This time I am actually going to do one...

Hello everyone,
Since I have been lurking for a while and have even made a couple of posts I thought it was time to identify myself. Some of this was posted elsewhere before.

Two years ago I decided that I was going to do a triathlon. I needed something to keep me motivated through exercise, and had toyed with the idea since high school (8 years ago or so). I swam in high school, and lifeguarded at both pools in the ocean. People at the pool used to come up to me and say that they were training for a tri, and I realized that I could swim at least as well as most of them could, plus I biked recreationally.

I trained for 6+ months for what was supposed to be my first tri. I did a run-swim-run, and a bunch of 5Ks in the course of the training, and was undoubtedly in the best shape of my life. Then about 2 months before it caught a cold. It shouldn't have been a big deal, but it turned into some sort of kind of serious lung infection that was never conclusively diagnosed and took over a month to get rid of. It wasn't pneumonia or bronchitis, so they finally decided that I must have asthma, although I have never had a symptom before or since. Anyway, I finally could breathe again 3 weeks before the tri, but with my severly reduced lung capacity and 6 weeks of almost no exercise there was no way I could compete. It was really frustrating standing on the sidelines while I watched my friends finish the race, especially since I was the one who had gotten them all involved in the first place. Unfortunately it was also the end of the season, so I did a 10K in October and tried to be satisfied with that.

Last year I decided that I was going to do the same tri. I had fallen really out of shape in the winter, so spring tris were out. I didn't really get my motivation up until July for a September tri, but still thought I could do it. I paid the entrance fee and everything, but after a month of training it was obvious that I wasn't going to be able to compete that year either. I just couldn't get myself to the point of being able to run more than 2 miles, and having been in good enough shape the year before that I should have been in the middle of the pack, I couldn't face the idea of barely finishing. So I quit. Hurricane Isabel ended up canceling the tri, and offered me an easy excuse to why I didn't do it. In truth, I had given up weeks before hand.

This year I am 30 lbs heavier than I was 2 years ago, and I need to put an end to the weight gain. I have started running again, joined Master's (although I need to start going more often) and am trying to get some biking in. Since I again didn't start exercising until late in the season, I am going to aim for something next spring. This fall is just too soon for the shape I am in, especially as I have a lot of travel this August. I also want to be able to take my time to build a base and lose some of this excess weight before I start hard training.

I have been lurking on this site a fair amount and it really does help increase my motivation on those days that I just don't have it.
I have even convinced my boyfriend that he wants to do one with me, and he has been great at getting us both out and moving. I can only hope that I manage to remain motivated this time and finally complete a tri, but I have been on a longer streak of training than I have been in two years.

I'm also getting really tired of saying that I am going to do this and then backing out. I don't think most of my friends even believe me at this point.

Anyway, this has been a little long winded, but if anyone is in the DC area and wants to go for a (kind of slow) bike ride let me know!