DID THE DEVIL MAKE YOU DO IT?!!

[April]

After reading Leanne's post -Another one hooked- it got me thinking. What made YOU sign up for your very first race. I know for some of you, you have to think way back when, but i believe it is something you never forget.
For me, it was last year and it came about from an unexpected place. I went to the Loyalist KOS to cheer on my nephew , who was 8 at the time. I was sitting there watching his heat swim in the pool and there was a little boy (just learning how to swim). He took twice as long as the rest of the kids and  stopped to catch his breath a few times  but the roar of the crowd when he got out of the pool was just aww inspiring ( I almost had tears in my eyes ) I continued to watch my nephew right through to the finish line. I don't know if it was the pure exhaustion or the joy of accomplishment on his face when he was done and every other kid for that matter, but I sat back and said to myself "That looks like fun. WHY NOT YOU? Not a tri but a run. I can do that. I do run almost every day. I run long distances. What's stopping me?" Needless to say I did go home and sign up for my very first race. The PEC. I would like to thank my nephew, that little boy in the pool, the spectators and all the other kids on that day for being MY inspiration to go for it!!  And I must say running hasn't been the same since.

So lets hear your story. What made you sign up. Who was that voice in your head, that weight on your finger that made you click the REGISTER HERE! button.

[Leanne]

ok, I'll bite.
My first official race was in July of 2007. My sister in law had started a learn to run program, and I was looking for ANYTHING to motivate me to keep going to the gym. She mentioned that she was doing the Nissan 5K in the Toronto Distillery District, and did I want to join her. I hemmed and hawed, and ultimately said yes....paid my fee and 'learned to run'. It was tough...I was (and still am) overweight and I was sadly out of shape. But the day came, the adreneline kicked in and I did it! Not fast, not pretty, but done! The thrill of crossing the finish line was overwhelming. I did have tears in my eyes!

For the tri's, it was a bet gone wrong. Hubby decided it was time to change his life, and after significant weight loss and a rigorous exercise program, he decided to do a give-it-a-tri. I actually laughed. (mean, I know! ) But he couldn't swim! Not just couldn't swim, but didn't like the water....was nervous around it!! So I said to him if he learned to swim, I'd do the race with him......moral of the story? Never underestimate the will of a newly formed athlete!! 

[Sandy]

My first race was a marathon.  The Disney Marathon to be precise.  I was working out this a friend who was trianing another friend to run a marathon and told me all about it.  She said "if you can run for an hour your can run for two, and if you can run for two you can run for three etc."  I trained for a year, my friend did the event with me and when I crossed the line I was already trying to figure out where my next marathon would be, I was in love.  This was before water belts, tech shirts and electrolytes.  Since then I have run more marathons than I can remember, 10 or so ultras and a bazillion shorter.  My first tri was Smiths Falls.  Hubby Jeff was a triathlete and I gave it a tri!  After that I did a try a tri with my daughter and then signed up for Ironman.  Did Muskoka and the half IM in Peterborough then Ironman Canada.  Since then it's been a few 70.3s and probably IM Canada again next year.  I love everything long.  My least favourite race was when I qualified for Boston...going fast sucks ALL the fun out of running and my most favourite has been any race I ran with a friend or client.  I LOVED running Disney with Jane and Sulpher Springs 80k with Nancy.  My most proud moments in running have been finishing Iroman with Jeff and Keon hand in hand and winning the fastest woman for 80k at the Mohican Ultra.

The Devil didn't make me do it but he makes me curious about going one step farther every time!

[WendyM]

Its funny you should mention this since I was asked the very same question recently - WHY???

I guess at the time I decided to try my first tri I was in a rut, bored, going through a mid-life crisis early, I am not sure.  I read about a Danskin Tri in New York that was coming up in a few months.  I had never run a race before, didn't own a bike and could only do the doggie paddle but something told me to take on this challenge.
I convinced my daughter to do it with me and so we started the nine week training plan that went with the article, bought bikes and started run/walk workouts.  In early September my husband drove us to New York and we participated in the Women's Only Danskin Race.  Crossing the finish line was like no other feeling I had ever experienced.  I was on top of the world, stronger than I had ever been and confident that I could take on anything!!  How could I not experience that feeling again - I was addicted.
Some five years later I still love to train, even though it is the hardest thing I have ever done.  Just lately I have been feeling more confident in my abilities and not as overwhelmed with my own sense of failure.  Guess you never stop learning or growing. 
Looking forward to new challenges next year - maybe even Ironman??!!

