Gayle has set a goal to walk the Disney Marathon in 2014.  The marathon will be on her birthday, and it’s a perfect excuse to get in shape, visit some family in Florida and go see Mickey.

I have decided to train and walk the marathon with her….not run it, just walk.  My reasons for walking instead of running are:

1. I am fat and out of shape.  And I know that, at least for me, trying to run and cycle is difficult.  I feel fat and slow and it is super easy to just give up. Training to walk a marathon is a great way to lose weight and get in shape, with less pressure to be fast and perfect right away.
2. I am not getting any younger.  I am still going to participate in triathlons, and my goal of completing an Ironman is no where near dead.  However, I believe it will be better for me to lose the 80ish pounds I have to lose and strengthen my muscles with a walking plan rather than going out first thing and pounding the pavement.
3. I want to support Gayle.  Walking 26.2 miles is no easy task, and I know both of us will have days when we don’t feel like training.  It will be good to have that other person to push us to get moving.
4. It will be fun.  For Gayle’s 50th birthday last month, we committed to walking a 50K throughout the month of January.  And we had a great time getting out almost every day and walking at least a mile.  We talked about all sorts of things and just really had fun.  I can’t imagine walking and training for the marathon won’t be fun too.

Here we are at Disney on Gayle's 40th Birthday

So, with that said, Monday begins the quest for Disney 2014.  I think spending the next 10 months getting in shape with the ultimate goal to get back to triathlons in 2014 is the best thing for me.

So, you see – around our house, this really is the Year of the Mouse!

I’m very excited to begin this journey.  I’ll keep you updated on my progress!

And, even though I’m walkin’ – I’m still tri-in

This plan just hasn’t worked out all that well for me.

So, I’ve decided to go back to the beginning and work my way to the end, taking each step as it comes. I don’t have to be a world class athlete tomorrow. I don’t have to be perfect right away. It’s a journey – one I’m going to take. And I’m going to enjoy the ride.

Gayle is reading ChiWalking: Fitness Walking for Lifelong Health and Energy and on Sunday she read to me an analogy from the book that fits my situation perfectly. When you are baking a cake, you don’t throw together all the ingredients and toss it in an oven that has been turned up to the highest temperature and expect to have the best tasting cake ever 15 minutes later. Instead, you carefully measure the ingredients in the proper order, turn on the oven to a proper temperature and let the cake bake slowly until it’s done. Then, and only then, do you have a cake that is tasty and worthy of eating.

This blog will document my JOURNEY from fat to triathlete. Every step, every trial, every learning experience. I want to document it all.  I have come up with a few steps that I want to concentrate on as I progress.  They are detailed in the graphic below.

My focus for the first few months of 2013 will be gaining a base fitness level and eating healthier. To that end, I have joined a gym and will be working out 5 days a week. Monday, Wednesday and Friday will be cardio (walking/running on the treadmill). Tuesdays and Thursdays will be weightlifting. I need to increase my muscle tone to support my joints. Muscle also burns more calories than fat, so that will help with my weight loss.

In addition to all this, I am walking with Gayle in her 50K at 50 Challenge. We will be walking a 50K in the month of January (the month she turns 50)

I am hopeful that the acknowledgement of where I truly am and the realization that it will be a process to get where I need to be will bring me great success and health.

However on Saturday there was a reason for the slow and stopped traffic.  There were 1800 people participating in the Beach 2 Battleship Triathlon which necessitated the blocking of one lane of a busy thoroughfare and also stopping traffic on occasion to let cyclists cross the road safely.  Now, I have no problem with this and wouldn’t have a problem if I was one of the drivers either, however it seems there are some that don’t share my feelings.

By the time I got to mile 18 of my cycling adventure, traffic was at a standstill and I was riding by all the stopped cars.    The first “boo” I heard out a car window just confused me.  I wasn’t sure I heard it correctly, so I shrugged and just moved on.  The next comment was “Hurry up, we are all waiting on you!”  Even though I knew it wasn’t true, it gave me pause.  As I mentioned in my race report, I was struggling with a bent derailer which was not allowing me to shift gears at all.  The negativity just added to my frustration and discouragement.  It certainly did not increase my pedal speed.  There were 5-6 more negative comments, and surprisingly only 2 positive cheers out of car windows as I cycled on.   The whole experience left me wanting to just give up.

