July-athon

On a crisp July morning in 2011, I donned my wetsuit as the steam rose from the crystal blue waters of the Scofield reservoir. When the gun fired I ran into the 70 degree water for my first open swim of my inaugural triathlon. Throwing caution to the wind I dove headlong into the water. The thundering kicks and slaps of the competition slowly faded away. I was doing it. I was leaving the competition behind. I’d never been a particularly strong swimmer, but I’d trained. Practiced. I put in the time. I’d woken up 5 days a week to hit the pool before work and felt prepared. The .75 mile swim was set up as a triangle with a buoy at each corner to swim around. I popped my head up confident that the first buoy was within striking distance. There it was still 0.25 miles away with the competition swimming towards it. I was off course. Way off course. So far off course that a guy in a boat was coming to tell me to get back on course. Needless to say, I learned that maybe I should just stick to running and biking and my love of duathlons was born.

This month’s challenge is to run at least 10 runs and ride at least 10 times in the month of July. They don’t have to be on the same day. HOWEVER, if you complete both a run and a ride on the same day 10 times in the month, you’ll be added to a second drawing for $50. All runs and rides must meet the minimum requirements of the overall 365 day challenge (ie. at least 1 mile run in 15 min or less and at least a 3 mile bike). This one will be harder to track so make sure to tag @Josh Pierce and @Ryan Mellem in the comment section of your final activity and sign up for the monthly challenge. Have fun. Be safe. And remember that anything worth doing is worth overdoing.