Radical Physical Transformation by Triathlon
Endurance sports teach you resilience in more ways than one. Teach your brain to overcome resistance when your body says no by learning three sports instead of just one.
In 2018, I first signed up to do my first triathlon without knowing how to swim distance, didn’t own a bike, and hated running. Each one of those was reason enough to keep to the couch. But at that time in my life I was facing divorce and recovering from the trauma. The only thing I had control over was how I showed up to maintain my physical and mental health.
There were three goals for this triathlon.
Don’t drown.
Finish.
Don’t be last.
I had already lost 50 pounds from eating healthy, exercising, and practicing yoga. What I didn’t know was how to appropriately train for three sports where I had never participated as an athlete before.
The Resistance
Swimming doggy paddle is different than doing laps in a pool. Swimming open water is different than swimming laps in a pool. Not only was there specific technique involved, it was required you had the physical stamina to endure.
I had a bike as a kid. I couldn’t count more fingers on my hand than how many times I rode it. Taking a spinning class at Cyclebar isn’t the same as pedaling on the concrete. There are gears to learn and you could fall off from a road bike.
Running distance is different than going for a jog or playing tag on the playground. A five kilometer race is harder AFTER swimming 750 meters in a lake and riding a bike for 12 miles. You need to control your pace and heart rate before you collapse on the side of the trail.
The Preparation
In 45 days I had to prepare, it was critical to do everything I could not to drown. Swim lessons, swim boot camp, and open water swims were added to the schedule. There was no turning back. I was committed to this race. That means also embarrassing yourself putting your wetsuit on backwards in front of the triathlon club members.
It took me several races after the first to learn how the gears worked on a road bike. Staying in one straight line was hard enough. Each time I took a hill, I was either ready to fall over or my legs felt out of control on the way down. It was like being a child with other adults whizzing by. Mentally it created self doubt until more practice gave me the confidence to persevere.
Running distance is harder than it looks. Go too fast and you run out of steam before the finish. Go too slow and the finish line will be gone because everyone else went home. You have to learn to pace yourself and balance your heart rate so you can continue moving forward until the race is over.
The Finish
When I crossed the finish line and received my first participatory medal, there was tremendous joy for doing what has seemed to be impossible at the time. People thought I was absolutely nuts. What kept me going during each of the swim/bike/run practices was that I was in control of the outcome. It wasn’t fun. I made it fun because of the story I told myself to persevere.
The Lesson
No matter what you are going through right now, you can set a new goal to get your body and mind back in shape. Sure, you can sign up for a triathlon and I’d be happy to give you some tips. Leave a comment or message me on Substack and I will reply. What you can do is sign up for a race, a club, or group exercise where others can hold you accountable to your goals. While it may seem triathlon is a solo sport, it’s not. It’s a team sport where people push you to become the best version of yourself. Make sure though you run the mile you are in.