Beginner Triathlete - My First Triathlon articles

A look back at my first triathlon at Parlee Beach.

Or why an Ironman 70.3 may not be your best choice for your first triathlon.

At the end of last year I was about 240 lbs. Then I signed up for my first triathlon. A few months later and 50 lbs lighter, I finished 3rd out 98 male first timers.

I had been very fit until I turned the legal age for the two demons: drinking and smoking. Unfortunately, from my 18th birthday, my once fit swimmer's body went downhill and wide very fast.

My surprise was just how much this race was about others - and not just my personal goals.

What are you waiting for? Get out there and sign up for your first triathlon. Do it now because spring seems like a long way off!

Two years ago I weighed in at a hefty 280 lbs and was a mess. Now I'm a lean 180 lbs and train daily. What a difference healthy eating, exercise, and self discipline can make!

I got about a minute into it and, despite bracing myself against it for months, I panicked. I could not get my breath. I said, "I can't do this, I can't do this."

After doing duathlons for the last couple of years, I decided to go for a triathlon. Starting with an Olympic-distance race perhaps wasn't wise, but it was fun (of a sort).

I started out swimming only 50 yards at a time. In the beginning I would swim with training paddles and a float between my legs. I struggled to stay on top of the water.

It was literally seconds after I started swimming that I felt the tightness in my chest. I couldn’t get a deep breath in due to the tightness of my wetsuit. I was being strangled by my wetsuit...

Cotswold super sprint - UK. Lots of bodies colliding, I swam half over someone, got kicked by some bloody breaststroker, and as a mob we poured towards the first buoy.

This past spring I realized a few of us were heading in the wrong direction physically. We were getting together for poker games and kids’ birthdays, but that was it.

Home for the summer, lab tech college student trains and completes first triathlon!

Soon after I got married, I decided I needed to get motivated to work out and focus on getting back into shape. I could barely jog a quarter-mile without needing a walk break.