Today I set a goal

[drcoastline]

They say it ain't a goal until you reduce it to writing. So here it goes. About five and a half years ago. I moved roughly seventy five miles away form my home town in order to exercise my right to have my daughter on a 50/50 time basis. I reduced that goal to writing and after a nearly three year court battle I prevailed. The original goal was to bring her home but I realized that couldn't be reached in a reasonable amount of time so it was altered to 50/50. This past May another milestone was reached I became parent of primary residence.

As many could imagine the move changed my whole life in more ways than one. Mostly for the better but there have been some tradeoffs. I moved to a town where I knew no one. I didn't work in the community and all of my interests were seventy five miles away. I immersed my self in my daughters life to try and make it better. I got involved in PTA, School, her extra curricular activities, etc. and of course the occasional court skirmish that is what my life has been. I went to the gym for a while but that gradually waned. I bought P90X about two years ago used it once. I did the abs and chest work out it kicked my a$$ so bad I couldn't brush my teeth for a week it hurt so bad. In March 2008 I ran into my high school crush that I hadn't seen in 20 years or so at an event back home for one of our school mates who worked for Cantor-Fitzgerald and was killed in the World Trade Center attacks. We began dating and are now engaged to be married. I have always enjoyed cooking and with hours of free time on my hands I would cook home made meals every day. After my daughter would go off to school I would go to the super market or the Italian market in Philly (yes the street Rocky ran down and my mother grew up on) and buy fresh produce and meats. I cook breakfast, make my daughter lunch to take to school and cook diner. We eat well. Lack of exercise and eating good food even home made food can take a toll. Of course the Martini's and Miller Lights haven't helped either.

When I moved here I was 42 years old. I weighed 148 lbs. I had a 29 inch waist and 3% body fat. I am 5'7". My whole life I was in excellent physical condition. Today I am 48 (49 in November) I am 165lbs. my waist is 32-33 inches and g-d only knows what my body fat index is. I have a gut and man boobs. Small ones but none the less. I am always tired and I tend to put things off until tomorrow rather than charge ahead as I have always done

THE GOAL

For the past 10 years my home town has hosted an event called "Tri-the-Wildwoods". It is a mini Triathlon. It consists of a quarter mile swim, a ten mile bike ride, and a three mile run. This event begins and ends on the beach two blocks from my house, the bike course goes right past my front door. I have watched the bike event for the past ten years from my front porch while sipping coffee. Last year I asked a few questions of an official about the race. As he was answering I thought to myself there was a time I could do this. For the past year when ever I see would someone running or the streams of bicyclers in their garb riding on the side of the road I think about the triathlon. Yesterday I decided to looked up the race web site for more information.

This morning I registered in the "first timer" catagory. My goal is not to beat the 17 year kid who won last year finishing the race in a time of 1:04:30. My goal is to finish in the top 10 of 45-49 year old men. Last year 1st place time was 1:09:29 and tenth place was 1:22:49. My Achilies heel will be the run. I am confident I can get myself into shape for the swim and bike ride and achieve decent times.

I have just about ninety days to get in shape. P90X says it can whip a person into shape in that time,. So I am going to use that as a guideline. It also has a good dietary guidline, stretching and warm up warm down schedule I will use.

Any help from the runners, bikers swimmers, strength trainers, dieticians, stamina experts, flexibility guru's, etc. is welcome.

Here are what I see as my strengths and weaknesses.

Strength- I am an excellent swimmer. In the past I have had excellent stamina, concentration and determination. I have always had good metabolism, it's a bit slow now but I think I can bring it back around with exercise and diet. I can block out pain.

Weakness- I hate running long distances I have never liked it. I am about 17 lbs over weight as I see it. I need to learn how to breathe for long distance running and cycling.

I'm off for a physical.

[Seahawk]

Can't help with the Tri-the-Wildwoods, but your sacrifices for your daughter are humbling.

I wish you the best.

[vash]

Sweet! I am rooting for you. Starting with a doc visit is wise. Good luck. I think the running will be a mental game.

[VincentVega]

Do it

I did a spring tri a few years ago and while the run sucked it a great thing to finish. Training in the summer can be dangerous, hydrate and be careful when it's hot/humid. Get used to early morning training.

Good news it's only 3 miles, you can do it.

[nostatic]

kudos for being involved with your daughter.

wrt the tri, frankly I think your goal is misplaced. Participating should be the goal rather than top 10, and your focus should be on a sane training regimen that takes into account your 48 year old body. I'm getting back onto the bike at age 51 and I find that I have to be really careful about how I go about things. Somewhere around age 47 I finally had to give up the last competitive team sport as I was never sure if I was going to be able to get off the ground after diving for a ground ball.

Stretching first, then non-percussive exercise (swimming and cycling are great). Frankly I think running is for the birds - only way I'd do a triathalon would be on a team where someone else did the running. But I've got abused knees so I'm biased.

