Today is the first post of my blog. I am not much of a writer, but I have been thinking about starting this blog for the past few weeks. Let me tell you why...
The triathlon bug has hit me and has hit me rather hard. For the past couple of years I have thought about embarking on this. I briefly tried in 2011, but gave up due to an IT band issue. Now that it is fixed thanks to the foam roller, I took the boys to watch the 2012 IMTX pass by our house this year. They loved it and of course, I immediately decided to start. That night I started running again (5k)
Now, before I go on, let me give you a brief history on me. Maybe I am trying to relive my athletic youth, but I was rather athletic growing up. I was a black belt in karate at a very young age (around 12-13), played soccer (club and high school), ran track and cross country. I swam, not competitively, but for Beach Patrol. As some know, I was a beach lifeguard, so multi-sport is something we trained with (swimming and running). I forget how much fun it was to do these together. Open water made it better. I spent the last two summers on the beach as a lifeguard down in Galveston. What a job.
Then came college, and well...no more exercise. I met my lovely bride (Jennifer) the 1st week of college and we have been together since. You know the saying, "the freshman 15," that was me. Too much beer. I was rather light going into college (I think about 145 pounds), but I ran and swam all the time.
Moving forward, Jennifer and I are blessed with two sets of twins: Andrew (6), Ellen (6), Sophie (3) and Ben (3). It is incredible what life hands you. We have a wonderful and beautiful family (pictures to come).
Now to today...I think at the high point I weighed about 175 lbs or so. I started exercise programs every now and then for the past several years, but nothing consistently. The day of IMTX 2012 is the day I committed myself to start working out and becoming healthier. I didn't realize how fast my body would begin to adapt and love the exercise.
Since that date, my runs have improved. I have started swimming. I also made the purchase of my triathlon bike. On top of this, I have purchase several different contraptions and training devices (there should be a warning label on every triathlon purchase). I have also joined Outrival Racing here in The Woodlands to take my training seriously and to the next level. Coach Karen has put me on a great schedule and gives great feedback. This was my first big week of longer training (9 hours planned). For races, I have set 2 out there: Sept 30 the Houston Tri Sprint and April 7th the Half Ironman in Galveston.
My progress is great in my opinion. I'll update more on this later. FYI...I am down now to 162 lbs since mid May and did a 1 mile time trial last week at 5:53.
The biggest change I have seen though is not health wise, but in my day to day life. I have learned to manage my time and days more efficiently. I love early morning workouts at 4 am. The kids love to hear about the different animals I see (deer, bats, raccoons, possums, skunks) on my early morning runs while we do our bible story. Stress is now almost non existent. Family time has improved. Andrew and Ben now want to do what I do. Lead by example, well...they want to do what I do. We have gone on a few runs in the neighborhood.
So...overall, I feel as though Triathlon (even though I have yet to race) has transformed me in more ways that I could anticipate. My goal is to document this journey.
Enough for now and I'll post soon again.
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