so who were you pre-triathlon life? (Page 2)

Nancy,
We were so lazy that we bought this instead of walking at the track. I quess walking would make us too tired





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this is sweet action jackson. getting to know all of you a bit more. i'm not surprised that cyclists are (thus far) the least claimed discipline. i mean, if you're a cyclist then you CYCLE not tri, so its not at all surprising that its the sport most of the BTers have had to learn and pick up to complete the tri.

nifty stuff all in all.

I used to say the same thing about 6 months ago. I hated running! Now, it's my favorite of the three disciplines, and I'm doing my first half IM in September! 6 months ago, I'd be wheezing at the end of 3 miles of running!

Well while living in holland, I used to ride the bicycle to the grocerystore does that count?

I would probably consider myself a swimmer, having swum competitively from age six until I graduated high school. I also ran cross-country for two years. However, more recently I would say that I have been a non-athlete, having not done anything really for about six years.

I was a summer swimmer and a competitive gymnast for MANY years until a 90 degree hyperextension of my knee. Then I did very little. Some track running. Some walking. Then I discovered I about fell over if I tried to run to catch the bus a half block away, so I made a New Year's Resolution to learn to run. I joined a running club and completed a 15K which was my longest run. Fastest ever pace was a 9:18 minute mile. Pretty slow. THen I got a knee injury and ended up doing a couple body transformations (Body For Life, Leanness Lifestyle) before I realized that a "looking great in a swim suit" was not as motivational of a goal for me as "completing a triathlon." I always wanted to do one, so I looked online, found this site and some training plans and got started! Finished my first yesterday!

I always walked or hiked a lot as a kid and downhill snow skied recreationaly, but avidly, from my mid-teens to early 30's. I went out for track once in HS but after one practice our group went to an event where I sucked so badly that I didn't bother going back, and no one noticed. I wasn't a racer but I spent many years as part of the weekend pit crew for a friend's alcohol-fueled dragster. I've had a couple of sport motorcycles too, but again never raced on a track.

Over the last few years I've done a bit of recreational mountain biking and tried unsuccessfully to start running a few times, though until recently I would always hurt myself running and quit. I voted non-athlete.

I played team sports in high school and college.  Field hockey, lacrosse and ice hockey.  I dabbled in running off and on for a few years after college, but I took up it for good in 1980.  I ran my first marathon in 1981.  Did my first triathlon in 1983.  That was also the year I ran my last marathon.  Hmmmmm, I wonder if there's a connection? 

Ouch!

Pre high-school, I was so miserable at softball I was tried as catcher, and I had to have a back-up catcher (nobody realised I couldn't see the little white ball coming at me so fast, since I have no depth perception). I got smacked in the head with the ball, that ended that little experiment. I loved soccer but didn't play long for some reason, probably because I was lousy.

I avoided anything more active than physics experiments in high school. Well, that's not true, I was on the tennis team because they let on anyone willing to show up, but I wasn't allowed to actually play anybody from another school. Which was fine with me, I got to cheer for our team and watch cute girls in short skirts, which is why I joined up in the first place. If I hadn't been too vain to wear my glasses, I might've been a better tennis player, but most likely not. I was in reasonably good shape because I had to walk everywhere which meant 3 miles or so away to a coffee house I liked, and often we'd stay till very close to curfew, so we'd have to run back. Now that's a short run, but at the time I thought it was crazy far to walk THREE MILES.

Then I graduated and moved on to more exciting things, like being an English major and enjoying alcohol, junk food, and sitting on my arse being pretentious more than I ever thought possible. I got a job in the IT dotcom lunacy, and became literally twice the person I was in high school (I was always an overachiever). 125lbs in high school...245lbs just 7 years later. Yow.

Needless to say I voted for non-athlete.

I said "runner," but that wasn't until college, and even then not seriously. I've only been running seriously for about five years.

The great thing about having running as your strength - catching up to cyclists who flew right past you - and passing them!

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ....

I grew up in the pool. Seriously, it was like a second home. When I got to HS mom wouldn't pay for swim club no more, and in following my bro's foot steps I ran XC and outdoor T&F I swam in the winter. By the time my senior year came around I was a full time runner. Quit swimming because I was going to run in college so I needed to get used to runing all 3 season. (Lets say my swim tean HATED me for this. The prior 2 years I was an intergral part of our league championship teams. Then I ran in college for 4 years. After a 2 year hiatus I am here now. Combining my two best athletic endevors with a bike now.

I voted runner and other. I've run my whole life (I was a sprinter in my younger days) off and on and have done other sports including volleyball (which I played in college and after), soccer, and track. I spent my childhood on the water swimming but have never done it competitively. I've also biked recreationally my whole life.

