My Frist Triathlon

Today I was asked to put together a paragraph about myself. A short description the announcers can use when they broadcast the race live on May 30th over the Principia College Internet Radio. I did just that below and thought I’d share on my blog:


Tony (me)

I am a 35 year old father to my beautiful three year old daughter Gracie. I have always been somewhat active; but never competitive in any of these disciplines. I grew up around the water and have always enjoyed swimming. Likewise, I have rode mountain bikes for years. I started running last year to impress a girl – for the record it worked! I did a few short 5 & 10k runs last fall and really enjoyed them. In January of this year I started training for the Go St. Louis half marathon and fell in love with the scheduled regimen and dedication it took to train five days a week – not to mention the physical benefits I saw in the mirror and on the scale! I set a goal of 2 hours and beat it by just over 1m 30s – I was ecstatic! I have always wanted to do a triathlon but in the past I was afraid of the run. With a solid base of running now under my belt I decided to sign up for the Lake St. Louis Olympic distance triathlon and started my training for that race this coming August. This sprint is my first triathlon and I’m super excited about the idea of putting together three activities I really enjoy!

http://www.escapetothebluffs.com/

My First 10K!

I’ve never been a runner. I think the combination of relatively slow speeds, lack of adrenaline creating situations, and constant physical output required sort of ranked it up there with a weekend visit to the (now former) in-laws. My turning point happened just this summer. In an attempt to get back the single body I’ve never had (inside joke: I’ve not been single since I was a kid) and I think, initially, to impress a girl – I ran.

The first run was 3 miles. Pre run jitters told me I might as well be running the Boston Marathon – 3 miles? Seriously, that’s far in a car! But I sucked it up and ran. It wasn’t that bad, in fact, I made the entire run without walking! For reasons still unknown to me I started to enjoy running. In a matter of weeks I got past the point of “I’m going to die, this sucks!” and slipped into the “ok, if I head straight home after work I should be able to do the loop around my neighborhood before….” It was turning into an addiction. I was buying new shoes, special socks, and shorts with underwear stitched in the crotch! I was running frequently and adding distance and hills to my route. It was fun!

A friend who has done a lot of sponsored runs suggested I join their group for an upcoming 10K Halloween based “Pumpkin Run” – how could I say no?

It was an awesome experience – full of adrenaline and fun people! I have no doubt more will be in my future! Training for 13.1!