TriZou

I'm very excited because today I signed up for my first sprint triathlon. On May 1st is the TriZou in Columbia. A sprint triathlon is a shorter version of a full triathlon. This one is a 400 yard swim-14 mile bike-3 mile run. I recruited one of my fellow Nutrition & Fitness friends to train with me. It's going to be really difficult but I'm extremely excited for it, because up until now I've only done 5K races. I'm fully expecting to be one of last ones to finish but who cares because afterwards I'll be able to say that I've done a triathlon. Plus it just sounds like fun.

This brings me to the point of people who want to get in shape. Sign up for a simple 5K or whatever kind of race you want. Once you sign up for it, you're pretty much forced to train for it. So many people just say "I want to get in shape" and they never enter the gym again after February (believe me I've been around the gym enough years to see this happening every year). Signing up for a race gives you something to look towards and a realistic goal to set for yourself. For instance a 5k is just a bit more than 3 miles. This sounds like a lot to someone who doesn't run very much. But training for it is super easy: run a mile a few times a week for 1-2 weeks, and work your way up to 2 miles by week 3 and by week 4 you'll be able to run 3 miles no problem.

I don't know if you've ever been in any sort of race but the atmosphere is awesome. There's a bunch of people excited about being there. You see people walking around with numbers, which gets you motivated to race. The race itself (well at least 5Ks) is always easier than the training because you've got adrenaline, people on the side cheering, and about 300 other people doing the exact same thing you're doing. If anything, you get a t-shirt. And come on who doesn't want to wear a shirt around that says that you've run a race.

here's a few pics from years past