Lovel: My year-long triathlon transformation

It’s one year ago this week that I was reading the news on CNN.com and happened across the CNN FitNation Challenge.

The timing was great for me, because in a moment of insanity I had made an annual check-up appointment for the Monday morning after Thanksgiving. Surprise-surprise: my weight was up.

In an attempt to distract my kind doctor from that issue, I mentioned that I was entering a contest to do the NYC Triathlon, and I asked if she thought I was healthy enough to do it.

I have to hand it to her - if she rolled her eyes, it was so subtle that I didn’t notice it. She allowed that since I had recently completed two uneventful 5K races, I would probably be fine to do a triathlon (not that she really believed I would do it).

Now looking back on the last year, I realize what an incredible transformation this challenge has been.

BEFORE the CNN FitNation Challenge, I:

• Worked at a wonderful but completely sedentary job
• Ate chicken wings and drank a couple of beers at jazz night
• Got winded carrying my 2-year-old granddaughter across the room
• Regularly enjoyed red wine and white-cheddar-cheezies for dinner
• Avoided looking in mirrors, especially from behind
• Knew I needed a lifestyle change if I wanted to keep kayaking and planned to be around to see my granddaughter grow up

So I made my video, entered the 2011 FitNation Challenge and was selected to join the Six Pack! Amazing changes began to occur...

DURING TRAINING for the NYC Triathlon, I:

• Swam, biked and ran before and after work, six days a week
• Often went to live jazz smelling like chlorine
• Started finding it easier to carry my granddaughter around
• Tossed out an old half-eaten box of white cheddar cheezies
• Became fluent in the language of road-biking, from gear and ratios to signals, cadence, and drafting
• Developed a whole new relationship with spandex
• Made many great new friends for life
• Received encouragement from HUNDREDS of people
• Shrank a couple of sizes
• Started looking in mirrors, especially from behind (my clothes weren’t fitting so well any more…)

Today, AFTER completing the CNN FitNation Challenge, I:

• Have completed another 5K and another triathlon
• Run 15-20 miles/week in training for a half marathon
• Still eat healthy-real food at jazz night (with a little red wine, thank you!)
• Help with a group of runners training for their first 5K in February
• Wish my granddaughter would still let me carry her around...
• LOVE sharing my experience through speaking engagements
• Still look in mirrors, to make sure these NEW SIZES are hanging right!

I hope that my year-in-review will inspire all 2012 hopefuls to pick up your cameras and send in your iReport videos. That one small decision led to a lifetime of change for me!