The Trials of Triathlon Training (When You Have No Athletic Ability)
When I say I’m not naturally athletic, I’m not joking. I am the walking — and swimming, cycling, and running — embodiment of the nerdy kid at school who was picked last for everything and didn’t improve as an adult.
I hated just about every form of physical activity as a kid. I was — and still am, in fact — horribly uncoordinated, so anything involving a ball and/or bat was out. As a native Brit, I’m embarrassed by how many soccer balls I tripped over while trying to kick them. I was moderately okay at sports like hurdles and high jump solely because I was tall for my age.
I hated running — and especially cross country — most of all. If I could make it out of the gate at the end of the sports field before I had to stop and walk, that was a good day.
But 10 years ago I met my husband, who was an avid runner, and he convinced me to give it a try after years of avoiding it. I would be lying if I said I was hooked. It was still painful. I was still slow. I still didn’t like getting muddy. But I stuck with it.
After a while, the fact that running was hard for me became the reason why I kept doing it. In 10 years it has never stopped being hard, but I also haven’t stopped doing it.
