With a self-proclaimed athletic background that consisted of performing 12-ounce curls, Mike's rediscovered the sport after laying low for a while. He's back and shares some of his thoughts in this profile interview.  .

                      Michael Kim all wired up on the way to a vo2max test.

What first drew you to triathlons, and what brought you back recently?
"I first started doing some of them in the early 90s, mostly as a way of meeting and hanging around really 'fit' women. After a five year layoff (only exercise was chasing my children around), I just started getting back into the swing of things this past year (2002). Even though I'm now married with children, the reason I do tri's is still the same, i.e. hang around a really fit woman. Donna (my wife, who is in awesome shape) won't let me hang around, unless I get back in shape. If I want to hang out with my wife, I have to put in the miles"

What brought you to this particular group of folks?
"I swim with Barney O'Connell and Rob Kennedy at the Stamford YMCA Masters. They told me about Thursday Night rides. It wasn't until a few rides later that I realized that it was an organized club with cool website (great job, Ed) and cool jerseys (thanks Barney)."

Any special goals now that you're back in the sport?
"I'm focusing mainly on getting some type of base in, staying healthy and enjoying my first season back. So this year was mostly sprint distance events, with a couple of Olympic distance late in the season. I'm really focused on the 2003 season where I'm planning on doing one Half IM, couple of Olympic and a few local sprints. Races will probably include Pawling, Wycoff, Griskus, Timberman, Westchester."

In terms of equipment, anything new on that front for you?
"Everything about my equipment is now 'old school'. Except for the new speedos. The old ones were getting pretty threadbare. I bought everything else about 11 years ago and haven't upgraded since. Can't justify the expense until I get into decent shape. I'll upgrade eventually, but my greatest fear is riding a brand new Merlin or Kestrel and having some guy pass me riding his Schwinn 10-speed."

In terms of training, are you doing anything differently now?
"I find that there's not a lot of time to train, trying to fit it in with children and a wife, who needs a lot of time to train. So it's hard to overtrain, which has been a blessing. In my first life as a triathlete, I was always injured because of overtraining. Now, I do a lot less mileage, but much higher quality."