[Jane]

Yup -- if the devil's name is Sandy!!  She MADE me do my first race.  I don't think I had any choice.  Just kidding.

My first race was way back on July 11, 1999.  It took me eight months of walking, starting in Oct/97 and another 13 months of running, starting in June 1998 before I finally entered a race.  I entered with a whole group of us who were running together, with Sandy as our leader.  It was the Avon run being held in Toronto.  No point in doing one of the smaller local runs (actually I don't think we knew there were local runs).  Why not go for the gusto and hype and drive all the way to the "Big City" to do our first run?  And no point in just doing the measly little 5K race.  We might as well do the 10K race.  Imagine our surprise when we arrived in downtown Toronto and saw women sprinting up and down the street in these little skimpy shorts and sports bras -- back and forth, back and forth.  Gulp!  Oh, then we noticed the rest of the runners.  Those other ones were the elites - the others looked more like us.  I finished in over an hour -- it might have been 1:10.  I remember we were near the back of the pack.  Looking back, it comes to mind, what were we thinking doing our first race in the middle of JULY???  Anyhow, it was exciting coming over that finish line!  So exciting that I signed up to do the Longboat Run on Toronto Island in September and finished 10K in 57:36! 

I went on to do many many races -- I had my favourites, about ten or twelve of them a year.  I have done Sandbanks every year for the past ten years, and the same with Longboat.  Unfortunately they are on the same day this year so Longboat will lose out. 

Sandy encouraged me to try a half marathon and I did NCM in 2000 in 2:17.  I could barely walk for a week afterward.  My legs hurt more than they did after any marathons I did!  I set a goal to break two hours in a half and did that in 2002 with a 1:55.  That was my best year for running, and it has been all downhill ever since.     Just kidding.  Maybe someday I will get more serious about running and try to pick up my speed again.  I would at least like it to seem easier    But in the past five or six years, I have been running with Heather (my daughter for those of you who don't know us) and we have had some really great times running together and running in a group with friends.  We have done the half in Disney together (a character building run), and gone on a running cruise with Cathy and Petra.  We've done many other trips to races/runs -- too many to mention.  I've seen places I would never have seen, and met people I would never have met. 

I don't know if I hadn't had all the races to motivate me, if I would have kept on with all the running.  That plus having the social aspect of my friends doing it at the same time has also been motivating.  It may have started with a goal to race and to race faster, but more than that I have ended up with a whole bunch of women that I call my friends. 

[Sandy]

 

[Jane]

Love the horns, Sandy!   

[Danny (Diane)]

This is great ? I love hearing about how everyone got started. I didn?t sign up for my first triathlon a friend signed me up as a thank you for helping her out during a tough time in her life. I didn?t think it was much of a ?thank you.? But off I went to Peterborough with my Canadian Tire Mountain bike scared silly (anyone who knows me will know the word I really wanted to insert here lol. ) My goal for the race was to finish and not to come dead last which I accomplished placing 2nd last in my age category.
I was hooked ? I bought an old road bike ? actually I traded if for a case of beer  (after that it was fondly referred to as the beer bike) and from that first race a snowball began dragging along my brother, sister, kids, husband and friends. I do K-town every year with my brother, Brockville with my sister and we always have a family team for the Surf and Turf. 

[patti]

My first was the Disney Half in Florida in 2001.  My now ex husband and I were scheduled to race it together.  We split up before the race, but I continued to train to run it anyway.  It was a great stress release for me.  My friend that I was running with wanted to go but couldn't get a spot because it was filled, so I told her she could run in my exs place.  We had a blast training together and we still laugh about her getting me to run faster by mentioning my ex husbands name...it really got me fired up!!!
I was hooked and never looked back.

patti

[MITCH]

I don't know many of you, but this story will show how much times have changed.  Back when I was in University in the mid to late 80s, I thought that I would try a triathlon.  It was back when I biked to work everyday (research assistant the the university and no car); was bored on my lunch hour so I swam or went for a run - more or less to keep control of my weight and tune out of the world, so to speak. No sports watches, GPS's or anything.   

