The Time Is Now...

This morning I find myself on the eve of race day. Tomorrow morning Ill be competing in my first triathlon. I'm doing the Olympic distance (.9 mile swim, 25 mile bike, 6.2 mile run) and my heart is beating out of my chest. Once again I find myself disappointed that I didn't chronicle more closely my training, because now, looking back, it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Over the last 14 months, my life has changed so completely its impossible to put into words. This all began with discovering a true passion for running, a passion that ultimately led to me running a marathon in January of this year. That 9 month process was amazingly challenging, completely rewarding and definitely life altering. The last 3 months of training for this triathlon have been equally, if not even more transformative as those months of marathon training.

Physically. As far as the physical changes triathlon has made, they are staggering. After losing 100 pounds during marathon training, I was totally happy with my weight and where my body was. I figured when I started swimming a lot and biking some that maybe I would gain a little muscle tone, possibly even lose another few pounds. I couldn't have imagine the strides that this cross training made, not only in the way I look, but the way my body has been able to perform. I have little muscles and lines where Ive never had them before, and for a guy like me to say he has muscles showing ANYWHERE is a big deal. That however pales in comparison to the improvements Ive made in my fitness. Lets just get this straight, I'm not fast, I'm most likely never going to be a competitive athlete, but in the past three months, my training pace for running has dropped easily 2:00 a mile. My long runs of 8-10 miles were always run between 10:30-12:00 a mile, and now I train that same distance around 9:00-9:30 a mile. On shorter runs, I even run in the 8's. I ran in a 10k race last month, the only race Ive done since the marathon, and did it in 52 minutes, which is an 8:20 pace for 6.2 miles. Some people will see that as a training pace or a "fast jog," for me, that is absolutely flying. I give it all up to the swimming and biking for my gains in running speed. Whether I keep doing tri's or not, I will always swim and bike as part of my running training from here on out.

Some of the other things Ive been able to accomplish along the way:
-Ive been able to swim a continuous mile in open water, twice now.
-In my last training bike ride of the season, I did 30 miles at an average speed over 20mph, again, all things being relative this is FLYING for me. I even spent about 6 or 7 miles riding at over 25mph with my awesome coach, Johnny, who is one of the fastest, most impressive athletes I know, which was a big training highlight for me. I almost hung with him until the end of the road, but he dropped me about a mile from the end, maybe next season!
-I did lose about another 10-12 pounds and really got a lot leaner.
-A 10k personal best of 52:20, around 8:24 per mile.
-Maybe most importantly, training for this tri has helped me find my inner athlete. To even type that almost seems ridiculous, there is nothing about a guy like me that says athlete. Well at least it didn't, but today, I really do feel like an athlete.

Now, all of that is great and I'm so lucky to have accomplished and improved those things. As great as they are, they absolutely pale in comparison to how lucky I feel to have met the people I have through my training group. It almost makes tears well up to think of my friends today and know that only 3 months ago, most of us were looking around having no idea what to do or who we were. I could write pages on every single one of them and how amazing they all are. When you find yourself over the age of 30 and single, the social landscape changes, and its rare to come into contact with a significant number of people that are near your age, single and share a common interest, and aren't necessarily doing this just to get a date. We have all grown so close, and I never would have made it to the start line without these people. I talk to them and think about them every single day, and like I tell them, they are seriously my second family. They aren't my "triathlon friends," they are my true friends that just happen to do triathlons with me.

In 24 hours Ill be dawning a wetsuit and wading out into Galveston bay about to start my swim. Ive never been this nervous, excited, focused, relaxed, crazy, scared and elated. I know tomorrow is the first of many amazing opportunities to push myself in this wonderful world of triathlon. I cant wait!