When I was a kid, every year for Christmas my mom would buy
me a 2-foot long "stick" of pepperoni. It was one of my
favorite traditions. But instead of slicing it up and putting it on
homemade pizza like I assume most do, I would just gnaw on it for a couple days
until I had eaten the whole thing. Yes, I was a healthy one!
I was what my mother would call husky - and she was being
polite. I was active enough that it didn't get too out of control but
once I finished college and started grad school, I quickly put on a lot of
weight. By the time I finished school and accepted my first
"real" job in Texas, I was up to 220 pounds at only 5'8".
I had just moved into a really nice apartment complex in Dallas and it occurred
to me I was embarrassed to take my shirt off at the pool. I had to do
something.
I started small. I would run a mile or two a couple
times a week. It sucked. But for some reason, I really felt I had
to do it and so I stuck with it. After a while it didn't quite suck as
much anymore. I actually started to enjoy it! Within a few months I was
even disappointed if I missed a run. Is this what I've heard people refer
to as a "runners high"? I don't know...I honestly have no idea
what that even is after all of this time. Running just became a part of
my mornings; going for a run would give me a chance to clear my head, enjoy
being outside and really just set me up in a good mood to start the day.
Soon I wanted more out of running – I wanted to run
races. I really wanted to see how far I could
push myself, so the first race I signed up for was a marathon. It was hard, it hurt and I cried afterwards,
but I finished it! I was hooked now. I wanted to do another one, only this time, I
wanted to do it better.
That was almost 10 years ago that I started running. It’s been great; I’ve loved most of it but
I’ve hated a lot of it too. In trying to
improve each race, I would push myself too far at times and end up hurt. And that’s the thing about running, when you
can’t run, what are you supposed to do?
So when I moved back to Iowa, I decided to buy a bike and give that a try
to get a break from all of the running.
It was fun, but there was something missing. I would never ride more than 15 miles or so
simply because I wasn’t motivated to.
That’s when I decided to try something new – I wanted to do a triathlon.
Just the idea of doing one sounded awesome. I’d seen a few of them on TV and it was
always motivating to watch, however I could never get myself to the point of
actually signing up for one. It was the
swim – I was a “self-taught” swimmer and I'm more than a little afraid of
what's in the water. But last year I finally decided it was
something I really wanted to do. I
signed up for a local triathlon and spent the whole year trying to become a
triathlete. It ended up being the most
fun year I’ve had since I decided to get into this whole “healthy”
lifestyle. Now I’m back for my second
year doing multi-sports and that brings us to why I’m now writing this blog. I’m
hoping that by me sharing my positive experiences as well as negative ones,
I’ll hear back if people have similar thoughts, fears or how others handle the
same things. Who knows, maybe someone
can even help me with my open water anxiety. So that's it. With any luck,
some of you reading this may turn into a triathlon junkie just like me!
Thanks,
Tim
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