Well, I've probably lost my mind but I've laid down a new challenge for myself. I am going to enter my first athletic event in well over thirty years.
.25 Mile Swim - 8.2 Mile Bike - 2 Mile Run
Sunday, August 10, 2008 7:00AM
I have tried to get myself in shape since having a third of my right lung removed just a little over a year ago. Believe me, it's been a really hard road. I was a two to three pack a day cigarette smoker for over thirty years. It's now been six years since I quit. I've battled emphysema and the partial lung removal on a long hard comeback to getting in shape. I still have a long way to go. I've lost 34 pounds since I started a new job 23 months ago. I try to work out at least four days a week and now I have taken up running outdoors and bicycling (see my post from Dec 16, 2007 for more on this). I still can't run much distance at all and that is the part of this triathlon that worries me the most. Now I've got a reason to work harder. I am certain that entry in a paid sporting competition just has to be a motivating factor. And now that I've made this public to the world I just have to go through with it.
The one thing that I keep telling my wife and myself is that I am NOT in this event to win it, just to FINISH it! Believe me, just finishing WILL be an accomplishment.
