Why s/b/r, not s, b or r?

Easier to conceal my slowness.

Ha!  I recently told someone that I excel at physical mediocrity, so I really like tris...

Sadly, it's more true than funny for me. 

I've always enjoyed all three of the sports individually going back to my youth.  I'm now at an age where I need more recovery time between workouts and have become more susceptable to overuse injuries.  Therefore the inherent "cross-training" aspect of triathlon is a good fit and accomodates my limitations very well.

Mark

I started running and enjoyed training and competing.  After a few years I started thinking that given my background with competitive swimming as a youth that I might be decent at competing as an adult.

I just put up with the biking because there just isn't enough aquathon opportunity out there 

It limits the monotony.   If I get sick of running, I can spend more time in the pool.  If I get disenchanted with swimming, I can focus more on the bike.

Extra bonus nerdy reason -- it's kind of an interesting optimization problem.  Lots of different options and trade-offs.    My time is limited -- how do I divide it for the greatest impact?   (I'm also an ardent fan of playing Civilization for much the same reason)

For me, honestly (and some people may not like this answer), it was Ironman.  I wanted to do one, badly.  VERY badly.  And now (getting ready to train for my 5th) I'm addicted....LOL.

I really consider myself a runner.  I do WAY more of that than anything else (unless training for an IM).  I like to swim, too ~ have a swimming background.  But, the ONLY reason I bike is because it happens to fall between the two .

I know (it has been argued on here countless times) that many people believe that Tri is more than just Ironman.  And that's ok, we all come to the sport for different reasons.  For ME, it was the call of the distance......one that I will forever respect.

For the past 2 years, I have mulled over why I don't give up swimming and running to just focus on bike racing.  I still haven't come up with a clear answer...but I suppose the fact that I keep signing up for a couple of tris a year tells me that I must enjoy it...at least a little.

Tris still only make up about 20% of my race calandar though.

This is my first post here, and I'm not a triathlete...yet.

I started cycling - mountain biking, specifically - a few years ago. Lost a bunch of weight doing it. I got to where if I was traveling and couldn't ride, I missed the workout. Well, running shoes are easier to pack than a bike. The final part of the equation came last summer after I wrecked my shoulder on the mountain bike. First, the doctor said "swim." So I started to swim, a modified breaststroke since that was all I could do with my shoulder. Then I started riding a borrowed (now purchased) road bike because the bumps riding MTB hurt my shoulder. Now that I'm doing all three, the thought crept into my brain... "Why not try a triathlon?"

It has become a kind of bucket list thing. At first, as I got more fit, I began to think about a half marathon. But I'm really not that fond of running. The only kind of pure bike racing I'm going to do is MTB. And my swimming... well, I am just now, three months after shoulder surgery, able to swim freestyle. My technique needs a LOT of work.

So, yeah, it's not a matter of "why?", it's a matter of "why not." I'm going to give it a go. I will finish. I may be slow and may never do it again, or I may love it. At 44, having been fat and out of shape most of my life, I'm never going to be great at this. But, because of what I just said in that last sentence, just finishing will be a an accomplishment.

I had no background in any of the individual sports - so I just started them all at once (although I rode a decent amount as a kid).  I found that I'm not that good in the water, okay on the bike, and reasonable as a runner.  If I had to pick just one, then I'd dedicate some time to just running and see what I could accomplish.  But truth is, I keep thinking that if I take a big block of time to focus on just running, then I'd lose in the s/b.

Guess I'm a Triathlete, not a runner...

I love the running and I love the long swims.  Oddly enough, when I started this stuff, I thought for sure the bike would be my favorite.  Once I learned how to do the others better, they quickly moved to the top.

I'm around 5'11", 225lbs with more of a fullback build.

This.  I enjoy the ethos & logistical challenge of endurance sports, but my tendons didn't like marathons.  A guy at my gym who does ironmans told me that running was my past and tri was my future.  He's 70+, so I figured he probably knew a few things I didn't.  Active recovery is a natural part of triathlon training.  I love having swim days instead of off-days.  My running has actually improved.