July 31: Swim@25m pool, 6-7pm

Target: 200m x 5 laps

I got a cramp in my leg on my 4th lap. It was my muscles on upper right knee. It was a first time to have a cramp in this area and couldn't move for a while with pain. Perhaps I still haven't recovered from the cycling today.

Result: 200m x 4 laps

July 31: Cycle at 3-3:45pm, 33℃

Target: Cycle 30km/h for 20km

Result: It took me 45 minutes to cycle 20km, which averaged 27km/h.

My legs are really tired. I tried to run afterwards but my legs weren't moving. This is a big challenge!

July 31: Run at 9:20, 32℃

Target: 3 laps in the park course

First I ran slowly thinking about my knee then slowly increase in pace. It's so hot that the bike ride home is really comfortable.

Time - lap 1: 6'57'', lap 2: 6'59'', lap 3: 6'27'', Total: 20'24''

July 28th: Swim@50m pool, 6:20-7:40pm

Target: 200m x 5 laps

Result: Managed to swim 200m x 5 laps. Swam 200m in 2'20'' per 100m pace, took some rest, and then swam again. I swam 1.3km in total.

July 28th: Run at 5am, 28℃

Target: 1km in 5 minutes

With my new shoes I'm able to be flexible with my jogging course! I've decided a 1km long course near my home. With this pace my legs are tired and I was only able to run 1 lap.

Time - 1km: 4'49''

July 27th: Run at 5:15, 28℃

I've decided to run around my house on the concrete with my new shoes which I bought yesterday. There were no knee pain, but I couldn't take a step big enough due to my weak legs. I  ran with my spirit and managed to finish after 3 laps. 

My legs were way weaker than I thought. They don't move forward. But the effect of the new shoes were amazing since it was softer to run on the concrete with my new shoes rather than running on the soil path with oldones. The progress of technology is just amazing.

Time - lap 1: 3'39'', lap 2: 3'34, lap 3: 3'27'', Total 1.4km: 10'42''

July 25th: Run at 6am, 28℃

Target: 4 laps in 30 minutes

Jogging in the same park for the 3rd time. I started running with a marathon pace but after a lap my legs gave up. Keeping the pace, I drop my step length in half and managed to run 3 laps. On my 4th lap I felt some kind of pre-pain in my right knee so I stopped after running for 1/3 laps. I'm guessing that my shoes are old so there are no cushion even on the soil and it caused some pressure on my knees. I've decided to buy new shoes.

July 24th: Swim@20m pool, 5-7pm

This pool is located in the town facility which is 30 minutes drive away from my home,  and its 20 meter-pool is pretty small but is 1.2m deep, has clean water and not too crowded, which is good. 

Target: 200m x 5 laps

Again, I'm tired after 200m x 2 laps. My breathing becomes difficult and even I drop my pace, my breathing doesn't improve. When I drop the pace however I seem to able to swim longer. Today I swam about 1km.

July 24th: Run at 9:30, 32℃

Target: In 25 minutes, lightly jog for 3 laps

There were other 2 university girls who runs the same route as mine. They run much faster and I can't catch up with them. It actually motivates me to run rather than running on my own, hence my pace naturally increases. With the heat, 2 laps was my limit and in the end I only jumped with walking pace and managed to do 2.3 laps in total.

Time - 1st lap: 6'57'', 2.3 laps: 23'57''

July 21: Swim@50m pool, 5-7pm

Target: 200 meters x 5 laps

The long-distance pool makes you get tired more easily compared to the short-distance pool since you don't get to kick the wall and there's no extra breathing during the turn. As a result, 200 meters x 2 laps then took a break, which my target is still very far. Swam 1.5km whilst improving my swimming form.

July 17: Swim@25m pool, 8-9pm

Target: 200 meter x 5 laps

Since it's 25 meter length pool, swimming for 4 laps counts as 200 meters in total. However my reality was 200 meters x 2 laps, then I had to rest every 50 or 100 meters. To achieve my target is still very far away. I swam 1.2km in total and finished for the day.

July 17: Run at 9:30, 31℃

I've decided my running course by running the place I found last week. There's a little ups and downs on the soil, which sums up to about 1km. After a week of running, my legs stopped moving, but dragged them with me with smaller steps and managed to run twice. Since it was super hot, I'm drenched with sweat and the bike ride home was so comfortable.

July 11: My first day

So my first day starts.

The reason why I didn't run for a long time was trying to avoid hurting my joints, and making up with swimming and cycling instead.  Although in the end, I only did swimming.

First of all, I thought I'd prepare my legs by running on soil, so I looked for parks nearby. Then I found a forest in the park about 500 meters away from home. There's a merit in this since I can take my bike both ways to the park, and it's nice to dry my sweat on the way home.

I'm still scared of running, so I'd lightly jump for about 40cm in each steps. When I get tired I'd stop, and completely stop after 10 minutes. Just by doing this, it makes my heart beat fast and sweat a little. Total jogging length was about 1km.

Background

Here's the reason why I started to try triathlon for my 60th birthday

When I visited my good old friend's house, it turned out to be the same day as Triathlon day(http://www.triathlonbrasschaat.be) which the family and their daughters' boyfriends were participating. Being considerate, they didn't mention this to me.

The day before the triathlon, in order to prepare their final body adjustments, they went swimming in the lake and I ended up joining them. Then naturally they invited me to join the next year's triathlon! I took it as a joke and laughed it away (at that time).

My sport ability

Swimming: I can swim about 100 meters with front crawl. I have been swimming once a week to maintain my health. 

Cycling: I have a road racer. Long time ago, my friend invited me to join the International Challenge Cycling and I took part with my son. I haven't been riding bicycles for about 15 years...!

Marathon: Again around 15 years ago, when my daughter came back home after graduating university, we ran together and after running for about 100 meters, I was completely out of breath and I was truly disappointed. I also ran following days but lasted only 3 days.

In short, I haven't been doing much exercise apart from swimming. Since it was my good old friend who invited me to join the triathlon, who also looked after me very well during their busy times, I managed to say I'll give it a try and flew back home (June 27th).

This was the reason why I've decided to try a triathlon (750m swimming, 20km cycling and 5km running)...!