I have never done a triathlon, and I am not too good of a swimmer, but nevertheless I am signed up to do a sprint triathlon this summer. I entered an indoor triathlon last year, but we were in the swimming pool, stationary bikes, and treadmills, going by a fixed amount of time instead of fixed distance. In contrast, in a "real" triathlon you actually have to swim in open water, bike on the road, etc. The sprint triathlon I am doing has an 800 meter swim, followed by a 17 mile bike ride, and a 5K foot race.

I signed up to put pressure on myself and get me to exercise consistently. It took seeing the imminent arrival of the triathlon date and having visions of me drowning in the Boulder reservoir to get me to act. However I am happy to report that I have been training every morning at 6 am for a month already. This coming from a guy who has trouble getting up at 10 in a normal day.

I think this is a very effective way to motivate oneself. Most of the time we try to motivate ourselves with a carrot (if I exercise I will be healthy, etc.) but sometimes we need a little stick (if I don't exercise I will look very stupid being rescued in a boat from the reservoir) to push us over the edge. Now that I have started training, I found out that I can actually swim those 800 meters with no problem, so I am not afraid of the triathlon any more. My real challenge is to turn my exercising every morning into a habit. I read somewhere that 3 weeks create a habit, but it doesn't feel very natural quite yet.