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2014-08-27 5:13 PM

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Subject: Talk About The Stars Aligning (Super Long Intro)
Wow I just scrolled up and didn't realize I just typed all that (unabridged version) that you will see below. Is that the mindset of a triathlete? To go far without realizing it? Okay, here is my intro… below are 2 versions depending on your time allotment. Either way, thanks for reading.

Abridged version:
Howdy! Name is Josh. 40yo living in Beautiful Colorado (Aurora) with DW and DD(8). Love the outdoors but unfit, unmotivated IT professional getting into Tri after being inspired by cousin who raced at IM Boulder a few weeks ago. Registered for first sprint (Oktoberfest Triathlon) on 9/21/14 and IM Boulder 70.3 on 6/13/2015. Looking to get as much information here as I can and help others when I have something to offer.


Unabridged version:
It was exactly a month ago, yesterday (7/26/2014) that my wife and I along with our 8-year old daughter were enjoying the Breckenridge Beer Festival, a kid friendly event of course! It wasn't the festival that was significant rather a picture my wife snapped of me and shared on Facebook that astonished me. What astonished me looking at the picture was that I was fat, again for the second time in my life! The first time was shortly after graduating from College and moving to Cleveland, OH. For the first time, I had money and was in a new big city and I wanted to try everything. Needless to say, eating out on a busy schedule while establishing my career was the culprit. Tipping the scales at 250, it was time that I join a gym, read some books, learn to cook at home and soon I lost the excess weight. From then on, I comfortably hovered around 220 while the main motivating factor was to stay somewhat healthy and not have to have to buy size 40 pants again. In the years that followed, we started our family, moved to Texas for a stint, then we high tailed it to Beautiful Colorado where we now call home for the last 4.5 years.

We are not as sad and sedentary as most families which is why Colorado suites us well. We enjoy the bounty of what Colorado has to offer to outdoor enthusiast with snowboarding, mountain biking, canoeing, fishing, camping and hiking to the point that we regularly abandon our beautiful suburban home just about every weekend. The problem is that we don't enjoy any of these activities with any gusto that would warrant them as being athletic- a 1-mile hike, 5-mile bike ride or snowboarding with a lot of time spent in the lodge or bar between runs. We do all of it at a very casual pace and the culture\mindset that surrounds these activities usually dictates negating any gain with copious amounts of alcohol and piles of bad food.

While living this half-hearted, "active" lifestyle and keeping myself busy with family and work, I found myself tipping the scales again at 250 just a 4 short weeks ago. It was the picture my wife posted of me that made me concerned and prompted me to jump on a scale to see just how bad things had gotten. I wasn't totally surprised, I knew things weren't good. Ironically, now 40, I had been wondering for months when or what was going to motivate me to turn my life around before dying at an early age because of heart disease, kidney failure, obesity or any other ailment due to not living healthy and taking care of my body.

I didn't know it at the time, but that motivation would come the follow weekend. It was the inaugural Ironman Boulder and my cousin was in town to race his 14th Ironman. He is a total stud, I know already! He rented a 2-bedroom condo off Pearl Street in downtown Boulder and invited us to stay the entire weekend. It was full immersion beginning with the opening ceremonies/concert/pep-rally on Friday until the wee morning hours on Monday. My cousin referred to the ceremonies as corny but that was probably his machismo to stuff his feelings about what it really was- inspirational, motivating, fun and tear-jerking at times. Great conversation ensued that night with stories over the last year that we hadn't seen each other. Saturday, he and I enjoyed a casual bike ride along the run route. Later we prepared his transition bags and delivered them to points across town and finally delivered his bike to the reservoir. With all the pre-race preparations taking care of it was time to rest up for race day but we failed and stayed up well past midnight BS-ing about nothing important.

3:30 AM Sunday morning came quickly and together with him and his girlfriend, the three of us made our way to the shuttles that would bring us to Boulder Reservoir in the dark of night. I was given the self-named role of Pump Master #1 which only required that I carry his bicycle floor pump and ensure it made it back to the condo at the end of the day. It was hectic with thousands of athletes all dress alike in black wetsuits. As best we could, we tried to spot him in the queue of time slots for the rolling start but never did. After all the athletes entered the water we strategized about how best to see him at the reservoir. We scanned T1 for his bike but it was futile. Then with the help of a volunteer in the bike corral, we managed to get an idea of where his bike might be based on his bib number. Adjacent, we situated ourselves outside the in hopes we could catch a glimpse of him and cheer him on as he transitioned to the bike. Soon the leaders were exiting the water and there we waited for another 30-40 minutes when we finally got to see him before he quickly was off on his bike for a torturous 112 mile ride.

To ensure we got to see him again, we all volunteered at the 90 mile mark on the bike course handing out bananas and packets of GU. When he eventually came through our aid station he seemed startled when I yelled his name awaking him from a delirious state of mind and concentrated focus. With excitement he squished the banana in my hand I held extended to him. While this seemed to energize him, It was myself that was being energized with inspiration by all the athletes that passed by. In amazement, I got to witness up close each athlete pour everything they have into this single event while minding their manners and expressing gratitude to the volunteers as we assist them on their epic journey. Little did they know, I soon would be forever grateful for the inspiration they gave me standing there on that desolate, dusty and hot roadside that Sunday afternoon.

