Getting Started

Byan,

A year ago, from July 17 - September 14th I was flat on my back in bed in the hospital trying not to have JJ. I started labor at 24 weeks and if you don't know what someone born at 24 weeks has ahead of them rejoice! So they dumped me in the OB unit and gave me a lot of drugs and would not let me up to even take a shower most days. It was worth it. JJ came early but not as early as my Hernie-Roo who was all of 3 lbs.

I am a triathlete now. No, I am not a "skinny no fat on my body type" (not built right for that anyway) and no, I am not ready for an IM but I am about to do my second tri in a few weeks and it's an Oly that I wil finish the same day I start.

You can get out there. You are not going to be as fast as you were but a couple of weeks of MODERATE effort and you will be Very surprised by how quickly your body reacts and gets back into the ole swing of things.


I don't know why you stopped. Injury? Needed a break? but if you want to get back out there you can. Please don't beat yourself up about this. Just one day at a time, one thing at a time, one effort at a time and do not overdo it or you might stop again. You should end most sessions with the feeling that you could have done more and are excited about your next session.

Are you social? Then find someone to train with who is better than you but not 'I will never be as good as them" better. Someone who can inspire you to achieve. Not make you want to hang your head in shame because you are not superhuman too. The superhumans are VERY inspiring but if you start to compare yourself it can be ugly. I am not competative and I don't really care if I am as good as someone else, most of the time. There are days tho it does get to even me (100% normal btw).

Make a doable plan for today and stick with it. Don't cheat yourself but make sure your goals are within the realm of the "Gee, I can do more, but I will put down this" so if you have an off week you can complete them all.

Is it easy to start back? Well it is easier to stay with it but it is something a lot of people do. You are not the first person to quite and come back. This is a journey, not a destination. Sometimes in the journey you wander from the road to check something out and learn about yourself. Nothing wrong with that. The road is waiting for you again, if you are ready to walk down it. If you aren't then you are not a failure. You are just someone who is not ready to get back on the road.

I don't know if that helped but you can always PM me if you want to vent about how some days it sucks. It does and it will but the easier days are coming if you keep at it. You can get back there if you have the will and good health. If you are coming off an injury BE CAREFUL.

Hey Bryan,

I can relate. About two years ago I lost a bunch of weight and got down to 190 (which is fairly thin for my frame.) Then my wife got pregnant. Between that and the final year of my graduate program, I gained all the weight back (almost 50 pounds...) and completely lost any sense of fitness I had. I spent the next year like this. This past March I decided I was going to get back in shape. I decided on training for a triathlon. Well, two weeks ago I finished my first Tri and am consistently losing weight because of the training. I"m down almost 30 pounds at this point.
Here's my point: of course you can do it. The most important thing is to have the discipline to undertake and continue with a training program. There's a ton of them out there. Just remember that you won't hit every work out, but as long as you get a good majority of them in - you'll see a difference.
Also, also...this board is great. I can't articulate how much inspiration I've gotten from the members here. There are so many days when I didn't want to run (or bike or swim...) and then I surf in here. Bingo! I'm motivated.

Good luck and let me know if you need any help/encouragement.

Bryan

Pregnancy, not just weight gain for women anymore! My husband put on about 15 lbs during my last pregnancy because of an evil Mexican Fod craving I had. He finally dropped it all. Wish I could