I was 30 years old and wanted to lose weight.

I changed my eating habits and decided to join my roommate at the pool. It was an easy decision to make. I was living in Kalgoorlie, Australia, it was summer, it was hot, it was light early in the morning and there was an outdoor 50m pool available. When I started, I had to stop every 50m to catch my breath before going again. It wasn’t long before I was able to swim multiple lengths before needing a break.

Have you thought that you would like to do a triathlon “one day” ?

Do you believe that there’s no way you can do a triathlon? Do you believe that only “real” athletes can do triathlons? What if that’s just not true? What if doing a triathlon is well within your reach if you simply choose to change your beliefs? Or were simply willing to think “maybe, just maybe I could do it”?

I became friends with a woman I met at the pool and she was cycling as well as swimming. I added cycling to my repertoire of exercise. I headed to the local bike shop and bought a used 10 speed “granny bike” for $60!

I joined my friend on her rides and there was nothing better to me than an early morning ride seeing the sun come up over the horizon!

I was chatting to a work colleague about triathlons, something new to me. He suggested I might like to try one. I told him he was crazy because I didn’t run. He was the one who first talked to me about Ironman triathlon. I couldn’t comprehend how you could keep going for that long. What about eating? What about going to the bathroom? All serious things to consider for the uninitiated like me!

I lived a block away from a park, whose fenced off perimeter measured 2 km. One day, I took myself off for a “run” and I use that term loosely. I would run until I got out of breath and then I would walk until I caught my breath, at which point, I would run again. This pattern was repeated for the 2 km around the edge of the park.

I don’t remember how long it took but one day I was able to run the full 2 km without stopping for a walk break! I was so very proud of myself!

From there I worked my way up to 4 km, the distance required for me to complete the local triathlon club’s shortest triathlon distance.

My first triathlon experience was a team event and I did the cycling portion of the event. The next day, I did the whole thing myself; a triathlon consisting of a 300 m swim, 11 km bike and 4 km run. I was a triathlete!

Are you willing to consider letting go of the beliefs that are holding you back?

Kathryn