Why an exercise-shy couch potato Functional & Lifestyle Medicine Doctor Wants to Try A Triathlon

When I turned 43 in August last year, I decided to speak into being a crazy idea, one that I've been nurturing for a few years.  I've decided that I want to participate in a triathlon before I turn 50! (note I said “participate” and not “compete” :P)

Backstory - As a child and probably up till my 30s, I was a total couch potato. A stereotypical nerd who loved books, lived in my imagination, and absolutely hated (and hence was hopeless at) anything sporty. I had a brief flash as a sprinter at age 9 or 10 when my early arrival into puberty meant I was taller and faster than many of my classmates, but the arrival of boobs shortly after and no knowledge of sports bras ended that dream!

My maternity weight gain got me running 

I took up running (ahem jogging) at age 33 just so I could fit back into my clothes after my second maternity leave.  I did a Couch to 5K, ran my 5K Race for Life, then a few years later, trained for and ran a 10K Race for Life. I  then tried to train for a half marathon, got an injury, and essentially have not seriously run since then.

Taking my hand off the bicycle handles is still a nightmare

How about cycling? Well... I only learned to ride a bicycle at age 16 and since then have probably only ridden a bicycle a handful of times while on holiday.

I have had grand dreams of becoming confident enough to cycle to work over the years but have never gotten to where I can take my hand off the handlebars to signal (go figure!)

The stories of the Atlantic Ocean and my swimming journey

Hmm... ok, and swimming? Ha! I have a well-inculcated fear of drowning. Incredible for a child who grew up beside the Atlantic Ocean (in Lagos, Nigeria), but most of us were never taught to swim.

Our beaches didn't have lifeguards and the sum total of many of our parents' experiences of swimming was the stories that were passed around of various relatives drowning at the beach. Which were then passed down to us. So, although I've had many attempts to learn as an adult, I've always stopped when the teacher tried to make me breathe underwater.  OR take my head out to breathe and put it back again. Thus my swimming aspirations have never gotten really far......

But if at first, you don’t succeed...

Until now! Because somehow,  and I honestly can't tell you where it came from, I want to complete a triathlon. I can think of a few possible seeds of inspiration, though:

1. My then 10 year old's classmates, a boy, and a girl, who both competed in triathlons and somehow normalised it from an extreme sport for crazy folk to something achievable by children (and hence within my reach)

2. My best friend from high (secondary) school - a former tubby, non-sporty like me who now runs marathons on a regular, all over the world

3. People my age and even younger with disabilities who I come across at work who have reasons why they should consider themselves “unable”, but who just push those things aside and live life to the full. Or those who would love to participate but find their bodies are simply no longer able to. 

I’m ready to train for a triathlon

So here I am now, thinking: hey, why not give it a shot? What's the worst that can happen?  SO I am. This is soooooooo far out of my comfort zone but I am going to feel the fear and do it anyway. Watch this space!

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