Sometimes I'm just crazy...

Sometimes I'm a little crazy (by which I mean a lot crazy). Like this weekend, when, for a few hours, I thought it would be awesome to enter myself for a chance to go on CNN and participate in the NYC Triathlon.

It happened on Saturday morning when I was eating breakfast and watching the news. The medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, came on and said that in July, he would be doing the New York City Triathlon, and that he was looking for 5 people to do it with him. CNN would send trainers to your home and you'd be awesome and train for the next 6 months for the triathlon. It's called the Fit Nation Tri Challenge. I thought, "Hey! I bike. I run. I could do a triathlon! And, who wouldn't want a personal trainer checking up on your progress for 6 months?!" I went on the website and saw that to enter yourself for a chance, you needed to submit a video of yourself explaining why you would be a good candidate.

All of the videos were of people sitting on their couches. I thought "Hey! They look like couch potatoes! Why don't I do a video of me explaining why I should be a triathlete - while I'm running..."

So I went out for my scheduled 3-mile run (with my ancient digital camera in hand) and took this video of myself:



It's a big file, so I don't know if it can even be viewed in increments longer than 5 seconds, but I tried. It's a little goofy. Or crazy.

Anyway, after the run, I took a closer look at the submission guidelines. Look at what I found: "Costs and equipment used to participate in or prepare for the Challenge, such as bikes and personal trainers, will be the responsibility of participant."

Wait, what? I have to pay for the personal trainer they send to my house? Well, I'd better find out how much the race itself will cost to enter. I went to the event website, and it turns out that the race is sold out, so there was no registration fee posted. So I have no idea how much this whole escapade would cost me.

Then I started browsing through the site and saw that the swim segment takes place in the Hudson River. Can you see me diving into the Hudson River? Neither can I. Honestly, the last time I ever even tried diving into a pool, I did a belly flop instead.

Belly flop into the Hudson River while being filmed for CNN? Let's just say that made up my mind against submitting my video. It would have been fun and really exciting, but between entry fees, a personal trainer, a wetsuit, a road bike, a 1- or 2-night hotel stay in NYC, and the whole diving into the river thing, I'll have to pass this time. Dr. Gupta, if you're out there reading this and want me to run a marathon with you, I'll do it, but I can't afford a triathlon.

A mini sort of triathlon is upcoming on the continuation of my List O' Fun things to do in 2010. That one is sprint distance and includes canoeing instead of swimming. I'll save that for another post, though.

Before I end, I want to congratulate bloggers Jenny and Jeri for success at the Dallas White Rock Marathon/Half-marathon yesterday! While I was home being crazy, they were out being awesome. Congrats to Jenny for setting both a PR and a BQ in the marathon, and to Jeri for a PR in the half! You guys are really inspiring, and I enjoy reading your blogs. :-)