Yet another newbie takes the plunge

Hello folks!

I've been lurking here for four weeks now, ever since I signed up for my first tri! I'm scheduled to participate in the Sprint tri in Key Biscayne, FL, next August 22, a little less than three weeks from now.

I'm 32, I live here in southern florida with my wife and two young kids (3 and 1), and I've been training for the past 4 weeks! I've always been fairly athletic, but in more traditional sports like soccer, tennis, basketball, etc. I even swam for two years in my early teens. But I've always been just awful at endurance sports, such as any kind of running. Ever since we had to do the mile and a half test in PE in seventh grade, it has just been torture to me!

So I view this as a very nice and motivating personal challenge, something new, something different, and something to really look forward to! Plus, I think I'm lucky to live in conditions that many of you would envy as triathletes: Warm weather the whole year, I live on the beach so I can practice open water swimming any time, plus I have an olympic pool right in my complex! And the one main road in Key Biscayne is biker central, long, flat and safe. So hey, might as well, huh?

I look forward to joining this wonderful community, it has been a distinct pleasure to read up for the last three weeks, I have learned so much, and the camaraderie here is amazing.

Hope to see you on the water/road soon!

Martin