Me vs. JLo: The Match Up

I'm already regretting that I said that I was going to take on Jennifer Lopez's triathlon time. Note to self: check a person's finishing time before mouthing off a challenge. I've never done a triathlon, so maybe I'm wrong, but unfortunately for me her time doesn't look too bad. Here is the breakdown:

.5 mile swim: 20:52

T1: 6:09

18 mile bike: 1:14:36

T2: 3:09

4 mile run: 38:51

Total time: 2:23:38

I've never done any open water swimming, but I know it takes me about 35-40 minutes to swim a mile in the good old pool with no one kicking me in the face. I don't see any advantage for me there. What about the transitions? I'm guessing that it takes a little longer to get that curvylicious body of hers out of that wetsuit, but anyone that has a PUH (personal umbrella holder for those of you that don't read Perez Hilton) probably had a special coach to teach her exactly how to strip as quickly as possible. (I'm always looking out for you men. Trying to keep you reading!) Again, I'm not seeing a big advantage for me. Her bike was about 15 mph which seems pretty normal depending on the terrain. For the run, she ran just under 10 minute miles which is probably comparable to me on a day when I didn't run and swim just minutes beforehand. Hmmm... this is not looking good.

To add to the idiocy of my challenge, I am doing a much longer race than Ms. Lopez. I will be doing 1.5K swim (.932 mile), 25 mile bike and 6.1 mile run. Even if I try to just beat her pace, I think I'm going to have a tough time since I'm going so much further. Oh, and Mike (who convinced me to sign up for the Olympic distance instead of the Sprint) just happened to mention that the bike on this course is extremely hilly. Thanks, Mike. That might be some good information to share with me before I sign up.

Now, JLo did have twins just 6 months before this race. You would think this would be a big plus in my column. I guess I will have to concede that point and mention that she does have unlimited funds for training, a chef, and equipment. I could go on and on about the fact that she trained in California where it is perfect training weather every day and I have to live in &%$#* Minnesota where it was 5 degrees today.

Does it sound like I'm kind of copping out of this challenge? Good, you are getting the right idea.