Blood work

The results from my blood work came back, and they are MUCH better than my previous physical in 2009.

Here are the highlights:

2009 results:
Cholesterol (Acceptable range 0 - 199 mg/dL):   208 <-- High

Cholesterol, non-HDL (Acceptable range  <=150 mg/dL):   171 <-- High

HDL (Acceptable range  >=40 mg/dL):   37 <-- Low

LDL (Acceptable range <160):   111 <-- Acceptable Range

Triglyceride (Acceptable range  <=149 mg/dL):   302 <--Really High!


2013 results:
Cholesterol:  174 <-- Acceptable Range

Cholesterol, non-HDL:  132 <-- Acceptable Range

HDL:  42 <-- Acceptable Range

LDL:  94 <-- Acceptable Range

Triglyceride:  192 <--Still High, but much better!



My training officially kicks off on Monday, so I'm going to enjoy some Greasy Fried Food until then....
:)


PS: I'll be doing regular weight and body fat updates as well, but seeing as how my scale is somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean on a freighter, that will have to thankfully wait.  Until then, take comfort in the fact that the title of this blog is accurate.

PPS:  I should probably change it to slowfattyironman.com

Step 1: Dr's Clearance

Since I am in my forties now, I thought it would be a good idea to get a physical before I started my IM training.  I went this morning, and am good to go.  Blood results will be back tomorrow or the next day, but otherwise, I'm fine (and so are my testicles, thank you very much Dr. C.).

Now I really have no excuses!

I think I might be crazy

For a few weeks, I've been kicking the idea around of doing a full length Ironman triathlon.  For those of you out there that don't know what that entails, I'll break it down for you.

An Ironman is composed of a 2.4 mile (3.86km) swim, followed by a 112 mile (180.25km) bike ride, and then to top it off a full marathon (26.2 mile (42.2km)) run! Most Ironman events have a strict cut off time, so that means I have to complete all 140.6 miles (226.31km) in 17 hours.

17 hours.

I don't think I could do 140 miles in 2 days, let alone 17 hours.

So, in order to do this, I've decided to hire a coach.  Oh, and not only am I going to do it, I want to do it in under 12 hours.  Yeah, a full five hours faster than the cut off.  If I can average 20 miles an hour, I can do the bike in 5.6 hours.  And if I can run 10 minute miles, that's 4.4 hours for the run.  Which leaves a full 2 hours for the swim and transition times.  If I break it down like that, it almost seems achievable.

Because I'm a giant fat ass, I've decided on a two year training plan, and plan on toeing the line at an IM in 2015.  Along the way, I'll race a 1/2 IM, and probably run a marathon too.

As I mentioned, to help me with this herculean task, with Rock Star Wife's permission, I have decided to hire a coach.  Now, I've never interviewed a coach (or anyone for that matter - I've always been a low-level peon at my paying jobs with no authority whatsoever...just the way I like it), but I think I did a pretty good job picking the one for me.

My future coach, Coach M, is a superstud woman.  She consistently finishes at the top of her age group, has won two slots to Kona (yeah, the IM world championships in Hawai'i), and almost exclusively trains newbies running their first IM.  UH YEAH! SIGN ME UP!

I have created this blog to:
A: Make you, the reader laugh (at my pain?)
B: Keep me accountable (GET OFF YOUR FAT ASS AND DO YOUR WORKOUT!)
C: All of the above.


So join me on this unbelievable goal I've set for myself, and help hold me accountable as well!
Thanks for reading.