In this post, Florida-based MySwimPro community member Jonathan Street (@jstreetrxphoto) shares how he got back in shape and competed in his first triathlon by training with MySwimPro.
HI, MY NAME IS JONATHAN:
I am a pharmacist in Pensacola, Florida working at a local hospital. When I am not juggling my busy work schedule and family life, which includes a 7 month old… I swim, bike and run.
MY SWIMMING BACKGROUND:
I have always been an active person. I participated in school sports as a kid and when I got to high school I started swimming competitively and loved it. During pharmacy school I got away from swimming and focused on my studies. As a result, I gained some weight.
I didn’t have easy access to a pool during school so I took up running, but I still struggled with my weight even after pharmacy school ended. I tried swimming again after I graduated but without good structured workouts, it was hard. I also struggled with feeling good about how I looked in a swimsuit.
It wasn’t until 3 years ago when I found triathlon, that I really began to love swimming again. I remembered how relaxing it was. Although I was so out of shape when I finally found triathlon, that it didn’t feel that relaxing.
“It didn’t take long for my body to remember how much I’ve missed swimming.”
I love being in the water. It relaxes me and for the hour that I am in the pool, nothing else matters. It brings me back to simpler times when “what are we going to do on Friday night?” was the biggest question of the week. Swimming is also a full body workout that I can do in an hour with little to no equipment.
I also love swimming because it will be something that I can carry with me as I age and can also pass it down to my children.
TRAINING WITH MYSWIMPRO:
I started training for triathlon with my coaches at TriPossibilities, and they’ve been really helpful in giving me the workouts I needed to reach my goals for the past year.
For my swimming, I’ve always tracked my swim workouts in the app and started incorporating more and more workouts from the app into my training regiment. It has been a game changer!
“I’ve been using the app with my Apple Watch and iPhone since the middle of 2017 and I can see my swim times get closer and closer to what I swam in high school.”
Between balancing my work, family and pool availability, I usually swim 2-3 days per week.
I usually swim the Workout Of The Day, which makes it almost effortless to just get in the pool and go. The workouts are usually 30-45 minutes long, and always the perfect challenge. I just load the workout on my watch and off I go in the pool.
My account is also synced with my STRAVA account, so it’s great to see all my swimming data in the same place as my running and biking log.
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COMPETING IN MY FIRST TRIATHLON:
Through my training, I was recently able to complete my first Olympic distance triathlon on October 21, 2018 in New Orleans.
“It was my first open water swim in competition and I did it!”
It was awesome to train with MySwimPro before my triathlon and to track my analytics on my Apple Watch. When I train, I am always looking at my heart rate, strokes per lap and my SWOLF score. With the app on my wrist, it’s go easy to be guided through the workouts, and it tracks all my data automatically. It’s also always interesting seeing how far I swam per month and throughout the year.
WHAT’S NEXT:
My current goal is to improve my fitness, get faster, and continue losing weight. I’m currently at 245 pounds, and my goal is to get down to 180 pounds. I still struggle with body image when I get in the pool but the more I go, the more changes I see and the easier it gets.
This winter, I am going to commit to the 12 Week Open Water Training Plan so I can be prepared for the 2019 triathlon season!
Thank you so much for sharing your story, Jonathan! We are so excited to have you on our Ambassador Team. You are crushing your goals and we can’t wait to continue watching your progress!
Ready to start your personal Training Plan? Use code JSTREET20 and take 20% off ELITE. Get your free trial >
