quick update

Just thought I'd give a quick update on the Big T.

Today, I went to my work and signed up for a membership to River Plaza Athletic Club. There were many pro's and con's to YWCA and River Plaza but it came down to two main deciding factors - pool availability and busyness of the pool. Basically, RP has open swim almost all the time because no one uses it. YWCA has about an hour in the morning and at lunch time for lap swim and that's about it... those are good but Phil and I need as much flexibility as possible. On a side note, Phil and I used to go to RP so we're familiar with it and with the membership we belong to the whole club so that includes treadmills, elipticals, hot tubs, the gymnasium, racket ball courts, aerobics classes, etc. So although we are mainly planning to use the pool, it might be nice to do something else once in awhile, especially when the weather isn't so nice. Both locations are in downtown W'loo so either are ideal for being close to our home and close to Phil's work (so he can work out at lunchtime). One perk of YW would have been they offer adult swim lessons, which would have been nice since I'm basically learning to swim. Both places have a small pool but at least we get to do some swimming to start training. I think reality will really kick in when we attempt our first lake swim. I've heard there is a group called Cedar Valley Endurance that organizes/schedules a few group swims at George Wyth to prepare folks for a real triathlon. So for now, I'll get my body in gear then we'll look at doing the tough task of swimming across a lake.

My work says our membership should only take a few days before we can get started. I'll have to look at my schedule but hopefully I can get started this week. I'm hoping to swim at least 2-3 times a week, and also run 1-2 a week. I think I'll look for a swim cap (never worn one so that should be interesting) so that I don't have frozen hair on my drive home in this cold weather. I don't need a cold on top of all this. I already bought goggles and a nose plug; and for now I'm planning to wear my swimsuit and a sports bra. Otherwise, I think I have most of what I need, for now anyways.

So phase one of training will begin soon, I'm excited to get in the pool and start to swim! Next phase will be purchasing a bicycle trailer/stroller and get out on my bike... but I'm not going to worry about that until it warms up outside.