Growing up I had a strong bond with my grandmother. She, like all of her sisters, showed her love through food. She taught me how to cook and bake: apple rolls, Christmas cookies, and soup with homemade dumplings. Because of her health, she was not active. We spent hours playing cards together and just talking. I feel very fortunate for the time we were able to spend together.
In October 2007, my grandmother's heart attack took a lot out of her. Over time she needed more and more help to accomplish her daily activities--getting out of bed, dressing, and even cooking meals. She was always waiting for someone to help her and was very frustrated about her circumstances.
At the time of her heart attack, I weighed over 200 pounds and was incredibly unfit. As I watched my grandmother’s health decline and her dependence on others increase, I knew that I never wanted to be in a situation like that. If I was going to do something about it, I needed to start now.
November 2008
I woke up one morning and decided enough was enough. My friends in Minnesota had been Life Time members for a couple of years and seemed to really enjoy it. I had checked it out online a few months beforehand and liked what I saw; there were some programs that interested me like Team Weight Loss and water aerobics. As I was driving to Life Time after work, I thought to myself, Life Time is a lot further away than I thought; there is no way I’m going to be able to make it work.
I decided that, since I was there anyway, I would go ahead and take a tour. The member advisor I met with told me I could cancel my membership within 30 days if things didn’t work out, so I decided I had nothing to lose. I joined Life Time and signed up for Team Weight Loss.
January 2009
It was time for my first Team Weight Loss session. I went up to the cardio area for the first time since joining. Steven, the trainer who was leading the Team Weight Loss session, sent me back down to the locker room to weigh myself. My starting weight was 237 pounds.
When I came back for the second session, Ashley had replaced Steven as our leader. We continued with Ashley through the rest of the sessions. Ashley was very motivating but at the same time made it fun. Team Weight Loss was very helpful in a couple of ways. By having three sessions a week, it made coming to the gym a routine. It also forced me to begin documenting my daily food intake, which helped me to begin to eat a healthier diet. It wasn’t perfect-- after all, I had figured out how to build chocolate into my plan on a daily basis--but it was much better than it had been.
May 2009
Team Weight Loss was over and I needed to decide what I was going to do next. I felt like I was past Team Weight Loss, but Team Fitness intimidated me. After speaking with Ashley, we decided that my best option would be to do personal training for a while, and then when I was ready, I would move to Team Fitness.
It didn’t take long for us both to figure out that even though we worked together well in Team Weight Loss, working with her one on one was not a good fit for me. Ashley truly wanted the best for me and suggested that I begin working out with another trainer.
June 2009
My first training session with Brett. After warming up, we moved to squats. Brett put 40 pounds on the bar. I looked at him and simply stated, “With Ashley I was doing squats with 30 pounds.” After all, this was the first time I had worked out with him; I was just letting him know what I thought I was capable of. He on the other hand just looked at me and said that today, I would be doing them with 40. I did, and I made it through all three sets.
That was just a sign of things to come. Brett pushed me to my limits every time I worked out with him. At times I would become incredibly frustrated while working out with him. I thought that if he had me do something, I should be able to do it. One day, as I was on the verge of tears, I finally got the courage to confront him about my frustration. I was doing bench press and only got through 7 reps before he had to help me finish the set. When I told him that I was frustrated because I couldn’t make it through 10 – 15 reps, he looked at me and told me that he only thought I would make it through 5 before I needed help. He was trying to see how far I could go. After that, when he was challenging me, he would tell me that he didn’t think I would be able to do it, which made me try even harder, but at the same time, if I failed to complete whatever it was, I wasn’t as frustrated.
September 2009
After losing about 60 pounds, I had a conversation with Andrew, one of the trainers, about my fears, my greatest being once I hit my goal of losing 100 pounds, I would begin gaining the weight back. He gave me two pieces of advice. First, he suggested I pick an athletic event like a 5K and train for it. Once I complete that event, then choose another. In other words, always have something that you are working towards. Second, he gave me the best piece of advice I have gotten during my journey: he told me to quit coming to the gym. This seemed counterintuitive to me, but it all makes sense now.
I thought hard about the first part of my conversation with Andrew. I felt that if I picked a 5K to train for that I might get burnt out on running. I thought to myself, I know how to ride a bike and I know how to swim, why don’t I compete in a triathlon? I looked online for a triathlon in my area and to my surprise, there was a tri called My First Tri. I set my first event to train for, a sprint distance tri in June 2010.
