So I decided to be a triathlete...

I'm 43yo and over the last 9 years, I've kinda let myself go...work, kids etc. I decided 2 years ago that I wanted to get back in shape, so I started cycling recreationally...first mountain biking, then road cycling. A couple of friends have been encouraging me to do a triathlon and I've always wanted to, but I had this dark secret...I couldn't swim and I was kinda afraid of the water. But 3 months ago, I signed up for a local Sprint Triathalon and told myself I could teach myself to swim; after all, I've been taking my 3 kids to swim lessons for 2 years and they've been doing great. It actually didn't look that difficult...boy was I wrong!

The first 4 times in the pool, I couldn't swim across the 25m without stopping...I couldn't breath and every time I put my face in the water I would panic. Meanwhile, I was starting to run again...I hadn't run in over 6 years but I used to be a decent runner (was in the army for 9 years). Between the panic in the pool to my aching body from not having run for so long, I had so much self doubt about whether or not I could even finish a Sprint Tri.

That's when I turned to the internet and YouTube...I started lurking on BT and read plenty of motivating testimonials and used YouTube to learn proper breathing and stroke technique. I was running 3 mornings/week; biking 2 mornings/week and swimming 3 nights/week after my kids were in bed. My training was going great and I was gaining confidence in my swim...then 5 days before the triathlon, I was diagnosed with Shingles.

I was exhausted, felt like I had the flu and my right leg (where the sores showed up) felt like it was on fire. I couldn't do any training the last week and I seriously considered backing out, but then I told myself, "you trained too hard to not do it...even if you're not feeling well, just do it". so I completed my first triathlon yesterday:

Swim (400m): 11:44
Bike (12 mi): 34:44
Run (5k): 32:17
Total: 1:23:23

Rank: 265/650

I was happy with everything but the run which was over 4min slower than my training brick workout runs. I attribute that to a combination of my shingles and being very dehydrated by the time the run started, but that's a story for another post of: what I learned during my first Tri. This morning I woke up a Triathlete and decided to look for my next race, so I expect to be a more active participant on BT. Thanks to all the inspirational stories that got me to this point!

-jh