Last summer I was an overweight 30-year old who was attempting to pick up
(read: force myself to enjoy
) running. One day last August I jogged
(shuffled is probably more accurate
) over to the USAT National Championships here in Milwaukee, and I was absolutely blown away by the atmosphere, and by the athleticism of the athletes. I knew then and there that I wanted to sign up for and complete a sprint within the next year. Around the same time I also picked up weight training, which I stuck with pretty consistently, building up some significant muscle, strength and endurance over the course of 6 months. I had a minor wrist injury that put the kibosh on some of my heavy lifting, but fast forward to today and I'm 20-25 lbs lighter and still have a good amount of strength and endurance. I've also completed a handful of 25-35 mile bike rides and 5-10k runs over the past year
(including a quarter marathon last weekend
).
Long story short, I'm signed up to do my first sprint in 3 weeks
(1/4 mi swim, 17 mile bike, 5k run
), and while I'm a little nervous, I am excited and confident that it's going to be a blast! Due to a lack of work-life balance lately, my training has suffered, but I'm confident that I'll be able to finish. I'd call my training plan for the last few months "training light". I've been running fairly consistently, but only getting on my bike and in the pool every other week or so. I was a swimmer in high school, so though I'm a bit slower these days, I'm confident in my swimming ability and the water doesn't generally make me anxious. Planning on getting in the pool and out on my bike as much as possible over the next few weeks, and will get in at least one OWS. Am I crazy? Maybe, but I can see the finish line and I'm confident I'll make it there

In the meantime, I'm looking forward to perusing the forums for some tips and tricks, and ways to improve for next time!