Clydesdales/Athenas Tri-N 4 Weightloss Group - OPEN

GROUP FOCUS:  The triathlon community is one of the most welcoming I have ever been apart of.  This thread is not a slight against those fast, sleek "racing machines" who seem to finish before some of us even get our bike out of transition.  Rather, those of us who are Clydedales/Athenas are often self-conscious no matter how welcoming the thoroughbreds are.  So this is going to be our own little "paddock".

NAME: My username is leatheneckpa.  I'm a Marine who lives in Pennsylvania,  Not hard to grasp that one.  I've been called "Big Mike" since, oh, about 10th grade (1974).  My race gear shows my nickname as "The Percheron" because Percherons are bigger than Clydesdales, and so am I.  You may have figured out by now that I try not to take myself too seriously, although I do tend to get serious about my training.  Usually my biggest problem is getting my 50-something body to stop listening to that 21 year old Marine in my head who keeps saying "Faster, harder, no pain no gain!"

STORY:  I swam competitively in high school and college.  Spent a few years in the Corps and then went into law enforcement.  I spent 23 years working Federal maximum security prisons.  Retired in 2008 and started substituting for golf money.  Got hooked on seeing kids "get it" and went back for my MA in Science Education.  Nowadays I teach 6 different high school science courses.  At the meet-and-greets I tell parents that if it's alive I teach it, from 7th grade Life Science to AP Biology and everything in between.

So why do I tri?  Well, when I wasn't training SWAT teams anymore I really started to pack on the pounds.  One summer I started walking daily to lose some weight.  After seeing it work for me, my DW wanted to come along, but she couldn't walk fast enough or long enough for my needs.  So I started walking a second time right after she left for work.  After a few weeks I decided to ride my bicycle for variety.  A few weeks later it dawned on me that I was doing two out of three, had a membership to the YMCA, and could actually do this triathlon thing.  So far, I've completed two sprints, then my world turned to garbage for a couple of years.  But now I am back, and just as determined as ever.

FAMILY STATUS:  Married to a wonderfully patient wife for 36 years now.  We have a 35 year old daughter, a 10 year old grandson, and a 4 year old grandson.  Last summer I taught them to ride bicycles and they both love the bike path now.

CURRENT TRAINING:  The last time two years I was a member and training I bought myself Silver/Gold memberships.  This time around I am again a Silver member, because I believe in supporting this forum that I get so much from.  If I ever get good enough to create my own custom plans I'll probably upgrade to Gold again.

THIS YEAR'S RACES:   It's been a rough couple of years recently with injuries and surgeries, but I have a green-light from my doc, so I am charging back into the fray.

UPCOMING YEAR'S RACES:  That Silver membership included the Couch-to-Sprint plan that I am going to train until Memorial Day.  Then I'll try to add some polish to my technique and times before my first tri this year, The Lumberjack Triathlon in Duboistown, PA.  After that I'd like to get in at least one 5k a month to the January Frostbite 5k, also in Duboistown.   I turn 60 in August and my plan to "celebrate" my 60th is to bicycle the entire 61 mile Rails-toTrails bike path from Ansonia to Jersey Shore, PA.

WEIGHTLOSS:   I've got 11 months left in 2018 and I would like to see the new year come in at less than 300 lbs.  It would be the first time since 1988.  Currently, I weigh 385, down from an all-time high of 408 just before Thanksgiving.

WHAT WILL MAKE ME A GOOD MENTOR:   Esprit de Corps!  Teamwork!  That's why Marines can accomplish so many things that others don't believe can be done.  We work together and we support each other at every turn.  And that is what I want to bring to this forum; support for my brothers and sisters in the Clydesdale/Athena community.  I hadn't been here in over a year and half, but when I signed in this week I had a half dozen tri-friends who had messaged me asking if I was okay and where I was.  I want to encourage that kind of camaraderie.  I hope they are still here too.

It's a miserable day outside today.  Temps in the 20's, two inches of white on the ground when I got up.  All the local schools, including mine, were closed.  And the YMCA closed before I could get there.  Forecasted to keep sleeting and freezing rain through the night.  What's a guy to do?

Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome!  That's what the Marine Corps teaches us.  So what could I do?  I did a 15 minute walk/stair climbing routine at the school.  Went down to the basement, went to the east end and climbed the stair to the 1st floor.  Walked to west end and climbed the stairs to the 2nd floor.  Walked back to the east end and dropped down to the 1st floor.  Crossed to the weest end and dropped to the basement.  Repeated this for 15 minutes.  I have no idea about distance, but RPE was 7 or so while climbing those blasted stairs.

No gym, no pool, and  no fancy equipment, but I was still able to get my workout in.  Hope you all did too.

Just because I wasn't posting doesn't mean I wasn't training.  I have successfully met my first goal for my first two weeks, shaking off the cobwebs.  What does success look like to a 59 yr old Percheron?  Well, since I decided to re-start my training I have successfully driven myself to do SOME kind of training every other day for the last two weeks.

Tomorrow I start going to the YMCA and actually tri-ing to follow Ron's 6-day-a-week Couch-to-Sprint plan, with my own twist, of course.  Accepting that I am probably several years older and much heavier than the people Ron wrote that plan for, I am intending to spend two weeks at each training level, instead of the one week he wrote.  Now that means that I won't be able to use the Planned vs Actual graphs on the website, but oh well.  I am currently much more interested in gaining consistency.  I learned the value of that consistency while training for the first two tris I did a few years ago.

Along with that I need to dig out and dust off my copies of Friel's Triathlete's Bible and Hagerman's Strength Training for Triathletes.  I have special considerations as a result of my career in law enforcement; a rebuilt rotator cuff and a rebuilt knee.  So strength training was an integral part of my plan, even before I saw it on Ron's C-t-S plan.  With SMART hard training and a SENSIBLE diet plan I think I should be able to do my Lumberjack tri in August at under 325, maybe even under 300.

I have two big challenges for myself in the weeks to come.  First, I have got to wrap my head around the fact that my health is more important than chaining myself to the desk in my classroom and spending endless hours prepping for classes full of students who couldn't care less.  Second, when I get home I need to commit to getting in here, posting my log, and trying to build this Mentor Group into a place like it used to be, where Clydesdales and Athenas hung out, celebrated our triumphs, and soothed our disappointments.

Andrew, happy to hear from you again.  I suppose your season must be getting just about ready to peak and start winding down.  Just out of curiosity, are you still a Clydesdale?  Your training log looks pretty good.  As for me, I'm happy with my slow start so far.

HEY!  Who's in the stroller on your Strava page?  I always figured pushing one of those must add to a workout.