I was so thrilled to read that Scott Johnson completed a half marathon recently. I don’t think I could ever handle a half marathon, so I have a special level of admiration for Scott’s achievement.
As he writes in his post on the subject, the half marathon goal came about during a conversation between Scott, Cherise Shockley, and myself on DSMA Live last November. In that conversation, each of us listed a few athletic goals for 2014. I think Scott may have completed all of his by now.
What did I promise to do this year?
As I recall, I set three athletic goals:
1. Complete an ADA Tour de Cure ride
2. Complete a 5K run (3.2 miles)
3. Compete in a sprint triathlon (sprint triathlons are typically about 1/4 to 1/2 mile swim, about 15 miles on the bike, and then a 5K run)
So… what kind of progress am I making on these goals?
I completed the Chesapeake Bay Tour de Cure in May, so there’s that. And I completed my local neighborhood 5K run yesterday. Just like last year, the Live-In Niece and I ran it together. In case you’re wondering, a half marathon is more than four times the distance of a 5K. Anyway, I am now about two thirds of the way there.
Now the triathlon… that’s the really tough nut to crack. I had planned (and trained) to do a sprint tri on Father’s Day, but my recent participation in a clinical trial scuttled that idea. The study dates fell right at the time I needed to train the hardest.
So now I’m desperately searching for a simple, relatively flat, local triathlon to compete in before year’s end. If I don’t find an event, I may have to do a “triathlon of one”, where I do my best in each event all on my own on a predetermined date. It’s not the same as actually participating in competition, but I think it would suffice in the absence of a viable alternative.
As I work my way toward whatever triathlon I can do, I’ll keep you up to date. In the meantime…
Are you working toward an important athletic goal? Have you met that milestone already? Is someone you know living with diabetes and turning in a heroic athletic effort?
If so, I urge you to write for your Champion Athlete With Diabetes medal. To find out how to get yours, click here or click on the photo of the medals on the upper left corner of this page.
Your special effort should be recognized and rewarded. Just like with me and Rachel yesterday, I want you to see the finish line, and cross over. I know you can do it!
Be safe, and train hard.
Diabetes Blog - Happy-Medium.net 
Comments
Way to go, Stephen! I’m really proud of you! And I love that picture.
I’m sure you’ll find a good tri event to participate in, and take an extra season if that’s what it takes. A real event will be so much more fun than one you do by yourself. We get to make up our own rules to this thing, you know. 🙂
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Meeting 2 of your 3 goals by mid-July is pretty fantastic!!! And, while I love the idea of your own personal triathlon, I also think it would be 100% fine to just commit to doing the triathlon next year instead if that works better. Because really, the fact that you put a clinical trial ahead of the triathlon you had been planning to do is really commendable.
I’m still working hard toward my goal of running a 5K with no walking. We’ve got about two weeks left in our training program – which actually takes you up to running 30 minutes straight. Which I think I can do, but I don’t think I can cover 5K in 30 minutes. So we’ll keep chipping away, and we are going to run our first official 5K event of the year in early August. (I’m also debating changing my goal from “5K with no walking” to “5K in 30 minutes {which would also have no walking because I couldn’t do it in 30 if I walked}”.)
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