Kingstowne Swim, Ride and Stride.

Let me take a minute to introduce myself so we might get acquainted.  As you can see, my name is Kevin and I go by the moniker TriKev.  You can probably also see, by my profile picture that I love to run (and swim and bike).

What you can’t see is what I used to look like.  Not too long ago I was a bit of a mess; I was overweight and under-exercised.

Maybe you were, or are, like I was.  One day I looked in the mirror and I just didn’t recognize the puffy face staring back.  Who was this guy?  My clothes didn’t fit and I had very high blood pressure. I didn’t think the medication was working very well anymore and I dreaded going back to the doctor to get it adjusted.  The only time I worked up a sweat was when I had to put on a coat and tie (yes, the very act of dressing up caused me to break a sweat).

All that changed, but it wasn’t overnight.  Through a little hard work and a bit of self-discipline, I was able to shed 90 pounds.  I went from wearing size XXL to medium.  From sweating while getting dressed, to sweating while competing in an IronMan Triathlon!

I did it and you can too. 

So why do I tell you this?  I don’t want you, dear reader, to think I’m some highly competitive, type-A, elitist, endurance athlete  (well, maybe I am all of that, except the elitist part).  I think that living a healthy lifestyle is achievable for everyone.  Because, I think we all have some work to do, no matter what your accomplishment(s) or  goals are, there is always something to work on. So let’s get to work!

So what will I be writing about?  Mostly I’ll write about local events, things that you might want to consider signing up for.  I’ll update a list of events that are on the horizon and I’ll write about events that have already happened, from the perspective of participant, volunteer, referee or cheerleader.

Last weekend was the Washington DC Triathlon, which is now a 5150 series event.   The 5150 series is a newish series owned by World Triathlon Corporation (WTC), the same folks who own Ironman and Ironman 70.3 branded events.  My good friend and Bonzai Elite teammate, MattB had a strong showing, coming in the top 33% for his age Group, top 22% for males and top 14% overall. That just highlights how tough his age group is!  We also had the 2011 Dash for Dad Four Mile.  DeborahH of the Kingstowne Striders running club, took an Age Group 3rd place and Deborahs, husband and runner extroidanaire, JohnS turned in a fine effort as well, placing 9th in his age group.  Well done, Matt, Deborah and John!

Things are on the quiet side for local triathlon events in June, but July will be a different story.  Colonial Beach Sprint and International distance triathlons are in just a couple of weeks (July 9/10) and the ever popular Culpepper Sprint and International triathlons are at the end of July.

On the running side, there is the Ringing in Hope, Walk, Run & Fun with both 10K and 5K distances over in Ashburn VA on Saturday 6/25.  In Reston and the same day, is the Spring-into-Summer Women’s Distance Festival 5K.

If you want your favorite race(s) mentioned (whether it be triathlon or individual endurance events like running, biking or swimming), or wish to report your race results, please send me an email (or comment below) and I’ll include you in this blog.

I hope to see you swimming, riding or striding soon and if you do, stop me to say hi or, even better, join me!