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Here We Go!
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 2022-07-13 2:05 PM |
 2 |  Subject: Here We Go!Hey everyone, Soooo, I figured I would introduce myself and drop a little back story before I ask the first of many questions I have in mind. I am a 37 soon to be 38 year old from Las Vegas, NV. About 3 years ago now I found myself in the worst shape of my life, I am 6'4 but was weighing in at 429lbs... The thought of any long distance anything was frightening. Well, along came covid and being locked down with my wife and kids made me realize it was time to change. Time to finally make a difference for myself which in turn would make for a better family life for us all. My wife and I headed to our local walmart and bought $200 mountain bikes and started riding. My first 3 mile ride was painful to say the least... We rode to a family members house and I remember just laying on the living room floor with everything hurting. Fast forward about 6 months or so and I had dropped somewhere in the neighborhood of 50-60lbs and was riding that walmart bike about 15 miles per ride. I found myself loving to cycle. I rode that bike until I eventually broke it and realized with about 500 miles on the bike it was time to upgrade. I then bought a new Trek Marlin 7 and started riding farther and continued to watch my eating habits and eventually bought an indoor pro form bike to ride on in the house. after about another 8 months I was down a total of nearly 176lbs. I had hit 253lbs. I was then watching one of my good friends complete an ironman in Coeur d'Alene and started to question my ability to complete something even remotely as amazing. After he completed it I hit him up to congratulate him and tell him what a beast he is and we had a quick discussion about my doubts of every being able to do something like that. He quickly responded by telling me," Just go for it, take steps and set goals and move forward" He also mentioned there was a bike ride coming up here called Tour De Summerlin, it is not a race but rather a ride and they have 3 distance options 20, 40 and 80... I got off the phone with him and hopped on my computer and registered for the 80 mile ride. We had about 6 months until the ride day sooooo... Once again I bought another bike.. At the local Giant bike store I found a Giant TCR in my size and picked it up without every riding a road bike before. Picked up some shoes and pedals and off I went. I started training with rides around my home and later started riding with another friend that decided to do the ride with me. I added an indoor trainer to the routine and started riding on Zwift. Long story short, Myself and my friend that completed the ironman as well as my other close friend all rode that 80 mile ride and crossed the finish line together. Even with it just being a ride and not a race when we finished it was an emotional ride for me, In that moment I realized I can do whatever I put effort into and I never want to go back to where I came from. Now, I find myself getting ready to register for my first Sprint Distance Tri at the Pumpkin Man in October here in Vegas and I cannot be more honest when I am saying I am nervous all over again. 1. The open water swim is a new thing to me 2. The bike ride I am not overly concerned with because I have actually rode the course multiple times and 3. The run is daunting in my mind. I have started ramping up my rides on zwift and I am picking up a treadmill this week to also connect to zwift so I can get in some running inside since our temps are around 110 in Vegas right now, I am also putting in a swimming tether in my pool to hopefully figure out the swimming. I have a ton of questions, like what do I wear for the swim and what in the world can I do to up my running ability in the 100+ days I have to train. Also, one of the more puzzling things to me is when I go to register it asks if I am registering as my age group, a beginner or a clydesdale... I am assuming with my current weight hovering around 260-270 I am most definitely a clydesdale but what is the best choice here?? I checked out this forum and read some great info and figured it was time to introduce myself and start asking questions here with a group of folks that seem very supportive and informative. Thank you all for reading this and for any suggestions Raymond |
| 2022-07-17 9:34 PM in reply to: LasVegasRay |
Champion 7547     Albuquerque, New Mexico Bronze member | Subject: RE: Here We Go! Congratulations on the lifestyle changes! You're doing almost all of the right things. Your IM friend is right, set a goal, make a plan, and work towards your goal. I did IMCdA in 2009. Keep riding. Start walking (even 20-30 minutes). You can do this as you continue to lose weight and you can walk now and start running as the weather cools. What do you expect temperatures to be like when the race occurs? A common mistake people make is doing all of their run training in the cool early hours and then (try to) run the race in the heat of the day. Get some lessons/coaching on swimming. A tether in your own pool might seem like a great way to start, but...swimming is all about technique, and starting with the tether before you've built the right muscle memory for good stroke mechanics is going to set you back considerably. (I was a lifeguard/swim instructor in HS and college.) What to wear? For my first 2 tri's, I wore swim trunks, pulled on a cotton t-shirt after the swim, and biked and ran in my running shoes. I recommend you try riding and walking/running in your swimsuit (try riding when it's wet too), and if you don't have any issues, there's your answer to what to wear. Obviously, if it doesn't work in practice, get something else and try it. If you want to invest in a pair of tri-shorts, they're intended for all 3 phases of the race. A thin pad that doesn't absorb water, provides a little padding on the bike, but not enough to interfere with running. Register however you want to be listed in the race results (beginner/Clydesdale/AG). You're only a "beginner" for a little while (but even with a lot of experience, you can still contribute to Beginnertriathlete). At 6'4, you'll probably be able to race as a Clydesdale as much as you want as your natural weight is still likely to be over 200#. The race may (or may not) run separate waves for Clyde/beginners even if they break out results that way. You can contact the race director if the race website doesn't say. Personally, I'd register however I get into the earlier waves of the day. You'll have to be there setting up well before the first wave (often 7AM) and waiting around nervous to race with an 8:15 wave start isn't appealing to me. |
| 2022-07-19 7:30 AM in reply to: McFuzz |
| 1 | Subject: RE: Here We Go! nice effort |
| 2022-07-21 1:57 PM in reply to: McFuzz |
| 2 | Subject: RE: Here We Go! Thank you for the detailed response! The weather in the end of October can very significantly here. But from the research I was doing I am expecting mid to upper 70's and a lake water temp in the mid 70's unless we have a colder October in which cases it can run a bit lower but with the water levels getting so low I'm sure it will have an effect on the water temps as well. I did 550 yards of swimming a few mornings ago and worked on some breathing drills to get used to proper breathing and I can see how extremely important proper breathing is as well as the form. I agree with you 100% the tether would definitely strip the ability to truly work on form and technique. Regardless of all the weight training I have done and have been doing swimming for sure uses muscles that don't get hit as much while weight training. As for the bike I have taken the ride map from the event and imported it into my trainer and have been riding the route indoors for now. As soon as the temps come down a bit I will head out to the trail and ride it. I have done the ride multiple times in person. It is essentially one long climb, it's definitely not a flat course. The run I am also working myself up to where I need to be and want to ensure I do some bike and then run training to get used to that initial muscle feel transitioning from one to the other. I have exactly 100 days to the event as of today so I just have to keep working. As for registration I am going to go ahead and register in the Clydes category. |
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