Running a marathon is grueling. And by marathon, I mean 26.2 miles. Doing it as the final event of an Ironman distance triathlon deserves a special level of respect.
People tell me that I’d be good in triathlons, because I’m a solid runner. There are two reasons I don’t do triathlons: cycling and swimming.
Cycling I like. In fact, I have done the Bike 150 ride for Multiple Sclerosis the past two years with team LPL Financial. Check out my crash results from last year’s ride at “RidinRalph Wrecks” on our blog.
We are planning another team for this October if you want to join us as we ride from Irvine to San Diego October 24-25, 2020. Or, you may want to contribute to our fund-raising efforts to help fight this horrible disease.
And I occasionally ride my hybrid bike to the office, not that I’m using the office much since Covid!
Triathlons start with the swimming events, and I’m a weak swimmer. I guess it’d be ok to get it over with right up front, but I don’t want to.
Triathletes must train for all three of these endurance tests. Developing all three capabilities, in sufficient skill and fitness levels to be competitive, or just complete, a triathlon, is worthy of special recognition.
But my running goal is to set my PR (personal record) in the Boston Marathon.
Training to ride and swim does not help make me a better marathon runner. If it did, triathletes would dominate the marathon records. And cycling and swimming, too. But they don’t.
So my two problems with getting into tri’s are cycling and swimming – they won’t get me closer to my running goals, so I don’t do them.
For now, anyhow.
Gotta run!
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