Triathlon

I am a very active person. Also, I love trying new things and accomplishing new goals. I live by the motto - always try something once - that, and everybody wang-chung tonight.

Last year I decided that my next goal was to run a marathon. At the moment of decision I had never run more than 5 miles, so it was a challenge I never thought I would accomplish. Through the help of a running partner we somehow accomplished a goal I once thought was unobtainable.

A year later, I sit in contemplation. I have many things I want to accomplish in my life before it's too late. One of which is a triathlon. The traditional triathlon consists of: 2.4 miles of swimming, 112 miles of biking, and 26.2 miles of running (in that order). However, there are several shorter races catering to the less experienced athlete. While my initial inclination is to go for gold - that kind of distance scares me.

I live in New England where it gets very cold in the winter months, so to ease into the training process I purchased a mount for my bicycle so I could ride it inside. Several months have passed since my purchase and I'm growing more confident in my endurance. However, I only own traditional road bikes (and one bad ass bmx bike, equipped with pegs etc), which would get me killed if I attempted 112 miles.

I started asking around for advice about bikes. I'm not a rich man and started to learn that this is not a poor mans game... While I'm still out there, researching which bikes are better to get the job done, I received some good advice from a friend; practice on a road bike and then rent a tri-bike from a bike shop a week before the race. Brilliant no? That way I would gain more strength practicing on a road bike, and come race day, I can compete with the top of the line machine.

I'm still not entirely sure what I'm going to do. The swimming portion bothers me as well. I started swimming in a small cove down the road from my house until I got stung by a jellyfish. Irony of it all - I actually swam out into the open ocean that day and only got stung 50 ft from shore on my way back in. I've been told that practicing in the ocean is better than a pool so I might just purchase a full wetsuit.

I'm open to suggestions, so if anyone has any tips I would be grateful.