To Tri is to Risk Failure, To not Tri is to Gaurantee it.

I was a fat guy

Now that I am well on my way to reaching my goal of participating in a Half Ironman Triathlon, and having lost about 50 pounds, I’m constantly asked how I did it.  Some have even said that my efforts are inspirational and encouraged them to get going as well.  I am not sure I buy it that I have inspired others, it definitely wasn’t the reason I started.   I started my weight loss journey after seeing pictures of me from my vacation in the summer of 2012.  I looked at myself and knew that I needed to make a change.  I truly was a fat guy weighing in at 239 lbs and I was unhappy with it.

I have always wanted to run and I have always wanted to start a blog but wasn’t sure what to blog about.  The proverbial light bulb moment came as I was preparing for my half marathon a few weeks ago, I have the perfect topic to blog about – My triathlon  journey…

People ask me about my story and enjoy hearing it, and mention repeatedly how incredible of a story it is. I want share my story out for one main reason – to show people that it can be done.  I went about this the old-fashioned way and just decided to exercise, so rest assured, I am not selling anything – just sharing a journey.  In fact, when I started I firmly held to my belief that if I was going to start an exercise program, I wasn’t going to “diet” – I was going to eat what I wanted.  I know from past failures, that IF I try to eat all that “low-fat” garbage, I would give up and gain the weight back.  And more.  Even on this journey, I have learned many personal lessons but the difference is that this time, I learned from them and continued to move forward.

One year ago, I achieved my goal of running a 5K.  In just over 1 years time, I have done so much more…about ten 5K races, three sprint triathlons and two half marathons thrown in for fun.

As I continue to share my story, I hope to share the three most important things I’ve learned along the way…

1. Set a goal and go for it.  You can do it and I will prove it.

2. Learn from your mistakes

3. It is hard but if you don’t quit on yourself you can do it.

Come back soon, and see how much fun it is to be a “Tri Guy”

Advertisement