Let give this Triathalon thing a shot!

My wife and I have recently graduated college, gotten married, remodelled our home, and started into our long careers. (still can't believe they expect me to work until I'm 67!) I was a decent athlete in high school, but didn't make the Div 1 college scene. I ran track, cross-country, and dabbled in basketball. I stayed in shape through college playing pick-up games at the gym and running occassionally. Not great shape (I think beer may have had something to do with that), but decent, still able to jog 4-5 miles just under 7 min/mile pace.

That was over 2 years ago. Now I find myself at 25 yrs old, a travelling engineer that trouble-shoots equipment for customers throughout North America. I spend 75% of my time on the road seeing the sights, exploring new places, and unfortunately eating on the company dime! Age and lethargy have finally caught me... My 6'3" 165lb frame is a thing of the past. Seemed I spent years trying to gain weight (the good kind was the goal of course) and now I'm doing the opposite. I'll tip the scales at about 207lbs these days, and I'm sure I didn't put on 40lbs of muscle!!!

My wife was a Div 1 softball player, graduated a year ago and is in a similar situation. We've decided we'll force ourselves through our first triathalon and hope to find it's an activity we can enjoy for years to come.

For me, running will be the easy part. I've put in my fair share of miles over the years, Dad's a cross -country coach and I've been running since I was 7. Cycling should be decent, I've had to do quite a bit of that over the years when I was injured (stress fractures, ACL reconstruction, severed Achilles tendon). I'm still a little nervous about the swim. I was a life-guard and have a decent stroke (or so I was told), but I've never tried swimming any long distances. What worries me is that when I'm in good shape, I sink like a rock! I distinctly remember being the best submerged victim my life-guarding instructor had ever seen (used to hold my breath 3:30 and sit at the bottom while they tried to rescue me)... but that was in a pool surrounded by life-guards in training. That same phenomenon could be disastrous in an open water swim!

Anyway, that's about all I've got. I started the training last weekend. I'm thinking run and cycle first, then once I get some form of cardio endurance, tackle swimming. Also don't have a pool readily available so we'll be getting a membership at the Y when the time comes. Did I mention running sucks when you're horribly out of shape like I am?!?!

We'll be investing in road bikes this fall. If anyone has any good suggestions for a decent bike under $1000, please advise. This mountain bike just isn't the tool for the job. (much improved after installing smooth tires instead of aggressive off-road tread) Found a Motobecane Vent Noir for $650 with Shimano 105 hardware, don't know if that's good or not. Seemed decent, but we're not ready to buy just yet.