What's my Triathlon History

Every since the 1990's I had this fascination with the sport of triathlon, and casually took interest in it in passing. I was fascinated by someone doing 3 sports in one event in one day. I remember watching Erin Baker win her Ironman Championship in Hawaii on TV, and then also when the World Triathlon Champs were held in my home city of Wellington in 1994, then again in Queenstown in 2003. This was about the same time I separated from my wife and decided I wanted to do my Ironman. I had become quite unhealthy and overweight. In the space of 10 months, I had lost around 40kg and started preparing towards my first Ironman Triathlon.

In 2006 I competed and completed my first Ironman Triathlon at Ironman New Zealand. Over the next few years I also competed and completed 3 others, 2007, 2010 and 2012. Alongside the Ironman distance I also competed at the Age Group Triathlon World Championships multiple times over shorter distances. As an ameteur athlete, I enjoyed my chosen sport, had many great experiences and visited many countries and places. I also became a qualified coach, and established a thriving junior squad for a number of years, along with coaching adult athletes to gain their national representative status. I do not regret anything I achieved in the sport, but I am missing it. All of these I competed and raced as a male. That is my past, not my futuresport

I really want to regain the passion I had, but what I really want, is to enter races, compete, complete and be accepted as a woman doing a sport I love. Just because I am a transgender woman, does not mean I have to give up on things I love and enjoy? Hey, I know it won't be easy. Mentally, this will be a much bigger challenge than I previously experienced. Physically I have to regain my fitness back, accept I am basically starting again after such a lengthy break, learn to accept the limitations of age, strength and the invisible stigma I no doubt will face.