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When I started last September, I couldn't swim. I mean I couldn't put my head under the water, and I would just flap my arms. I worked out in the pool 4 times a week, having to stop half way through a 25m length at first just to get some air, but now, within 1 year, I have my mile time down to 26:30. Hoping to have it under 25 by Christmas.

Dedication, crazypremed, can get you where you want to go. Just don't try and rush things, your body will come around to it. Just think how much you'll be laughing when you cross the line in Hawaii.

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Ok, the story is, I used to weigh 226lbs. (I'm 5'9") 2 yrs. ago when I said ENOUGH cause the BP was too high. I used to do lots in school (e.g., biking), then in the late 90's blimped out and became a couch potato. I couldn't run 3mi without feeling tired and exhausted! After a 2-3mi run I would lie on the couch and fall asleep from fatigue! Once I realized it was THAT pathetic, it HAD to change. Started riding, and changing flats like they were a common thing, running/clodding along, and decided to like Dad, start Tris. They became my saviour. Now I am 156-158lbs. (lost about 70lbs.) have a resting HR of about 43-45, have constant quad pain, feel frikin' cold all the time, AND am hungry all the time but gonna do Ironman Penticton in 15 days!! :eek:

Which is better? Hmmmmm.... hehehe
BBB

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I started biking about a year ago and could only ride about 10 mles, could not run a mile without stopping, and lets not even talk about swimming. I weighed in at 210 lbs when I started. I started running in March of this year, and swimming in April of this year. I now weigh about 175 lbs. I have completed one duathlon, and two sprint triathlons (one with an 800m swim that I swam the entire distance without resting, which I would never have imagined I could do about three months ago), and will be doing the hotter n' hell century ride in Wichita Falls, TX later this month. Keep working hard but try not to rush things is the best advice I can give you. The weight will start to melt off and you will get stronger and stronger. Best of luck.

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When I started working out 18 months ago, it was the exercise bike at the gym and I couldn't do more than 10 minutes. I weighed 289 (at 5'6") and had high blood pressure.

Started riding my bike to work last May at 250 and nearly died on the way to work. It got easier and now I ride my bike everywhere.

Started a run/walk program last August at 220. It was really hard at first but I stuck with it and was eventually able to run without walking. I did my first 5K in December.

Started swimming in February. at 170. Couldn't do more than 25 meters without having to stop for a break but I'm doing much better now and actually feel like a swimmer.

Since then I've done my first sprint Tri and everything is going great. My weight is now 161 and my blood pressure is in the low range of normal. Still haven't reached my goal weight but tri is going to help me do that. It's taken a long, long time to get where I am now, but you just have to have patience and know that if you keep with it, you will get healthier and the weight will come off.

Lisa :)

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Okay, I'm kind of embarrassed, but...

I was a pack-a-day smoker for 16 years, on and off. I quit in May after my first Sprint Triathlon (and yes, I did finish...cough...cough....cough). Truthfully, I wanted a cig after the race, but couldn't find a place to hide. I was about 15lbs overweight and was drinking at happy-hour at least 2-3 times per week. My swimming was just like BrianMc's...maybe even worse. I could go a lap or two...maybe. In fact, I remember going to the pool with my girlfriend Julie, who was a competitive swimmer in college, and we started swimming laps. I was finished after four. I asked her how many she was going to do and she said 10-12. I said, "10-12!!??...ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND!?" I hated swimming. So I decided I would conquer it...mentally and physically. I went to the Y everyday and swam. And I mean literally everyday.

It has been three months since I started serious training. All of my weight is gone, and here is where I'm at:

Swim: I can easily swim 1-2 miles.

Bike: Can easily bike 35 miles and am going for 50 this weekend. I am shooting for the Hotter 'N Hell 100 (I am doing the 100k...not the 100 miles. Maybe next year) at the end of this month.

Run: My weakest area because I haven't invested much time, but I challenged myself 3 or 4 weeks ago and ran 6 miles non-stop. Earlier this week I ran 3 miles in under 21 minutes.

The single most important thing I did, in my humble opinion, was buy a book called The Triathlete's Training Bible. If you are new to all of this, like a lot of us are, then I highly recommend it. I guess like everyone else, I've been bitten by the tri bug...now I receive different triathlon magazines each month,spend more time on this site than is probably healthy, and am constantly building my dream bike in my head...figuring out what I can sell, pawn and hock to buy it.

