Hello from Memphis

Been lurking for a while and it's time I down in writing what I'm trying to do. I feel really out of place (among the athletes) here so far.

I know so little about this "fitness" thing because for most of my life (turning 50 in March) I actively avoided hearing/learning anything about it, considering most of the info bs voodoo since it seemed to change with the fashions. But mostly because I was always tall and thin and considered myself active but not an athlete. Starting around 40 I started steadily gaining weight each year, it really crept up on me, found myself buying slightly larger clothes each year.

It took a long time for me to start thinking of myself as "overweight" since I'm 6' 7" tall. People would tell me "you can carry it" and insist I "didn't look fat", just big. But I'm really not a big guy, I was looking like a linebacker when I'm really built on a thin frame.

Slowly I begin to realize that I was really out of control. One wake-up call came because I race catamaran sailboats and found that I was now class legal as a two man crew all by myself at 300 lbs. (minimum crew weight for two people on my Hobie 18 is 295lbs.) Another was when I finally started reading fitness and health information and found out my BMI was 34, well into the "obese" category.

I was obese!!?? How could that be? I'm a thin guy! Something had to change, but I wasn't ready to really embrace or even learn much about fitness. I'd lost weight before practically just by thinking about it, (something my sisters, mother, and SO's were always annoyed at). I figured I could lose the weight by simply avoiding that second cheeseburger or pizza (yes, whole large Pizza Hut pizzas), but I really didn't take seriously the BMI weight for my height. According to that, I needed to be under 220 lbs to get into the top of the "normal" range. That just didn't seem realistic for a 49 year old at 6' 7".

But surprisingly, over the course of a year I dropped all the way down to 230 using my "stop eating until you are sick" diet method. As I got lighter, my sailing improved, I was a lot less tired at regattas, and got a lot of compliments. (although some people who only knew me at my peak weight were concerned I had cancer or something!) Since I was feeling better I started using dumbbells and taking the occasional walk.

My goal had evolved from simply losing pounds to becoming fit and healthy. I want to be in the best shape of my life when I turn 50, so in looking for a goal/target to work towards I discovered triathlon. I like the variety, the technical aspects, and the equipment. (toys)

But I have several challenges:

1. I've never been a runner in my life. Even when I was in shape and swimming in college I always hated to run and only did it when forced.

2. I didn't have a bike and soon discovered that purchasing a bike that fit me was going to be either difficult or expensive. After a couple of months I found a very large old steel road bike on eBay that I hope will do to get me started. See bike in my post in this thread

3. I've never even met anyone who has done a triathlon, and I've never seen one. So I signed up for the Memphis in May OLY on May 21. (Got my USAT card in the mail last week!)

4. I don't have access to swim training, the YMCA close to me used to have a winter pool, an outdoor pool with a giant plastic bubble, but they lost it in a storm and haven't replaced it. I haven't found any master swim clubs or anything like that in the Memphis area.

So anyway, other than the swim, bike, and run I'm all set! I have about 13 weeks before MIM and I'm pretty much starting from scratch. My weight is at 218. Do I have any chance of finishing? Or should I plan on being a spectator? If you are still with me, thanks.

I didn't start out to write a book. But I think I'm going to need some help to get this done. I'm attending a beginner triathlon clinic this weekend, so maybe I'll meet some locals.

Any comments/suggestions are welcome,

Edited by damon 2006-02-13 2:12 PM