First 5000m swim, solid training last week, and close to buying a tri-bike

I swam a 5K (3.1 miles) for the first time ever this morning with no breaks. I treated my pace just like an easy long run and really never felt like I was getting fatigued until about the last 20 laps or so (I think the psychological aspect starts to kick in towards the end and you talk yourself into feeling more tired than perhaps you are). I doubt realistically that I'll ever be a relatively fast swimmer as compared to most experienced swimmers, but once again my endurance is what saves me in distance events.

Prior to today, I was really pleased with my training last week. I swam 4 times for a total of 7 miles (long swim of 2.5 miles) and ran 5 times for a total of 40.5 miles (long run was 10.5 miles). My average pace on the running was about 7:35 per mile.

On Saturday, I drove across town to a bike shop called Sugar Cycles to look at a Specialized Transition Comp (all carbon frame) and am pretty much sold on it. The 2 guys that I spoke to at length were very experienced triathletes and never once made me feel like I was an idiot or beneath them like the bike shop in my immediate area does. I told them I really knew nothing about the cycling aspect and they really took their time to put things into laymen's terms for me. My guess is that I'll have the bike as soon as this coming weekend and will start my cycling training then.

With a little less than 14 months to go to IM CDA, I feel like I already have a really solid foundation on the swimming and running, and I am really excited about incorporating the cycling part into the mix. Once I get a month or so of the cycling behind me, my plan is to entire my first triathlon in July or August (possibly even the Half-IM in Buffalo Springs on June 29, but I don't want to push it).