So a few weekends ago, I really kicked off triathlon training.

I’m most concerned with the swimming portion, so I found a gym that offers “lap-swimming” classes. It’s been great — the instructor watches us and assigns drills to help us fix anything we’re doing wrong.

My third session was on Saturday and it’s going well. And even though I rested between laps and did some laps with kick boards and floats, my overall distance was very close to what the race will be (1K — or about 1,100 yards). I’m less worried now.

However, these Saturday swimming sessions are messing with my usual weekend runs. My running buddies went out on Saturday the same time I was swimming. I’m on my own to add a weekend run.

I am not a solo runner. I like my group — we chat and encourage each other. Alone I didn’t think I’d go very far, especially since it’s started to get hot.

I also got a later start this morning, mainly because I got to bed late and wanted to let myself sleep! But I got out of the house a little after 10 a.m. and started plodding along.

I ran to a nearby park, 2 miles. It was pretty slow, but I was hoping I’d be ambitious enough to run 8 miles, so I planned it that way.

The park has a 4.1 mile loop, or I could have turned around at the bathroom for 3 miles. I stuck with the full loop.

And yes, I did let myself walk some of the hills within the park (it’s hot! I’m going far today!), but the one hill I kept running through was the biggest one.

Oddly enough, the 2 miles home after leaving the park were the fastest. I usually don’t do that!

After a shower and a nap (quite common for me!), I made lunch and relaxed for a little while … but not too long.

Because I am crazy. (But we already knew that!)

I packed my bike into the car and met up with a friend to go for a ride. We only went 9.5 miles, but that was about as much ambition as I had for the day!

Last Saturday, after my swim class, I rode 16 miles and then forced myself to run a mile.

At first I thought I felt fine, until I got going. Then ouch — heavy legs!

But I did it, and at a decent pace, too. I will have to continue pushing myself if I’m going to make it through this thing!