Haw hard do you work at it? (Page 2)

I have always struggled at anything athletic. I struggled through couch to 5k and couldn't run a whole 5k at the end of it, because it technically gets you to the point where you're running 30 minutes, not 5k. I struggled to get to the point where I could run a 13 minute mile. I was cut from every team I ever tried out for. I was never overweight until I hit my mid 20's; I was always scrawny, just horribly unathletic and out of shape, even when I tried to get regular exercise.

When I was a kid, third grade or so, we had field day. They had a foot race at the end of the day for people who hadn't won anything yet. There weren't many of us. I came in third place and proudly wrote "running" on the back of my ribbon in the "for" slot. I showed it to my mom, who said, "Running??!" in disbelief.

For the first time in my life I've gotten to the point where I'm faster than some people and can go longer than some people and it's truly a strange, strange feeling.

I like this one.

I'm athletic. I'll try sports or disciplines that appeal to me and accomplish pretty much anything I put my mind too. I may not "podium", and I may suck at it for a while till I figure it out, but I will slowly learn the proper training and eventually do pretty darn good.

I got it from my Mama.

This describes me. I was always active as a kid, basketball and baseball through high school. Took up triathlons in my early 20's and then dropped it for family for about 20 years and then picked it up again 3 years ago. I'm now 46 and I think my biggest strength is being able to train consistently without getting hurt. My body is pretty resilient and will tolerate both speed and endurance workouts and be ready to go again the next day. From reading a lot of threads on this site the past few years, I'm very grateful that I can virtually train as much as I want and be healthy. At my age that is my biggest asset.

I take pretty well to a lack of training. When I started getting back into shape in 2009 I dropped 60lbs in about 3 months and was able to run 10miles at an 8min ppm. I did my first tri, an Oly last month with only a month of prep for it. I was preparing for a half-marathon so I already some base under me and finished a round of Insanity before deciding to prepare for the half.. I think I could go do a Sprint or an Oly right now, it just would not be a stellar finish time.

Distance does not seam to be my problem as much as getting faster. Since starting to train for a tri I have focused more on my form in each sport and think that will have long term benefits for me.

The past two years or so, not hard enough.

Fortunately some life circumstances have changed and I'm also actively reorganizing my life in order to be able to train with more consistency.

None of the above.

I have some natural ability for endurance, and I train hard to improve. I have completed races with less than what I would consider optimal training, but "just finishing" is not a part of my game. I've finished 1, 2, and 3 in three different races, but usually end up around the top 25% over all and a bit better in my AG