Everything you've done wrong, baby

From that four-in-the-morning moment when I decided I wasn't ready for the swim, I was determined to analyze what mistakes I'd made along the road. I was on vacation with my daughter last week, so I didn't much think about it. But I'd already got a handle on many of the sometimes contradictory mistakes I'd made.

I focused too much on the swim. I never took the cycling training seriously, figuring I was good enough on the bike. (My first spinning class this afternoon disabused me of that notion. Holy Hannah.) I eased off on the running when I encountered a some knee pain. These both hurt my swim; I wasn't getting the aerobic cross-training benefits.

I didn't focus properly on the swim. I was dealing with a distance target; once I found a flailing, dog paddle/breast stroke hybrid that got me across the pool, I beat that into the ground, hoping it could get me the distance. I should have focused on technique, learned a proper front crawl, and let the distance come. (It still might not have come in time, and I still might have had to pull the plug, but I'd be further along now. As it stands, it's back to Square 1, and I don't mean in Mississauga.

I peaked too early. I was in my best condition about five weeks before the race. Let's face it, when you haven't spent any consistent time at the gym in 30 years, going five times a week for more than 15 weeks is a little much. My training tailed off after that, too. I was just damned tired.

I started too late. Not too late in the sense of a training schedule; too late in the grand scheme of things. I was cumulatively too old and too out of shape. I don't mean to say I can't do it. It just took longer than I thought to get a base level of conditioning. Guess what Job 1 is?


I didn't take it seriously enough, especially nutrition-wise. Beer robs your body of the ability to store glycogen. Beer is also cold and fresh and tasty. Did I cut back? Um ... maybe a little. Certainly not enough. Hence, five months of five-a-week workouts and I still have a belly. I did, though, take eating regularly more seriously. I still spend half my day at work eating. More grain (I wasn't much of a bread-eater). More fish and vegetables. More peanut butter than is strictly necessary. Lotsa yogurt and chocolate milk. I'm about 163 now, up about 13 pounds. I should probably get back to about 155.

I didn't get strong enough. I didn't spend enough time on the weights. This, too, was brought to my attention by the spinning session. When the others stood to pedal, I couldn't. My legs didn't have it. (If you think you're in good shape, take a spinning class. It exposes all kinds of shortcomings.)


So ... now, I've got, say, eight or nine months till I'm likely to run a triathlon. No rushing to hit a distance target. Build base conditioning (boy, was that spinning class a wake-up call). Get technique right. Sort out the nutrition. And spend a couple days a week at spin class.