Triathlon Training

I'd like to complete a triathlon. Not an entire one that ends with 26.2 miles of marathon hell, but one of those mini ones that ends with a 5k or a 10k or whatever. Can you tell I've done the research? I'm not expecting to win it, and I'm not planning on doing it until maybe next spring. I'll be excited if I get as far as finding one and registering for it. Here's why I don't have very high hopes:

I tend to do things half-assed. I get really excited about things and go full-force for a little while, then completely lose interest, give up and move on to something else. I was really worried that would be the case with my master's degree- I went full-time for 2 semesters the overloaded the third just so I wouldn't lose momentum. Then came time for my thesis and it went to the back burner because that's when I became pregnant. Finally when my daughter was almost 1 I went back and took the comps instead of finishing my thesis, at the suggestion of my department head. Good thing, too, or I'd probably still be ABD!

I don't own a bike. And I loathe stationary cycles. So the chances of my training on a bike are nil until I get one. I've received the necessary approval from my husband to get one and I have some friends who have some valuable input on what kind to get, etc. But it will probably be closer to the end of the summer before I get one. Then I have to decide whether to get a helmet, because I think for adults they're optional. I should look into that. The other problem with this is that I can't ride around town while I"m supposed to be watching SB. I tried to convince my husband to get a baby seat for the bike, but hence my earlier post about me being a complete klutz, he had a pretty good argument against it. It went something like "if you can't even walk on the treadmill without falling, how do you expect to ride a bike with our daughter on it?"

I can't freestyle very well. I think I mentioned in an earlier post that I tend to breathe in while my head is down in the water. This is not very efficient as it tends to fill my lungs up with water, usually chlorinated. So I'm actually headed out to Frederick today to drop SB off at my mom's and spend some time in the lap lane with my husband working on my mad swimming skills.

So I'll keep you posted on my progress. Hopefully by this time next year I'll have that under my belt and I can move on to the next thing....half marathon? Marathon? Ironman?