During my next workout with Brett, I let him know my new goal and asked him to help me put a training plan together. He said I needed to break my goal into smaller goals. The first goal would be to run a mile…. Have I said that I had never run mile in my life? Brett asked me if I wanted him to tell me how to accomplish my first goal. Knowing how tough my strength workouts had been the last 3 months, I decided I wanted to figure it out for myself, so instead I went home and Googled how to run a mile. I settled on the Couch to 5K training plan, since ultimately I would need to be able to run 5k for the tri.
November 2009
November, 2, 2009, was one of the worst days of my life. I received a call two days before, telling me my grandmother was dying. My mom was making me feeling guilty for not flying home as quickly as she wanted. Then, Brett called to let me know that he had just quit Life Time. At this point, I knew that something had changed in me. Instead of wanting to eat, sleep, or just check out from the rest of the world, I wanted to run. I still hadn’t run a mile and had abandon the Couch to 5K training plan after not being able to get past week 4, but at this point all I wanted to do was run. So I headed off to the gym and ran/walked for an hour.
That week, before heading home to be with my family, Brett helped me put together a short list of potential trainers. I spent a lot of time that week deciding how I would conquer the next part of my journey. Although I had learned a lot and had been very successful in my weight loss journey, I didn’t feel I was ready to go it on my own. I made a decision about who my new trainer would be: Steven, the trainer that led my first Team Weight Loss session. He seemed to have the same style as Brett. And I had learned from my experience with Ashley that having the right connection with your trainer was just as important as the trainer’s knowledge. The only problem was Steven was on leave and I wasn’t sure when he was coming back.
So I ended up choosing my second choice, Andrew. Yes the trainer that gave me advice about my fears back in September. I knew that Andrew was very knowledgeable, but his style was very different from Brett’s, and that concerned me. The other problem was that he had only one open time slot. I was used to two sessions with a trainer a week and still wanted that. He told he had this program called the Endurance Team. I could show up to any of his Endurance Team classes, which ranged from running, to cycling, to stretching, to foam rolling, to strength. The concept intimidated me. I would be working out in a group setting, with others who I felt would be much better than me. Up until this point, I had still not run a mile and to me endurance implied I should be able to run much more. Nonetheless, I decided to work out with Andrew one-on-one once a week and join the Endurance Team. I knew eventually he would have another opening and I could get back to working out one-on-one twice a week.
During my first training session with Andrew, I asked him what I needed to do to run a mile. Since I had failed at Couch to 5k, I thought it was a good idea to ask for help. He told me keep coming to the Endurance Team running class and just do what he said. I put my faith in Andrew. The day after Thanksgiving, I worked out with my cousin and her trainer. He had me alternating between strength exercises and running a quarter of a mile. I was surprised at how effortlessly I was able to run the quarter mile. I was improving. The next morning, I decided to hop on the treadmill and run as far as I could without stopping. I put a towel over the distance reading so I wouldn’t focus on it and starting running. When I felt I was about to die, I peeked under the towel. I had run 0.9 miles. I had only 0.1 miles to go to run a mile for the first time in my life. I knew I could do it. On November 29, 2009, I ran the first mile in my life.
December 2009
I decided if I could run a mile, I could run 3, so I signed up for my first 5K, scheduled for January 1, 2010. Andrew helped me put a training plan together. It was aggressive because I only had a month to prepare. I started by running a mile outside. Then I was back on the treadmill, trying to string a couple of miles together. On Christmas day we scheduled my first 3-mile run, with no walking. I was successful and celebrated with a bag of cherry Nibs.
January 2010
New Year’s Day, my first 5K. I had two goals: to run the whole thing, and to complete the 5k in 36 minutes. Andrew revised my goal to 35 minutes, 45 seconds. When the race started, I got a little caught up in the excitement and took off too fast. I discovered I loved passing people and continued at a pace faster than what I had been running during my training. I was less than halfway through before I hit AT. I tried to slow a bit and get my heart rate down, but I was unsuccessful. I decided it was best to walk for a minute, hoping that would do the trick. It did I then started running again. I walked one more time before I finishing the race. I didn’t achieve my first goal, but I ended up finishing the race in 33 minutes and 42 seconds. I killed my time goal.
The next day, I headed off to my favorite running trail and ran 5K without stopping. I knew I could do it. I just needed to run my race at my pace. It was an important lesson to learn and something I continue to struggle with today.
March 2010
With daylight savings time came outdoor cycle for the Endurance Team. Even though I had been riding a bike for 35 years, I discovered, I didn’t know how to ride a bike. Andrew was very patient with me taught me how to ride. He would ride next to me and tell me exactly when to shift. After a while, I learned when I should be shifting. I also found out that I loved cycling and am somewhat good at it.
