To Tri or not to Tri?!?

To Tri or not to Tri?!? That's the question of the night. I did it! I went to the monthly Maryland Triathlon club meeting. The first part was a tad dull with all the business stuff, but then a group of 7 coaches got up and answered a bunch of questions people submitted. This is where it got really interesting, and when I started getting really, REALLY nervous. I left a little after 9. I was getting pretty tired and I'm not feeling so well tonight - my nose has been stuffy all day and my throat is scratchy, so I'm sipping on some tea while I type this - I might slam my head into the keyboard at any time now. UGH.
Okay, so the whole questions with the coaches session was pretty cool. Each coach has tons of experience and seemed to really know their stuff - especially the one guy. Last year 2 of his "students" made it to Nationals and something else really impressive...I'm so tired, sorry. But anyway, one of the questions they answered was about running dismounts in the transition areas. Say what?! Okay, so up until this point I've been thinking about things like can I really do all three sports at one time? I can do them all individually, but together? I never even thought about transitioning from one to the other. Apparently people actually strap shoes to their bikes, and run up to them, hop on, and then just slip their foot into their shoes as they are pedaling, then they take their shoes off and dismount before transitioning to the run. Wow! Am I going to be the only person who will sit down and have to tie their shoes?! Ha, ha. I'm going to get run over. One of the coaches said you should aim to do 30% more of each sport when you train...which I think means I need to get my butt up to 4 miles runs at a time. They said bricks are really important (which I did hear about)...a brick is when you run/bike/run or even just bike/run. They're really important in tri-training. They said it's especially important to run anytime you ride your bike so that your legs get used to that feeling. The one guy said, "so you go on your normal daily 90 minute bike ride, then you go for a mile or two jog just to stretch out your legs." UMMMM...who does that again?! I'm not sure I'm ready for this now - if ever. I still walk/run my jogs.
I'm seriously thinking about putting it off for a year or so, and this year focus on some race running and getting my bike out and riding it. Then next year as I get more confident (and hopefully not pregnant...hey, every other year it seems like I'm pregnant, lets try and get through a year without it!), then maybe I'll do it. I don't think I'm ready...certainly not ready for any of that running dismount stuff or any of the other things they were talking about.  You should've seen the place too - it was packed. Wall to wall people. I was surprised that most of them were older - 50ish I'd say, but no one real young (I'd be surprised if there were any 20 year old's there tonight). That was cool to see.
So anyway, now I'm not really sure what I want to do. I'm terrified that I'm going to get run over. I might contact the club and see about volunteering at a race just to see what it's like, and then go from there. I'm not completely scared off, but it might be another year or so before I attempt one. I'm thinking it's a bit bigger then where I am right now.