[Rikao4]

Markus had that same desire..
so he went and did it..
don't stress about placing this year..
simply do it & finish..
next time go for place..

Rika

[RKC]

A wonderful thing that you've done for your daughter...

About triathlons: I did an Ironman in 1999 and a bunch of triathlons over a couple of decades, and yet feel that Nostatic's advice is wise. Aim for health, not for position. My goal for the Ironman was to finish without losing my job, my wife or my health. That's harder than it sounds.

I'm also the same age as you and am already humbled by my Jr. High son's cross country team speed so I know how easy it is to fall behind physically as your focus turns to raising your children.

That said, if you're a strong swimmer, you're already in a good starting place. The real trick if you're a strong swimmer and yet haven't done a triathlon before is to build up biking/running (together/back to back in a "brick"). No matter what shape you're in, you won't believe how poorly your legs feel when you jump off the bike and start running. Practicing gets you used to that feeling so you can more easily work through it. If the run is 3 miles, expect most of the first mile to feel very rubbery.

Rest is crucial at this age too, so do one long day a week and 1-2 shorter workouts in each of the sports per week. Take 2-3 full days off every week so your body can recover.

Good luck & enjoy! It is a great sport!

[Rot 911]

Some good advice already. But I think your goal is unrealistic. Like the others have said, make your goal completing the event and don't worry about being in the top 10. The trouble with most training regimens, including the P90X is that they are designed for people in their 20's, who still have bodies that can recover in 24 hours from an intensive work out. The same routine, as you discovered, doesn't work for a person in their late 40's. You end up getting injured, discouraged and then give up.

Start with an easy training schedule, then build up as you gain stamina and lose weight. The idea is to be pleasant tired after your work out and able to hit it again the next day. I've assisted a number of friends that wanted to get back to exercising. I would suggest something along the lines of the first week try and do 10 push ups, 10 sit ups and a 20 minute run walk. Second week up that to 15 push ups, 15 sit ups and try to jog the entire 20 minutes. Third week alternate each day between a run and bicycle, including the push ups and sit ups. Then add swimming. In 90 days you will be able to complete the event.

I know the 10/10 pushups/sit ups seems simple for the first week, but the idea is to wake up your body to the idea that your are getting back to exercising. You will also be surprised to find they are harder than you thought.

Finally, see if you can find someone that is willing to do it with you. That makes it easier to get out and do it every day.

Give it a try. Oh, and I turn 58 next month.

[gacook]

I disagree with the others. If you're not in it to win it, what's the point? At your age, and having a pretty big "down time" since last you competed in something, I'd say top 10 counts as "in it to win it." Good goal.

However, I am in complete agreement with their sentiments in regards to your daughter. Ya sound like a great father.

[Laneco]

Congratulations with regard to your daughter - good on ya!!!

This is a real short tri, in addition to everything else, work on your transitions. The bike to run transition can stomp you really bad if you have pushed hard on the bike. You get a phenomenon called "bicycle legs" and find yourself "noodling along" for about a half mile. Practice that transition especially.

P90X is awesome. When you're done having your ass kicked by that, get Insanity and let Shawn T. whup whatever remains of your ass. That said, nothing will prepare you to swim/ride/run, like those specific events. So you gain your strength, especially the critical core strength, but without technique the other three fall out. I pass guys who are in great shape all the time when I'm riding - they're like "wtf mate - some fat old lady just rode past me..." Technique is huge. Find cyclists and ride with them.

Mountain or road tri? That makes a difference both for equipment and training. A ten mile road tri-bike is a red-line time trial. A ten mile MTB tri is usually a series of past-the-redline sprints while trying not to ride into a tree (skill when tired is hugely important here).

As far as how you finish - I say train hard and swim/ride/run your hiney off as long as you have fun in the process! Don't worry about the finish placing, whatever it is - it is.

angela

[Paco Anton]

Coincidentally I just set a similar goal for myself. I am 42 years old, also 5'8" but weigh 10 lbs more at 175 (down from 195 in the past).

I am trying to get in shape and have started running and riding my bike. I plan to atend a similar "mini Triatlon" on the 22nd of june in 4 weeks time. My swimming leg is longer at almost half a mile but the bike and running parts are similar. The goal is just to finish.

I have already completed the bike and running parts separately and today went to the pool which is my weakest part by far. Well... after just 500 yards I had to get out of the water feeling very bad and ended up vomiting (fortunately outside the pool). Next swimming practice will be this friday and then I will decide whether the goal is doable or not.

Keep us posted on your progress and good luck with your training.

[look 171]

Listen to you bunch of fat old guys. well, I am a 5'7", 170 lbs. fat ass as well.

Glas to hear you are spending quality time with your kid and kudos for the new life.

