Fat clothes

Ok, so I've been slacking in my September blogging. Kids are back in school, work kicked back up from the summer, soccer on weekends, apple picking, etc...

In any case, my biggest change this month is my clothing.  Aside from my shoes, NONE of it fit any longer!  I'm talking about pants, shirts, suits, jackets. NOTHING.  This fitness thing is getting to be an expensive proposition.  I went from 218+ to about 205 between November of 2009 to July of 2010.  Since then I've dropped to 189, and quickly.  Most of this seems to be from my off-season training in August.  I think between the change in diet and the daily workouts, metabolism in my body changed in a very short timeframe, and as a result weight started melting off!

This is my pile of clothes, which actually close to tripled by the time I was done.  In all, over 60 pairs of pants, 100 shirts, 8 suits, 4 sport jackets, 10 coats, and countless other sweatshirts, jerseys, etc..  Seriously, where the heck did I get all these clothes?  I think I'd be out somewhere and see dress pants on sale and just think "I could use another pair of pants."  Maybe in was because I'd leave things at the dry cleaners for weeks on end and forget about them, and think to buy more shirts.  In any case, I had far too many clothes as it was.  All now going to be donated to a great charity whose proceeds go to the Massachusetts Humane Society.

The problem is that I've had to buy new clothes.  If you are a woman, this is not a problem, but as a guy I do most of my shopping at Home Depot and Best Buy.  I don't like the dressing room thing.  Luckily, my wife has been a great help and just picks stuff out.

All of my L and XL clothes are down to Medium.  I'm pretty sure that I won't get to a small, since I'd need to be pretty tiny, so I'm hoping to be good here.  I'm down a complete pants size but am not buying too many pants, since I could well lose one more size by spring.

The most shocking part of this to me is how fast it all happened.  It was almost humerous trying on sport coats and looking like I was a kid trying to wear daddy's stuff.  They were that big on me.  I haven't been this size is almost 20 years and am loving it.

New toy!

I got a new toy!  My last bike was a 2008 Specialized Transition Comp I purchased from eBay last year.  I had sat on one in the LBS (Local Bike Shop) and it seemed to fit, but I didn't want to take up too much of their time to "fit" me for a bike since I knew I would be looking for a used one elsewhere.  The Medium frame appeared to fit me, but after a year of riding it is really a bit small (lesson learned - you really need to get fit for a triathlon bike since different brands have completely different geometries and some fit better than others).

Although I did have a professional fit done on the Transition (albeit after the NJ Triathlon) and it felt better, I was still a bit cramped during anything over a 25 mile ride.  I simply could not imagine being comfortable on it for 112 miles.  So I visited my LBS earlier this week to get an idea on my PROPER frame sizing (still planning on eBay shopping) and, low and behold, they had a beautiful 2010 Cervelo P2 Carbon on the floor in a 56" frame... We put some test pedals on it and, in my work clothes, I tried it out and it fit like a glove.

As it turns out, due to a soured relationship between this bike shop and Cervelo, they were no longer going to be a Cervelo dealer and were clearing out the three bikes they had left.  I had been browsing eBay for several weeks and these REALLY seem to hold value.  I ended up getting the bike brand new, a FREE professional fitting (over 90 minutes with a superb fitter) and a few accessories (xLab wing and bottle cages) for less than 2008 models were selling for in auction.  Sweeeet!

I had been watching the Cervelo P3 models as well, but couldn't justify the $1000+ difference in price for aerodynamics which, at best, would save a few minutes over the course of 112 miles.  In fact, I did a TON of research on bikes and components and it is pretty humorous how much marketing comes into play on some of them.  For example, you can spend $500 more for a component just because it saves you weight equivalent to a gel pack!  I guess if I were racing where seconds matter (and there was prize money to be found) it would make sense, but otherwise...

That brings me to my other thought... What if my bike is better than I am a rider?  There is a lot to be said for beginners or amateurs who feel like they need the best equipment, but the truth is that if you are a MOP (middle of the pack) rider, you can buy the best bike in the world and still be a MOP rider.  Plus, a lot of elite athletes think people are trying to "buy" an advantage using better technology rather than train for it.  Me?  I'm on the other side of the spectrum.  I like to buy good stuff because, well, I can. I've worked my butt off in my business for 20 years so that I CAN buy a better bike, good shoes, etc.. I don't have any preconceptions on whether or not it will make me faster.

In any case, I put my Transition on eBay and sold it within two hours, for $50 more than I paid for it used a year ago.  I basically had a free bike for a year!  It was a great day overall.

Now I'm looking forward to a nice ride this weekend on the new wheels.  I'm starting to look at riding distances to places we go to on the weekends.  For example, we are going to an annual family/friends BBQ on Sunday. 35 miles.  I'm going to plan on leaving an hour or two before my wife does and bike it.  I'll need to work off those beers I will inevitably have during the day (and then need to let my wife drive home as I'm sure I won't be in much shape to).

I could probably...

"Some people are like Slinkies... not really good for anything, but they still bring a smile to your face when you push them down a flight of stairs."

You get interesting results when people ask what you are doing to lose weight.  I generally tell them I am getting back in shape after all those years of making my couch cushions uneven, but sometimes I'll mention Ironman training.  The most frustrating response is "I could probably do the bike and the run, but not the swim."  Or the variants "I can swim and bike all day, but the run would be hard for me."

People tend to trivialize the rigors of the actual race.  While you do get the occasional "I could never do that," inevitably you also invite the lack of respect to the actual distance from those who simply don't know better.  Given that I know people who have done several Ironman distance races and still have had the occasional DNF, it just pains me to hear.

So to those "I could probably" people out there...

1.  Swim 2.4 miles.  Do it with your eyes closed most of the way and either with 2600 of your closest friends or with a group of people beating you with pillow polo sticks along the way.  Pull your goggles off several times and, oh yeah, do it within a time limit max of 2:20.  Drowning is strictly frowned upon.

2. Bike 112 miles.  In a row.  Fairly fast.  Regardless of weather.  After you perform the above swim.  Try to eat/drink and mentally calculate how many calories, electrolytes, and how much fluid you need to intake based on weather conditions so you don't cramp up.  Pace yourself knowing that you need to bank energy for the marathon immediately following.  Wonder if your crotch will ever really be the same.  Give yourself a flat tire or two for fun in the middle of the course or have something just go wrong with your bike.

3.  Run 26.2 miles.  After the swim and bike.  Pray your nutrition intake on the bike was satisfactory.  Give yourself some blisters to make it interesting and add some chafing in random areas from the previous hours on end of movement.  Figure out how to make your legs move after they have been rotating from that many hours right off the bike.  Lock up a muscle or two for kicks and, oh yeah, finish before midnight or you are technically not a "finisher."

Hey, I'm not saying I can do ANY of the above yet, but I sure as heck have respect for what awaits me...  I'm just happy I have the support of my family in this quest.