I wrestled, swam and played football and baseball.

nothing..I didn't play any sports, actually barely passed PE my Sophmore year because I couldn't run the mile (skated in 30 seconds a head of their time requirement, which I think was around 13 or 14 minutes)

Started running almost two years ago, and quite smoking at the same time...now almost 2 years later I have ran 4 half marthons (my best being 2:00:34) and counless 5k and 10k's..and I'm gearing up for two more halves and my first full this fall..

all with NO athletic ability or training

Just curious - what sports did you guys do when you were growing up, if any?

Growing up, I was first a gymnast, then a competitive diver (springboard, not platform). The sports I was involved in required short bursts of acrobatic energy. I always felt like I did not have a "runner's body" (and by that I mean a distance runner), I thought I was built more for sprinting. As it turns out, I had that all wrong. I gradually increased my distance and endurance and low and behold, my body adapted and I'm more and more resembling what I picture when I picture a distance runner. I started running at age 37; I so wish I had discovered this sport earlier in my life!

I played lots of sports because I was born and raised in Bermuda with a quick side trip (ages 5-10) in Maryland and college in Canada - basketball, tennis, soccer, rugby, sailing, swimming, cricket (a form of torture that's mistaken for being a "sport"), even ice skating (NOT in Bermuda!) and even played a little golf along the way. I tried playing softball - thanks to cricket, I can catch barehanded but I can not hit a pitch. American football - never played - too dangerous - played rugby - much safer!

Running wasn't a sport for me but I wish I'd kept running after I got out of the Army. I did 2 miles in 11:09 which is pretty good for a 30 year old who had never trained in the sport.

The adaptation process for running has been painful for me. I ran (about) 500 miles in the last 6 months of 2011 and the same in the first 6 months of this year. Problem is, I had so many injuries last year that I ran less than 500 miles in the entire year.

When I spoke to an ortho specialist (who's a tri-guy) he told me that he wasn't surprised about the injuries - 25 years being sedentary, 10 years of overweight, and 3 years right at the border of morbid obesity all took their toll on my skeletal strength.

That was then, this is now.

At age 56 I've only got about 20 years of running left but I'm doing my best to catch up!

When I was really young I think I tried almost everything - gymnastics, swimming, dance, softball, tennis, track...But I usually only ever got 1 season out and then I quit.

I did play volleyball from 7th grade to 11th grade...didn't do it my senior year because I knew I would end up sitting the bench the whole season...

So pretty much I tried a bunch of stuff, but never felt good at any of it! I always felt like I wasn't athletic at all.

Then I found running last summer and I LOVE it! I wish I had tried cross country in high school because I wonder if maybe I would've found a love for running sooner. But I'm just glad I have it now! It's been SO good for me, both physically and mentally!

From Jr. High up I played baseball, football, basket ball, cheerleader (yes, a guy cheerleader....it was actually common in high school 40 years ago). I discovered I was a distance runner by accident. We used to have something called Presidential Fitness award. One of the events was a 600 yrd run in under some time limit. I noticed as all the sprinters fell back around 75 yards, i passed them and held the same speed until the end. The coach immediately put me on the Cross Country team and the rest is history.

I was not into sports at all in school. Hated running too. I played trumpet in the band as well as guitar for jazz band and musicals. With all the band stuff and taking advanced level courses I didn't have time for anything else.

I was a choir geek. I still love to sing, but I wasn't active at all.

Back in my pre-teen days, every kid played Little League baseball. We switched to other sports in season, but baseball was really the thing.
I laugh now because kids start in T-ball (way too early) and they get trophies if they sneeze. Back when I started, the winning team got to go have an ice cream at the Dairy Belle. The losing team got nothing.
My first year, my team lost every single game. We got no ice cream, ever. The other teams laughed and whooped and got in cars and drove off to get their rewards. And, we stood there in the dust of the diamond and watched them go, and then quietly picked up our bikes and made the long ride home.
Not once did my coach take pity on us, and offer to buy us a consolation ice cream.
Nobody got a trophy for playing either. You got a trophy for first or second place in the league.
I also began playing soccer when I was about 10 years or 11 years, and that was extremely unusual. It came about because my brother made friends with a German family that was living in our town. The German father got my brother to start playing, and I followed suit.
Soccer was perfect for me. The big three American sports put a premium on size. You can play if you are smaller, and do okay, but you are never going to be the star.
Basketball? Forget it; guys are reaching over your head the whole time. It is humiliating.
In soccer, on the other hand, you use what you have. If you are tall, you use that and learn to head the ball well, and you can be a defender who is hard to get around. If you are a natural athlete, who has the instincts for games, but cannot run well, you can play striker with your back to the goal.
Whatever you have works. I was fast. I could be the star on the team, only sport where I could.
Of course, we were terrible. My coaches were great. But nobody knew the game. We could not watch it on TV.
It was funny, when I got older, and continued to play. The kids coming up now not only have skills we did not have, they have skills we did not even know existed! It was a bit frustrating trying to play as the old guy.
It is rather funny, too, that I played soccer because I hated running long distances. Everybody did in those days. In a sport, you don't notice and soccer running never bothered me. But, just running? Hated it. We had a four-minute run test in school every year, and kids turned pale at the thought of it.
More strange, we lived in an area of steep hills, and we loved riding our bikes to the top so we could zoom down.
I did not find long-distance running -- then known as jogging -- until I was about 20-years-old.

I did nothing good in high school, I can tell you that! I thought I was too cool for sports. I just started running 3-4 years ago as a way to exercise. I really liked it & discovered it was somewhat easy for me. Wish I had started sooner.

Oh gosh, I did a ton of stuff.

In my elementary days, I did tennis and swimming, tap and ballet dance. In middle school, I did basketball, gymnastics and ice skating. In high school I did basketball and weight lifting.

Ironically, I used to HATE running. I had exercise induced asthma as a kid (or maybe that was all a load of BS, who knows), so running was torture for me. But now things are different... I think sometimes different sports, much like other things, come into our lives for a reason and at a very particular time.

Dance and cheer until I tore the meniscus in my knee jumping off a high bridge into the water. After that, I didn't so much, to avoid surgery, they told me to stop. I went to work full time as a high school sophomore to help pay bills when my dad was out of work. I worked 3 jobs at a time through college. I mountain biked when I first met my husband, but then we moved to an area of not much area to ride int. Fast forward - 2 kids later - I started running at 39.

I'm vey happy my kids are involved in sports. My youngest plays basketball and baseball. My oldest is a runner and it's looking like he will be quite competitive and be able to successful. He prefers cross country and distance running over track. He has won local 5K's and placed in 10K's without much training. I still wonder had I started younger if I could have ever ran the 4:45 and 5:00 MPM he runs.

Well, the first thing growing up I did was to hate running!!! I mean, with a passion. I couldn't stand it. I played ice hockey from when I was six years old through high school and also played soccer in high school. I did some field events on the track team, as well. I was a mediocre varsity player at best, for any sport. After that it was off to the infantry and still more running, which I continued to hate.

But, things change and I can't tell you how much I love to see the road unfold out in front of me and to feel the exhilaration of completing a run! :happy:

Good luck and have fun!

Before high school I was on a swim team. In high school I played football (linebacker and offensive guard), wrestled, and was on the track team (long jump and discus). In college I played various intramural sports including football and swimming. Up to that point I avoided running whenever possible.