If you said to me 10 years ago – “I bet you’ll be a triathlete and blog about fitness” – I would have thought you were craaaazy.
Even though 10 years ago I was in college for nutrition, I was not really “active” by any means. Kind of hypocritical, I know. Even though I knew I should workout, I couldn’t figure out a way to stick with a routine at that time. I’d do things here or there, but nothing consistent.
After college, I settled into a pretty standard routine with my then-boyfriend. We lived together, and we’d go to work each day, come home, eat dinner, and watch television. There were times when I tried to get into a fitness routine, but it was easy to slip out of it and blame it on excuses. You know – “I’m tired”, “I don’t have enough time”, etc. [And let’s be real, those are 100% excuses. I did have time. I just didn’t prioritize fitness at the time.]
When my ex and I broke up about a year after moving in together, I went through a really tough time – like I’m sure many women do in those situations (little did I know I had so much more waiting for me down the road!). I moped and struggled for a few months. But then a friend asked me to sign to sign up for a sprint distance triathlon. It was the first race I would ever participate in. I figured it couldn’t hurt to try to find something to take my mind off things, so I said yes to doing my first triathlon.
A month or two later, my friend ended up hurting her back during training, leaving me with the decision of whether or not to participate on my own. I could have given up at that point, but I was realizing something during that time. Exercise was not the “chore” it had always seemed like. Instead, it was making me feel stronger, more powerful, and more at peace. So I pushed through and decided to train on my own.
I knew pretty much nothing about triathlon training back then. I did my swimming in an apartment pool (what? I was supposed to practice in open water?). I didn’t even have a bike, so I borrowed one from a friend (a mountain bike with a warped back tire). I was too scared to ride on the streets – rocks, gravel, and cars, oh my! – so I would ‘train’ in the Walmart parking lot near my apartment. I’d go there before it opened and ride around in circles in the parking lot.
The point is, I made do. I didn’t worry about it and I just did what I thought would help me get ready for the race.
Needless to say, when I got to my first race, I wasn’t really prepared for the hills, haha. But I got through the bike portion along with the rest of the race, and was SO proud of myself.
That first triathlon showed me just how amazing it feels to be active. That sense of accomplishment when you cross the finish line for something you’ve trained for. That competitive drive to want to continue and do better. I felt amazing.
Who would’ve thought a breakup could have led me to that?
Ever since then, I’ve embraced an active lifestyle – participating in road races and triathlon, teaching fitness classes, blogging about fitness, and more. When I married my hubby – who I met online by noticing he was a runner and reaching out to him based on that – we tied the knot at the finish line of a 5K road race in Carmel, California. Fitness became and remains a part of my life that I enjoy and embrace.
I know this post is a bit of a ramble, but I’m just being real with you. Here are the takeaways I hope I can leave you with…
1) What seems like an awful or trying time is often just an opportunity to learn and better yourself. From the lovely Eleanor Roosevelt: ‘A stumbling block to the pessimist is a stepping-stone to the optimist.’
2) Exercise can be enjoyable! Find something you love and embrace it. That’s not to say that every training run or ride feels fabulous. But there is a purpose for those workouts and to me, crossing that finish line makes everything worth it.
3) Your body is amazing. You CAN do a triathlon, marathon, etc. If you put the time in training, you can do it – no matter your current shape or size.
4) And if you’re scared of bike riding on roads, Walmart parking lots are pretty awesome. 😉
Share with me: What got you started on your fitness journey? Was there a defining moment or two, or did you always love being active?
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I made the decision at 17 to be active and fit and started a women’s track/running program (actually demanded one) at my high school in 1970 before Title 9. And I run to this day…(and am training for my 123rd triathlon) And no I don’t think I have enough expertise or knowledge about any of it to BLOG about it and tell other people what to do.
That’s a great story about your high school track program, and your continued activity throughout your life! 123 triathlons – amazing – good luck training for this one!
As for the blogging – I love to write, love to race, and love my profession (RD/cPT) – so I enjoy sharing what I’ve learned. I bet you would have a lot to share too with all your experience. 🙂
In 2013, I decided I’d complete an Olympic-distance triathlon to celebrate my 50th birthday in September 2015. At the time I was an fat, avid cyclist who viewed running as something does in the winter to avoid getting really fat & detested swimming. I had a setback several weeks later when my OB/GYN advised she wanted me to have a hysterectomy ASAP, but after an 8-week recovery I was cleared to resume vigorous exercise.
When I was lamenting about how much I struggled with the swim, an online acquaintance asked why I didn’t just quit triathlon & set some audacious cycling goal instead. It set me to thinking why I was doing this particular thing.
After pondering, I realized that I was probably never going to lose the weight I wanted to lose by cycling alone. Cycling doesn’t punish the extra weight the way running does. Cycling lead me to a rut – a happy rut, but a rut nonetheless. And I’m too stubborn to quit, despite really wanting to. (I can’t tell you how many times I sat on the edge of the pool, fighting tears, really not wanting to do the workout. There were many times I’d tell myself “maybe I should just go back to being the fat lady who rides her bike all the time.)
Every single race, I had to talk myself into starting while standing on the shore. I had panic attacks. I had a race during which everything seemed to go wrong. (After loading my beloved bike into the car, I looked at it and said, “If you were a horse, I’d punch you in the nose.”) The first race of 2015 was so awful I quit triathlon repeatedly — The Hubs rode his bicycle alongside me on the run portion and talked me off the cliff. (I figured I’d at least get my first DLF, but another athlete with issues dealing with the heat denied me that.)
Then came Titanium Man. I finished. I was dead last, behind a 70-year old man who’d run alongside me for a while; I told him to go on ahead because the pain in my knees was so bad I simply couldn’t run. I viewed that DLF the same way I viewed turning 50: it’s a privilege denied to many.
I did a fair amount of trail running early on in the season that year, and it got me hooked. I volunteered at an ultra, and then a trail marathon. I got pulled in to the trail running world. I don’t do triathlon anymore — I really dislike swimming, I won’t run on pavement (doctor’s emphatic request) and I like the ultrarunning community more than I like the multi-sport community — but I’m grateful for the lessons learned & the path it set me on.
Triathlon and ultrarunning both have such amazing communities, and both can teach us so many lessons. I loved reading about your forte into triathlon. It’s funny how everyone has a different discipline that seems to be their go-to. For you it seemed like cycling was your go-to (until you got into trail running). For me, swimming has always been the easy discipline – not because I’m fast, but because I guess all those summers spent on the beach in Florida as a kid taught be how to be a pretty good swimmer for long distances without getting too tired. The bike and the run on the other hand? Those are a challenge, haha.