One Year Ago Today...

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Good luck - and stay away from that volleyball court!!! It is so evil for injuries... especially on the beach.

Ummm... if it weren't for triathlons, I wouldnt have gotten back into the pool over the winter, and would probably have gained another 15 pounds, not lost it.

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Good luck tomorrow and have fun!!  Congrats on getting others into it, too!

A year ago I was in Guatemala, so there were no tris last year...

However, THREE and a half years ago I was on my couch, on medical leave, and I could barely walk across my apartment. I had just been diagnosed with a heart condition that I was most likely born with, and it made absolutely everything exhausting.

Seven months later, I proved all the naysayers wrong by finishing my first 5k. Eight months later, I finished my first sprint tri...

One week ago, I finished my third tri, and I placed 15th out of 42 in my division. I'm up for an OLY next year!

Never say never...

One year ago...my thinking was Triathlons were strictly for overachieving, type-A, nuts with tons of free time on their hands--not overworked, always tired, family-oriented, excuse-expert-couch-potatoes like myself. One year ago...my excercise program consisted of running maybe 3 miles on a treadmill for a week, only to abandon the "program" due to work, family, _____ (insert any reason). This would happen once/quarter roughly.

In mid-June of this year, I was invited to an athletic "mini-24hr-olympics" (full-court basketball, soccer, football, volleyball, swimming relay, golf, trail run, marksmanship) hosted by a Triathlon buddy. 16 guys showed up, about half were in pretty good shape, the rest were couch-potatoes like me. I was proud to have finished all the games, but couldn't walk well for 2 days afterwards (due to soreness and not having any skin left on my right foot!). I vowed this would not happen again.

So, I started training consistently with my worst event--swimming. Then bought a bike. Then started running. In the last 10 weeks, I've progressed to where each week I do 3000-4000m swimming, 12-18mi. running, and 40mi. cycling.

Somewhere along the way, I decided a triathlon was definitely something I wanted to try. I'm working towards a Sprint at the start of next Season, and an Oly in late Summer. The best part is I've fit all this in without sacraficing work or family. Better yet, my 7-yr old daughter is now "training" to complete an IronKids race--and has got her best friend into it also.

One year ago , plus a week, I was entered for my first Try a Tri.. ( 200m swim, 15K bike and 5K run). Was not worried at all about the swim or bike...just the run... Did not think I could run the whole 5K... I had practiced on the course route several times and always fell short. Race day, I did run the whole 5K.
One week from Today, I am entered in the sprint distance ( 750m swim, 30K bike and 5K run)
The run will be no problem this year at all.. I am warming up tomorrow with in an 8K road/trail race.
I now love going out on the weekends for a 50 -70k bike ride in the country. I enjoy my Sunday long runs with friends. Up to 18K now..
Wow, what a difference a year makes.
Next spring, Oly Distance and Half marathon race are hopefully in the picture.

One year ago tomorrow I completed my first Sprint Triathlon, and fell in love with the sport.  So I did another a month later.  Even though I haven't been able to do any tri's this season, the training has enabled me to keep active and slowly strengthen a nasty (non-tri related) ankle injury I've had since April.   Swimming and biking has been salvation for my body!  I can't wait to get back into it next season when I'm healthy.

A year ago I was 33 seconds per 100ys slower on the swim, 6 mph slower on the bike and 25 sec slower on the mile running and a few months away from major knee surgery, a broken shoulder and a few broken ribs. All in all it has ben an amazing and wonderful year!

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a year ago today I weighed 198 pounds, had a 281 cholesterol, smoked a pack of cigarettes a day, and the closest I got to a triathlon was taking a bath, then driving to the local 7-11, then walking back to the couch to drink the fine libations I had purchased. Bathe-Drive-Walk!!!

now I weigh 161, cholesterol is the same number, and I don't smoke. Although I have not done a tri yet, I'm biking about 60 miles a week and starting a walk/run program, with an eye towards my first sprint in April or May of next year.

And I even have little lines appearing on my stomach where the "six-pack" ought to be. A different type of six-pack than referenced above, mind you.