For most people the season is winding down (or already wound down) and it's time to rest, recharge, recuperate and reflect. So I'm curious to know how you got into this crazy sport we do.

As for me, I'm not kidding when I say I got into triathlon because I figured it was easier (for me) to exercise more than control my diet. Have to admit, that's a little embarrassing to read now that I've typed it out, but the truth isn't always pretty.

Not that I'm fat, but I do still carry a lot more weight than I would like. But I like food a lot. I can only imagine where I would be if I hadn't gotten into triathlon.

About 10 years ago, I wanted an elective surgery but the surgeon wouldn't do it unless I lost about 12 pounds. So I started working out on an elliptical trainer and running 5 and 10k races. I lost the weight and the surgery was a success. But the pounds started to creep back on. I began running more but that was rough on my arthritic hips and knees. Someone else suggested I run less but add bike and swim.

Now, I heard of Ironman way back in the early 90s on ABC's Wide World of Sports but I had no idea there was, like, more reasonable triathlon. Back in those days, I was younger, stronger and had great stamina. I would have absolutely done a full distance Ironman if I had any idea at all how to go about it. But as you may (or may not) recall, back in the early 90s, there really wasn't the kind of access to information we have today. So life went on and I kind of let myself go.

Then 10 years ago I got in better shape and I learned there were other distances to triathlon besides the full Ironman distance. I started training and signed up for my first triathlon in April of 2020. That got shut down along with everything else thanks to the covid. I kept training and a year and a half later I was able to enter and complete my first sprint. Emboldened, I tried an Olympic just a month later. I finished but only barely. That experience woke me up. I began to train with a little more structure and focus, working my endurance up. Improving my swimming, got better on the bike. Did a couple longer courses and finally, just a little more than two years from my first ever triathlon, I finished the 70.3 in Indian Wells. After that, I figured, hell, if I can do a 70.3 then surely I can do a 140.6. So in November of last year I finished Ironman Arizona in Tempe.

To date, I've completed some two dozen triathlons, including one 140.6 and two 70.3 with just one DNF (that still stings). I have even completed a personal goal of triathlons from Atlantic (Key Biscayne, FL) to Pacific (Santa Barbara, CA). I have one more 70.3 on the books in Florida next month to finish off 2025, then Oceanside next March, plus a half dozen or so short courses local to me. And as of right now, I intend to do the FIM in Sacramento next fall but have not committed to it yet. I'm going to play it by ear after that. I'm no spring chicken so the long courses are getting to be harder to train for and recover from. But I hope to continue with at least short course triathlon for at least another five or even ten years.