Aaron's First Triathlon - Rocky Point Sandy Beach Sprint Triathlon

NOTE - Don't forget to read the first post below this one, it's much more important

We all went down to Rocky Point, Mexico this past weekend on October 2 through the 4th to experience Aaron's first triathlon. Sadly Alicia could not participate in it with him like they had originally planned so instead we made a nice family vacation out of it. This was supposed to be the first Annual Asquared Triathlon BUT we'll wait for next year when Alicia's not toting a little kid around in her tummy.

How did we get to this tragic point?

Aaron saw a shadow under one of his "pecks", when that happens you realize that "the bro" or "manzier" is not the answer, rather a major man mastectomy OR better yet get fit and lose that flab. Alicia and Aaron decided to do a triathlon in order to set a goal that would be more challenging than just losing weight and something we could look forward to. Why the heck did we pick Mexico? Well, we figured it would be fun and we might actually enjoy the trip.

How'd it go?

The Triathlon was a "Sprint" triathlon, it was a 400 meter swim in the ocean, 12.8 Mile bike ride, and 2 mile run. In Aaron's case it was more like, 400 meter flounder, 12.8 Mile barf fest, and 2 mile walk / run. He loved every minute of it and learned a lot, not only that but he saw some cool stuff along the way:

• At least 2 dudes that were bigger than himself participating(see red circles)
  
• A chick blow a farmer john while riding her bike(depress one or the other nostril, not both, and blow firmly to dislodge mucus, try to miss your arm and shoulder
  
• A dude barf twice on his bike without stopping, oh wait, that was Aaron - awesome. It was actually pretty funny, I couldn't believe I did that since I had been so careful with what I ate and drank. It was probably a mixture of the salt water I ingested while swimming and the fact I hadn't eaten for 3 hours. Next time I'll take the 30 seconds to suck down an energy gel pack during the ride AND bring 2 water bottles or a camelback.

As you can see, Aaron has a weak stomach, here's a synopsis of all the sports he's enjoyed tasting his last meal again on:

• Deep sea fishing when he was 9, yeah mexican twinkies and sunny D- not really the breakfast of champions
  
• 4 out of 6 snow ski trips, it took a long time to be able to eat skittles again, that was some rainbow colored bial!
  
• Aaron rode his bike to work twice in his life, both times
  
• Papago park got to taste his last meal once on a bike ride
  
• Once after a particularly fun spinning class - he should have eaten something before going

Lesson learned - drink more water, eat something not too early and not to close to excercising.

Would you do it again?
Heck yeah, it was really fun to spend time with the kids, they were yelling and rooting me on, Zane is actually excited enough that he and I are both doing a triathlon on Thanksgiving morning, this time I won't be sucking in saltwater since it's in a 50 meter heated pool. Having a goal like this was so much better than just dieting, I've still eaten good foods while focusing on being more active. I've lost over 10 pounds in 2 months and am still excercising between 3 and 4 hours a week.

If you decide to sign up for one I highly recommend Eric Harr's book "Triathlon Training in 4 hours a Week", it was a truly inspirational book with just the right kind of plan for someone like me who has never been an athlete. Whether your goal is increasing your rank or just finishing he's got the right plan for you, I've already calendared my next 8 weeks of training using his plans.

Pictures

The dark stains on the shirt are remnants of Aaron's reverse paristalsis

Yes, extra water, I'm eyeing Zane's water bottle and subsequently take it, but I gave him a hug in return

Aidan worked up a real sweat those last few hundred meters

The kids and Alicia were there at every transition and it was awesome to hear them rooting for me.