How did I get here... ?

Let’s back up a little and find out exactly why I am doing this. To start with, I quit smoking when I was 34 and I gradually gained too much weight. My work as an x-ray technologist gave me little exercise and my busy family (5 kids at that time) made it difficult to participate in any competitive activities. Eventually, I took on management positions which left me even more sedentary at work, usually behind a desk. When I was 39 I hit the 230 lb mark (I am only 5’11”) and my body fat was probably around 25%+ (who knows). I began running and working out to get back into shape. I was very successful and got down to around 205 lbs. Unfortunately, I succumbed to recurring sinus infections thanks to newly acquired allergies and a nose that got broken when I was 18. I quit exercising after only 6 months and quickly regained most of my weight. I did this same cycle every year or so. When I was not working out, my diet would be horrible, eating tons of bad carbs and sitting on my butt being too tired to exercise. I would finally get up the motivation to work out and would be successful until my next sinus infection.

My answer to this problem was to have sinus surgery in May of 2008 to help avoid any future issues. My last workout had been in November of 2007 when I had achieved my best condition since high school. I was at 195 lbs with a body fat of 13%. I was sort of drawn to body building and was lifting hard 3 days week and running twice/week. By early July 2008, 8 months of no exercise, I crept up to 222lbs and 24% body fat. On July 8 I suddenly became dizzy and had to get a lot of test to figure out the cause. Nothing was apparent (no stroke or heart stuff!) but my cholesterol was awful! The highest it had ever been at 203 with triglycerides at 175. I finally started running July 28th in response to my declining health.

Today (6 weeks later) I am at 214 lbs with about 20% body fat. I can run 5.2 miles without stopping and I ride 12 miles a day on my bike. I’ll get into my training schedule on my next post. The most amazing thing is that I just had another cholesterol test for my annual physical. It dropped to 143 total cholesterol and my triglycerides dropped from 175 to 100. Just 6 weeks of diet and exercise! Of course, I eat pretty healthy which makes a huge difference.

A couple weeks ago I decided that I needed something to motivate me into staying fit. I don’t want to be satisfied and then go through the same cycle again. I want stay fit! The answer- competition! And bodybuilding wasn’t it. Don’t get me wrong, it may be exciting for some people, but I find it hard to get excited about posing your body. Somewhere I started reading about triathlons. That started to get my interest. I grew up as a football player and have a drive for hardcore competition. The more contact the better. I never dreamed I would be interested in running but for some reason this looks like a lot of fun. Add cycling, which I never really have done (except for my BMX bike as a kid) and swimming (which I did all the time as a kid) and this could be fun! Not only that, it will take nearly a year to get into good enough condition to compete. That gives me incentive to stay fit.

I will post some workout stuff, my progress and some thoughts on what I come up against as I go.

MY GOAL: Finish the 2009 Donner Triathlon – not in last place.

Here we go!