Though he grew up playing sports and being an active kid, Dave Hester found himself “always achy and miserable” during the time following his college years. “I layed around a lot, I worked a lot and gained a lot of weight,” said Dave, who is 6’6” and during this period weighed 270 pounds. “That was the only time [in my life] I had been like that. It was four or five years, I sunk into a depressive state. One day I said, ‘Nope, not anymore.’ I needed to turn my life around. I ate right and started exercising. My motivation was not wanting to feel that way.”
Holly Olszewski also experienced a somewhat similar “a-ha” moment relating to her health and well-being. “After my third child was born, I weighed 237 pounds and my doctor said, ‘You’re going to die and you need to do something about it. You’re not on a good path.’ That really spoke to me and really motivated me to change. I had three children in two years, so there was a lot going on. I made up my mind that it was important to be there for them and help them learn a healthy lifestyle.” She started walking a mile every day. “Then it turned into running and the running turned into triathlon.” She lost 90 pounds and has maintained a healthy weight.
Holly and Dave, both music teachers for Traverse City Area Public Schools and teammates with Tri Again Fitness, share their inspiring journeys with Heather. Both are training for this summer’s IRONMAN 70.3 Traverse City. They describe what it’s like to have found their tribe—Tri Again Fitness—of like-minded people. They also talk about the ups (making strong connections with others, accomplishing big goals) and downs (losing friends) that come with making a big lifestyle change.
Holly and Dave are candid about what they’ve learned as they became stronger athletes and some of the biggest hurdles—Holly had to overcome a great fear of deep water in order to learn how to swim and complete a triathlon and Dave says he’s learned so many lessons from his race mishaps early on in his journey.