lrobb's group full - the work is plentiful, success is guaranteed!

Lee,

My name is Brian Folsom from Leesburg VA. I am originally from OKC until about 3.5 years ago. I started training last year off and on never getting serious. This year is a different story so far. I purchased a new road bike about a month ago and have only been able to ride 3 times but I have a membership to a great facility with indoor pool and upright bikes that allows me to ride until I get a trainer (soon). I went on my first 20 mile ride* (10 miles stop for lunch and 10 back) last week and had a great time. This was coincidentally my first small group ride after riding last year by myself. My main goal this year is to lose weight, finish a sprint in Northeast MD in August.

My plan now is to do the mini-sprint in Manassas VA on Aug 10 and then the full sprint on Aug 17th. Unless they are too close together. I am trying to find another mini-sprint that is not a week prior to the Northeast sprint to get my feet wet and get use to the transitions and the race in general. If a week is enough recovery time then I will keep my plans as they are.

I started the 2X 16 week sprint training plan with my wife who is interested in doing a mini sprint with me and possibly the sprint in MD with me.

Currently I am down to 305# from about 340# at the first of the year. I started my exercise this year playing basketball once a week which helped jump start my weight loss prior to joining at the fitness center and getting much more serious about training. My goal weight is to get back down to around 210-220# where I was when I got out of the Marine Corps about 9 years ago. I have been riding the weight roller coaster my whole life and I would like to get off the next time I get to the bottom. I weighted 289# prior boot camp and 170# after graduation a year later. After I got out I shot up to 365# rather quickly and over the last 3 years have ranged from 340# and 300#.

I am married with three kids and it isn’t fair to my kids for me to be out of shape. My family deserves to have a healthy Dad/Husband and I have the ability to make this happen. I am ultra competitive so I decided that competitive sports is my best chance for change.

I tend to ramble as I type so I hope I gave you enough (but not too much) information. I am in front of my computer for 10 hours a day at work so I am typically very easy to get a hold of electronically.

Hey Brian.

That's quite an impressive weight loss already! I think triathlon is great because so many people treat it as a lifestyle - and as you know, to have long lasting changes, you have to integrate new habits into your lifestyle and get rid of some old ones. I've had good luck just by eliminating processed food and replacing it with fruits/veggies/lean meats. And working out, of course. I'm like you too in that I need that race to keep me heading out the door for my workouts.

Welcome!

Hi Dwayne.

I'm glad you're taking a long-term view for your Ironman. Building that kind of fitness takes a while - but the journey is fun. Real life always has a way of messing up a well-laid plan, but I think we have to fit our schedule into our life instead of the other way around. I was in the situation a couple years ago where I could only get in 1-2 swims & bikes a week, but I could run almost every day; so I just took that opportunity to do a lot of running.

Welcome!

Thanks for the encouragement. One question that i do have is I am trying to determine how often I should do strength training. I have a Bowflex Extreme that I used in the off season but I want to make sure I am not over training. I am reading fast and furious on the site and will search for articles on strength training (right after I upgrade my membership in about two minuets). But I wanted to get your thoughts.

Oh and you can call me Tiny. It is a name that I plan on keeping in remembrance of 360+ pound days. And really even at 6'2" 220 (initial goal weight) I am not exactly petite.

Hey Tiny,

Weights always seem to be a hot-button issue... I personally do some strengthening exercises for my knee problems, but if it wasn't for that I wouldn't do any - I have a hard enough time getting in all my swim/bike/run workouts. When I do them, I place them after my runs. It's very dependent on what else you have going on with your schedule. The easiest answer is to place it wherever it won't interfere with your training plan - you don't want to miss a scheduled run because you're sore or tight from the weights - and don't be afraid to drop them first if it's taking too much time.

Edited by lrobb 2008-04-23 3:40 PM

Hey Julie.

254->135 is incredible! Which 70.3 are you planning on?

I have been looking at other training plans since I upgraded to Silver and it seems that they are all leg and back focused. I was thinking about doing some low weight stuff just to keep things firm as well as work on some core stuff.

I will probably try to fit in 30 min twice a week since I only have to go down to the basement.

I'd like to link up with all of you - I too have ridden the weight loss roller coaster and am older (48 this year).
I am married - 5 grown kids - and live in southeaast Idaho. I love to hike and cross-country ski - and rapidly becoming obsessed with tri training.
6 years ago I was up to 230 + pounds. I did the Atkins diet and got down to fighting weight of 145 - then I went to grad school - and worked fulltime - and I'm now at 188 (started atkins again on Sunday.
Why Sunday? Because I waas TOO FAT for my wetsuit at the Rage TRi at Lake Mead. granted it was a rental and I (like a dumba**) hadn't tried it on before the racce. I got in the water and couldn't breath.
That was to be my first REAL tri - I did an indoor one in Feb and completed it...really slowly.
So - let's do this thing!

Hey wswope - welcome!

