My "First Triathlon" Story: From Sprint to Half IronMan

My first triathlon was back in 2003 and an experience I've never forgotten. I was a pack a day smoker then, had been for a few years. I signed up for the triathlon less than a month before it. I had a decent road bike and enjoyed doing that but I'd get out on the bike only about once a month for 15-20miles. I hadn't swam in about 4 years since high school but I did surf about once or twice a week. As for my running? well, that was remains of playing rugby during college, but I hadn't actually ran for the sake of running since high school either. But a sprint tri, sure I'll do it. Smoked some cigarettes on my way to the race like an idiot. Got all set up, and I saw two guys struggling with a flat tire before the race started. So I walked over, brought my pump and started to talk to them. They were CC runners who drove in from Philadelphia to do this tri. They had borrowed some bikes from friends and had no idea how to change a flat. So I grabbed my tire levers and did it real quick for them since we had only 5 minutes before the start of the race.

During the swim, all I could think about was "I want my bike". Open water swimming in the ocean was much harder than I had anticipated, but when I look back on my time, I apparently did pretty well and finished about middle of the pack. The outcome definitely doesn't match my memory of how unprepared I was for that swim. I guess I was lucky it was a short 500m swim.

The bike was a pleasure, it was now apparently my strong point and I didn't know it. I remember passing people on mountain bikes and thinking, wow, that has to be rough, but good for them for doing it. Apparently one of those guys I helped had exited the water before me and I passed him on the bike and remember saying: "I know you'll catch me in the run" with a big smile.

The run was only a 5k, so I knew I could gut it out and get through it. That guy I passed on the bike caught me around the 2.5mile mark and I tried to speed up to stay with him for a while, but he runs cross country in college, so it's not like I'm going to be able to stick with him too long. I think he ultimately finished about 30 seconds in front of me. His friend that had the flat finished a couple minutes later.

After the race I was putting my bike away and the two guys came up to me to return my pump. I don't think I'll ever forget their faces when they saw a cigarette hanging out of my mouth. I put it out to be courteous and not make them deal with second hand smoke and they asked if I wanted to go grab some breakfast. I had made some new friends for that day and always wondered if they continued to do triathlons after that.

I knew I was going to do another tri, but I continued smoking. 5 years later I finally quit smoking and decided to start training for a half Ironman. It'll be almost 6 years since that first tri and I finally signed up for another sprint triathlon coming up in just over a week. My half Ironman, I feel ready for it, I've been training for over 8 months and that is coming up in 2 more months. But first tri is what gave me the triathlon bug. Without it things might have been different, I might still be smoking today.

Jim from Colorado