When it comes to health, some people think joining a gym is boring, but if you have goal, it's a challenge. Marcie Fraser has more.

Challenge you ask? How about a triathlon? Don't be intimidated, anyone can try.

"I live in a community where there are a lot of triathletes. They are happy and in good shape," Chris Brown said.

While triathlons sound incredibly difficult, they don't have to be. You can begin with a sprint, which doesn't mean fast speed as much as it means a short distance.

"A sprint is a 1/2 mile swim, a 15 to 18 mile bike and a 5K run, but varies depending on the location," said YMCA certified personal grainer Fran Vincent.

When training for a sprint, 12 weeks is all you need, this is Chris Brown's third one.

"Training is as hard as you want it to be. I trained pretty hard for my first couple of sprints. My body transformed, I didn't lose weight, but I gained muscle and endurance," Brown said.

Equipment? A bathing suit, cap and goggles, a decent bike with a helmet, of course, and for the last leg, you'll need running shoes. Nutrition?

"Before any kind of athletic event, you want to eating something you practiced, that will digest well and plenty of time to empty from stomach. During an event, you don't have to take anything, for a sprint tri, water is fine," said Vincent.

If doing a sprint triathlon is too much to take on alone, you can always join a team.

"You can do a relay. You can have your strongest swimmer do that leg of the triathlon, switch the chip to another person to do the biking and the last person would go out and do the run," Vincent said.

The week before the event, taper your training a bit. Need help training? Look for training information on the web or hire a trainer. For your first event, don't try to break any records, don't go for speed, go for the adventure.

"It's a great way to get into shape. You have a goal. You have a deadline and you have to do it, but nothing is that important that it shouldn't be fun," said Brown.