My name is Carol Scheible. When I was 20, my cousin started doing triathlons. I remember thinking “That sounds really cool, but I could never do that – I’m not athletic enough”.
Twenty years later I was overweight and out of shape, and generally miserable. I decided to make a commitment to follow a healthy lifestyle for the rest of my life. I lost a bunch of weight without any exercise. Then I hit a plateau where I could not lose any more.
So…I decided to start running. While searching for run training programs online, I ran across this great plan called Couch to 5k at a website called Beginner Triathlete. That old thought about how cool triathloning sounded came back to me …it was tucked away in the back of my mind all those years. This time, instead of thinking “I can’t do it”; I thought “I will do it!”.
After finishing the Couch to 5k training plan, I added biking and swimming to my workouts, and completed my first triathlon in April 05. I am now hooked on the sport of triathlon and am fitter than I have ever been in my life.
My brother, Mark, has been doing triathlons for several years and he is a great help to me – giving me lots of advice and support and answering all my neophyte questions. Thanks, Mark!
My brother-in-law, Tom, is a runner and fitness enthusiast and has always been an inspiration to me.
I’ve recently met a guy on my master’s swim team named Jon. He’s a master’s elite triathlete and actually wins races. He’s very inspiring and is kind enough to share his wisdom with me. He says all it takes is persistance. I think he’s just being modest and is very talented. What they heck, tho, I’ll dream big and tell myself that maybe I can win someday too.
The site Beginner Triathlete is a wonderful resource for triathletes – both novice and veteran. Also, read my post on Getting Started in Triathlon.
 Here is a picture of me in Spring 04, as a couch potato. This was after a lost a bunch of weight, but before I started my triathlon training journey. |
 Here I am in Sept 05 at mile 12 of the VA Beach 1/2 marathon Read Race Report, 2005 Read Race Report, 2006 |
Email me: ncskibum@gmail.com
Hi, I love your site. It was a great pleasure to get to know you. I just wish I could put the time in to get good results for what I want in a Triathlon. I had tons of fun and really enjoyed the people. Thanks for letting me see your blog. I definitely will come back to search for tips and information. I’m so new to all of this. Thanks again, Marie Washington NC sprint tri.
Carol,
I am very impressed by your accomplishments! I have thought about doing a triathlon for a couple of years, but kept thinking that was beyond my capabilities. No more excuses! I am out the door now to begin training!!
joe
In a recent post on swimming your contention was that your T time increased rather than decreased; however, I think it’s an arithmetic error; your average time was lower — NOT HIGHER — so, it appears your T time, by definition, had to be lower. Might want to check it out. . . cek.
Carol thanks for creating the Calculate Calories Burned calculator. I tested it against some results from my Suunto and it’s pretty close. For example, for me (33 year old man weighing 230lb) the Suunto says that a ride time of 1:46 with an average heart rate of 159 I burned 1932 and your calculator says 1840. Only off by 92 calories, this is the best online calculator I’ve found thus far. GOOD JOB! I just got a new computer that doesn’t calculate calories burn and I’ve been looking for something to fill the gap.
Just ran across your site tonight. I have just comitted to my first sprint tri in June and now I am thinking what did I do? I am a swimmer so that part seems ok it is just the running that makes me cringe. SO I will be reading up to hopefully get some tips!!
thanks!
Hi Carol, what can I say? Very interesting blog and very usefull for all of us in general. I am new to this sport but training hard and learning good tips and experiences like yours helps us a lot. Thank you very much, I will keep reading. Regards from Spain. You never know, may be soon on your side of the world for a triathlon. Take care and thanks again.
I just gave birth to twins in Apr 07. Now I am up to my next challenge since I feel like I can do anything after giving birth to 14 lbs of baby! I am still about 20lbs overweight but would like to partcipate in my first tri in Jul 08, my husband thinks I am crazy but I have been working out for several months, cardio, weights and little swimming. I have a good buddy that has done the danskin tri and thinks I can do it. What do you think and where should I start?
Carol – thanks for your blog!! I am a beginner runner and have only been running for about a year. However, I just did my first half-marathon in October and I bought a bike today. I don’t know if I could do the swimming, but your website is an incredible inspiration!! I’m 42, and didn’t discover this side of myself until later as well. Thanks again for your great website!
Carol, I just read your blog and was quite enthused about the progress you made. I’m a 69 year old male who used to do marathons 25 years ago. I’m in fairly good condition, but haven’t been doing much in the way of running or biking, and no swimming whatsoever. However, my goal is to do a sprint marathon next summer when I turn 70. I’m going to use your information as a starting point. I’m going to take is slow to hopefully prevent injuries!….any advice would be welcome.
Thanks!
Dan,
Thanks for your comment on my blog.
How long it takes a person to train for a triathlon depends on weight, age, current health/fitness level and the distance of the desired event. It took me a year to get ready for a sprint distance triathlon. I was 40 lbs
overweight, over 40, and a couch potato…so I went slowly to avoid injury. A younger / fitter person could train for a sprint distance event in 8 weeks. On the other hand, training for an Ironman distance event would take a year or two for just about anyone.
You don’t need to be athletic to do a triathlon. That is the coolest thing about this sport. All it takes is persistence to do the training. I have zero athletic ability. The other cool thing is that I meet such friendly and interesting people.
Happy workouts, Carol
Hi Carol,
First off, I have to tell you, your blog is excellent. I love your posts regarding Chi running and and Pose running. Keep up the wonderful posts!
Question – how long did it take you from deciding you wanted to join a triathlon to actually racing in one?
I’ve always looked at triathletes with awe and admiration but I was never athletic to begin with so I always just wished I could do it. Well, almost a year ago now I decided, what the heck, I’m going to run a triathlon. I had estimated that it would take me two years before I could run on one. I’m almost done with my first year and really all I’ve done so far is to just get me into shape. Don’t even know if my time frame is too loose or too restrictive really.
-Dan
LifeNowadays.com
Hi. I just wanted to say I am so glad I found your website! You are such an inspiration to me. I too have this inner desire to do triathlons, but didn’t think I could because I am not lean, fit, and barely able to run a few minutes at a time. I look forward to completing my first tri! Thanks again for having this site!