OK...here is mine...sorry if it is a bit long, but us old guys have longer stories.
I started back in the sport about 4 years ago after basically a 10 year hiatus. I did my first race in 1992...Chris T. were you even in school yet in 1992? I got into it after I had started back swimming about 2 years after I finished college.
I grew up as a year round swimmer up through high school but did not swim in college, Wake Forest doesn't have a swim program and I wasn't that good anyway. While I was in college my idea of a triathlon was to drink a beer, eat a pizza and change the TV all at the same time. After gaining about 30 pounds in school and right after I started back swimming, simply to try and lose some weight. Then I started dating this really awesome girl who was a runner, yes it was JoAnna. As a way to try and impress her I asked if I could run with her. Well, I showed up in 4 yr old dark blue Nike shoes, thermal long-johns under a pair of gym shorts and a knit cap with a ball on top...it was December and 1991 after all. Why she let me go with her I'll never know, but after getting some new clothes (spending habits explanation to follow), we started running frequently. Well, that got my competitive juices going again and I decided if I was running and swimming I should do a triathlon. So, I borrowed my roommates 10 yr old Schwinn and set out to do an Olympic race in the fall of 1992.
I loved it and was hooked. After that race I immediately went out and bought a bike and all the gear (again with my purchasing habits). I continued to race for about a year and a half when I decided to focus on a marathon. I ran the same race that Oprah did back in 1994, the Marine Corp Marathon in Washington, DC. After that I basically didn't race for about 10 years except for a few very scattered sprints and 10Ks.
Again, after gaining a bunch of weight (detect a pattern here) I decided to follow JoAnna's lead and get back into the sport about 4 years ago. I am hooked all over again and am trying hard not to let this crazy sport rule my life, and wallet. I got super inspired after going with JoAnna to Age Group World's in Hamburg in Sept 2007 and started working with Dave that November. That has been a huge benefit for my training and race performance and I am eager to see how year 2 under Dave turns out in 2009.
A few last comments about me:
1. I am a total gear junkie and will buy anything on sale. So, Cid if you have any merchandise you need to unload just tell me its on sale and I'll come running with my credit card.
2. I am insanely competitive...my family quit playing Trivial Pursuit with me after I found a way to rig it and almost always guarantee I would win. It doesn't matter what it is, I want to win, I do try and hold my tongue a bit though when our daughters beat me at Monopoly.
3. I am still working on what it means to have an easy day...I tend to have one speed - as fast as I c
Coached by TMS sponsor Dave Williams, Ken Younts shines again amongst the masters males of the team. He is by far the most gregarious, southern gent of the team whose solo crazy training efforts defy all logic and possibility. His wife has chided him for solo swim efforts at 10pm in the evening, but Ken simply smiles and replies "gotta get it done sometime!"
Last year Ken raced at tri nationals and tri worlds in Austrailia. This year he showed his love for distance with his first 70.3 effort in Texas. His results were stellar and he's on his way to Clearwater in November. Congratulations, Ken.
