Training for my first Tri

Hello, I'm Dave and I'm training for my first triathlon.

I am a Belizean and I live in Belize. For those of you who don't know, Belize is a small country in Central
America.

Triathlon is something new for Belizean athletes. There is only one triathlon event that takes place each year in September. It's called the LionMan triathlon (0.25 mile swim, 20 miles bike, 4.5 miles run). This September, the event will be 5 years old. There are quite a lot of cyclists here though and many cycling races throughout the year, including a 76-year old cycling classic. I love cycling and I find myself leaning more towards cycling than to any other sport but since I don't yet have a road bike I've decided to give the triathlon a try (on my mountain bike). There aren't much running events either and swimming as a sport is almost non-existent. I was the fastest runner on my football teams in high school and junior college but never really a good long distance runner. As for swimming, I get tired after only a few strokes but I believe that with proper technique I'll be able to complete the 1/4 mile distance, which seems pretty short compared to other triathlons that I have seen.

My athletic background is in football (soccer for those living in North America). I played on both my high school and junior college teams. However, that was over 8 years ago. I spent 1997 and 1998 attending University in the USA where I played intramural football. I also spent a couple days each week weight training in the gym. Upon returning to Belize I got married and started a family, which left me little time for sports or for working out at the gym until last year July when I purchased a mountain bike and started going for long rides on the road. I've really enjoyed riding and I feel that it is something I might be able to compete in. Since purchasing my mountain bike I've replaced the fat tires with some slick tires and I'm now able to keep up with the roadies.

I think the triathlon will be good for me since all cycling has caused me to neglect other muscle groups. And since the triathlon is the only event where I can compete on my mountain bike, I decided that this will be my first event. I've been searching the Internet for some good training tips and so far this site has been very helpful. I like it a lot. I especially like the training log and the ability to communicate with triathletes from all over the world. This is really cool idea to combine the forums with a training log! I certainly will be using the training log and I hope to find friends who will encourage me to keep training even if I don't win my first event.

See you all in the forums.