It was also at this point that Andrew’s advice about stopping going to the gym was making some sense. What he was telling me was to find something active that I loved to do and do it. Back in September, my schedule was very rigid and it involved going to the gym 5 – 6 days a week. I wasn’t going to the gym because I liked it; I was going there because I knew that I would make progress towards my goal and I liked the results. But I needed to find something that I really enjoyed so I would continue to do it, and I needed to think about activities both inside and outside the walls of the gym.
April 2010
I had been swimming at least once a week for a couple of months, and didn’t see any improvement in my swim. Andrew tried to give me some advice, but let’s just say, swimming wasn’t Andrew’s strong suit. He suggested that I work with Mike, the Master’s Swim Coach. The first time I met with Mike, I discovered, just like with cycling, that even though I had been swimming for 35 years, I didn’t really know how to swim. Mike helped me improve my stroke and I began to see progress.
I had now lost 90 pounds. Even though I still had 10 pounds before I reached my weight loss goal, Andrew wanted me to switch from eating to lose weight to eating for peak athletic performance. No more calorie deficit. I now needed to make sure I replaced every calorie I burned during the day. I had to once again learn how to eat.
May 2010
Mike’s schedule no longer allowed him to coach Master’s Swim, so a new Master’s Swim Coach, Kyle, replaced him. Kyle further helped me to refine my stroke and I saw even more progress. Kyle gave us lots of encouragement while we were swimming. I learned the more encouragement I received, the slower I would swim. Now he rarely encourages me while I swim; he knows my drive comes from within.
June 2010
It was finally time for me to participate in My First Tri. I had trained well. I had practiced my transitions. I had driven out to the course a couple weeks before so I could ride the bike course and scout out the swim. I had determined what I was going to eat the morning of the race. I have found that I spend a lot of time practicing what I am going to eat before and during a race. All my preparation seems to have paid off; even though I didn’t have a good run, I finished 3rd in my AG for the day.
September 2010
When I was young, girls didn’t play hockey. When I was in college, I wasn’t fit enough to play hockey. By the time I turned 40, girls were now playing hockey. Finally, I was fit enough to play, and I discovered the Lady Thrashers, made up of women of all skill levels who get together once a week to play. I laced up a pair of hockey skates for the first time in my life. It didn’t take long for me to discover my love for the game. To this day, I still don’t know all of the terms or all of the rules, but I get out there to play and have a great time doing it.
January 2011
With a new year come new goals. In the process of determining my goals, I also began to determine which races I was going to compete in during the year. I picked a few tris and 5Ks. But then I thought to myself, the discipline I liked the best in a tri was cycling; maybe I should compete in a cycle race. I knew that there were road races, time trials, and criterium, but didn’t know which would suit me best. So one morning I floated the idea past Andrew. Andrew’s face lit up. Have I mentioned that Andrew is a cyclist? We decided that I should try a criterium, and picked out the Roswell Criterium for my first race.
April 2011
Andrew thought it would be a good idea to participate in at least one criterium before Roswell. Although I thought when we determined Roswell would be my first criterium it would actually be my first, I didn’t think it was a bad idea to participate in a practice one since people I knew would actually come to Roswell to see me race. For my practice I picked the Rome Criterium. My race was supposed to be 30 minutes. I was lapped after 15 minutes and quit after 16. My lungs have never burned so much in my life. And the burn didn’t end when I quit, it continued to burn for 10 minutes after I was done. I looked at Andrew and asked him how this was fun. He knew that it was important for me to have fun in my races. He looked at me, while laughing, and said cycling was a different kind of fun. He said after a while I would get this feeling that I had to race again. I thought he was crazy when he told me this. In my race there were only three participants. So I asked Andrew, even though I didn’t finish, since there were only three of us, would I actually place 3rd? He told me yes. As I was standing on the podium, I thought to myself, I can’t wait until the Sunny King Criterium that next weekend.
Sunny King was a great experience. The pros from Team Colavita rode two laps with us and gave us coaching and encouragement as we raced. Although I got lapped during the race, I actually finished and didn’t come in last. I did better in this race than I did in my first, and that made me happy.
May 2011
The time for the Roswell Criterium had finally arrived. Up until this point, only Andrew had seen me race, and I had been lapped in both races. I set a goal for Roswell: I wanted to finish with the field.
Four days before the Roswell Crit, I fell playing hockey. When I woke up the next morning I couldn’t raise my hand above my shoulder, and it hurt every time I moved it. I had spent 5 months training for Roswell and now I couldn’t race. Sadly, I let everyone who was planning on coming to see me race know that I would not be racing.
