Just wanted to share

My first tri is on 8/8. The tri organizers e-mailed me (and I presume, the other competitors) for our stories. I just wanted to share what I wrote back to him with you all here.

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A bit of Whit -- my story

One chilly morning last March, inspiration struck while I was in the shower. I decided that I was going to do a triathlon. At that time, I only biked recreationally on a Schwinn hybrid, hadn't run in years and had never been taught how to swim properly. So, of course, it made perfect sense (hah!).

Now for a little background ...

Ten years ago, I ran on the cross-county team as a sophomore in high school. I absolutely hated it, struggling with chafing thighs and excrutiating pains in numerous muscles that previously had been mysteries. My discomfort was no doubt due to being chubby, inactive and courting a budding addiction to cigarettes. After one season of running, I quit. I decided that I just wasn't a runner, even though I'd shaved 5 minutes off my 5k time during the season.

Fast forward six years. On March 19, 2000, my boyfriend (and future husband) and I quit smoking cold turkey together. Being able to quit after seven years of smoking allowed me to consider doing cardiovascular exercise again. Though I had begun lifting weights late in high school, I rarely ever did anything to build up my lungs and heart. After years of suffering through bouts of bronchitis and pneumonia, I was ready to get the rest of me in shape. At that time, though, my weight had once again reached a peak and getting going was hard.

I graduated college a few months later and my boyfriend gave me a Schwinn Sierra hybrid as a gift. So, I started riding wobbly miles - six here, ten there, with the burning in my lungs reminding me of the damage I'd done. I headed to the gym and over the next four years tediously worked with weights and cardio machines until I shed most of the extra weight.

But by the beginning of 2004, I found myself drifting through workouts without realizing what I was doing and my improvements ceased. I had gotten completely bored. So that March morning, I decided to be bold! As I researched training plans, I ran across a website that made all of the difference in the world: www.beginnertriathlete.com. There, I found a training plan, logs, and best of all, support and advice from others with the same wacky idea I had. So I bought a pair of running shoes, a bathing suit, goggles, ear plugs and a swimming cap and got going!

Over the past four months, I've achieved more than I ever imagined I could. I have gone from struggling to run a mile to completing the Peachtree Road Race in under an hour, from barely splashing in the water to swimming a mile and from exercising only a few days a week to exercising several times a day, 5 days a week. I have gone from carb-counting to carb-loading, from hot steamy baths to ice water soaks and from a size 10 to a size 8. Most importantly, I've gone from a woman who didn't believe she could complete a triathlon to a woman who knows she will.

With the help of www.beginnertriathlete.com, the forum participants, the Russell [Corporation] Women's Leadership Network, which is sponsoring my participation in this race, and most importantly, my supportive family and friends, I will achieve my goal of becoming a triathlete the day before my 26th birthday.

This is my birthday present to myself.

Sincerely,
Whitney