Buzz word

Attention fellow bloggers: Want to create a buzz on your blog? Just mention the word "triathalon!"

18 of you wonderful readers commented on my Crazy Talkin' entry in which I contemplated aloud the possibility of celebrating my 40th birthday in August by competing in an all-women triathalon.

The majority of you were all for it, saying "You go girl" or other similar sentiments. A couple of you were helpful as well as supportive; my friend Ellen offered to do the triathalon with me and my neighbor Cathy offered the use of her pool for the swimming portion of the training.

My friend (and fellow Better U challenger) Ruth suggested I talk to my trainer, which was good advice. Krista recommended that I read The Slow Fat Triathlete, a suggestion which had me chuckling.

At this point, I'd say I'm 95% sure I do want to do the Go Girl triathalon.

The other 5% of me is still fixed on what my mom and my sister Shelley had to say. (We can always count on family to keep us real.)

My mom's reaction when I told her on the phone that I was considering a triathalon to celebrate my 40th birthday was: "In August?! Do you know how hot and humid that could be?" Hmmm...didn't think about that.

Shelley sent this in an e-mail: "Ummm...I'm sorry, but I think you have the wrong email address. I don't know WHO the heck this is sending me this crazy email!! :) I think you should definitely do a 5K. You could do that! What about the mini marathon we did a few years back? Remember? You got picked up on the racetrack by the ambulance???"

Ok, I had to laugh at that. I think the heatstroke must have wiped that incident from my memory.

So I've got some thinking to do. And some working out if I my thinking leads me where I think it will.

Crazy talkin'

I've been thinking about doing a 5k sometime soon. I can knock out 3 miles on the treadmill pretty easily now. Well, there is heavy breathing and sometimes some begging for mercy going on, but I can get it done in about 45 minutes. Plus, I'm so ready for springtime and to be able to spend some time outside, the idea of a 5k actually sounds pleasant.

Believe it or not, that is not the crazy talk.

So today, I was surfing around looking for upcoming 5k races in my area. The St. Patrick's Day 5k is a possibility, though it's a little sooner than I'd planned. There's an Outrun the Sun 5k in early June, but that's a little later than I'd hoped for.

Anyway, I was scrolling through all the races and found myself looking at the August 2010 calendar. On August 21, I will turn 40 years old. Seven days later, there will be this:

I saw that and thought, "Now THAT's a way to celebrate being 40!"

Am I nuts to even consider this? Maybe I'm still a little euphoric over yesterday and that's affecting my ability to view things realistically.

But, I can do a 3-mile run. I can do a 10-mile bike ride (at least I can on the bike at the gym). The swimming scares me a bit -- ok, a lot. And can I do all three of those things, one after another? I have six months to train, right?

Could I do it? A triathalon?

Be honest with me. Is thinking that I could do the Go Girl triathalon just crazy talk?