Let me pause for a minute and say that I am not petite.  (You might have already gathered that from the Fat to Triathlete name of my blog)  I am an overweight triathlete.  On this particular day, I was at the back of the pack.  There were no other cyclists to be seen, and I was being followed by a van with a big sign on the side that said “Last Cyclist”.  So, I’m sure these motorists thought that as soon as I went past, the roads would miraculously clear and they would be free to go.  (Not true since they weren’t technically waiting on me, but they didn’t know that.)

Thinking back on it later, it really made me mad.  I wish I had been able to stop my bike at the people who yelled and asked if they wanted to trade places.  At least I was out there, and not sitting in my car.  My next thought was shock.  Why would you put someone down like that?  It’s crazy to me.

I remembered those feelings later on that day as we were driving away from downtown.  We were stopped by a police officer so some race participants could run across the street.  You better believe I rolled down my window, shook my cowbell like crazy and cheered!  I hope they heard me and it brightened their spirits some.  I hope I can continue to remember and encourage others no matter what their journey may be.

This small instance is not indicative of my experiences the rest of the day.  I heard a huge amount of positive and encouraging comments along my journey, and every one of them lifted my spirits and my pace.  The encouragement far outweighed those few miles of negative jerks.

Mr Beau Vine with a good message

I was downtown a few weeks ago and saw a great church marquis.  It simply said “Avoid Negative People”.  What a great idea!  The cow in the picture is Mr Beau Vine, a  ”Stress Ball”  that Gayle carries with her to record her travels.  You can follow their travels here.

The whole experience got me thinking, I wish I could have avoided those negative people on Saturday.  I wish I could avoid negative people everyday.  However, as a large woman participating in a sport dominated by skinny people, it seems to follow me.  I just need to remember (as do all of us that are not the “ideal size”) that I am not doing this for other people.  I don’t run and ride my bike for those guys stopped in traffic.  I do it for me.  It makes me happy, it’s making me healthier and thinner (I hope).  So, while I can’t avoid the negative, I can choose to not let it bother me.  It certainly won’t cause me to quit!  I am a fat triathlete.  I’m having a lot of fun! and I’m still tri’ng

I need to preface this post by saying that despite my best intentions, I was unable to finish the race.  There will be more on the ins and outs of why later.  For now, I’m just going to report on my day in chronological order.

Pre-Race

The day started at 5am- my first task, as usual was to feed and walk the boys (Wrigley and Marshall, our 2 dalmatians).  After that, I ate 2 scrambled eggs and got all my gear together to head down to the race start.  We arrived and parked at about 6:25.  I was glad Gayle was with me, as I have a tendency to panic and would probably have been racing around like a crazed chicken.  I dropped off my swim to bike transition gear (shoes, helmet, water bottles, food, etc) at my bike, got my body marking done and got my wetsuit on up to my waist.   Gayle and I did some sitting and people watching until it was time for me to get on the trolley for the ride to the starting line.

Once there, I sipped on my water and tried to relax.  Between 8:00-8:30 the full swimmers went by and it was great to watch them.  The tide was really moving, the slowest swimmer got to us (their halfway point) after about 45 minutes.  At 8:30, the waves began.  A new group started swimming every 5 minutes.  I knew my group was last, so I didn’t feel any hurry.  I pulled my wetsuit the rest of the way on, and got in the water to float around a bit.  The water temperature was 72 degrees and the weather was absolutely beautiful.  I had heard someone say that they dropped an empty potato chip bag in at the start and it made it to the finish line before the cut off time.  I figured if a plastic bag could make it, so could I!!

And then it was our turn.

The Swim

Swimming in salt water is a much different experience than swimming in a pool.  Swimming with a wet suit is a completely different experience than swimming in a swim suit.  I wish I had done more of both in preparation.  The salt water dried out my lips and made me wish for a glass of water.  I quickly found myself in last place, but wasn’t worried.  The current was strong, so strong in fact that race officials decided that swimmers shouldn’t go around one of the buoys but could cut more of a straight line.  The fear was that the tide might sweep people in the wrong direction.

Fortunately, I had my own personal guide on a paddleboard.  He was extremely helpful and guided me into areas where the current would be most helpful.  He also was encouraging me as I slogged along.  When I was almost to the finish, he pointed out another person on a paddleboard and said “There’s Katie!”  I had asked about my friend Katie earlier, as I knew she was one of the people helping out on the swim.  He called her over and she shouted encouragement as I finished the swim.  She also let everyone else know my name so they could cheer too.  It was a great experience.  I could barely drag myself up the ladder and out of the water, fortunately, there was someone there to help me.  And the swim portion of my day was completed. (Time: 50 min 17 sec)

Take a minute to read about Katie’s experience as a volunteer at Beach2Battleship here.  It’s a great read and she’s just an all around great person!

