As I have built myself up as a runner I have made many friends. Some of those friends are multi sport athletes. I began riding a bike. And I have for a while now toyed with the idea of taking on a triathlon. Then in 2025 after a year of big bike adventures which included riding around all of the 11 finger lakes in NY, culminating in a 100 mile ride (my first ever), and my first bike event 50 mile gravel race I decided to actually sign up for a triathlon.

But, there is just one problem. I can’t remember the last time I did any significant swimming with intention. I tried swimming a little during a camping trip over the summer of 2025 where we did a little mini triathlon and that was not easy. Swimming might be the hardest thing I have done since I first began learning to run.

I like to choose events that will challenge myself. If I am going to commit to do something it is not “just for fun”. I want to have fun, but I also want to challenge myself in some way. I don’t know why I am that way. The fun is in the training and commitment and seeing what my body can actually do if I commit to training it.

So, swimming it is. Before eI ever became a runner a friend of mine convinced me to go to the pool with him and try swimming. That was the worst feeling I had ever had and probably have ever had. To was hard to describe. Swimming is more exertional than I ever realized. It works your entire body and your entire aerobic system. I had not gone for a swim session since then. I kinda think it low grade traumatized me.

No matter how much I talked about wanting to complete a triathlon I never got in a pool. Not once. It doe snot help that unlike running and biking swimming requires a lot more planning. You have to find a place and time to swim. Especially in the New York winter. I can run or ride anywhere or stay indoors at home to do those things. No swimming at home, unfortunately.

Even after officially registering for a Triathlon it took me several months before I got into a pool. I registered in late 2025 and I did not get into t a pool to swim until the end of February 2026. I am a creature of habit and a procrastinator. Swimming was not a habit, but procrastination was. But as the timeline to train for swimming shrank the pressure began to push me towards a pool.

I wanted to do a triathlon but I did not really want to do a sprint triathlon, the shortest distance, because I thought that my running and biking experience will make it feel like less of a challenge and thrill to finish. I mean assuming I survive the swimming part at the beginning. Minor details ya know.

So I decided my first triathlon I register for will be an intermediate level one. The bike ride is 24 miles and the run is a 10k. But I only get to do that if I swim nearly a mile. .9 miles to be exact. In open water against whatever current there is. The ride and the run seem like they will be sufficiently challenging at that distance after I have swam .9 and successfully not drown. Maybe I will even have enough endorphins flowing after successfully completing the swim that the bike and run will feel easy.

But, that .9 mile swim is starting to feel like it is hard. So, I finally started to go to the local pool. I used to get up at 5 am every day either to prepare for my commute or to start working on projects at home. But that practice has slipped away over the last few years, thanks in large part to one of our dogs. Colton, I love you man, but dear lord I need to sleep. However, things have been a little more restful lately. So now I am committed to getting up at 5 am every other weekday to get tot he pool to swim.

As I write this I have been swimming 3 times. Swimming is hard. But thank god I have built up some cardiovascular fitness through running and biking because it does not make me feel like I am having a heart attack like it did the one other time I actually tried it. I can basically only swim one lap in a 25 yd pool without a break of some sort right now. And, Oh My God after my first swim my arms hurt so bad I could barely raise them shoulder high the rest of the day.

At least there has been some muscular adaptation already. After each swim my arms and other related muscles are still sore, but not nearly as bad. Really makes me wish I had been a little more committed to strength training. But now I will try to start working in some upper body work along with the legs now.

But, as for swimming I am essentially swimming a lap and then taking a break for up to 2 minutes then swimming another lap then another break. And so on and so forth. I end up resting more than swimming over the duration, but hopefully that will start to shift as I get more experience. Trying to think of it as run walking when I first began running.

This first week my swims have corresponded to my run days so I have not tried to push myself too hard. Except the one day where my swim was after my run, which was my first swim. And if I had known what I was in for I would not have done that either. But the following week, when my swims will be on mornings where I do not run later I may try to push a little harder and see how that feels.

It feels kind of nice to be trying something new and I actually do not dislike swimming. I dislike being bad at it. But I think as I build up the strength and endurance it may become a regular part of my routine.

My only regret is that I let anxiety and fear keep me from getting into a pool sooner. Being new. Not having anyone to swim with. Not knowing the process. Or being familiar with the pool or literally anything about swimming or the culture at all really held me back. I am glad to have gotten over that hurdle.

Finger Lakes Triathlon: Canandaigua here I come.

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