We earned our free t-shirts after 6 hours on the bike course then made our way into town to catch him on the run course. This particular course was great for spectators being 2 loops along the Boulder Creek with 3 out and back segments in a “Y” formation. We schemed and planned and got to see him twice along the course and was lucky to position ourselves to see him finish- 14:39:25 of blood, sweat and tears. What a testament to phrase "mind over matter" and the capabilities of the human body and spirit. It didn't matter the time or splits and deep down inside, I don't think it matters to him either.... it's the accomplishment and I was in absolute awe. My cousin is of similar build as I am- above average height, lanky and broad shouldered with the ability to store mass quite nicely. In my opinion, a build totally unsuited for running and therefore I never enjoyed the sport. But he wasn't alone, I saw athletes that day of all shapes and sizes and a number with apparent disabilities. I was surprised to see how few actually conformed to the ideal triathlete physique I imagined in my mind. It was along that run course watching the athletes grimace, limp and a few vomit that the notion of me getting into the sport made a brief visit in my mind. Meanwhile, all weekend long, my manhood was being challenged with persistent challenges from him and his girlfriend to compete in Ironman Boulder 2015 for which I consistently stood my ground and would reply; "Hell no!" even with him offering to pay my registration fee in addition to a $10,000 cash gift if I finished. Yeah, he's not only a stud and an inspiration but also a very persuasive, yet I still managed to squash his fiscally positive persuasion as if her was a used car salesman. That was dumb!

The next few hours involved some well-earned back slapping along with post-race talk regarding some of the challenges he faced such as damaging his rear carbon Zipp wheel riding on a flat tire the last 10 miles and having to remove the insoles of his shoes halfway through the run.... doh! It was well after midnight when I realized I needed to be to work in a few hours so it was off to bed for few winks before waking up to miss the morning traffic jam to make the 1+ hour drive from the Northwest metro area (Boulder) to the opposite Southeast side of Denver where I live. During that long, lonely drive my mind and thoughts were racing with what I just witnessed and what I was going to do. Was I going to continue to be a spectator in life or a participant? That moment finally came and it was going to come down to the decisions that would follow.

I was feeling famished from a long, sleep-deprived, exhausting weekend with brief and incomplete meals running around all weekend. Normally, I would feel justified and entitled to indulge with my favorite meal of the day- Breakfast and I would normally do so by hitting up the nasty-ist dinner, burrito stand or hole-in-the-wall I could find but being crunched on time to miss the traffic, I decided fast food would have to do. Interestingly, when I saw the golden arches, I just kept on trucking. Then on the left, a Del-Taco but I just rolled by. Knowing I was getting to the outskirts of Boulder proper and running out of options before merging onto the highway, I luckily happened upon an Einstein Bros Bagel shop. Here I knew I could make a better choice for breakfast. which is what I did ordering my usual (but not often) spinach, mushroom, egg white and Swiss everything bagel with no cream cheese and a small black coffee.... a balanced and satisfying, low-fat breakfast sandwich that would be the first step in the right direction of many (5k), many (10k), many (13.1), many (26.2), many (70.3), many (140.6) more steps to come which I convinced myself was what I was going to do with my life on that drive home.

In that last 3 weeks since bidding farewell to my cousin and that fateful morning drive home, I’m happy to report that I’ve come a long way… Already, down 28.2 pounds and eating the best I ever have in my life. Finding every opportunity to swim, bike or run and feeling depressed when a day passes and I don’t do at least one of the 3. With the rapid weight loss, I did hit a wall last week forcing myself to take a day off and try to relax. That was the one day I felt depressed and has since been eating more carbs to fuel my activity level better. During this time I had been contemplating and researching local races and over the weekend, I volunteered for one held in my back yard at Aurora Reservoir. Literally, I walked into the park and was able to avoid the congestion and traffic of all the athletes. It was another good opportunity for me to get inspired and to see just how other athletes race which is good timing for my first upcoming sprint on 9/21 that I just registered for yesterday, 8/26/2014. But even bigger than that, my cousin and I talked about doing our first race together. Obviously, it would have to be big enough to warrant his travel and expenses and he was happy to oblige me in a local race. So just after registration opened last week for the Boulder 70.3 on 6/13/2015, we both registered without hesitation! So it’s go time!

To date, my training has consisted running/walking around my neighborhood, lap swims at our Lifetime gym and bike rides. I found and purchased a tri bike in the days that followed the Boulder IM because I have always felt like riding a mountain bike on roads and straight stretches is agonizing. Luckily, I found a 1995 Felt S32 in really good condition for $300 on Craigslist. The seller threw in a QR wet suit to boot! Having been a mountain biker for years, I hated the one-sided Look Keo pedals so I sourced some Speedplay Zero pedals and cleats from Craigslist for $40. I’m a very thrifty guy always looking for a bargain and am never too proud to use something that someone else has already loved. I did however splurge for new tri bike shoes but still got a deal on a pair of Northwave Extreme carbon shoes from Backcountry for $119. Now my bike is dialed and I've done a number of 20+ mile rides and as many as 33 just a couple days ago. I’m planning a couple more big rides in the mountains this weekend. The ride isn't going to be the obstacle for me and neither is the swim… well not too bad.

