What got the newest newbies into Tris (Page 2)

I feel your pain darbaugh, literally.  I herniated two discs in my back a little over a year ago lifting weights, and after physical therapy and a lot of inactivity it's better now, but it never truly goes away.  Mixing in the swimming and cycling really helps cut down on the impact from running, which is super hard on that type of injury. 

It's a testament to your dedication that you push through the pain and continue to train.  I know how tough it can be.  Good luck and I wish you a speedy recovery.

I just started getting back into the gym at the beginning of the year.  I had played football in college, (although not as a fast guy, but as a fat one.  But I was good at fat) and had always missed being an athlete of some sort. 

So that being said, I also wanted somethign to train for.  I figured I should pick the most difficult thing I could think of, and that brought me here.

x2...what did I miss?

Seems reasonable to allow the OP...good question and it is interesting to see what draws fellow Triathletes into the GREATEST sport on this planet!

Use this info however you please

I got off the couch a few years ago at the age of 43ish, and decided to start running with a goal of running a Marathon. It took me a full year to train for it and I ran my first Marathon in May, 2008 and got 2 tibial stress fractures from it... so, I decided to x-train more, run less... but still have fun... and since I fell in love with road races, thought I should try a tri - my first Tri will be in April... almost 1 year after my stress fractures.

I got the info about BT from a runner who I met online who also had a stress fracture... So far, I got info on races by doing internet searches... I'll check-out trifind.com.

 trifind.com and active.com for the most part

ive always ran biked and swam (not so much in college tho)...so when i moved to my current location after school (right coast to left coast) i looked up a running club to meet some like minded people...

 turns out that running club was more of a multisport club, they really pushed the fact that i needed to race in more than just the 5 and 10ks, so i did the local olympic last sept...now im signed up for 9 races (1 HIM) in the up coming season and CAN NOT WAIT

I am a "morbidly" obese 29 year old man. I fell at the end of November down some steps and broke a bone in my neck and I have 3 herniated discs. The month of December was a pain but I decided that I was no longer going to allow me being so big run my life. A lot of things happen when you realize how blessed you are (things could have been really bad for me)

 So, I set a goal to lose 120 pounds in 12 months. (10 a month is the goal) I was meeting with my Coach for the Y and she asked me what fitness goal did I have. I said that I would like to do a 5K. She asked me if I would be interested in doing a Sprint Triathlon. I laughed. But I agreed.

Now I am absolutely obsessed with it. I am building up my base fitness now - being so big makes it hard to do anything without being out of breath. But the day will come when I will line up on the starting line and realize my goals (Sept. 20)

 So quite simply - the Triathlon is helping me reach my goals as well as giving me something to be apart of. 

Stop lying Rudy - you got into to check out the laddies and free beer  

I was a cyclist until life got in the way, and I gained some weight.  Changing my diet only did so much so I started running and the rest of my weight came off.  I started riding again to x-train on non running days.  Then I met someone at a football party and he planted the seed to add swimming to my routine.  Done.  Now I'm pretty set in my ways of getting two workouts in on most days.  I'm also training for my first 1/2 marathon in September.  My first Tri is the NJ Devilman sprint in May.

I use www.active.com to find races.

Scout