordinary moments together. Thank you for keeping me inspired. 

Thanks for sharing. I added swimming to my routine at the end ofNovember, with the thought of trying a sprint tri next summer. I never had any formal swim training-- I just swam around with some funky form as a kid.

Boy, it's hard!  I'm struggling to do more than 25 yards of "freestyle". But hearing that you eventually "got it" gives me hope; I'll keep at it.  I think it would benefit me to take some lessons, but they will have to wait. I'm battling a bout of frozen shoulder so my ROM is not good , and it's silly to pay someone to help me improve my technique when it's physically impossible.

Congrats Beth!! You both are incredible as far as what you have accomplished.

Thank you for posting this. I had been meaning to ask you if you and hubby knew how to swim or were swimmers before venturing into the tri world. I took a couple lessons last year, and joined a gym with a pool, but I still really suck at swimming and struggle to get through one lap of the pool, which makes it hard for me to get motivated to keep trying. And then when I got a job with a longer commute I couldn't seem to find the time at all to get to the gym.

I'm signed up for a couple of duathlons this year, but I really want to get to the point where I can do at least a sprint tri. Reading about how you did it, you've given this old lady some motivation to get back in the pool and keep working at it!

Congrats!

That's great, Beth. You are totally awesome. I'm a complete non swimmer, but I've been thinking for a while about getting lessons. I would need to have one on one teaching as I hate putting my head under. There are so many good, cheap pools where I live so I really have no excuse.

 

It's great to remember the anniversaries and to appreciate what they mean. And to share them with others so they can be inspired as well... Thanks!

You should totally do it! I took lessons last winter for two sessions and I'm up to swimming 350 yards. I'm no pro at swimming, but at least I know the technique of the stroke and breathing. Its a bit intimidating for awhile, but the more you do it and get in the pool, the more comfortable you begin to feel at it.