Anne's Training Journal: Week 7

Anne lives in Missoula, Montana, and is training for the Grizzly Triathlon in April. Believing that she is not the typical triathlete, (age 49 and not a regular competitor) Anne feels that if she can pull this off, anybody can. This is her training journal:

End of week 7--Less than a month to go!

Please stop me before I sign up for another event! When I try -- and succeed -- to get a slot in one of these coveted athletic events, I feel like I've won the lottery, but then I start thinking about what I just agreed to do.

My latest event is STOKR. STOKR stands for Scenic Tour of the Kootenai River. It's a two-day bike ride in the northwest corner of Montana in early May. Usually, most of the snow has melted by then. The first day of the ride is 95 miles, and the second day is a much easier: 35 miles. My husband and I both got in.

Yesterday I rode the 12 mile course that's part of the triathlon in less than an hour. I felt like I was going pretty fast. 95 divided by 12 equals around 8 hours of riding. Adding in rest time and meal stops, the STOKR ride will take around 10 hours. Did I mention the 2,000-feet of elevation gain?

I've heard it's lot of fun, and the ride will be beautiful, but I must be crazy.

Training this week went well. I'm doing the mileage suggested, but I haven't added much speed. I have to remember that it's an accomplishment to complete the race.

Anne