I was quite fat as a kid. And swimming is a sport you can enjoy whatever size you are. If you're fat, running is a pain. I'm not really built for running.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
As a kid, I did some running but especially loved biking and swimming. I grew up on Long Island, and our mom took us all the time to the ocean, so I grew up doing open-water swimming in the Atlantic.
When I got to college, I used to run on top of everything else, because when you gain weight in swimming, you have to do something else, like bike or run, to maintain the weight or take the weight off.
I swam very competitively till I was 15, then I swam for fun until I was 18. But athletics remain a very big part of my life. I try to keep that as much in balance with work as I can.
I'm not a runner. I do not like running. I love to swim. I love to surf. I do not like to run.
I was good at swimming until everyone started to grow. The best swimmers are really tall with great big shoulders, and that just isn't us. But then a big, powerful swimmer isn't going to be so good on the bike and the run.
I've been a runner a long time. When I first got into it, I started doing small triathlons in Chicago, and I just did it to get in shape. When I got out of college, I put on a few pounds like everybody does. I did it when I was in my early 20s, but I never really did any long runs.
When I was in first grade, the kids called me 'fatso.' It hurt, but the way I overcame it was to outrun every kid in the class. So I developed a thick skin, and athletics became my way of performing and being accepted.
When I was a kid I did marshal arts, and then I did all-star crazy competitive cheer and dance, and then I swam so I was very muscular. You know, healthy, but not quite as thin as I am.
Growing up, I was always into sports - basketball and volleyball - but I wasn't really a runner.
I ran track in high school. I was a fragile young man, personally and physically. I tried football. That didn't work out; I broke my collarbone. But I always loved running.