Giving up on giving up

Hi all. My name is Scott, and I’ve been inspired by my wife, a Half IM competitor, to try something hard. At 43, I think this will be the first time in my life I will truly challenge myself. I saw myself (and she did to) thinking that 40 was the end of the line, and by 43, I thought life was over. But after going to one of her races, I see that not everyone thinks like that. I want to be like that.

So, my background. I was in the Army, but never in great shape. Just good enough to keep passing the fitness tests. Barely. Since then, I’ve put on some weight, but can still run a 10 minute pace for 3 miles (completely out of breath) and 12 minute pace for 5 miles. I have never learned to properly swim, and can only breaststroke. I can’t sit on my bike for more than 10-15 miles, and my wife says I need a new saddle other than the one that came on it? Unfortunately where we retired, there is NO triathlon…or really fitness…culture. It’ll probably be just the two of us. And since I hold her back - mostly just me by myself training.

So - any pointers for a new year?