Hello from Ohio

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2010-02-09 10:34 AM

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Subject: Hello from Ohio
Hello everyone.

I'm new to triathlon and entering my first sprint distance in July.  I was a competitive swimmer and ran track in high school but that was 15 years and several pounds agoFrown.  Two years ago I reached a max of 285 lbs at 6' tall.  I decided I had to do something.  I was 170 upon graduation from high school in 1995 but years of college, beer and the recliner have done me no favors.

I'm a father of two boys age 5 and 2 and decided I needed to do something about my health for myself and to set a good example for them.  With the obesity levels in today's society the last thing they need is a bad example at home as well.  Today I'm 225 and still dropping and got the wild idea to try a tri.  I started training the first of the year so that should give me time to build a decent base by July.

I swim twice a week as that is my strong suit and I want to focus on improving the run and bike.  Right now I'm looking out the window at 10" of snow so my training has been limited to the YMCA treadmill and stationary bike.  I'm hoping to be down to 205-210 for the event and looking forward to my first experience.

2010-02-09 7:53 PM
in reply to: #2663298

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Subject: RE: Hello from Ohio

B.J.  Welcome to BT.

Although I didn't quite hit 285 I got to 246 (I'm 6'-2") and got back into it after 23 years of beer and TV.  I swam two years in HS and ran 1 year of XC.  I kept up running sort of in the army for 3 years but in '88 I got out then went to college.  So from '88 to '08, 20 years of no excercise at all.  Once I was down to 225 it took me about 6 months to get to 200 so I think you should be on pace for that.  I lost most of it in the pool, I would just swim laps for 1 to 1.5 hours in sets of 500 or 1000.  Form still stinks but now I'm thinking masters swimming.  I still do 50% on the treadmill and do cycle (spin) class at the gym since I don't have a trainer for my bike.

You'll get some good advice on this site from much better athletes than me but I would focus on the swim and run, then the bike.  If you can crank out a good 3,500 yard swim workout in less than 1.5 hours and run say 6 miles at 8 to 8.5 min. mile pace as you get a month or so before the race you'll be good to go.  You will be in great shape for the bike portion.  Reason I say that is personal experience (the cyclists out there will disagree with me of course).  I did 1 to 2 times a week cycle class at the gym for a month, month and a half before my first race.  Then 2 to 3 weeks before the race I finally bought a road bike.  First week fumbled around learning how to shiift, taking the bike to the bike shop for derailer adjustments etc.  By race day I was good to go.  You can see my race report (Kansas City Corporate Challenge Triathlon).  I was very happy with the results.  That was my first ever open water swim but I figured since I could swim a couple miles in a lap pool non-stop I could knock out a 500 m OW swim even with people kicking me etc.

I would keep up the swim 2-3 times a week and run 2-3 times a week.  Also what I did leading up to the race was do spin class then right after that run 2-3 miles on the treadmill.  Got the legs used to the experience.  Of course doing the actual thing outside on real bike/road is better.

I did core/resistance once or twice a week also which I think helped me keep it together during the run (no side stiches etc.).

Anyhow congrats, good luck and keep it up.  Great people on this site, they have given me great advice.

2010-02-09 9:20 PM
in reply to: #2663298

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Subject: RE: Hello from Ohio
Thanks for the input.  The site is full of great stuff.  I've lurked for a while once I decided to do a tri and figured I might as well start an acct as well.  The running has certainly been a struggle for me and what I want to improve upon the most.  It's coming around as I started 4 weeks ago "jogging" at 4.5 mph for about 15 minutes and I'm up to 6.5-7 mph for 25 minutes now. 

As I said before the swim will be my strong suit so I dedicate a good bit to that as well although it comes the easiest to me so I only train it 2-3 times a week but focus on high yardage and intensity to build stamina.  I haven't got a bike yet as we have a foot of snow in Ohio so I didn't see the need to torture myself looking at it in the garage for another 2 months.  The biking has been limited to the spin cycles at the gym.
2010-02-16 7:56 PM
in reply to: #2663298


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Subject: RE: Hello from Ohio
Congrats on making a move and signing up for a Tri! Your story struck me because I was also a swimmer in HS and ran track during the off season. And, I have 3 young boys.  You have a big advantage over most new triathletes because you are comfortable in the water. This is sometimes a huge hurdle.
I hope your enjoy the process of preparing for this fun event.

Angela
www.trimoxiecoaching.com
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