I'm probably not the best person to reply to this Thread, Johnny since I'm not athletic. But I'll give it a go anyway. You mentioned physical health issues a couple of times & that you're not really sure if these will be a problem again. Not knowing what they are, I can't comment too much. Perhaps a visit with a physician who specializes in sports medicine would be advisable just to make sure you're not simply trying to push your body beyond its limits. If your body simply isn't up to the demands of a triathlon, there's no point in beating it up for nothing. At some point that just becomes self-abuse.

As far as the mental aspects of this go, personally I dislike the idea of painting oneself into a corner, success or failure, do or die. But one certainly hears of people who have done this type of thing & won. The problem is, of course, we don't hear about the ones that failed. My perspective would be, if I even needed to ask the question, I probably wouldn't go there.

The primary concern I would have with regard to this, however, is what happens afterward, if you give up everything you've been doing to pursue triathlon training full-time (particularly if you don't succeed for whatever reason... perhaps something completely beyond your control.) Or, in the alternative, what if you succeed but then the program winds down & again becomes more social. Do you have a plan for what to do from there? You've given up everything you were doing & now, for whatever reason, the triathlon training has stopped or become primarily social. Do you have a bridge to get you back to the other side, so to speak? I could see a person in this situation just sitting back to take a bit of a well-deserved rest, then gradually sliding back into old ways a bit at a time, depression begins to rear its ugly head again & without even realizing it, all of your efforts have dissolved.

So, I certainly can't tell you whether or not to do the triathlon. But I would recommend 2 things. First get with a physician or clinic that specializes in sports medicine & let them advise you with regard to your physical tolerance for that level of endurance. Second, have worked out, a plan for how you'll get back into a non-triathlon training regimen once the triathlon training & competition is done. You might even consider constructing a flow chart showing how this will work. Also, possibly consider if there are ways in which you can maintain contacts with current trainers / training buddies. It sounds, from what I read, as though having some of your old contacts move on was a problem in the past. So, if you can maintain contact with your current trainers / training buddies while you're doing the triathlon, it may be easier to re-establish your old routine at a later date should you need or want to.

GOOD LUCK!!!