Noob from SoCal -- in dire need of some guidance

I think of triathletes as the lycra-wearing hardcores who ride $1000 bikes and go to early morning masters swimming classes. Obviously, that is not me. I think that the fear of the unknown is what is most discouraging. Can I, pathetic dweller of the couch, with my crappy shoes, crappy bike and limited resources, actually pulll this thing off? Stay tuned.

wallbangr - 2008-01-16 4:48 PM Great, thanks for the encouragement. Yeah, the shoes are my first order of business. Can I get a decent pair at Big5? New Balance?

wallbangr - 2008-01-16 3:19 PM

Hey folks,

I am a complete and total noob to the triathlon scene. I am starting from square one. I am a 32 year old couch tater who gets very little to no physical activity. I'm only a few lbs overweight [5'3"/130], but I swear I get winded going up the stairs in our house. So a very good friend of mine from way back in the day recently had a cancer scare. Thank god, but it lools like he's going to be alright. During the course of his treatment, there was a time when an amputation of his let was not out of the question. This inspired my friend to aspire to finishing an ironman triathlon. He has set up a 501(c)(3) non-profit to benefit research into the rare type of cancer he has survived. The goal is to raise $50K for medical research and it is all centered around my buddy's plan to complete an ironman. He has recruited some of his friends, myself included, to join him on this quest. After talking me out of my total skepticism that any of this would be remotely possible for me, he has tentatively talked me into attempting a sprint tri in September or October 2008. I'm still not convinced that this is anything more than a pipedream. It all looks very daunting to an outsider. I have not run in ages, I'm not much of a swimmer [in fact, I suck, and that is not an exaggeration] and the bike I have is of the outdated-clunker-of-a-mountain-bike persuasion. I don't have access to a pool. I don't have a gym membership. I don't have time and money to immerse myself in it. But I also don't really have an acceptable excuse not to give this a shot. My friend got a wake up call and has thrown down the gauntlet to the rest of us to dare as he has. And god knows I could use the excuse to do something ambitious. But this thing is pretty scary to the outsider. I think of triathletes as the lycra-wearing hardcores who ride $1000 bikes and go to early morning masters swimming classes. Obviously, that is not me. I think that the fear of the unknown is what is most discouraging. Can I, pathetic dweller of the couch, with my crappy shoes, crappy bike and limited resources, actually pulll this thing off? Stay tuned.

My buddy pointed me to the couch to sprint program and that was the first bit of encouraging news I've seen. That was the first time that I felt like this thing might actually be doable. I guess other than that, I just need to jump in and give it a try.

Thanks for listening,

Rob