Less than two years ago Euan Beattie was a self-professed ‘beer drinking, couch potato slob’ but that’s all history now.
Overweight and lazy, something clicked for Euan midway through 2009 when he decided he was sick of sitting on the couch, drinking beer and being fat.
Ironically it was while on the couch that he came across Contact Tri TV and vowed to complete a triathlon himself rather than just watching.
He had never biked or run before, but had done some swimming in his teenage years.
"I was the most anti exercise man you could’ve met. The most I would’ve done is to go to the fridge,” says Euan.
"I just decided to get fit and told my wife I wanted to have a go at a triathlon. She said ‘oh, a 3:9:3?’ and I said ‘no a full one’ and she laughed at me. That was my inspiration really.”
Fast forward to 2011 and life has dramatically changed for Euan and his family.
He has lost 22kg, looks almost unrecognisable from his old self and has seen his training and race results improve exponentially.
He prefers the longer course events and recently put in just over five hours at the Rotorua Half Ironman.
Euan missed entry for this year’s Ironman New Zealand, but plans to cross the finish line in 2012 with the goal of breaking 10 hours.
"It’s definitely been a big change in lifestyle. I was on blood pressure pills since 29 years old and I’ve been off those for two years. Just little things like that make a huge difference.
"I don’t drink at all anymore and really watch what I eat. It’s had an impact on the rest of the family too actually and our lifestyles.
"I’d like to get my wife off the couch now and into the 3:9:3. She’s not too keen at this stage but she’ll get there in her own time,” he laughs.
Having completed the Tinman at Mt Maunganui, Euan has plans to race Kinloch and Wellington in the Contact Tri Series as well as the Rotorua Half Ironman again at the end of the year.
And while he still can’t single out one thing that got him hooked on triathlon, Euan is sure to be racing for a long time to come.
"It’s everything in general I love, not just the one thing. The people are all really nice and I like the endurance side of things. I like to keep pushing myself when I don’t think I can go anymore.
"I never thought I could do some of things I’ve done so I’ll just keep pushing myself to go even further.”
