The First of Many

Welcome to the first of many blogs about being a triathlete in a big city. I'll use this first entry to introduce myself and hopefully pique your interest enough to come back. When I reflect on how I got to this moment, here's how the story goes.

I grew up in a small town in Arizona called Bullhead City. Save the jokes, please, I know the city's name is ridiculous. There is one main street, one hospital, no shopping mall (not even a Target), and there were 160 students in my high school graduating class. The nearest "large" city was Las Vegas, which was a two-hour drive. I moved to Phoenix to go to college and I never looked back. Phoenix is a large city, but it's not the kind of city where you outsource laundry, take public transportation to work and walk home from a night of partying.

Phoenix is where I discovered my passion for triathlons. I've always been a person who sought challenges -- anything that could make me stronger and more confident in myself. I had never cycled more than to/from my apartment during college, never swam professionally or even recreationally, and I hated, let me repeat, HATED running. But I met a triathlon coach who convinced me that I could do it.

After a month of listening to him talk about triathlons and the sense of accomplishment you feel when you cross that finish line, I was intrigued and decided to check it out. He invited me to swim practice. Suddenly I felt like I was at my first day of school. As giddy as I was, I was also very nervous. In an attempt to look like I belonged with the cool kids, I bought an appropriate swimsuit (my bikini wouldn't cut it, unless I wanted to be laughed at), goggles and a swim cap. I showed up feeling anxious and nervous, but completely open to trying something new. I jumped in the water, felt a bit of a chill but not because the water was cold, and started swimming.

After that I never looked back. Next thing you know, I'm buying clip-in cycling shoes, selecting running shoes and signing up for my first tri. Within five months I did an all-women sprint tri to benefit breast cancer research. It was a blast and I had the best adrenaline high during my race and felt even better after. Two years later, I'm still obsessed with triathlons and have signed up for two Ironman races this year.

So where does the city part come in? In January 2009, my husband and I moved to San Francisco for his job. It's a tough economy and he had a solid job we couldn't afford to lose. So, here I am. One of millions in 49 square miles of city. When I first heard we had to move, my immediate thoughts were..."Who am I going to train with? Where am I going to ride? Is the weather good enough to run outside?"

These questions and more will be answered in future posts...