My goal is simple: to finish one triathlon.  As I'm writing this, however, I'm thinking, I must be out of my freaking mind.  To an active and fit individual I would look like a whiney wuss.  The problem with this statement is that it's actually true.  I am a whiney wuss.  And as all whiney wusses are apt to do, we would go on a tirade of every excuse we could muster.  Here's mine.

I am not a runner.  I do not run regularly.  The last time I ran like the wind was when I was about to get mugged back in high school.  And quite honestly if the guy wasn't drunk I think I would have been clobbered.

I am not a swimmer is an under-statement.  I can empty half the pool water while flailing my arms and legs with all my might only to find myself one yard from where I started.  I can float but cannot thread water.

I am not a cyclist.  My parents didn't even buy me a bike when I was a kid (that's low, man, to resort to blaming your folks... tsk... tsk).  I was a tricyclist when I was 6 years old.  Does that count?

I exhaust easily.  Just this past weekend I helped a friend move - going up and down two flights of stairs carrying boxes was exhausting.  I.  Was.  Panting.  Like.  A.  Dog.  Can you imagine what happened when my friend filled the boxes up?  Doctor said I have a case of anemia which would make me exhaust easily.  He also said I should avoid deep see diving.  Mental note: keep away from bodies of water where sharks can swim.  Roger that, Doc.

I don't have the time.  Between writing this blog and reading others' blogs, I can barely find the time to polish my key chain collection much less train for a triathlon.

Aghast, I'm flat-footed.  Strike the gavel, this case is closed!

As the whiner in me crosses his arms and continues his grumbling, the mostly dormant adventurer in me wants to give triathlon a try.  Why?  Because like I said before, I'm a wuss - I keep on dreaming about doing all sorts of stuff but give up any idea when it starts to materialize.  I need to show myself that I can do it.  But why a triathlon, why not a 5k run or even just start jogging around the park?  Honestly, I don't know.  Maybe, in the end and in reality, all that I can accomplish is a 5k run but even so I would rather set my sights up high.  Besides, what have I got to lose?  (Please don't answer this question.)

To highlight my ignorance, I discovered that there are different varieties of triathlons.  Among them, there's the mini, the Olympic, the Ironman.  Then  there's the add-some-take-some varieties like the duathlon, biathlon, quadrathlon, decathlon, and a new one coming this September, the urbanathlon.

So, to pin down my fantasy to a certain level of reality, I'll redefine my goal as such: To run a mini-triathlon - something in the range of 0.25 mile swim, 10 mile bike, and 3 mile run.  But I'm not letting the word "mini" fool me.