General Discussion Introduce Yourself!!! » So I decided to be a triathlete... Rss Feed  
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2017-06-05 9:17 AM

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Subject: So I decided to be a triathlete...
I'm 43yo and over the last 9 years, I've kinda let myself go...work, kids etc. I decided 2 years ago that I wanted to get back in shape, so I started cycling recreationally...first mountain biking, then road cycling. A couple of friends have been encouraging me to do a triathlon and I've always wanted to, but I had this dark secret...I couldn't swim and I was kinda afraid of the water. But 3 months ago, I signed up for a local Sprint Triathalon and told myself I could teach myself to swim; after all, I've been taking my 3 kids to swim lessons for 2 years and they've been doing great. It actually didn't look that difficult...boy was I wrong!

The first 4 times in the pool, I couldn't swim across the 25m without stopping...I couldn't breath and every time I put my face in the water I would panic. Meanwhile, I was starting to run again...I hadn't run in over 6 years but I used to be a decent runner (was in the army for 9 years). Between the panic in the pool to my aching body from not having run for so long, I had so much self doubt about whether or not I could even finish a Sprint Tri.

That's when I turned to the internet and YouTube...I started lurking on BT and read plenty of motivating testimonials and used YouTube to learn proper breathing and stroke technique. I was running 3 mornings/week; biking 2 mornings/week and swimming 3 nights/week after my kids were in bed. My training was going great and I was gaining confidence in my swim...then 5 days before the triathlon, I was diagnosed with Shingles.

I was exhausted, felt like I had the flu and my right leg (where the sores showed up) felt like it was on fire. I couldn't do any training the last week and I seriously considered backing out, but then I told myself, "you trained too hard to not do it...even if you're not feeling well, just do it". so I completed my first triathlon yesterday:

Swim (400m): 11:44
Bike (12 mi): 34:44
Run (5k): 32:17
Total: 1:23:23

Rank: 265/650

I was happy with everything but the run which was over 4min slower than my training brick workout runs. I attribute that to a combination of my shingles and being very dehydrated by the time the run started, but that's a story for another post of: what I learned during my first Tri. This morning I woke up a Triathlete and decided to look for my next race, so I expect to be a more active participant on BT. Thanks to all the inspirational stories that got me to this point!

-jh


2017-06-05 2:24 PM
in reply to: gigolfer


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Subject: RE: So I decided to be a triathlete...
Congrats on your race and welcome to the obsessive, overthinking madness of triathloning!
Nothing like a hobby where you can smear creamy stuff down your tight spandex shorts in front of several hundred other people who won't even bat an eye.

I hear your story. I was a year or 3 younger when I started my journey. And, I hadn't really let myself go. I was gone to start with and just let it go further.

Take it in nibbles. Fortunately, I was so apprehensive about being able to "finish" just about any length race and was fully aware of my lack of fitness for the first few years I didn't try to bite off more than I could chew. I think that's helped me avoid some....injury/pain/discomfort issues.

Also, try not to spend to much money. Your wife will thank you. There's plenty of time to spend money.

And the best part about swimming? I think it's the discipline you can make the most relative gains in a short amount of time. You can spend a lot of time going from x to x+2 on the bike, or y to y+.5 on the run. But, man...swimming. You can go from z to z+8 in a month or two if you're like a lot of us where z is a way lower starting point than x or y.
2017-06-12 4:23 PM
in reply to: #5221765

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Subject: RE: So I decided to be a triathlete...
I signed up for another Sprint Tri. I'm going to focus a lot more on my swim by using the swim focused training plan. I'm super excited and I'm heading to the pool tonight!
2017-06-23 1:56 AM
in reply to: gigolfer


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Subject: RE: So I decided to be a triathlete...
wow that's really inspirational.
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