Originally Posted by
Broctoon
From triathlons? No. It's a lifelong phobia of water. I have managed to learn how to swim a little. It's enough that I could probably save myself from drowning if I were to fall in. But I am truly horrible at it, compared to anyone who swims competitively at any level. It's kind of been a dream of mine to overcome this someday and do just one tri.
I love running and biking, and I've done a duathlon. I also row (just on a machine, never an actual boat). I used to cross-country ski, and I tried a biathlon once.
The biggest thing holding me back now is finding enough time to train in multiple disciplines. I signed up for a big walking event coming up in a few months. Yeah, walking--don't laugh. It's called the Norwegian Foot March. 18.6 miles, to be completed in 4.5 hours or less, while carrying a 25 lb. pack. And the kicker: it's done in military uniform, including the boots. I thought, "This should be no problem. 25 lbs. is not that much, and I can handle a 14:30 per mile pace." I did a training walk in my Air Force boots and got a blister on my left foot the size of Delaware. I put in some better insoles, waited a week, and did another one. Blister came back not quite as big, and my right foot tried to develop one as well. I got some better socks, and now I am employing various strategies to make my soles tougher (tea soaks and gradually increasing my distance and pace to build up callouses).
This is happening just as the fall season is about to start with my cross country running club (a 5k race each week). And I'm also trying to prepare for an event in October where I'll enter three bike races in four days. I built a weekly activity schedule that attempts to cover all the bases without burning me out, by doing five workouts a week that include walks, runs, and rides.
Smart move, if you have the phobia. Unless you overcome it, you got no business in open water. Even then, open water can be/is dangerous. The Richmond VA area where I live had a tri swimmer die a year or 2 before the COVID year in a couple feet of water. It was in the James River. He got turned upside down/disoriented and that was that. I'll say a person is never to old to learn how to swim though.
The walkers on the long distance events are the toughest of the groups. What separates the contenders from the BOP/rest is talent. The Richmond area has some big training teams for their fall marathon including a walking team. That team has to push it the whole way with no oppotunities to let up. They also have to rely strictly on their muscles with no help from the cardio system. They get the worst of the weather, support, crowds, etc. You have to be mentally tough/hardened to get it done. Through the years since I've been doing endurance stuff, I've done multiple marathons within 3-6 weeks apart. In 2021 I did 3 within a 6 week period. The slowest one is always the hardest. Once you start going slower than 30 seconds per mile under your good pace, it starts to drag. In 2021, the first one was the slowest and the last one was the fastest. Still slow for my age group, but that's life.