Beginner Triathlete - My First Triathlon articles

From the couch to a half Ironman the hard way.

A bumbling non-athlete makes her determined way to the Nation's Triathlon finish line!

The first wave takes off. Then the second. Then mine. That’s when things started to go awry. I wish I had read more of the posts on BT.

Thousands of strokes, cranks and pushes later, I did my first sprint triathlon as a wheelchair racer. What a blast!

My first triathlon was the confirmation that I made a life altering choice of fitness.

I decided that completing a triathlon would be the perfect celebration of reaching my goal and losing 83% of my excess body weight by dropping 230 pounds.

I looked at the swim buoys and start thinking, "Man! How am I ever going to swim that? That looks like a very long distance from the bridge. I have never done it in one go." There's no turning back.

It has been a bucket list item for years...something to do before I'm 25. Okay, maybe I'll push that to 30. Okay, maybe I'll let it go altogether.

I was only halfway to my weightloss goal, but I was still able to finish my first triathlon only after 10 weeks of consistent training.

Training was harder than I ever imagined it would be. I've always considered myself athletic, but never really had a need to push myself beyond my comfort zone. This was so different and so rewarding!

There is such a feeling of power and confidence when you take control of your destiny! A year ago, I was a fat slob with no athletic inclination. I made this happen!

In November of 2000, I noticed that I was losing the feeling in my toes. The sensation traveled up my body and within a week, I was nearly 80% paralyzed.

I have always been an athlete, growing up playing team sports like basketball and soccer. I also ran in a couple of 10K races every year, so I had no reason to worry about running a 5K...right?

It was with no small amount of disappointment that at 38 years of age I had, like so many of my peers, fallen into an all too common rut and was tipping the scales at a portly 301.

All I can think about is, "How can I swim in this?" I can't sleep. I think I made a big mistake. I'm filling my head with fear and doubt. What made me think I could run a triathlon?