What got me into Triathlon??

I saw someone post this along the way and I thought I would share my story.

I think I posted before I was never naturally Athletic. I worked at playing sports from Middle school onto High school. I played Volleyball, Soccer and Softball. I never really can pin point when I started to get heavier but it was probably in high school.

You see, I never had good eating habits established in me when I was growing up. We would eat everything and anything. My parents were both overweight and never exercised. They would start something and quickly stop it in a month. They would always tell us we weren't fat but in reality our whole family was fat. I think I ballooned to a good 160 pounds at my high school Graduation. Now I was only 17 then. I battled overdosing on diet pills, getting activated charcoal shoved down my throat, having to be admitted for observation.

I then went to college and had an obsession with losing weight after my high school sweatheart and I broke up. I would work out until it hurt and then eat a salad. I would look in the mirror and hate what I saw every day. Then one day I liked what I saw in the mirror. I was a size 4 on my 5'6 frame. I was finally thinking I was healthy. I lived in the dorm and while most of my college buddies were drinking, smoking and eating heavily, I was being picked on for getting thin. It was a viscious cycle. I was picked on for being fat, now for being too skinny, I never could win.

I then reunited with my highschool sweetheart and ended up marrying and having my daughter at 22. I continued to yo-yo diet and go up and down on the scale. A year after my daughter was born I was 206 pounds. I was getting dressed one day and my pants wouldn't fit.  I decided right then and there I was going to start working out. I also was in a wedding in 5 months and wanted to look good. So I started going to the gym every day. Logging my exercise and watching my diet. I ended up losing 3o pounds in that time. I was happy that I was getting back in shape. I still looked in the mirror and hated what I saw, but I was getting there.

I was getting ready one day for the gym and my husband looked at me and told me I was getting too skinny and I was ugly. I couldn't believe what I heard. I told him I felt I was not too skinny and Im getting healthy. From that point on the verbal and mental abuse started. I started running with my girlfriend, I planned on doing my first 5K so that I would have a goal to acheive. My first race ended up being 5 miles which I finished in almost an hour. I was proud of myself and kept pushing myself harder and harder. I ended up losing 30 more pounds. I finally felt a weight lifted off my shoulders and started feeling mentally good about myself. I felt more confident in myself. This was in 2004.

I loved to run, It made me happy, it took away all the pain and sadness I was feeling at home, In my life. I eventually divorced my husband. It was the hardest thing to do but I had to do it for me. I met my now boyfriend shortly after that. He was very athletic and was interested in biking. We started dating and he bought me a bike so we could go riding together. From that point on I was hooked on biking. That was 2005. In that year I also took on my first Half marathon and was so proud of my accomplishment.

I started racing bikes and winning my age group. I loved it. My boyfriend then did a triathlon. I figured I could do one too so I started swimming and was Terrible at it but I knew I could do it. The next summer, 2006, I did my first Marathon and sprint triathlon. GreenLakes Traithlon. I pulled my calf the week before playing beach volleyball but I was determined to finish. I had no clue about the swim and panicked and doggy paddled the whole way. I came in 4th in my age group and received a medal!!! I was soo happy!

I then started training but my swim was never good until last year when I started working on it a little more...even though I still have work to do. I was hooked after my first triathlon...I was facinated by the way it made me feel, the feeling of joy. I still raced bikes and ran but Triathlon was my thing. 2010 I started getting serious about triathlon. I even finished my first 70.3!!

I still don't feel Im at an Ideal body weight yet, some days I still look in the mirror and say I am fat. But I also see a strong person for going through so much and enduring all the rough roads to finally see it paying off. I think I will always have issues with my weight but at least I will never touch a diet pill, I can do it the healthy way. I know how. I love who I am today and I have so much to be thankful for.

I know I was long and winded!!

Happy training!