First Post!

So it must have been 2 years ago or so and my friend Josh says he just got his "blog" going. I was like, oh yeah, a blog.....riiiiiiiiiight, like I knew what he was talking about. Then he asks, you know what a blog is, right? I say, SURE!, uuuhhhhh, what? So he caught me, I had no idea what a blog was.

So over the next few years I read some people's blogs that were interesting, but I was always scared of divulging too much information if I ever started my own blog. I mean you gotta worry about getting your identity stolen, right? You DO have identity theft insurance, dont you? Who doesnt? Thank you media for spreading around identity theft and making us paranoid. Im just kidding; I think identity theft is a crock.

But anyways, I figure now is a good time to finally start a blog. I kinda had one going when I was in France two years ago where I would describe some of the bike rides that I went on. Sometimes I go back and read those posts every now and I would realize that its a great way to keep track of your progress and to figure out what you need to work on to improve your riding skills.

Well this past spring I hit a point where biking just wasnt doing what it had done before. I needed more than just biking. So on a few group rides I got talking with a couple of guys who were training for triatholons. I noticed that I was killing them on the hills and I said to myself that if I can beat a guy who has done iron man triatholons (2.4 mile swim, 100 mile bike, 26 mile run) on the hills, that I should be able to a triatholon too. I know how to swim with great technique, I know I can do well on the bike, its just that third discipline that I was scared of....running.

I have never been a good runner, but I always thought that if I was in good enough biking shape, that I could just run cuz I already had the muscle strength and the breathing down. Boy was I WRONG! Even though I could bike 100 miles no problem, when I first tried to run up the road 3 blocks and back, I couldnt move for 3 days. So I knew that running was going to be (no pun intended) an uphill battle to fight.

Searching on-line I found this site: coolrunning.com . It has a really good couch to 5K plan that breaks down the plan into 9 weeks, starting off with short walk runs and building up to finally a full non stop 5K. As of right now I am about to start week 6.

I have learned that running is not just about getting your muscles in shape, its about your breathing but I think most importantly getting your joints stronger. So what I like about the program is that it gradually strengthens your joints so that you dont pull a ligament and ruin your running season within a week of starting.

I will keep posting my training progress as I go. Thanks for reading.