Swim to Bike Transition

As I started running up the dock, there was a volunteer to help unzip my wetsuit and two others to help get it off my feet.  (I’m pretty sure I got all this personal attention because I was the only athlete around…..)  They were all very helpful and encouraging.  The run from the swim end to the transition area was about 400 yards.  It was a bit sad and lonely to see my bike as the only one in the transition area, I had to remind myself that as Gayle kept telling me, “I had to run my own race and not worry about anyone else.”  I dried my feet, put on my helmet and shoes and was off on my bike.

The Bike

The portion of the bike leg that went through town was great.  I didn’t have any trouble with the grates on the bridge to get off Wrightsville Beach.  I thought I would have some issues because I’m a wimpy cyclist, but it wasn’t difficult at all.  There were volunteers and police directing traffic.  They seemed to be positioned every few feet and were all smiling and encouraging and cheering me on.  I was feeling pretty good.  Unfortunately, my feelings started to change once I got on the section of interstate.  There were no more people standing on the side of the road and things turned very lonely.  If you know Wilmington at all, you know traffic can be an issue.  Add 2000 athletes  and their friends and family to that and you get major delays.  And irate motorists who were not shy about letting me know just how upset they were.  (There will be more about this negativity in another post.)

By this time, I had also discovered that my bike was not working properly.  It was stuck in one gear and it wouldn’t change no matter what I did.  And not being able to change gears was making it virtually impossible to make  it up the hills (the overpasses on I140 might not seem big when driving, but when you are riding a bike…they are huge!)

I love my bike.  It’s a Felt road bike.  It’s not incredibly fancy, it’s not new, but to me it’s beautiful!  And fast….sometimes I feel like I can ride like the wind and never slow down.  But not being able to change gears makes it about as effective for racing as a beach cruiser.  On the uphills I couldn’t make it pedal easier to save my leg muscles, and on the downhills, any momentum and speed I gained was lost because I couldn’t pedal fast enough to keep the gears engaged.  I just had to coast.  I could keep my speed around 9 miles and hour, but even on the flats, if I tried to pedal faster, the gears wouldn’t keep up.  I was stuck.

I kept tri ‘ng.  I was way out of town by now, riding on country roads with no one in sight.  My physical and mental frustration was growing rapidly.  I kept bargaining with myself.  ”Go one more mile and then you can stop.”  ”You have to keep going.”  ”I can’t pedal one more stroke.”  I even stopped twice for stretch breaks, but they didn’t seem to help.  And after about 23 miles of this back and forth I just couldn’t go any further.  My mind and body had quit.  But I persevered! I believed if I could just make it through the bike ride, I could finish the run (and the race).

I made it to mile 40, saw an aid station, pulled over and started crying.   The volunteers there were very friendly, they offered me drinks, food, a chair and sympathy.

I sat and cried for a while and then called Gayle.  She was home, waiting to meet me downtown at the appointed time, but she nixed those plans and came to get me.  We loaded up the bike and headed downtown for probably the worst part of the day.  I had to collect the stuff I was going to use on the run and my wetsuit and things from the swim.  The wetsuit part wasn’t that bad, because it seemed to all that I was just finished and getting my stuff.  But going to the transition area to get my run gear was hard because everyone assumed that I had finished the bike and was headed out to run.  So I got all the congratulations from volunteers and others that were just standing and cheering.

After spending some more time crying I did get to congratulate a friend who finished the half, and also commiserate with another woman who had to abandon on the bike portion of the event.

I don’t regret my decision, I regret that it had to be made, but i still think I did what needed to be done.  I’m proud of myself for even getting off the couch and starting the race, and for getting as far as I did.  I greatly appreciate all the prayers and cheers I have received from friends and strangers.  I am thankful every day for the support and cheering and kicks in the butt that I get from Gayle.

And I’m not done.  I will live to fight another day and conquer a half ironman race, and ultimately an iron distance.  I know it seems crazy, but it holds great appeal to me.  The training began again with a run yesterday.

Thank you again for all your support!  I couldn’t do it without you!!

and as always, I’m still tri ‘ng

Today was an almost frantic day.  With getting food, clothing and everything else together, picking up my race packet and making sure all the right things got to all the right places, there wasn’t much time for anything else.  I did get to practice putting on and taking off my wetsuit a few times.

