happyscientist wrote:
I ran and rode regularly, and people kept asking me if I did triathlons. I thought triathletes were crazy and that was something I could never do. Then, I stranded myself about a mile off the coast of Belize. I hadn't swam in years, but I wasn't going to spend the night in the middle of the sea, so I swam for it. Then I realized I could do a triathlon.
That's awesome
My story is basically I was a swimmer the last two years of my HS career, wasn't much of a runner, and hadn't ever ridden a rode bike and a friend of mine had done a couple triathlons, about 6 months out he challenged me to do the first Ironman 70.3 Syracuse. I of course didn't have a bike but he was selling his old one (an old beater I paid $20 for, but it did the job. So I thought, if he can do it, I can do it.
The first year he beat me by a good 30 min (I was a back of the packer for sure), the bike I had the gears were very touchy on it, I had no bike computer and the pedals were just platform pedals (not even strapped pedals), my bike time was horrible. I felt like complete crap after for a good 3 days, thinking I was never going to do that again. A few months later I had decided I wanted to try a Full distance and was looking at races, I signed up to volunteer at IMLP in 2011 and registered the next day for 2012. In the mean time I had signed up for a local sprint and the Syracuse half again.
Between years I obviously had a lot more time training and I also got a new bike (my current tri bike) and the second time at the Syracuse race I had cut over 50 min off just the bike portion of the race, beat my buddy and felt a lot better after the race, I was officially hooked.
In 2012 all I competed in was the Syracuse 70.3 for the third time (and third variation on the run course), and also completed IMLP (near the end, but I finished which was my goal).
Until about December I hadn't done anything tri related (I did a local marathon my brother challenged me to compete in), occasional swims and rides, and didn't even think about doing anything competitive until one day I just decided I needed to get back into it, and do it now rather then later. That is when I searched for races that were somewhat close and found they were all closed out all ready except for the Foundation slots, so I signed up for a Foundation slot for Ironman Chattanooga with the intention of completing the race again and helping those in need through the fundraiser.