Tri Tuesday! 12 Weeks to MTWomensTri!

Twelve Weeks Until Montana Women's Triathlon!

www.mtwomenstri.com

With all the enthusiasm and support from you all surrounding my decision to tackle my first triathlon, I thought I'd start a new weekly series on the blog all about my tri training experience. From the signup process to completion of the race and everything in between, check back here each week to see how it's going. I'm calling it Tri Tuesdays! (Yes, today is Wednesday... I wanted to publish my Icebreaker review as soon as I finished it yesterday, so this got pushed back.)

Why did I sign up for a triathlon!? Well, I've always wanted to do one. I have good experience in each of the triathlon disciplines, so why not put it all together? Plus, I am really looking forward to the challenge and problem solving of training for the tri, and the awesome feeling of accomplishment when I finish the race. I'm not doing it to win, I'm doing it to prove to myself that I can. My goals are to finish and to smile. 

Why this Triathlon? I heard about this one haphazardly through Active.com's email blasts. I love that it's women only, it's sprint distance, and the swim is in the pool rather than open water. I've also read and heard over and over that this race is very beginner friendly, which suits me quite well. The distances for this race are as follows: 500 meter swim in an Olympic pool, 12 mile bike, 5k (3.1mile) run.

Montana Women's Triathlon is held in Helena. This will be the second year of this event. I just love the positive vibe that I got instantly from their website. From their site: "Our goal is to empower women to find strength within to live healthy happy lives." Sounds like it is right up my alley!

The Sign-Up Process...
The only thing I have done so far to prepare for the MTWomensTri is...sign up for the race. The sign up process for this triathlon was slightly more complicated than your average small-town 5K race,which is mostly what I run, so I thought I'd share a little about it. Who knows- maybe one of you readers will decide to sign up for your first triathlon and this blog will be a helpful source of information for you!

Ok. So there are a few extra steps and pieces to put into play when you sign up for a triathlon. Obviously, this is the first and only time (so far) that I've signed up for one, so this is the only one I'm basing my experience off of, but I'd assume others are similar or perhaps even more complicated.

First, I found out I had to sign up for a USA-Triathlon membership because MTWomensTri is a sanctioned USAT event. I went to the USAT website to research membership cost and benefits. $50 for an annual membership. Yikes! And, you had to make a written request for an application (who doesn't have an online application in 2016?!), fill it out, and send it back with money. Uffda.

I decided to take my chances and just see what would happen if I signed up for the race first. Luckily, this was the right call. In the process of signing up (online, thankyouverymuch!) for MTWomensTri, they offer a USAT day pass for only $15. Sweet. If I decide I like triathlons and plan to do more, I can even credit my $15 day pass toward the year-long membership fee.

The next thing that came up in the sign-up process was a bike stand. I guess I have to purchase a bike stand???? I'm not sure if it is a single bike stand just for me/my bike, or if I'm paying for a spot on a large bike rack. This was a little confusing, but it was only $5 and I figured I'd rather have it than not, especially if they are suggesting it, so I bought that, too.

Next, they asked for a time estimate for my swim to help seed me in the most appropriate wave of swimmers. The swim portion is 500 meters in an olympic pool. Now, I haven't swam a timed 500 since... probably high school. When I was lifeguarding, I could do it in about eight minutes, and that was yards, not meters. I have no idea where I'd do it today. I put down 12:00 as a shot in the dark. So, I guess now I have a goal for my swim training- be able to swim 500 meters in under 12:00. I'm actually a little concerned that my estimate is too fast. I guess we'll see!

Finally, payment for the race itself was $60. So far, my total is $80 for the race fee, USAT day pass, and "bike rack."

I also made a reservation at a hotel that's near the triathlon start/finish. I can always cancel it if I find someone to stay with later, but I just wanted to have piece of mind that I will have a place to sleep before the race, which starts at 8:00 a.m. on a Sunday in Helena. Helena is a little over three hours drive from my house, so it definitely necessitates an overnight stay on Saturday night.

What's Next?
Next, I need to start working on gathering supplies, and deciding on a training plan. I started researching sprint triathlon supply lists and my head started spinning. Of course, some lists insist upon a very large number of supplies that you "absolutely must have" in order to be successful in your race. I want to know what I actually must have and what is not really necessary, especially for a beginner whose goals are to finish and to smile.

Here's what I know I really do need, as of now:
- swimsuit 
- swim cap
- goggles
- 5 gallon bucket to use as my "transition bag" and hold my stuff
- bike helmet (why do I not already own a bike helmet?!)
- shorts I can wear to bike in and to run in

Other things I would like, but may not be absolute must-haves:
- kickboard for pool training
- beach towel
- fuel/energy gu of some sort
- a borrowed road bike

Now, let's talk training plans. I keep looking for plans for my specific situation- beginner, pool swim, sprint-distance tri. Many plans call for hitting the pool 2-3 times a week, which is not really feasible for me, living as far as I do from the pool. In the end, I will probably work on creating my own training plan, adapted from others that I find online. I'll write more about this once my plan is developed. The good news is that I can already cover both the bike and run distances of this race with no problem. It's really the swim that I need to bulk up on, and to start working on multiple-discipline days, or "brick workouts." (I have learned that in tri lingo, a day when you train or workout in more than one discipline is called a brick day. See? I know things!)

Next Steps:
By next week, I will have decided on a training plan and will publish it here. I'd also like to have researched the Havre swimming pool for costs and lap swim times, and would like to have at least ordered a good lap swimming suit, cap, and goggles.

Your job is to hold me accountable to this!

See you next week with my next Tri Tuesday update!

April Fitness Challenges, a.k.a. AM I CRAZY?!

You guys know I love a good fitness challenge. I've signed up for several in the past, including a mileage challenge last October, the #RunLoveChallenge earlier this year, and the Pulse Pledge Challenge, to name a few. I don't know what it is about challenges that draws me in. Typically, I set a manageable goal that is a bit more than I normally would do, and strive to get better in some way throughout the challenge. I think I like seeing what I can do. Maybe it's the structure of having a plan.  Or, maybe it's just my inner crazy finding something new to obsess over every so often?? (Don't answer that!)

Well, suffice to say that my inner crazy is being unleashed for the month of April. I'm committing myself to not one, but TWO challenges this month! WHAT?!

This is no April Fools. This is for real.

Is that a crazy twinkle, or just sweat?!

First off, introducing the Million Mile Month challenge, or MMM. I'm doing this one as part of my Team Beef Montana involvement. It's pretty simple. Everyone who signs up pledges to total a certain number of miles or minutes of physical activity in the month of April. I pledged 50 miles of running. For me, that's a bit more than I normally do in a month, so it's a stretch, but not impossible. I typically run between 10 and 15 miles each week (lately closer to 10), and with a few races penciled in for April, I think I'll be able to do it.

This is the old-school paper calendar I made to keep track of April mileage.
I also have potential races written in, and wrote in our Track Meet schedule.

Second, I'm also participating in the #OiselleFullHalf Challenge as a member of the Oiselle Team. For this one, the idea is to highlight 13.1 (or round down to 13) as being a FULL distance of a half-marathon. Full Marathon gets all the love, right? But achieving 13.1 miles is also quite an undertaking. So, for this challenge, we're supposed to set a goal of doing something 13 times in the month of April. I decided to run 13 different running routes/treadmill workouts during April.

The sign I made, expressly for the purpose of taking an Instagram photo. Yep. 

Since I had already committed to MMM, but still wanted to do #OiselleFullHalf, I wanted to choose a goal that would work together with what I'd already planned to do. I've decided that my 13 different runs could be done outside or inside on the treadmill. Outside runs cannot repeat routes exactly, but could build off previous routes. I'll continue to challenge myself to run trail routes on the farm, and to keep working to find new routes to and from our house, or in town. Inside treadmill workouts are allowed, but may not be repeated more than once. Again, they could build off previous workouts to extend time or distance. I think both challenges will help work together and will build off each other as running different routes/workouts will help keep things fresh and exciting as I work toward hitting my goal of 50 miles for MMM.

I added a #OiselleFullHalf tracking log under my calendar to help make sure I don't double up on runs!

Or, maybe I'll just go crazy trying to track both challenges, AND Shape Up Montana, which continues through April 30, while also balancing home life, farm, and the busiest month of Track Season.... WHAT WAS I THINKING?!?!

Follow along all month by checking back on the blog, on my Facebook, Strava, and Instagram (@katie.r.bangs) to see if I'm able to keep it all in check, or if the craziness will overwhelm me!

And here's one more Pro Tip for you... Oiselle is on Zulily today! Go ahead and shop the sale! You won't be sorry... :)

Here's a screenshot I took of the Zulily event.
I own those Charcoal leggings and I LOVE them. Favorite tights.
I also have the Flyte top in a different color and wear it a ton.
Needless to say, it was easy for me to find a few more items to add to my collection from this sale!

Do you have any fitness goals or challenges lined up for April?