I try to follow - try to follow - the paleo diet. Have you found the AKINS diet to interfere with your training any? Were you able to complete the race?

Good advice to keep in mind whenever you have to make diet decisions:

This is from the "Going Long" book:

1. Eliminate as many processed foods as possible.
2. Get the majority of your nutrition from lean protein, fresh veggies and whole fruit.
3. Use starches and sugars in moderation, and only during and after training.

A recipe I fall back on, just as easy as going through the drive-through:

1 bag of chicken fajita strips, 1 jar of tomato pesto, 1 box of rotini whole-wheat pasta, 1 bag of Orleans blend veggies (yellow beans, green beans, baby carrots).

Cook the pasta and chicken, throw it all in the skillet and voila! Tasty, quick, and simple.

I work from home too, so food is always tempting me. I've been working on replacing my "bad" snacks with celery, carrots, and other veggies/fruit I can eat raw.

I still have a nasty sweet tooth though - I've been relying on dates & figs in place of candy bars.

I'd love to join you guys if there is still room.

My name is Sam and i need some motivation/accountability. I have read alot but not done alot. I recently got re-energized by going up to IMAZ and watching last week. I went home and signed up for the Longhorn 70.3 in october and rock n roll san antonio marathon in november.
I actually did IM calif 70.3 in 2007 and have done absolutely nothing since then. I was recently as heavy as 280 but am looking to drop to 220.

I have 2 kids (6 and 4) and one on the way(august 1st). I work alot and am trying to figure out how to do 7-9 workout a week. I have lots of questions about training( especially for heavy folks)

Sam

Still room. Welcome! KJ puts on a good race from what I understand. Longhorn ought to be a blast.

I am looking at doing a local 70.3 The Great Illini.  I have the worst sweet tooth as well.  I could eat a bag of twizzlers in an hour- the big bag.  I have been off processed foods the past 3 weeks but in order to do it I pack my own lunch/dinner- gotta love the cooler.  It's cheaper too.  My husband teases me, but oh well.

OK dumb question time. What things are considered processed.

Please don't list smoked salmon if that is on the list I won't be able to make it. I know they cure it with various things during the smoking process but I am confused as to the specifics.

We try to go with fresh fruits and veggies as often as possible and stick with lean meats fresh of the grill (yummy). What else do you guys recommend?

1. If you can't recognize what it was in nature, don't eat it. I've never seen a Twinkie tree.

2. If the bag/box has more than a few ingredients, it's probably best to stay away.


One of the big things I try to avoid is High Fructose Corn Syrup. It seems to find its way into everything, and does nothing but give you extra calories. I've seen it in everything from bread to chicken strips.

The other is hydrogenated oil. If either of those two are on the package, I skip it.

OK that makes sense. Good things to look for individually.

In your opinion is doing the Manassas mini sprint which is 400 yrds swim/ 8 mi bike / 1.8 mi run on Aug 10th Sunday and then doing the Northeast Sprint which is 820 yrds swim/ 15.5 mi bike / 3.5 run, the following weekend a bad idea. I know it depends entirely on the individual but I am training on the 16 week plan which should have me doing more distance than the sprint by then. Will one week be enough recovery time from the mini? I want to do the mini for a few reasons. It will give me a chance to have an idea what happens on race day and get an idea at shorter distances about doing all three events consecutively. But I don't want to ruin my chances of finishing the sprint distance. I have no idea what kind of recovery time I will need between races.

I feel that I will be in fairly good shape by then overall.

Also if I do do it should I do anything in between?

Hey Tiny. I'm not sure of the plan details. What is the largest amount of swim/bike/run you'll be doing under that plan? As you said a lot of it is individual, and a lot of it depends on the amount of training you've done leading up to it. Gotta run, I'll give more detail later.

edit: I'm somewhat of a slow recovery guy. Last year I did a 5k/30k/5k duathlon off of about 4-6 hours per week. I was too sore to do much of anything for the next several days.

This year I did the Playtri olympic distance on Sunday, and didn't miss any workouts including run hillwork on Tuesday morning and a club Time Trial that evening.

The difference? I'm a little better with my post race recovery, and I'm putting in twice as many hours.

So it really comes down to how much work you're doing leading up to the event, and how fast your recover. I would think that you shouldn't have any trouble doing them both.

Edited by lrobb 2008-04-24 7:04 PM

what is the paleo diet? Atkins really works for me - at least until I get down to weight - I feel strong and bullet-proof. I think my metabolism must like the high protein.
By the way - down to 185.5 this am

Good job!

Kinda like Akins, it's somewhat controversial.

http://www.cruciblefitness.com/etips/PaleoModified.htm



To follow this diet,

1. Eat plenty of lean meats (fish, poultry, lean beef, wild game)

2. Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables

3. Avoid dairy

4. Avoid starches and sugars (breads, grains, etc.)

5. Avoid processed foods

I see you guys don't have anything going in your logs. Let me know if you need some help getting started.