From couch to half ironman world championships

I could have never known where this journey I am on would lead when I started. When I started all I wanted was to be a better version of myself. To not be ashamed of how I looked in pictures and have terrible anxiety anytime I got a notification that someone tagged me in some picture on Facebook.

I didn't start out by being a triathlete, or even knowing what an Ironman was. When I started I didn't run, couldn't swim and didn't own a bike. I started out by wanting change. I bought a little fitbit and walked my *kitten* off, literally. When it was taking me too long to get the 20k steps I was wanting per day I started running because I thought that would be a more efficient way to get the number of steps I wanted.

Running lead to racing, and two years ago in 2016 I bought a bike and joined a gym to layer in swimming and biking to my regimen. My first time in the pool I thought it was going to be impossible, I couldn't even make it across the pool one time without stopping, and my first ride on my bike I had to walk my bike about a half mile home because I had no idea how to downshift it into a smaller gear. Failure is a big part of this journey. Failing at swimming, failing at biking, blowing up in races. If you fail who cares? Triathlon and life isn't success only, if you wait for everything to be right before attempting something you may end up waiting forever and never starting.

This last month I flew to South Africa to compete against the fittest triathletes in the world, something I never would have thought I would be doing. I worked, I earned my spot, because I know that its true that anything is possible.