Run, Baby! Run!! - My Quest to prepare for a Triathlon...while nearly 300 lbs

It's been a little bit more than a month, and I'm fully enmeshed in my endeavor to prepare for a Sprint Traithlon at the end of September.  Some things I've tried have been met with success, and others...well....not so much.

For those who don't know, a Sprint Triathlon consists of the following distances:

3.1 mile run
400-500 yards of swimming
12-15 miles of cycling.


I'm still walking.  I am now up to walking as much as 7 miles per day when I hit the trails and I've spent the last month working purely on endurance. When I started, I couldn't even walk for more than 12 minutes before I was a sweaty mess.

Now I'm somewhere around 2 - 2 1/2 hours. It's not been without it's difficulties though.  I'm still struggling with blisters galore, as well as foot pain because I am so heavy.

One of the things I did to deal with the foot pain, was to begin using gel insoles.  These have been heaven sent.  Before the insoles, I could walk about an hour, and then the balls and outsides of my feet hurt too much, and my calf muscles began to hurt because I was compensating for the foot pain.  I received some gel insoles as testers, and have found myself transferring them from one set of shoes to the next because they're so comfortable.
 I was dubious at first, but when I trimmed them down and put them in my shoes, there was no question these were awesome.  Plus, they help (but not completely fix) how much I walk on the outside of my feet because of the arch support. Grade: A

Another thing I tried were infared knee Support sleeves.  These were extra long sleeves that go over the legs and reached from mid-thigh to mid shin.  The premace of these was to create a weak electrical current that aids in the regeneration and repair of your joints, etc but doesn't add extra heat to the knees.

Maybe I shouldn't have tempted fate and used these in the middle of summer, but I did.  And I can tell you they are heavy duty, and not very breathable, which equated into hot sweaty legs.  They had great compression though and I think I will give them a try again in the fall to give them another chance.  Grade: B (though I reserve the right to change the grade at a later date)

Two hours is a long time to be stuck with your thoughts, even when you're in the process of writing your book. Plus, I am using the MyFitnessPal Ap to track my diet, exercise, water intake, steps, etc.  So I can't just leave my phone behind when I go for a walk ( I accrued 17,419 steps on the 9th after 7 miles!!! - that's 1,276 calories, baby!).  So, I tried an Iphone Sports Band.  The one I tested was made entirely of neoprene, which was nice. Other bands I've tried in the past had a thick piece of elastic, which wound up bunching and pinching the skin on my arm.  This one I tried was neoprene, was big enough for my XLG arms (MAJOR BONUS!), had a slot for my keys and ID, a hole to stick the earphone chord into the bottom of the Iphone, and the phone slid easily in and out of the case (another huge bonus because I kept getting freaking phone calls on my walk.  Hey! I'm walkin' here! Quit bothering me ;)  Plus, I also discovered that I was able to use the touchscreen through the plastic covering the phone.  The only problem I had with the band was that I couldn't figure out how to access my stupid itunes! (I have officially become my parents).  So, I had a phone, it was perfectly placed on my arm, and I couldn't get the music to play.  Gah.  My 15-year-old son came to my rescue and graciously offered to take the sports band off my hands and use it for himself when he mowed our lawn.  Note:  He didn't offer to show me how to access the music.  He wanted the friggin' band.  I agreed, thinking there was no way it would fit his arm if it fit mine.  Well, it did.  And now he's a proud owner of an arm band that he uses all the time. Meh.   Grade: A

That's alright.  I'm not one to stay down when I'm beat.  I quickly transitioned to the Runbaby running belt. The one I got was neon orange with a two-inch elastic waistband and a large plastic clip.  When I requested it for testing, I was sure it would be too small.  But I was pleasantly surprised.  It fit!!.  I knew because of my size and my stomach's lumpiness, it would look awkward on the outside of my shirt, so I put it under my T-shirt, but over a tank top and that baby didn't move.  The orange material is about the same consistency as a high-quality spandex, so when I put my phone, key and ID inside, they were held snuggly and didn't move or jingle around and there was room for a bunch more stuff if I needed it.  Plus, it's pretty low-profile, so you couldn't even tell I had the belt on. (Another bonus!).  This one is a keeper.  I haven't even told anyone I have this one.  I'm totally hiding it.  I'm tired of having all the good stuff taken from me.  But when you're the smallest person in the house (and in my opinion, the nicest), you're a bit lower on the pecking order.

That being said, the other product I've staked my claim, rather adamantly, is my water bottle.  I'd seen the infuser bottles around the internet for several months, and broke down and bought one while at my son's basketball camp in Montana several weeks ago, but it was sorely disappointing.  The one I purchased had the infuser attached to the top of the mug, so only 2/3 of the water was infused, plus the mug was large, but double walled, so it actually only held about 16 oz of liquid,which meant I was constantly refilling the mug.  I gave it another try, though and tested the Fruit Infuser Water Bottle by Live Infinitely.  I can honestly say I'm completely enamored with this water bottle.  

1) It's the size of a normal water bottle, so I only need to refill it 2-3 times per day instead of 2-3 times per hour.
2) The infuser is attached to the bottom so I get the flavor for the entire life of my water.
3) Both the top and the bottom untwist which makes the bottle sooooo easy to clean.  Plus it fits nicely in the top of my dishwasher.

I'd totally rate this bottle an A+.

Now that I'm up to 7 miles of walking, I've decided it's time to begin preparing for the other phases of the triathlon.  Stay tuned for my next blog to see what else I've been doing!

*Each of the products reviewed/mentioned (aside from MyFitness Pal) were received for free or a discount in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion.