One step, two step, getting closer

My first triathlon is a little over two weeks away, and I have to admit I have been getting a little nervous.

For one thing, I don’t know how I will do when each event is combined together. The distance is a Sprint, with a 500 meter swim, 10 mile bike and a 5k run. My last swim was 1.2 miles, my last bike ride was 16 miles and my runs are generally around 4 miles, so I know I can do them each individually. However, I have yet to complete a brick workout and am worried about how I will feel when all of them are stacked together, particularly the run after the swim. My legs usually feel a bit like jello when I get off the bike. I have a brick workout scheduled for Monday, so hopefully it will go well.

The other thing which was making me nervous was finding a tri suit to wear. The stores around here did not carry any in my size, and judging from their selections, you would think female triathletes only come in two sizes: Athena and waif. As a short but curvy girl, I had to resort to shopping online. It took three tries to find a tri suit that fit me.

The first one I ordered was an 2XUComp Trisuit. It was nearly perfect - except I'm not 5'10". It was great in the bust and hips, but had 2 inches of extra fabric in the middle.

The second one I ordered was a TYR Sport Competitor Trisuit. Apparently, Tyr thinks women don’t have hips and are pretty much straight up and down. I couldn’t even get it over my hips at all, despite the measurements online saying it was my size.

My third, and thankfully final, attempt was the Louis Garneau Pro Suit. And, luckily, it fits. So, now I have one less thing to worry about. The material is really thin and light, and quite stretchy, despite it supposedly being a compression garment. I have yet to test it out in an actual workout, but hopefully it will be good and won’t chafe or anything.

The only thing else I am still worried about is getting up so early! I am so not a morning person and I really hate that every race starts at an ungodly hour. Unlike many triathletes, I usually workout in the evenings and rarely wake before 8:30am. The whole getting up at 5:00am thing does a number on me and fills me with dread. I need to start altering my sleep schedule soon so I can deal with this and I am not looking forward to this aspect at all!