Oh Lordy.

A bunch of Team in Training women have registered for Barb's Race, a half-Ironman distance triathlon in July of 2011. Half-Ironman is twice Olympic Distance, and includes a ~1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike, and a 13.1 mile run.

That would be a half marathon at the end of the race. AFTER that long swim and bike ride. I've run a half marathon twice: once in Buffalo, where I didn't train properly and thought I was going to die, and once in Death Valley (in December, don't worry), where I trained really well but still thought I was going to die.

Why, oh why, would I ever consider trying to do a half marathon at the end of two other really challenging events?

I suppose that might be the question of the day, because I appear to have committed to the group of ladies as a new member of their training group.

That event scares the pants off of me, but it also might just scare me into training consistently for the next 8 months until the race. The group is working with (I think) one of the TNT coaches to come up with a proper training schedule, and they are planning a lot of group workouts, and I think that's the only way this would work for me.

Until then, I will worry about one little step at a time. My step this week involves getting back in the pool, and I have a midday swim date with one of the TNT ladies this week. Hopefully I won't drown. Or be mistaken for a whale and harpooned.