Baby steps, NOT drowning, HNPs and (almost) over the hill...

I may be a little bit crazy for attempting to take on this physical challenge, however, I'm certainly not delusion in thinking that I'm going to tackle a full tri right off the bat. So my first goal is to complete a half triathlon (aka - a Sprint tri) before attempting the big guy.

I have my sights set on racing in the upcoming Tempe International Triathlon scheduled for Sunday, May 15  - JUST OVER 5 WEEKS AWAY!!!! {insert small panic attack} The Sprint consists of a 400 meter swim, 12.4 mile ride, and a 3.1 mile run. Sounds do-able, right?!? Continue reading below to see what I'm up against...

As for the full "Oly" tri, I am still trying to decide between one of these three:

1. Nathan Tempe Tri on 9/25. While I like the idea of it being another local tri where my family and friends can come out to support me and cheer me on (hint, hint to family and friends), I am not too jazzed about swimming in the Tempe Town Lake for a second time.
2. Bartlett Lake on 10/2. Not too far outside of Phoenix, and the lake is probably a lot cleaner than Tempe's. However, I have heard that the course is a toughie with lots of hills/climbs. Not sure if I should tackle this one as my first full tri.
3. Powell3 Tri on 10/22. Held up in Page, this tri is supposed to be gorgeous with Lake Powell as the backdrop. It has a decent climb, but doesn't sound as intimidating as the Bartlett Lake Tri. Biggest con is that it's quite a ways away. Another con is that it's a very small tri of only 300 registrants which means that I could very well cross the finish line in dead last. Lol.

Decisions, decisions. Any ideas??? I will continue my research and will hopefully come to a final decision sooner than later so that I have a definitive goal to work towards. Regardless of which tri I choose, I have a number of hurdles to overcome...

Challenge #1 - Learn how to swim

It's not that I can't swim at all... sure, I can wade in the deep end of the pool for a short period of time. I can even manage the breaststroke and the front crawl FOR SHORT PERIODS OF TIME AND/OR SHORT DISTANCES (ie - a few yards). But honestly, the longest distance I've ever had to swim was back in elementary school when you had to swim 2 laps in front of the lifeguard at the Scott County Park pool in order to swim in the deep end and go off the diving boards... and even back then, that was a stretch! Therefore, my tri training has been and will continue to be swim intensive.

This piglet probably has more skills in the pool than I do

Challenge #2 - HNPs

HN-what??? HNP is a medical acronym for Herniated Nucleus Pulposus. We all have these little gel-filled, shock-absorbing discs between our vertebrae. An HNP occurs when a disc ruptures and the gel innards (nucleus) are squeezed out, kind of like squeezing the filling out of a jelly donut. Looks like this on film:

I have 3 of these little dandies in my lumbar spine (as well as 3 bulging discs in my neck) and have struggled with chronic neck and back pain for years. I'm 37 years old and have the spine of an 80-yr old! I've had countless X-Rays, MRIs, EMGs, ESIs, PTs, and RXs... pretty much everything shy of surgery, which I simply refuse to do.

The good news is I have BIKRAM yoga and Dr. D to fix me when I am broken. :) Bikram yoga has been my source of physical therapy for almost 10 years now. I love it, swear by it and highly recommend it to anyone suffering from neck/back/joint pain.

Half moon pose in front of the Louvre

Standing tree pose in front of the Eiffel Tower

Dr. D (aka - Dr. Derakhshani of The Healing Joint) is my savior. He's a real healer, that one! When my shoulder is tweaked from too much volleyball, he fixes me. When my knee is all jacked up from some stupid guy tackling me during a flag football game, he fixes me. When I torque my back after unsuccessfully attempting a jump like Shaun White on my snowboard, he fixes me. Needless to say, I will likely be visiting Dr. D on a regular basis as my TRI training gets more intense.

Challenge #3 - Old age

Let's face it... I'm no spring chicken. While my head and heart tell me I'm not getting old, my body begs to differ. I'm not too old to take on a physical challenge like this, am I?? (this is where you enthusiastically nod your head 'no' and tell me it's going to be a piece of cake) I guess I've just noticed that I've suffered more injuries over the past year alone than I have my entire adult life!

But I'm NOT going to give in to these challenges. No sirree! It's all about mind over matter. I know that there are peeps older than me or peeps facing greater challenges than me out there successfully competing in these TRIs, and if they can do it, so can I. Plus, I've got that extra little motivation knowing that I'm doing this for a sweet, little girl in need... someone who's bravely facing much bigger problems than old age or a bad back. Kallie, you're a true inspiration and you remind me to count my blessings every single day. :)

Next up: Gear, training and my partner in crime