It was to the point where my blood pressure and cholesterol were getting out of hand. I had checkups with my doctor; both of those my parents were dealing with. I just decided I needed to start doing something about it.
At the time, I was married. I realized if I wanted to live a long life, I needed to do something about my overall fitness. Nobody in my life said ‘You’re fat and overweight. You need to lose weight.’ It was all internally.
Five years ago, I didn’t know what I was doing. From a weight loss perspective, I knew that I wasn’t eating healthy so I initially started counting calories. I looked at the treadmill and saw how many calories it was guessing I was burning.
I would substitute what I thought were healthy options. I started losing weight just because I went from being very inactive and eating junk to eating healthier options. The whole thing has evolved.
Then, I realized I needed to do better so I went to the low-fat, no-fat options. I cut out the high fructose corn syrup and the processed foods and made the move to organic and locally sourced items. I’m trying to stick to that—eating the grass-fed meats and poultry items out there.
I would say I train on average anywhere from, at this point in the schedule, 15-18 hours a week of just training for the race. That doesn’t include yoga or strength training. It’s just strictly looking at the swim/bike/run. It’s definitely ramped up.
I do a lot of two-a-days; getting up a 4:30 in the morning and working out before work. Then, squeezing something in at lunch or going and doing something after work.
My best discipline is biking. I have a football player’s body; big broad shoulders, which people would say are designed for swimming, but I have lineman’s legs.