It will be interesting to see which is my strongest event. I have a feeling it will be biking but I might be wrong. After buying a road bike running just isn't my favorite thing anymore!

I grew up around sports my whole life, swimming took over but once college was over i was left feeling empty between trying to make money to surivie, i couldn't motivat my self to swim for my health, so here I am. I have some running experince, I ran in high school, but that seems so long ago, okay only like 6 years but its still a long time. Now I am glad I've found a sport to get me back into shape while also feeding my comptitive drive.

Take care,
Kelly in Tampa

Mainly weightlifter and other various sports.

I like this thread so much! I voted as nonathlete. I began participating in sports in high school where I joined the tennis team, swim team, track and field because I wanted to see and meet cute guys (why else?) and because they let me. I never got really good at anything, in fact, I learned to swim while on the team, but enjoyed every single one of the sports to the fullest. Once in college my extracurricular activities, besides studying, was beer drinking, happy hours (older boyfriend), and clubs. Within the past three or four years I have not done much of anything physical save for tae bo videos which are actually a lot of fun.

I was always impressed with triathletes and marathoners because of the endurance required to participate and finish, much more actually being competitive. A couple of months ago I met a triathlete who has been doing this for quite sometime. He introduced me to the concept of spring triathlons and I decided to give them a try. My first race is this weekend, a duathlon, and am eyeballing a tri in September.

Given my background I don't have a strong segment yet. As of now I cannot swim very well, my pace on the bike (MTB) is about 12 or 13 miles per hour, and on my best day I can run a 10 minute mile



Edited by nj newbie! 2005-07-18 4:18 PM

I have competed in 12 sports, won city and divison championships in 7. Had to retired from contant sports after suffering a lot (6) concussions and a spinal injury(there goes rugby, hockey football) Too short for volleyball. Too skinny for basketball. Too slow for track(longest distance here is 3k, I don't reach the upper level of competition until 5km). Golf and badminton got boring. Cross country and adventure racing are a fun, fun hobby. Bought a ride bike after watching the tour, had a lot of fun. Decided to teach my self how to swim last summer and know I am a triathlete about to become junior elite!

I have competed in 12 sports, won city and divison championships in 7. Had to retired from contant sports after suffering a lot (6) concussions and a spinal injury(there goes rugby, hockey football) Too short for volleyball. Too skinny for basketball. Too slow for track(longest distance here is 3k, I don't reach the upper level of competition until 5km). Golf and badminton got boring. Cross country and adventure racing are a fun, fun hobby. Bought a ride bike after watching the tour, had a lot of fun. Decided to teach my self how to swim last summer and now I am a triathlete about to become junior elite!

"Alberta(think texas with snow.)"

man i might have to check that place out some time.

Mostly gymnastics...also dabbled in tennis, and field hockey and sailing and golf

310 lbs of computer geek hammering away at the keyboard day and night. Then I had an interesting visit with my doctor after continually falling asleep at the keyboard during the middle of the day. He sent me for blood tests and upon my return his opening volley was along these lines:

“I’m going to give you a prescription for Metformin and you should make an appointment with the Endocrinologist and the dietician." He wrote out the referrals while saying this in a matter of fact manner. "You need to get your weight down it will help prevent another heart attack.”

At that point I started to realize that it was time to change my lifestyle. It would be another year before I actually started to work on it. I only joined BT last year and it has been the source of inspiration and motivation for everything I have accomplished in my athletic and professional life since. The "go for it" attitude, the "why not me!?!" approach to achievement has had a profound effect on everything I do.

Wookie, You have come so far! From 310lbs to having such AMAZING legs! WOW!

When I was in junior high school, I was a competitive swimmer. Eventually, tho, I learned a fear of open water that prevented me from completing my SCUBA certification. In 2000 I signed up for a Team in Training mountain biking event. I rolled in to the finish line thinking "Next, I do a century". I got a road bike and then another and never did complete a century for whatever reason. I was out of the saddle for about a year when I thought "I'm going to do a triathlon". I have no idea where it came from, I have no friends that do it, and few that understood the decision. I did my first one on Saturday the 16th of July and have two more Sprints scheduled for 2005. 2006 will be the year of the Oly, I can feel it....Before my first open water swim, I was FREAKING out but I did it, by gum.

Woohoo - that takes guts! Phobias are a hugh hurdle. Congrats.

Thank you! I'm embarrassed to say it, but I did have professional help. My shrink gave me some homework and with her guidance and the accountability she left me with, I just bloody well did it. Now I appear to be the most neurotic person here....