At the beginning of that summer I saw an ad for a triathlon at the local provincial park (In New Brunswick) - the first Mactaquac Tri - 1000m swim, 35k bike and 7.5k run.  For those who don't know this area hilly is an understatement - it is in the Appalachian Mountains, so lots of long ups and downs (BTW probably not nearly as steep of hill as that little bump in the road at the Quinte Tri).  My goal was simple - not to finish last.

The rules we have today, just weren't there (at least in that race).  My boyfriend at the time helped me in transition (which was completely open).  He also followed me in the run in his dune buggy encouraging me to keep going.  It turned out I won 3rd place for women overall for this race as there were only 4 of us!  There maybe were 20 men.  No age groups.  I got a metal and two beer mugs - overall a successful day!

As I continued in University I ran 2 or 3 more road races in NB.  I went on a hiatus for many years as I got married, had kids (biked a lot with baby seats on the bike).  After the third kid my husband bought me a treadmill which I used faithfully.  I got involved with kids of steel tri's as my kids got older and thought it would be neat to do a tri again for myself. 

I did K-town last year (my first tri in 20 years) and have done 4 more tri's since.  I have been doing lots of local road races for the past 8 or 9 years as it keeps me motivated.  Although I have enjoyed the road races, I am really enjoying the tri's, now if I could just learn to swim fast....

Thanks for sharing these really interesting stories,
Michelle

[The Moose1]

No, the devil didn't make me do it.  A girl did.
Back in high school I made a very poor choice, and got grounded for a year.  During that time I was allowed outside to go to school, and walk the dog.  I'm not very patient, and started running the dog instead (walking was too slow).  Every night for a year, the distances got longer, and the pace got faster, just so I didn't have to sit in my room.  Not long after that I got dumped by my first "real" girlfriend.  I got off the school bus, changed, and went for a long run.  I ran until I felt better, then ran a little farther because I wasn't tired yet.  I finished with 3 laps of the block I lived on, then quit because I couldn't think of anywhere else to run.  I then jumped in the car and drove the route to find it was a little over 10k.
One of my friends was a runner (no one knew I had been doing all this running at night) and I told him how far I'd gone.  He suggested I come out for the cross country team.  At first I declined, as I wasn't much of a joiner, but relented when I found out a girl I thought was cute was on the team.
The cute girl never did pay any attention to me, but I started my racing career that fall with my first cross country race in Hanna Park, followed by my first broken bone when I fractured my femur in Sydenham the very next week.  (another storey) I've been racing ever since.

Mike

[raceluvr]

wow, grounded for a year....that's just hard to comprehend.  Was it REALLY a full year???

[Jenn]

I love these inspiring stories!!  I got it in my head this past January that I wanted to do a Sprint Triathlon.  Two years ago I wouldn't have even considered a run around the block.  Never did competitive sports but liked to swim and bike as a kid....
So I felt the need for a new challenge and decided triathlon was what I needed - perfect right??!!  I could race against myself!!
Then I met Sandy, Jeff and Dennis and now have 4 races done this season and am totally hooked.  I am now looking at endurance races as I need another new challenge..
Wow - love every minute and what a great group of people I have met along the way!!!

[Leanne]

another first....and I'm pretty sure it was the devil this time. Or King Triton. Or Ursula the Sea Witch. (sorry, Little Mermaid references)The swim in Cobourg was cancelled both Saturday and Sunday (absolutely the right decision) so my challenge that was supposed to be a sprint TRIathlon became a sprint DUathlon. Not good when swimming is your strength, and you're hoping like mad to save your legs for those insane hills that you KNOW are coming on the bike!!  ~sigh~
But...another challenge completed! 

[Jenn]

The devil definitely made me do this.....signed up for Ironman in Penticton and now that the initial shock has worn off and I'm breathing again....am totally pumped!!
Going to train for it the "easy way"....right Sandy!!??