To Athena, or Not to Athena...

[Veronica]

2400 calories sounds like a lot to me. In March I weighed 156 at 5'5", so not that different from you. I'm down to 145 now. I eat between 1500 - 1600 calories a day and I'm training for a HIM on that.

A nutritionist sounds like a good idea. I honestly thought I was eating pretty healthy until I talked to mine.

Veronica

[tribogota]

Good thread, I have been thinking about this for awhile. Last year I dared a good friend of mine who is 5"7" and over 200, probably 220-240 to do a triathlon with me, she chose the location, I would meet her there. She raced athena, but watching the athena race seemed utterly unfair to me, all sorts of fit women who are tall and muscular fit into the category. A model about 5'10" and not at all struggling with overweight, and women who were, at the most "robust", but certainly not fat, and most certainly with nice muscular "big" bodies. It just seemed utterly unfair to me, here are these women, who mostly don't even go do triathlon because it means being in the public eye with their bodies half naked (she felt pretty humiliated and really needed to talk to herself when she saw the other athenas) , and yet they are competing against really fit women. I certainly hope I don't get raked over the coal for this, but it seems to me it does take a medal away from someone who has really struggled, not to undermine what it takes to do a tri for the non overweight.

[teigyr]

There are races that have different categories of "Athena". I haven't seen it in a tri, granted, but I have in a marathon. Portland Marathon actually has Athena groups by weight and they weigh you at the expo. It's a bit humiliating but it keeps things honest.

A lighter person will generally do better than a heavier one. Look at the elites, they have almost no body fat. I think Athena shouldn't be a substitution for out of shape but I see it as a "normal" category as opposed to the really really good people. I did do a tri once where I saw an awful lot of "professional Athena" looking sorts...and they did expect to win.

I'd say if you can race Athena, go for it. If you're over that 150 lbs, you're at a deficit. I wish there was another category, like ultra-Athena? Something...because I can also relate to those people who have never done a tri or who are substantially heavier. I know how intimidating it is to be new and feel awkward and feel out of place.

I know that I will race Athena when the option is there. It's not like I want to take an award away from someone else but I also know that I will never see an age group award for my age group unless I'm 80 and improve a LOT

[Tri Girl]

I also know that I will never see an age group award for my age group unless I'm 80 and improve a LOT

That's my motto: "Outlive them all."
I figure I'll start placing in my late 60's early 70's if I can still maintain my current paces.

[KSH]

You make that sound so easy. Base of 1400 calories + half of what you burn exercising everyday. That seems like a logical and easy to manage formula. It's the sucking it up and doing it part I have trouble with.


Roxy

I will say it was NOT easy. It was hard. I was so... miserable... yeah, that's the word. I was hungry, light headed, dizzy, and felt pretty bad most of the day. I dropped the weight, but it wasn't fun getting there.

Not to mention I couldn't eat out with the boyfriend on the weekends (no self control when I eat out), or go to happy hours (oh yeah, it's a party drinking diet coke), etc.

So it wasn't easy. It is work. Unfortunately!

[colby]

That's my motto: "Outlive them all."
I figure I'll start placing in my late 60's early 70's if I can still maintain my current paces.

Haha, I told someone that about Ironman when they asked me about going to Kona: maybe when I'm 60. I guess at least being a woman, I've got 2/3 fewer people to worry about compared to the dudes out there. So maybe I'll make it when I'm 55 (this is where my husband rolls his eyes at me about doing Ironman for 25 more years).

Maybe there should be an optional first-timers category like there is Athena, though you still run into the same problem with the ultra-fit people. A lot of first-timers have real nervousness getting into the water and it might be helpful for them to start in a wave with people like themselves. Or, it could be a disaster, I guess. Also doesn't help the perennial fatties like myself who are only a first-timer once but an Athena every time, and still not ultra-athletes.

(I did lose 1.5 lbs in the last 2 weeks though.... I'll believe it when it gets to 5 or 10, as 1.5 lbs is within the margin of error. This is on top of not gaining back half of my Ironman weight, so I am overall down about 7 lbs from before I did Ironman, when I was at my max of 162. So, now I'm "stuck" at 155, so it's pretty safe to race Athena in 10 days and not feel like a TOTAL jerk.)

[tribogota]

Oh shoot, I am gonna have to compete with you all when we are 60, I too have said, no ironmans until then. Maybe for my 60th birthday....but I too hoped to be in the top 3, according to this thread, I may place out of that already....

[colby]

Well, Athena it is. The race is this Sunday, we'll see how it goes. They lengthened the bike ride from 10.5 to 12 miles (otherwise it's a shorter swim/run than normal, 1/3 mile and 3 miles), but it is pretty flat and I know it well - though I think I'm going to ride it tomorrow just to get perspective. No way am I stressing over a wetsuit for 1/3 mile swim, though I am considering trying a short-leg sleeveless suit to see how it feels for shorter swims (still not sure it'll be worth the time to take it off).