Athlete of the Month:   Tim Johnson  

Tim recently started his Triathlon career in early 2007 having not really participated in any kind of sports since playing hockey back in high school more than 15 years ago. He started with the Desert Tri Sprint in Palm Desert in 2007 and what an experience that was, finishing in around 1:46. Although he nearly quit during the swim and had to walk a bit on the run, Tim was hooked!

With the thought of completing a 1/2 Ironman some day, he thought it best to try and finish a 1/2 Marathon. In December of 2007 he ran in the City of Angeles half marathon with a finishing time of 2:17.

Tim then decided that 2008 was the year to try and take things a bit more seriously and committed to the Vineman 70.3 race. Still not being a strong swimmer, or runner he decided to take a swim clinic with Triathletix, and get some individual coaching. With some help from Jamie, Ian and Triathletix, his swimming improved to the point where he could actually put together progressive decent in the pool and take on the open water.

In preparation for Vineman 1/2, Tim took on the Desert Tri Olympic, Palos Verdes 1/2 Marathon, and Breath of life Tri.

Through his training, he managed to lose 50 lbs, and greatly improve in all three sports. At Vineman, Tim beat his goal time of breaking 6 hours – with a finish time of 5 hours 48 minutes.

Next up for Tim: the Hansen Dam Sprint, LA Tri Olympic and will be raising money and racing with the CAF for the Classic Malibu Tri and considering the LA Marathon to start 2009 – who knows, maybe in the next year or two he will be crossing the finish line at an Ironman!