I too would like to do an Ironman. No, change that...I WILL do an Ironman.

So you see?...you're not the only one who felt this way. BrianMc is right....there is no need to rush things...it happens pretty fast on its own.

Jeremy

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I seconds that, incredible. Way to keep it up too, most people quit after not looking like models after 2-6 months.

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Very cool reading about where people were when they started and how far they've come in fitness and weight loss. Congrats to all.

I was never overweight per say. Always a skinny (no muscle) body type but carried some extra weight around the torso that put me in the 22-25% bodyfat range. Certainly not were I wanted to be.

Because I lacked any real strength most of the disciplines were difficult when I first started. I couldn't run two miles, biking more than 20 was difficult and swimming was just a chore (still working on that one :)). But now, several years later I can run 13 and bike 70 without much difficulty. Could probably be in even better condition if I was a bit more consistent, but working on it.

Bottom line is stick with it and be consistent and the improvement will come. 1-2 years down the road you'll be happy you began this journey.

Welcome to the site and the sport :D

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That's a success story if I've ever heard one! 120 pound weight loss! "Good job" doesn't seem to quite say it all :D

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All of you are awesome! It is so motivating to hear about everyone's success!
Here's my story-
After having two babies, I had 40 extra pounds that I wanted to lose. I had never run. I swam and biked as a child..but I'm talking playing, not competing. I used to hate to sweat :)
I started taking a Spinning class in January 2004. After watching my husband compete in a triathlon in July 04, I decided to give it a try. This has been my first year of competition...what a blast! I, the girl who never ran, ran a 1/2 marathon Oct. 2004 in 2:07 and a marathon Feb. 2005 in 4:20! I did two sprint tri's and just finished my first (I think it was an olympic distance? .6 swim/28 bike/6 mile run) in 3:01!! I'm very proud of my finish times, even though they are very middle of the pack times, because I never thought I would be able to even do something like this. Now, I'm looking forward to next year and trying to beat my times! (And, the 40 pounds are long gone...I'm down to pre-baby weight :cool: )
You will be amazed at what you can do if you just keep training!!

Posts Member

have2tri - That's so great that you do all that and have a family too. I know how hard it is for me to diet/work out and I don't even have to take into account other people! I think your times are great and I only hope I can do that well when I run a half or full marathon. :)

brittda-I stopped trying to lose weight while I was training for my tri too. I was sooooo hungry. Since my tri in June though, my appetite has settled down and I'm starting to lose again. Yours will come down too, hopefully.

BBB-I almost forgot...I am cold all the time too. Even if it's a hundred degrees outside, I still have on a sweater and a blanket at my desk! My coworkers think I'm nuts. It saves on air conditioning at home though. Don't you think?

Lisa :)

Posts Member

Let's see... about 4 years ago. Could barely run 3 miles. My goal was to be able to run for 15 minutes during the weekdays, and 30 minutes one day during the weekend. That was it. That was all I could do. I had a bike, it was sitting in storage, the rims cracked from too many hard ruts in the road. Then I woke up. Met the most awesome gal playing ultimate frisbee, she rode bikes and I started questioning my couch-potatoe hood. After all, I needed to be able to keep up with this gal if I was going to continue dating her. So I fixed up my bike, bought new wheels, a bike computer, and the next goal was to get in 4 hours of training a week.

Fast forward to today, I'm getting around 12 hours of training in a week, I've moved up into the upper third of my age group and plan to get better. No nagging injuries, I'm enjoying my new health, and I can kinda go fast. Oh and I married that bike riding gal. Last week she gave birth to little Amelia. Way cool. I'm still working on keeping up with her (in different ways) but I can officially swim, ride, and run faster now :) She's still recovering from the delivery, but hey, I'll take what I can get ;)

Posts Member

I was never in bad shape. But i sucked at running. I have short legs(im 5 foot 1 at 17 years of age) and a long upperbody. Kind of like a gorilla :D i used to weigh 52 kg i am now 56kg.
I could barely run 5 km this past february but since then i can run 15 km but ill feel it later. I was never in bad shape, i was just not an endurance athlete. I didnt know how to swim at all(as in proper technique, i could stay afloat). never really had problems with biking. I could do 70 km or so but it would be at a slow pace. I used to do 80 km in about 3 hours and 50 minutes. Now i do 80 km in 2 hours and 55 minutes.

id like to think ive come a long way. :)

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Spoonluv--that is an amazing story. Your right, traithlon is a way of life.

