As they say in the South, I’ve gone done lost my mind.  Well, not really.  That just sounds kind of cool to say and can leave non-southerners scratching their heads.  Anyway, some people make think that.  You see, I’ve signed up for a triathlon.

Now let me explain.  I like to work out.  And yes, I don’t mind sweating.  But the problem is that lately it’s become easier to rationalize not going to the gym.  Excuses such as “It’s too hot” or “I got out from work too late”  or “I just don’t feel like going” have gotten to be way too commonplace for me.  And because of that, I hadn’t worked out for almost two weeks.

Also, my husband has gotten back into doing triathlons after about a 20-year hiatus.  Three weeks ago, he ran the Bandits Triathlon up in Wilkesboro, NC.  For those of y’all not familiar with the great state of North Carolina, that’s up toward the northwestern part and getting into the mountains.  We left from Winston-Salem, where we’d overnighted.  We got up at 4:45 and left by 5:15–and that’s AM and not PM.  The energy when we got up there was infectious.  And it was cool, the mid 50’s to be exact, and all of the triathletes were more than ready to get into the 80 or so degree water.  What with the crowds gathering, the milling around of people, and the loud music playing at 6:30 in the morning, the energy just started zinging around.

That got me to thinking, “Well, maybe next year I’ll do one.”  Then Hubby egged me into signing up for one in two weeks.  Okay.  So it’s not international distance (almost a mile swim, 20-something mile bike, 10k run) or even spring (half that distance), but it’s a good, solid start.  It’s called Dash for Divas and has been billed as a way to get women interested in the sport since it’s for women only.  It’s a 250-yard swim, 7-mile bike, 2-mile run.  Short, I know.  But hey, I’d already done those things separately, so why not string them together?

I did just that yesterday as a test run, just to make sure I could do the whole thing.  Boy, the adrenaline was pumping in my body!  I fumbled a bit getting ready to start.  But then I did.  Of course, I started out too fast and had to order myself to slow a little on the swim.  Then came the transition to the bike.  That went well.  Then came the run.  Ouch!  My leg muscles had been so used to the bike that the transition was a little on the difficult side.  But I did it.  I know I can do it.

So what’s going to drive me to finish this?

• I know I can.
• I’ve got an encourager since one of my friends is going to do it with me.
• I’ve got groupies.  My husband will be there and also my friend’s husband.
• It’ll be fun.  Okay.  So a different, weird kind of fun.
• It’ll be a start to something bigger.

You see, I’m hooked.   While I may not have the body of a cheetah or move like one, I think I’m going to actually enjoy this.  So in two weeks, I’ll drag myself out of bed, most likely at 4:45 AM and head out to do what I once thought was impossible.  And that will be my reward.