Kirk Nelson

 

Born and raised in small-town North Dakota, I competed in the only sports available while growing up:  baseball, basketball, football, and track & field.  “Ironman” and “triathlon” were for crazy people on TV who rode bikes with disc wheels and funny handlebars.  Without a cross-country team, a swim team, or an active cycling community I had no exposure to, or concept of endurance sports.  After playing college baseball at Concordia College for a season, I joined the cross-country team on a whim the following fall.  I had been running a little since starting college trying to keep off the “freshman 15.”  Just seconds into my first ever cross-country race I had become hooked on endurance racing.  I continued to run cross-country and track & field at Concordia until graduating in 2003.  

I first got the idea of doing a triathlon following an overuse injury during my last season of track & field. To keep off the injury I cross-trained by swimming and riding my commuter bike.  That summer I did my first ever triathlon, a small sprint in MN, and I was hooked!  Since moving to Boulder, CO for graduate school – a Mecca for triathletes – I have become involved with the CU Triathlon Team and have received professional instruction from Premier Multisport coach Matt Eagan.

While living in Boulder I have met and trained with an amazing community of athletes.  The sport has changed my life in many ways including my career plans. My goals have shifted from becoming a college professor of chemistry to pursuing a career as a professional triathlete. I’ll be racing professionally in 2006 with a focus on half-iron and full iron distance racing. 

While sports have been an amazing and important part of my life, the relationships I have formed along the way have been even more satisfying.  One relationship, the most important of all these, is that with my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.