I don't think I've ever claimed that I would never do a triathlon, I've just never felt any really compulsion to do one. As a weak swimmer and a road-bike-a-phobe (having had a frightening high-speed crash on one back in college), it just always seemed to make more sense to stick with what I know. I'm a runner. It's what I do.
Of course, this whole disclaimer rather predictably leads up to the fact that I've gone and signed up for a triathlon. I've fallen so far off the competitive training wagon at this point I have to find something to spice up the mix. This will not only get me back to exercising regularly in order not to waste the exorbitant entry fee, but it will also force me to cross-train and thus hopefully avoid getting injured by jumping back into things too aggressively.
The race itself (440 yd. swim/14 mi. bike/3 mi. run) is only about three weeks away at this point, so I'm not expecting any aerobic miracles to occur, but so far I'm up to almost 30-mile weeks with the running and I can flounder through the proscribed pool distance in about 10 and a half minutes. The biking however still needs some work. I've been putting in some time on the spinning bikes at the gym here, but I really need to pump up my tires and try covering the actual course. It's tempting to just do the ride on my mountain bike, but I think I should at least attempt to get the hang of my wobbly road bike before I give up and go that route.
Anyhoo, just wanted to mention that even though grad school through a wrench into my athletic identity, I am making some efforts to claw my way back from the abyss.