At first I thought with the triathlon in my own town, things would be easier.  But now I’m not so sure.  If I had to get everything together a few days ago and then had a day to just check in and hang out, without the distractions of work, home or other things, it might not have been so busy.  Although I guess I could have been more prepared and gotten some things together yesterday……

As for now, I am ready and resting on the couch.  I was able to go to bed early last night and will head to bed early tonight.

I’m looking forward to a great day tomorrow.

Still tri’n

This week begins the actual Ironman training program that I have chosen.  My biggest concern now is to build up my stamina, especially on the bike.  I will probably be riding for 6-7 hours and need to make sure that I can keep up a good pace for that length of time.

So, here is the plan for this week.

• Monday – run 45 minutes
• Tuesday – bike 60 minutes, swim 30 minutes
• Wednesday – rest
• Thursday – swim 30 minutes, bike 45 minutes
• Friday – run 90 minutes
• Saturday – bike 90 minutes
• Sunday – run 45 minutes

Wow!  Seems like a lot of work.  I ran my 45 minutes this morning, so I’m on my way.   I’ll try to check in every day, as my training progresses.  I think the next 137 days will fly by!  I’m looking forward to the journey.

It’s super exciting since I am now one step closer to my goal.  It’s a bit terrifying since it’s such a huge undertaking, but I’m up for it.  I feel pretty good about my training.  I feel great about my running, since I’m getting faster and stronger every week.  I’m not feeling so hot about my cycling.  I have got to get more hours on my bike.  Which is something I plan to start work on this afternoon.  Maybe I can figure out how to watch a movie while on my trainer…..

On a separate note, Gayle will appreciate anyone who is willing to come spend a few hours with her on October 20th.  While I am racing, her job as support is much more difficult (as in BORING).  She will just be sitting and waiting for me to breeze by for a minute or so, then she will be back to waiting.  So, if anyone is available to hang out with her, I’m sure she will love the company.

You can keep up with my training here on my blog.  I will keep it updated as best I can.

I want to say a special thanks to Bramble Berry for choosing me to be a part of their Bramble Berry Athletic Club.  It’s very exciting to be a part of this group!

Well, I’m going to get on my bike….it’s a great day for a ride.

Still tri’in

Jenn

And I know there are benefits to the trainer.  One being the ability to ride no matter the time of day or weather conditions, and another being the more intense workout you get because you don’t get the chance to coast.  The few things I’ve read say that you can add at least 50% or even double your time when you ride the trainer.  So my 30 minute workout on the trainer was equal to a 45-60 minute ride out on the road.  That might be enough to keep me indoors on my bike, at least some of the time.

But I can’t promise I won’t complain about it.

What it did for me was make me want to get some fun socks.  So last night, I spent some time looking for some fun socks.  I didn’t find many that were the knee highs like most people had on yesterday, but I did find some that I’d like to try.  It seems to me that the two largest “fun sock” companies, at least for running and cycling, are DeFeet and Gizmo Socks.  I am posting some pictures of the socks I really liked.  Does anyone have any experience with either of these companies?  Are their socks good?  Any feedback would be appreciated!  I’d like to try some, but hate to go out and buy them blind.  Although I’m feeling the need for some

fun socks, so I just might have to get them!

So, while starting out at warp speed and burning myself out is not recommended, I do need to develop a sense of urgency with my training.  I need to pick up the pace and not be satisfied with my slow times.

I do have numbers in mind for the times and speed at which I need to finish each section of the race.  And to my math loving brain it has been quite fun working those out.  In fact (true confession time) while I am running I like to do the math in my head (If I keep up a 12 min/mile pace on the run, how long will it take me?  What about a 12.5 min/mile pace?  And so on…)  It’s nerdy, I know.  But it makes me happy.

So, I have given myself a deadline.  I would like to be at my goal pace with both the bike and the run by June.  Then from June – October I will work on keeping that pace for extended periods of time until I am at the amount of mileage that I need to be to complete an IronMan.  That means that I want to be able to sustain a 10 min/mile pace while running for at least 5 miles and I would also like to be able to sustain a bike speed of 15 mph for at least 15 miles by June 1st.  Currently I can hold a 17 min/mile pace for three miles (which is better than where I was at the start of the year) and my average bike speed is around 10 mph for a 15 mile stretch.  So, I have my work cut out for me over the next few months.

Too bad I can’t strap on a rocket like this tortoise!