Triathlete - just the word conjures up images of the most elite athlete, but there's a new kind of triathlete training these days. Here's why many are saying just "gotta try a 'tri'!"
Marilyn White is in top shape now, but just a couple years ago she didn't have much time for fitness.
"Like a lot of moms out there, I had spent a decade having babies and nursing them, so I got to the gym every once in a while," she said.
Then, as she was staring down her 40th birthday, she set a new goal a triathlon. She knew she had some serious training ahead.
"Before my first triathlon, I had probably been on a bike maybe three times," said White.
And because triathlons require you to swim, bike and run, she needed to be able to do all three, so she hooked up with a local club to help her get ready.
"That's one of the biggest aspects of the sport, the social aspect. Misery loves company. They want to have someone out there with them and like them to be able to go out there and see if they're doing it correctly," said Mike Reilly, Active.com and voice of Ironman.
Reilly is a triathlon expert. He says he's definitely seen a change in participants.
"Elite athletes really highlight the sport, but the heart and soul of the triathlon is made up of amateurs, of the 40-44-year-old woman, of the 35-year-old man, of the 70-year-ld man who all of a sudden want to keep attaining to more goals in their life," said Reilly.
The people aren't always super-fit or athletic.
"I had never really run more than a mile, so I had to push it," said White.
"They have accomplished something that probably two months prior, six months prior they thought they could never do in a million years and all of a sudden they do it and you see the happiest people coming across the finish lines," said Reilly.
It's contagious.
"The feeling, the endorphin rush you get and the sense of achievement. You get in an athletic endeavor like this, it's unsurpassable," said White.
As with any other sport, you should definitely see your doctor first to make sure your body can handle the physical activity.
There are a number of triathlon training classes in the Seattle area. And for women, it's not too late to sign up for the annual Danskin race.
For more information:
http://www.danskintriathlon.net/seattle.html
http://www.seatri.org/
http://www.tri-time-swimming.com/classschedule.aspx
