Add another Texan to the list

Greetings, all.

I'm currently training for my first ever tri in May...a sprint. It's been a long journey getting here, and triathlon has been on my list of "things I want to do in life" since I was a teenager.

15+ years later, I'm almost there and have plans to continue the tri lifestyle.

I was a standout high school athlete (swimming, softball, track, basketball, bowling), a college/pro bowler and generally had great fitness most of my life. Somewhere around 2002-2003 I gained ~40 pounds and reached the heaviest point in my life @ 175. It sucked, but I became a gym rat and lost it all in about 5 months. A year later, I was in a new career and completely unhappy with that decision...and it didn't take long to gain the weight back. I would lose some, then gain some, and overall, became complacent and eventually apathetic about it. Ultimately I topped out at 196 last October.

Enough was enough, and it was time to put me first for a change and make myself truly happy. So I began doing what I knew to do - eat right, work out. That was going well, but something was missing. I wanted an option for cardio that didn't hurt (at almost 200 pounds, running was literally a pain...and I wasn't fond on running to begin with anyway). So I decided to try cycling. I had a mountain bike I would ride a little here and there, but when I got on my first road bike in December, I knew I found something that I would enjoy.

About a month later I was reading random message boards and other articles for inspiration. Somewhere I crossed the path of someone mentioning a triathlon. A light went off in my head and I remembered from years ago saying I wanted to do that. So I convinced my SO to join me in a training plan and making a commitment to do our first tri together in May. We've stocked up on swim suits, running shoes and other goodies and haven't missed a single workout since we started this journey.

Along the way, I have lost 45 pounds and am making strides every day to get back to 135. And what used to be a dreadful anticipation of run day is now a time I look forward to. Seeing improvements in my aerobic fitness and my mile pace is so rewarding. I already want to do a couple more sprints and hopefully an Olympic before my busy season starts with my business in September. Then I want to accomplish another thing on my list...train for and complete the Houston Marathon in 2010.

I know there are a lot of lofty goals, but I feel great about my body and about myself, and know that challenging myself and competing is key to keeping me inspired and healthy.

Thanks for reading...I look forward to being a part of this great community!