In a new feature for Orca Echo we are running stories about “normal” people and their experiences and adventures in triathlon. If you have a great story, send it through to info@orca.com.

If your story gets featured, you’ll get US$100 of Orca product for free!

Matthew Lalonde – USA

Soon after graduating from college, I realized I was fat. As a swimmer in high school, I couldn’t gain weight if I tried. My daily lunch was often the cafeteria chicken sandwich, but I would replace the lettuce and tomato with french fries. The goal was to get as much mayo as possible into the sandwich. Even with these fat lunches, I never weighed more than 150 lbs until I graduated.

My eating habits were similar in college, but I no longer swam competitively. My jeans got tight, so I bought larger ones, rationalizing that I did not need larger pants, it’s just that they’re more comfortable. It was only when I saw a picture of myself at the beach on a vacation that I realized I was fat. I couldn’t ignore it anymore; I had to do something.

My ego had taken such a beating over the admission that I was fat, that I didn’t think I would be able to face how slow I was in the water. There was a treadmill in the basement of my building, so I started with a five minute run. Five minutes at five miles an hour was what I could do. I continued to run 3-4 days a week and the time went up. There was a stationary recumbent bike down there too. I’d get bored on the treadmill and go to the bike every other workout. I would bike for 30 minutes, then go to the treadmill for another 30 minutes. The weight was gradually coming off.

One day I remembered a conversation I had with one of my old swimming buddies at a bar one night a few years prior. He had started doing triathlons to stay in shape but, more importantly, he seemed happy and excited. I said I had always wanted to do one. Now, after re-gaining some semblance of fitness, I thought it might be possible. Soon after this realization, I bought a racing bicycle and an Orca Predator wetsuit. I entered the Lorain Sprint Triathlon in Ohio, my first race—and the race that precipitated an instant addiction to triathlon.

That was three years ago. I still use the same wetsuit and I still love racing. I’m a healthy 160 pounds and happier than I have ever been. And I don’t eat mayonnaise anymore.

Jo Hurst - Australia

I am a 40 year old mother of two gorgeous girls, wife of a very supportive husband and school principal.

Wind back the clock two years. I had started training with a personal trainer (PT) to lose weight. One day he said to me, what would you do if you could do it? I replied, “I’ve always thought a triathlon would be a massive achievement to do but there is no way I could do it.”

Well that was it - “Of course you could,” said my trainer (bless him). Making that commitment was the start of a year of training, first to lose body fat, gain muscle and then increase my fitness. I started swim training and was surprised that my body remembered what to do. My first real bike ride was on my husband’s mountain bike. My friend joined in with the training on her bike with a parcel rack on the back. We soon realised that new bikes were essential so we shopped and got ourselves a great deal.

Last summer saw us complete three Kurnell sprint series races individually and one as a team. We motivated eight girls to join us in a Nepean Enticer - it was a delight to watch my buddies cross the line and know I had helped them achieve something they thought impossible.

Since then, I have completed my PT certificate III and IV, started training clients and signed up to open my own Vision PT studio.

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