too big for a tri?

For me, it's not so much about my size but about whether or not I have a reasonable expectation of finishing within the time limits.  I'm 5'2" and 235 (down from 257).  I did my first sprint tri on 5/31, and although I finished, I didn't get an official time because it took me too long on the bike.  I've only been "off the couch" since mid-February and right now my stand-alone times for the swim/bike/run are usually right on the border of the time limits (for those that are posted).  I've decided to keep training but not to register for another one until I know I can finish within a reasonable timeframe.  That's just what's best for me. 

Check out the Clydesdale & Athenas forums.  You will find a lot of people there who do amazing things! 

If I were you, I would totally go for it.

A few years ago, Kate Harding wrote an article called "The Fantasy of Being Thin."  While I don't agree with many of her views, I found the core idea of that article to be fairly powerful -- the idea was that people tend to waste a lot of time and opportunities by saying "When I'm thin, I'll do _____," when in reality, they could have done those things all along.  And I've found in my own weight-loss experiences that this holds doubly true for athletic activities.  I would catch myself thinking things like "I'm too big to go to the pool.  When I'm 20 pounds lighter, I'll go get a bathing suit," or "I'm too chubby to run.  If I lose some weight, then I can run."  It's doubly bad, because (1) it's not true, and (2) that kind of thinking sabotages one's attempts to lead a healthy lifestyle: if people are "too big" to exercise, how are they expected to lose extra fat?  

So if I thought I could handle the distances, I would sign up for that tri.  And I wouldn't use my size as a metric of whether or not to sign up -- I would make that decision based on my athletic ability and what performance gains I could reasonably expect to make in the available time I had for training.  There are people bigger than you who have totally owned tris in the past, as well as a lot of people half your size who would drown halfway through the swim, never mind running more than a quarter-mile

Thanks, ump107.  I've got my eye on two local sprints in mid-Sept and early Oct.  I'm continuing to train and hope to do one or the other depending on my progress by then.  I improved greatly from Feb-May, and while the improvement has slowed, I'm still working hard and seeing some good results.

To the OP, I forgot to mention that when I did my sprint in May, I'd ordered a t-shirt from www.cafepress.com to wear that said "Let's see you do this at MY weight."  To me it says that I may not be the fittest competitor, but I certainly put forth just as much if not more effort to finish.  Best of luck to you! 

If you do your training and can complete the distances, there is no "too big".  Go for it!  : )

I've completed two ironman races @ 255 lbs.  I done shorter races and marathons at 280 and I've done then lighter 240s and I can tell this:  the more you lose and the lighter you become, the more you will enjoy the races.

~Mike