Shortly after this picture, I moved to Seattle. One day, I was walking up a moderate hill with a classmate to go to lunch. By the time we got to the top, I was profusely sweating, had shin splints, and was gasping for breath. That was my 'aha' moment, where I knew things had to change.
I lost some weight by eating less, and then I gingerly started biking. I'd carted my old mountain bike between 3 states, even though I hadn't ridden it since 1997, and it was deflated and rusting on my balcony. Not as auspicious start, but Seattle is so bike-friendly, that I started regularly biking to work, even though the 4 miles uphill to home sometimes I thought would kill me, my heart rate was so high!
As I rode on the bike path, I would pass all the runners and wonder how they could ever do that. I have never had any desire to run; I couldn't understand why anyone would want to, or how they physically could do it. I pitied them, how slow they were in comparison to my bike.
But then, after losing about 20 pounds, I plateaued. I have a condition that makes it hard to lose weight, and what I was doing was no longer enough. I decided to do the impossible, and try to run a little. It was awful! I thought I was going to pass out, or my lungs would explode.
Eventually though, I got the hang of it, and a few months later in 2007, I decided to enter my first 5K race. I was barely up to running a 5K, so I just wanted to finish it (and not puke at the finish line). I did finish, in a little over 30 minutes, and I thought I was hooked. But finishing up my thesis and moving cross country had me putting running on the back burner, and I stopped for almost a year.
Fast forward to my living in Boston in 2009. I work basically alone, and I knew pretty much no one in the city. In an attempt to meet people, I joined a few running clubs, and a triathlon team. I still don't know what possessed me to do that, as I hadn't swum in over 10 years, I only owned my old mountain bike, and I could barely run that 5K still.
But I bought a road bike and a wetsuit, got my butt in the pool, and figured out how to shift the bike. In May 2009 I completed my first triathlon, a sprint. Somehow by the end of the season, I ended up completing a half Ironman, Timberman. It wasn't fast (6:22), but considering where I came from, I was proud of it. And I got to cross the finish line with my friend and training partner, who had caught up to me with 2 miles left.
I went a little off the deep end after the season ended. I switched teams, to one that is filled with really talented athletes. I also had shoulder surgery. I was so freaked out that I would gain all my weight back and would never live up to the bar set by my teammates, that I signed up for 2 half ironman races as motivation. The first, in early June, did not go so well, and I finished in 6:30. The second is in a couple of weeks, and it will take a perfect day for me to get under 6 hours, which I set as my goal as soon as I finished the race last year.
But somehow, when a group of my friends/teammates decided to sign up for Ironman Germany, I jumped on the bandwagon. I am petrified. And after watching my teammates rock IMLP last weekend, am really worried about my ability to complete this race.
So, I started this blog to carry me through the trip from Boston to Germany. Maybe get some feedback, advice, and/or heckling from others. I still have a little ways to go with my weight loss, and I'm hoping to focus on that this winter.
But for now, gotta head out for a run!