90 days should be OK but you really have to work hard at it. I am getting back on the bike after a 15 or so years of bike racing and a 10-12 years of no riding at all but eating. for any endurance events, you need base miles. If you can squeeze or get in the simple miles for 2-3 weeks on both the bike or run (I ran x-country in HS to keep in shape for bike racing during off season. That running will last me two life times. Hate it). After that you must ride twice as fast so you can be competitive in the 10 mile event. I would start some type of interval training after that. the distance is short, so you should be able to do it in 90 days. My suggestion id to train for the run and the bike in the same day. They use different muscles. Oh yeah, you will hurt for a couple of weeks. you will sleep well too. If you keep up the the training, you will fly next year. Kids have speed, but we (I like to think) still have endurance. I come to accept that we are no longer Porsches but a diesel truck after my last club with a bunch of hammer heads.

Good luck.

Jeff

[Zeke]

Not a tri athlete here, but I think no events before the 'placing' event is not a good strategy. Working out on a machine can't prepare you for the actual event given outside factors like weather.

[Baz]

When I was living in Lehigh Acres before I moved to NSB, I hooked up with a small group of guys and every Wednesday after work we would bike, run, and swim the same distances as in your event. A mini-triathlon.

We would do this every week.

In between I would just ride near my home by myself. I think that was 3x per week minimum - maybe 12 -18 miles each ride. I was lucky and had a wonderful road to train on - almost perfectly straight for miles and miles without any cross streets and very very little traffic.

That's all I did and feel it helped me a lot - just repetition.

Yours is a great story and I appreciate your sharing it - I wish you all the best moving forward and hope you will keep us posted as appropriate.

[drcoastline]

Hi Everybody,

Just getting back from Ballet class. Not for me but my daughter.

Thanks for all the support, kind words and words of wisdom. I appreciate the kind words on my being a dad but I'm no hero. I just did what I thought I needed to do form my daughter. I didn't put it in for praises it's in because it is part of how I got to where I am today physically. No regrets. So please no more congratulations.

I agree with those of you who say train for health not to win or place. I will pay attention to the signals my body is sending me. I don't have any real issues other than iffy ankles form basketball when younger and some lower back pain which I know is because my abs are out of shape and not supporting my body properly. For now my goal is to place in the top ten of the 45-49 year olds and I am going train to achieve that goal. As I progress (hopefully) I may re-evaluate my goal but for now that is what I am shooting for. I don't want to train just to finish because I am sure with minimal effort I could finish. I don't want to give it my minimum I want to give it my best shot. That is how I have always done things.

Where I live in the winter months there is a nice bike/running path just a short distance away. I took a brisk ride to today after my physical to get a feel for the path. I marked out some distances for training. I will take advantage of the path for the next few weeks. I will ride and run, run and ride. Get my breathing down and concentrate on the correct stride when running. As soon as my daughter is finished school for the year I will be back home and can train on the exact course I will be competing on.

Thanks again for the support and info. Keep it coming.

[drcoastline]

Here are the times for 1st and tenth place by event for the 45-49 y.o. men's category

Swim Bike Run Total
14:41 26:30 23:00 1:09:29
16:35 32:55 27:21 1:22:49

[wdfifteen]

You are an awesome dad. Boy does the world need more like you.

Zeke and Rika had great advice. This is your first event. You will learn a lot about yourself and about the technique of running the event the first year. Train hard and expect the first event to be a learning experience. What's the rush? You can win next year.
OTOH if you are as good at this as you are at parenting you may be the phenom who wins his first time out.

[KevinTodd]

You can do this!

Make sure you train gradually and give yourself time to recover. Make sure you have the proper shoes and are actually running properly so you will not injure yourself. Cardio training will also give you the stamina you need to get through the tri. Something tells me you'll be hooked after you do the first one, especially if you push as hard as I think you will.

P90X will definitely give you the full body workout you need and old fashioned squats, lunges and bench presses will help, too.

Best of luck. Can't wait to see your results.

[aigel]

When's the last time you ran?

Running can get you insured fast. Over-use injuries are your enemy when starting from scratch. 17 pounds extra at your height will take a toll as well. You definitely want to lose a few while you are training.

My advice is also not to target a certain time. This year is participation, next year is a time goal. It is an annual event for Pete's sake.

I would start the running program gradually. Ideally you only walk 80% and run 20% of your workouts in the beginning and limit it to a short distance like a mile. ALWAYS take at least 1 day rest between runs. If anything starts feeling funny or sore, put ice after the workout and take a longer break until there is no pain. Don't run through injuries.

Join us on this thread. Lots of exercise and weight loss discussion. You can set a target for the end of the year, so you don't fall off the wagon after the tirathlon: The PPOT Weight Loss And Fitness Challenge 2013

Good Luck,

George

[aigel]

Another note: See if you can get with a training group that is preparing for this event. Often running shoe stores or bike stores do specifically train for the local events and they do have a beginners team, usually.

G