My name's Andy. I'm a 31 year-old college-educated steelworker, who has a mostly clean bill of physical health and has been divorced once. I've long been interested in endurance sports, but lately I've begun to get serious about it.
So, how and why am I becoming a superathlete? I guess it was meant to be. I look back and the signs are definitely there. Aside from what I mentioned above, I've loved tooling around by bike and on foot. And even if not always recreational, I've never seemed to mind it.
A brief history. My parents were amazed at my natural leg strength from a young age. Being more or less tree trunks, they have luckily not inherited any family defects or injury-susceptibility, and quickly began carrying me long distances (20+ miles) from the time the training wheels came off my first bike. Family weekend getaways normally consisted of hikes and bike rides. And other times, I was begging my mom take me out to walk abandoned railroad grades on weekends. I wasn't interested in most team sports as a youngster, except hockey. I went on to play ice hockey (as a defenseman) for my school district for a total of seven years. During longer practices, I was always one of the more durable players, finishing first in sprints, even not being the fastest A-to-B skater. I also did not buy a car until I was 20, so to get to work I would walk 3+miles to get there or to bus stops. By my late teens, I was also up to riding nearly 100 miles per week on my mountain bike during peak riding time (Summer). Then college started. Living at home, going to Pitt main campus, and mostly paying my own way, I was either at school, going to or from school, at work, or sleeping. It was not healthy, and subsequently I suffered, gaining nearly 70 pounds from ages 18-21 - topping out at 240. Finally, on the cusp of colllege graduation, I decided it was time to get fit again. This was mostly accomplished by taking 3-4 mile runs, doing light resistance martial arts training like Tae Bo, and being on a very strict diet. Also, for a time I worked as a lot attendant and then a night merchandiser at Sam's Club, where I'd walk 100+ miles a week while on the job, easily. Then at 25, during my peak physical conditioning, came my employment as a steelworker. I was tossed into an extremely hot (120+ degree) environment with a carcinogenic atmosphere laced with sulphur dioxide and high in CO. Being energetically depleted on a daily basis, I craved junkfood. A mere 160 lbs in 2007, I had everything to gain, and quickly shot back to 215. There was significant muscle gain from stuff like shoveling slag, sand, coke dust, and iron ore pellets, but my endurance sports-geared physique faded. By 2012, I'd been married for five years, and it was on the rocks. I hadn't done more than a handful of runs since 2009 and had not biked in nearly a decade. So here we are in 2013. I'm divorced and have already - happily - logged over 1000 bike miles and 500 foot miles.
My mental state. Growing up, I strongly suspect I've been affected by Asperger's Syndrome, although not officially diagnosed. I've been perfectly fine being on my own. This is a good base for endurance sports, as I can maintain my dedication and composure for long periods of time without a breakage.
