ELI'S TRIATHLON JOURNEY ~ FIGHTING ALL THE WAY TO THE FINISH!

Elii Tamez

I started training for triathlons right at a year ago. I had just recently moved into a house and my neighbor Brett Moore had just purchased a new bike and always talked about how he had done triathlons before and he had just signed up to do Stonebridge 2017.

 I have always been an athlete. Played soccer my whole life and I am actually a undefeated professional MMA fighter (10-0).

So I thought “Hey, why not?!”. So I purchased a bike, signed up for Stonebridge, and started practicing right away. I trained about 8 weeks for that race and finished at 1:37 or somewhere around that. During that race it was something I’ve never experienced before. Other athletes cheering you on and rooting for you even if you were the one passing them.

After that I knew this would be a sport I would stick with forever!

Straight after that, I contacted Ahmed at Playtri, got a new bike, and joined the Playtri Race Team and got started on my triathlon journey!

This October, one year later, I signed up for Stonebridge again and beat my time by about 15 minutes and received 3rd place in my age group! I was amazed, and can’t wait for next year to compare my times once again.

Ironman Waco: So initially I wasn't signed up to do Ironman Waco nor was I planning on doing it, buuuttt I love to compete!

So about 10/11 weeks out I saw Ahmed’s post if anyone was wanting to do it a last min slot opened up so I jumped all over it. I was mainly working on my swim because that has been my biggest weakness so I was definitely bummed about not being able to swim due to the swim being canceled at the event.

But my main goal, with not having as much time to train, was to get through it.  Race day was great and I felt great. The bike I did great! It was the run straight after the bike that got to me. My run fell a part but I dug deep to finish strong and I’m so happy I did! I would definitely do it again (being more prepared, that is).

It was truly the hardest thing I’ve ever accomplished in my life. The feeling and reward after is amazing! Can’t wait to do another in 2019!