Give It A Tri on Saturday August 14.

Last weekend I discovered that there’s an event called Give It A Tri on Centre Island, on Saturday August 14.
Intrigued, I started to consider it. Takes place close enough that I can bike to the ferry dock, and the stages may be short enough that I could get through them. A friend (who lives in another city) is also over 50 and has been training for a Sprint over the winter. He had to learn how to swim, got a coach, a really nice bike with these high tech aero bars, etc.

I asked him if I was crazy to even think about it. His response: “my dead grandma could run 2.5. No really, 2.5 would be over before you know it. If Steve Fonyo can hop across Canada on one leg you can gimp through 2.5 km.”

Fuck. He’s right. Now I have to go through with it.


The Toronto Island Give-It-A-Tri is on Saturday August 14 which gives me a scant 7 weeks to train. I have not run since high school and haven't been in a pool in a couple of decades.

Swim: 400 meters
Bike: 10 km
Run: 2.5 km

Yeah if you're 23 it doesn't seem like much. When you're 53 it seems like a lot of effort!
But not impossible. This event is a reasonable distance for an old man; and short enough that I shouldn't need to buy much gear. There's a store not too far away that rents out wet suits and I'll need one for the lake swim.

Have been weight training since November with decent results but will put that on hold for a few weeks. Also I ran out of pot a couple of weeks ago and haven't restocked so I might as well go without until after this event.

I can't deadlift, squat, bike, and run; my bad knee cannot tolerate all that. This will be a good change of pace for the summer to keep things interesting; it will be fun to take a break from the usual, “try to add 5 more pounds to the pathetic bench press you wimp.” And it's summer, time for outdoor activities!

With only seven weeks to go, think I'd like to use the first 4 weeks to build up endurance in swimming and running, then use the next 3 weeks to put it all together.