When I woke up Saturday morning my shoulder felt much better. I texted Andrew and asked him if he I could harm my shoulder if I raced on Sunday. His response? Only if I crashed. That wasn’t the first time he told me that, which always instilled a lot of confidence in my riding ability. He told me if I was going to race I needed to get out on the road and make sure the vibrations in the road would not bother my shoulder. I spent two hours deciding if I was going to give it a try. I thought to myself, I had nothing to lose by going out for a ride by myself, so off I went. During the ride my shoulder hurt a little, but it was bearable.
Sunday morning I woke up and decided I was going to race. I texted Andrew to let him know. I didn’t want anyone to come see me since I was racing hurt. As I was waiting for the group before me to exit the race course, my shoulder began to hurt again. I thought about not racing, but I had already paid the race fee so I thought I would give it a try. I told myself, if it still hurt after one lap, I could quit. Once the whistle blew to begin the race, I never felt my shoulder again. And to my surprise, I had my best race to date. I held with the field for the entire race, and even passed three people on the sprint to the finish line.
The next weekend I raced yet again and the following weekend I had my first tri of the season, Iron Girl. For my tri I had two goals: finish the bike in less than an hour and beat Wendy, my training partner. Wendy is a slightly stronger swimmer than I, a much better runner, and better in the transitions, but I am the stronger cyclist. I had calculated if I came out of the water within one minute of Wendy, and beat her by about 10 minutes on the cycle, then I could pull it off.
We started the race next to each other. I stayed with her for about the first 25 meters of the swim, but then I lost track of her. I continued to swim at my pace. As I was exiting the swim, to my surprise, I saw Wendy 10 feet in front of me. Wendy made it out of the transition much faster than I did, but I was about to be in my element. I love the bike portion of a tri because I get to pass people, and I love to pass. I had a good bike, and finished in just under an hour. I had accomplished my first goal. I started the run slow, and didn’t improve much as I continued. At this point I had conflicting thoughts. I wanted Wendy to do well and catch me; after all she is a good friend and I want the best for my friends. But I also wanted to beat her. In the end, I triumphed and finished a couple of minutes ahead of her.
When the Iron Girl volunteer handed me my results, I first looked at my bike time. I finished in just over 59 minutes, but it was still less than an hour. Then I saw my overall result at the bottom of the sheet. It said I came in 10th place in my age group. I looked at the sheet again; I couldn’t have come in 10th. I told Wendy I came in 10th, still not believing it. But it was real. Out of 255 participants in my age group, I was 10th.
June, 2011
The Iron Girl was my 5th race in 7 weeks; I needed a break so I took off the month of June off from racing and cut back on my training. In mid-June, Lady Thrasher hockey ended for the season and my rec hockey league started a six week break. I slowed down on the bike, and got in a couple of long rides with friends. I also started spending more time in the pool. I was beginning to enjoy swimming.
One morning Dave, one of the guys in Master’s Swim, threw this crazy idea out that we should all swim a 5K race. Excitement built about the race, and before I knew it, I had signed up. It was only after I signed up that Wendy sent me the link to last year’s results. Over long distances, I average a pace of 2:15 for 100 meters. That puts me at about 1 hour, 53 minutes for a 5k. The top female finished last year in just over 53 minutes and all but one person finished in less than 1 hour, 35 minutes. My race is this weekend and I have come to terms that I will probably be the last one out of the water. But I am competitive.
July 2011
One night I was perusing the USAT website. I have a friend trying to qualify for Age Group Nationals and I was curious to know just what he had to do to qualify. He is racing in a special qualifying race and needs to finish in the top third in his age group. Right below that, I saw that another way to qualify was to finish in the top 10% of any USAT sanctioned triathlon. My Iron Girl finish immediately came to mind. I had finished 10th out of 255, which was clearly in the top 10%. I knew that I needed a USAT license to participate in Iron Girl; did that make it USAT sanctioned? One would think so, but I needed to be sure. After a quick search on the internet I verified it was USAT Sanctioned. I had qualified for USAT Age Group Nationals
The next day I told everyone I knew that I qualified, even though I didn’t plan on going. For me, just qualifying was a huge accomplishment. I only planned on going if my friend qualified, and I don’t have confidence that he will. But then I started dreaming about racing at Nationals. I knew that I would never finish strong, but there was something exciting about competing with the best of the best. I started looking into what it would take to get me and my bike to Burlington, VT.
As each day passed, I began thinking more and more about going. I kept telling people that I wasn’t going to go, but one day, I found myself asking for the time off from work. Then I printed off the course maps and started studying them. I even put together a training plan. Then last night, I registered.
Less than 2 years ago I had never run mile; now I’m going to Nationals!
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