Having aspirations to teach scuba diving years ago, I started swimming for fitness and to pass the instructor’s ability test. I enjoyed it, always have, and I immediately prescribed to the TI (Total Immersion) school of thought upon my cousin’s recommendation. I definitely have some work to do here especially in terms of speed but I can sustain a 2:32/100m over the course of a half mile. Again, lots of room for improvement but like cycling, not too bad out of the box.

Like I hinted before, for a big guy, I hate running! It never felt like something I should be doing and I’m sure my gait and form is less than graceful. The next morning after returning from Boulder, I attempted a run/walk around my neighborhood wearing my racquetball shoes only because my Asics trail running shoes were badly worn and 4 years old. The racquetball shoes were no better leaving my feet numb and aching and knots in a calf muscles. For the remainder of the week, I occupied myself with my new (to me) tri bike but I logged some miles briskly walking with an occasional short run.

The weekend rolled around and lucky for me it was the REI Garage Sale and their Flagship store in Downtown Denver… did I mention I like getting deals? This is like heroin for an outdoorsy and thrifty guy like me and apparently half the population of Denver. We arrived at 6:30 AM and weren't given a ticket to enter until 10 AM which I surly thought everything good would be gone but found that wouldn't be the case. I went in looking for bike stuff- just about anything road bike related and some triathlon specific bike shoes. With the exception of a bag to carry a tube, tools and CO2 canisters under my saddle, I came up empty. However, my wife did score a pair of the current model of Brooks Cascadia (bright orange, yellow and red) in my size that appear to have only been worn once indoors. Seriously, they look new and for half off the original price, BAM, they are all mine and I have no excuse to not run. I also picked up one of those belts that carry 4-8oz water bottles… normally $49, mine for only $9.99.

Unfortunately running the past week has been near to impossible. With new shoes and an awesome water bottle belt (geeky, IMHO) I violated the cardinal rule and ran sore. My calf muscles were still cramping badly after the first week of either going too hard or having inadequate running shoes. Either way, I think I overcompensated somehow and now it feels as if my MCL is strained or torn again. Knowing this, you might think I was crazy to sign up for the sprint next month, but if I have to, I’m just going to walk the run. It was too important of a milestone that I get the first race under my belt before the season ended. I also wanted this race to keep me focused over the winter but more importantly, I have made excuses to my whole life… excuses have no place in my life anymore!

So there you have it… now why aren't you training!?!?


2014-08-27 6:06 PM
in reply to: driftin' by

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Subject: RE: Talk About The Stars Aligning (Super Long Intro)

Good thing I found my reading glasses  & welcome to BT!  Make sure to visit the tri talk forums and ask away.

Find a training plan and build slowly, especially that run.

Find a running store and talk to them about shoes.  Shoes will make or break you.

"1995 Felt S32" are you sure of that year?  Post a pix of it, love to see it being Felt fan myself.

2015 here we come...

2014-08-27 7:14 PM
in reply to: Donto

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Subject: RE: Talk About The Stars Aligning (Super Long Intro)
Originally posted by Donto

Good thing I found my reading glasses  & welcome to BT!  Make sure to visit the tri talk forums and ask away.

Find a training plan and build slowly, especially that run.

Find a running store and talk to them about shoes.  Shoes will make or break you.

"1995 Felt S32" are you sure of that year?  Post a pix of it, love to see it being Felt fan myself.

2015 here we come...




Did I say 1995? I meant 2005 and now that I think about it, it may be 2004. It's new to me and in fantastic condition. I added the yellow Vittori Rubino Pro tires (pictured) because the Conti's that came on it were a little dried out. Plus they really compliments the color scheme. I added new bar wrap (if that is what it's called?) last weekend but it's not in the picture. Also this was taken before I swapped out the interim SPD pedals I put on to ride with my MTB shoes befor I scored the Speedplay Zeros. Next up is a new crank, I hate tapered BB's because they creak and feel flimsy under my weight, and a new saddle.... thinking about an Adamo.

 photo 20140814_175628_zpskaoxbdju.jpg
2014-08-27 7:18 PM
in reply to: 0

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Subject: RE: Talk About The Stars Aligning (Super Long Intro)
And for anyone wondering, here is the offending picture.....

 photo 10533728_10202435475744383_479996516377590161_n_zps8052842c.jpg

Admittedly, I wasn't cooperating and making faces because I knew the outcome would be bad.... I just didn't know how bad! Also remember, I was at a Beer Festival with nothing else to do but walk to our time share and soak in the hot tubs so yes, I was a bit under the influence.

Edited by driftin' by 2014-08-27 7:20 PM
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