extremely novice!

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I'm going to first give you incredibly high marks for posting and admitting all your fears. That's the first step to overcoming them. Congratulations on having a worthwhile goal to shoot for. You are way ahead of all the people that admit they can't do something and then just give up. I don't see that happening in your case, you have too much courage and conviction for that!

Best thing is to take it one step at a time. Don't try to solve all the issues at once. Pick one of your weaknesses and work on that, one that you will see measureable progress with. I would start with the running. Time yourself over a specific distance, say a mile for instance. Go out and warm up with some light jogging and walking, for 20 minutes, then run your mile as best you can and record your time. During the course of the week, keep doing your walking and running, trying to build stamina and endurance. Each week, run the same mile again, recording you time. Do this for a month and you will see progress, I guarantee it. You'll start to feel fitter, you have more energy, and the progress will help your spirit and enthusiasm.

Once you get into a nice groove with that, then think about tackling another problem, say like improving your biking skills. The key is to start slow in whatever you do, and don't overwhelm yourself trying to do everything at once.

It's possible to eat an entire elephant, but you got to start with small bites first!

Max

welcome - you're and adult in decent shape.

I'm the age of an adult and I'd rather not discuss my shape. So thats one up on me!!

go for it. :-)

Yes you can! The bike and run will come with patient, endurance building staying at it. Time - not speed is the crucial issue. As for the swim - that will come to - if you can find a beginner's class that will help. There are lots of people here who have had lots of struggle with the swim portion.

hang in and plug away

Welcome to the club - I don't swim either. Actually I can swim a few strokes if I have to BUT - I KNOW there are monsters in that deep water. Let's be in touch, maybe we can encourage each other.

welcome!!! you have a great attitude. just hang in there...you will get over your fears and love your first tri.

Hi,

Good luck to you. I used to have the same fear of open water, then my husband (at the time, my boyfriend) talked me into a scuba diving class at our YMCA. Boy was I scared...but that cured me of my deep water fear. Of course, I think a swim course at your local YMCA would be a good start.

As far as the bike goes, I'm new to this portion of competition. Have done some road biking, but not racing. Check with you local bike shops, some of them run seminars on tri's and just bike racing. I plan on taking a triathlon seminar in May.

Evelyn

Welcome! Not to worry about your skill level. Many of us are still learning too! You'll be fine!

Welcome... the first step to anything is just admitting your weaknesses [for now they are considered your weakness].... after that you have to find a way to overcome these. As cheesey as this may sound, and cliche for that matter0-- where there's a will, there is always a way.

a friend of mine wanted to do a tri REALLY badly.... she's not a strong swimmer, or runner, or biker.... but she put herself out there- against all odds.... she had the determination to finish.... and finish she did. she was THE last finisher, for the bike part.... she had a cop car trailing her, so that she'd be safe against cars.... for the run, again she had a cop car. i ended up hopping into that cop car, and cheering her all the way in..... by the time she finished, she had a small little cheering section encouraging her in, nearly everything had been set down and put away.... but by golly, we were so proud of her. I'm sure after hearing what could easily be considered a worst case scenario.... you can find the courage to put yourself out there.... sure it's a race... but it's your race! Lot's of luck with the training, motivation and determination!

Milly

Thanks everone! All the advice and encouragement means a lot. Max, I was a bit lost on how to begin and the specifics of how exactly I should begin really helped. Thanks!

My mountain bike had been taken apart and put into storage 3 years ago, so I'm going to have to dust it off! Instead of biking I've been rollerblading... Hey, I have an idea: Remove the swim portion and add a rollerblading portion. Nah.

And as for my swimming, my local Y will not have adult swimming classes until later in the spring... I can hardly wait! Just looking at photographs on the web of competitors getting ready for the swim portion at dawn gives me butterflies.