Training in Earnest

For the last few weeks I've successfully swam (or is that swum ... please ignore my horrific grammar) 1km in about 30 mins time each morning. There are still good mornings where I feel like a fish gliding through the water and other days that I'm the cat struggling not to drown, but the key is that I CAN DO IT!!!! I'm excited too since I only have to go 800m in the tri that I'm interested in. That being said, I just went to a meeting with a few other girls who are also interested in doing a tri in a few weeks. Boy did I have a LOT to learn!

So my big focus when I set out to do this was to just get over the water fear aspect. I figured that I run regularly 3-5 miles daily and I've ridden the stationary bike tons when the weather is too hot, so how hard could it be? Duh ... I seem to have underestimated the toll all that would take on the body when done in succession. Once it came down to the details described to me by 2 ladies who are experienced tri athletes, I went home to freak out for a couple of hours. It was kinda like when you have a 3 year old throwing the mother of all tantrums before you and you realized that all you'd been seeing was the cute, innocent couldn't hurt a thing if it tried newborn that you thought of when you first signed on. "I've gone and done .... WHAT?!!!"

After birthing that emotional upheaval, (and folks, it was a birthing of sort ... breath in, breath out!) I calmed down and said set my sights a little lower. "All I want is just to finish this ... with most of my body intact." But we all know me ... secretly I want more and the more is going to kill me.

So I'm currently budgeting myself for a bike and helmet. I rode a road bike back in high school and remember the ease with which I clocked down the miles. It's appealing but costly - a good bike ranging at least around $400. I've been checking Craiglists for used ones and it doesn't look much cheaper. Then there is the practical side of me, aside from my 5am workouts, will I want it to take the kids out on a ride? That would require something sturdier like a hybrid or a mountain bike. Or is the idea of taking the kids out something more like a sitcom from the 50's where I bake fresh cookies daily, serve dinner while wearing pearls and after the kitchen is immaculate I take the kiddos for some family fun on bikes. You can see the endless circles my mind can run on sometimes!

The worst part is that Kent and I JUST sat down to set some serious financial goals to pay for a larger vehicle, possibly a home, etc. The idea of spending a couple hundred for me doesn't really fit in anywhere. Kent is totally fine that I spend the money, but how much do I want to invest (because it is an investment! ANYTHING that costs more than $100 is an investment in my book) on something that I may not do again. I LOVE the fact that I can swim, truly swim with my face in the water, I will always love running and the freedom of cycling early in the quiet of the morning is appealing, but will I in all seriousness do a triathlon again?

So ladies, what do you think? I think I'm okay with a physical balance as a mother, but is there such a thing as a financial balance when you have children? Argh!