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I was 5'8", 230 pounds, 36.4% bodyfat, have Muscular Dystrophy, and couldn't jog once around a track without stopping. It took a long time, but with gradual progress I've completed over 100 triathlons and won a couple pretty big ones. Ken

Posts Member

Cool to read all these stories. There's hope for me after all :D
Myself, I've come a long way. I used to be this fat geek kid. My education was everything. I absolutely HATED sports. There was an annual 10 mile race from amsterdam to my hometown and my house was along the route. I used to laugh at the people running that race... stupid sods... look at them all panting and sweating. At school I hated the dreaded coopertests, the 12 minutes of pain and agony. The drive however was always there... I never quit anything till I reached the end of it. But 2400 meters was all I could squeeze out.

I'm still thankfull my parents made me stick to at least one sport. So I swam until I was 10 and after that I joined the scouts (ahem... yes). When I was 12 I quit that unorganized bunch of tards and joined the local waterpolo club. I didn't get serious with that sport untill I was 16. By that time I felt something needed to be done, because my fysique and condition were pissing me off. School now came in 2nd place. My results at school were dropping but I passed my exams anyway.
I went from 3 to 5 trainings a week and was invited to play with a higher team. My team was going to the nationals but because we moved to another city I had to switch clubs and ended up at a club where people weren't all that serious about their sport. So I quit at 18.
After my 18th birthday I did what I always wanted, but wasn't allowed to by my parents... I took up kickboxing. I practiced kickboxing, boxing and freefight for 3 years and I fought my 1st freefight match may 21th this year (resulted in a draw). I did do some running for myself because it helped endurance in the ring and I did one 10mile race (1:16:55). Noel (yes, he's a member of the trifuel posse as well) suggested I'd give survivalruns a try, so I did. Hooked from the 1st run I ran and definately more to follow.

About a month ago I decided I wanted to train seriously for endurance sports. I realized this was something totally different than I'm used to. All my previous sports were short, explosive ones. So I increased my running, I swim 2 times a week and this week I ordered a bike. It's tricky to make it work, because I'm also a student at the Academy for Physical Education, so training time is scarce. But after reading all your stories and experiencing the satisfaction after training I'm highly MOTIVATED.

Posts Member

A couple years ago, before I got back into running and MTBing, I was 215lbs (6'2) which might not sound bad, but seing my race weight is 185... Took about a year of solid work before I was not too upset with myself anymore. It was so bad that me and my training parnter could barely run a 4 mile loop without stopping. We do that same loop in about 30 minutes on our easy days now. AS I have lost 30 lbs, I don't see 45 as a impossible target at all. Go for it!

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Thanks guys!

I look at these pages when I'm feeling like I'll never get this tri thing down. I'm motivated by the changes that everyone had in their weight, health, and overall well-being. Thanks, again, and keep them coming!!!

CrazyPremed

Posts Member

Awesome thread! Hello to all. I just want to throw my 2 pennies in. I am 6' and about 210 currently (would LOVE to shed that extra 15 or 20 pounds). Not to long ago I was pushing 270 or so. A buddy asked me to meet him up for a 3 mile run one morning. I laughed at him and decided to try it anyway. About 50 yards into the run I asked if we have gone a mile yet. I made it to the mile marker and then turned around and walked back. He finished his run and beat me back still. I called him the next day cursing (spelling?) him out becasue I was so sore. Well that mile and soreness turned into an addiction. I knew how to swim one stroke very well. It was called the dog paddle (not sure if any of you have heard of it). Now I can swim a mile or so (I am not posting my times!) I can bike a lot, and I can run 6 on average and have ran up to 15 miles.
Recently I have been off of training for a while from an ongoing problem with a toren calf muscle so I took some time off from any activity (unfortunatly I did not give up eating) and I am starting to get back into things slowly so I don't have any more problems.\
Crazy...I am really impressed that you took the time to post you achivements this far! The true race in triathlons is to beat your best. Though impressive, don't pay much attention to what everyone else is doing time or distance. You will get discouraged, you will try to push to hard to early and hurt something and then give it up. Take it slow, and if you best run distance is a mile in 15 minutes shoot for a mile in 14:59 or 1.1 miles as a goal. Also, think of the good that you are doing for your heart and your body!
Keep up the good work and keep us posted please.