In high school I was a football player and ran track as a sprinter.  In college I joined ROTC and the Army changed me from a sprinter to a distance runner.  I did my first tri in 1998 as something fun to do while stationed in Korea.  I came to the States and did a tri season in which I completed a half ironman and really got the tri bug.  9/11 put a stop to my serious tri competion since I was either training to go to Iraq/Afghanistan or in Iraq/Afghanistan.  I stayed fit but started to put on some weight.  I"ve finally got a chance to go to a year long Army school and I wanted to get into better shape and lose some of the weight I'd gained, so I've scheduled two half ironman's for this year with the goal to lose weight and beat the half ironman time that I put up almost 9 years ago.  So far I've lost 25 pounds and I'll let you know in June after Ironman 70.3 Kansas if I met the second goal

Before triathlon, I was a football player in high school.  I always saw the Ironman World Championships on TV in high school and have always been fascinated and thought it was something I would really enjoy.  I bought a bike in 2004 and enjoyed riding around like I did when I was a kid, but I figured I'd put that riding toward a goal.  I started running more, and signed up for my first sprint in July 2005.  I worked hard on the bike and run, but didn't train for the swim at all.  I got really nervous when I saw that distance to the first bouy!  I got through, and did another in August 2005, and a third in July 2006.  I missed racing last year because of a calf injury, but am ready to get back to it with 3 or 4 races this year including stepping up to the Olympic distance for at least 1 race!  I can't wait for the weather to break so I can get outside and play!