Maryland Newbie

Hello to everyone. What a great site this has turned out to be. I have been looking and looking for a good resource to help me finally take the plunge and I think that I have finally found one.

I guess I will introduce myself. My name is Chris and I am from Maryland (as if you didn't already know that). I am married with a beautiful wife and one wonderful 3 1/2 year old son.

First of all, I am totally new to triathlons and know virtually nothing about the sport other than you swim, bike and run all in the same race and that all the people I have seen who represent the sport are usually in incredible shape and are terrific athletes.

I do however have an athletic background. I grew up playing almost every sport possible. In High School I wrestled, played football and baseball. In college I skied, racing slalom and GS and I was in the best shape of my life.

After college I didn't do too much to keep in shape as I was young and my metabolism allowed me to stay in relatively good shape without much work. My wife (fiancee at the time) and I then trainined for our first marathon. Unfortunately I had to watch and cheer her on from the road side as a knee injury 4 weeks from the race wouldn't allow me to get anywhere past 3 miles. Talk about a complete and total let down.

I was able to bounce back and complete a bunch of 5Ks and eventually worked my way back up to and completed a 1/2 marathon. While I did finish, my knee let me know what I just did. At that point I realized that my knees will not be able to take the pounding of running long distances and I have been going down hill since...gaining about 30 pounds.

I tried all sorts of dieting and workouts, but nothing was working. I realzied that I needed to have something to strive for...a goal that was going to give me a real sense of accomplishment and something to feed my competitive nature. I remember the feeling of crossing the finish line of my 1/2 marathon. I remember the extreme disappointment of watching my wife start the marathon we were going to run together and surprisingly the sense of accomplishment when SHE crossed the finish line.

So here I am...and my training began this morning for my first ever triathlon. I have absolutely no idea what to expect or what to do. I am hoping that by reading the articles and following the training plans and talking to the good people on the message boards here that I will dumb my way through my first Sprint...with my ultimate goal (at least for now) being an Olympic distance in September.