The Adventures of Fat Yip

It’s 10AM. I’m at my cubicle. I’m starving and already finished my 1oz of cashew nuts. There are a thousand delicious bagels in our break room, a gift from one of our vendors. We also have our company holiday pot luck today too which means there will be like 50 dishes and deserts for everyone to feast on. I’ll be that guy microwaving my steak and bok choy and walking back to my desk to eat and watch something on HuluPlus. It’s already a rough morning BUT it is almost CHRISTMAS and you can tell because I’d say 50% of my company is already on vacation. It’s quiet but kind of nice too. Today would be a lot more rough if it weren’t for an awesome Day 17 yesterday!

Day 17

Breakfast, Lunch, BUY A ROAD BIKE, Workout, Dinner.

So as many of you know, I competed in my first Olympic distance triathlon at Pacific Grove in September. It involved about 2-3 months of hard training mostly in the gym since a) I didn’t want to swim in the cold ass Bay and b) I didn’t have a road bike yet. I managed to borrow my friend Laurie’s bike for the 2 weeks before my race and got about 20 miles on it before the 24.85 miles I’d have to do during the race which is also AFTER the 0.93 mile swim and before the 6.21 mile run. It was tough but it definitely helped that I did the Spring Sprint Tri in May with my brothers down in San Diego. That was a LOT easier since it was sunny in the high 70’s with much shorter distances (1/4 mi swim, 9 mi bike, 3 mi run).

Anyways, I’ve been talking about buying a road bike for almost 9 months now and finally pulled the trigger yesterday after work. I took the advice of my friends and scoured craigslist daily being as patient as possible until something perfect came up.

The bike I got was a 2001 Trek 2200. It is a bit older but only one owner who only put 4,000 miles on it, which isn’t a lot for 10 years. No crashes, just minor scuffs from it falling over or from moving it around. It is a hollow aluminum frame with a carbon fork and is also equipped with Shimano 105s. Came with a pump and also wireless computer too. CHECK OUT MY NEW WHEELS!

I’m always very sketched out when meeting people from craigslist for expensive items when they say bring cash but we met at the Dublin/Pleasonton BART station where there were hundreds of people around. I also got there as early as I could so it wasn’t at night time too. He ended up being a really nice older guy who brought his new full carbon bike with him too, along with his teenage son. We rode around together in the parking lot for about 10 mins and talked about the bike and I was sold. Shifting gears on it felt like hot butter and it just felt so natural and perfect for me.

Now I finally have my own road bike to start going on long rides on the weekends and to train hard for my upcoming 2012 tris. Right now I’m only registered for the Golden Gate Tri in late June. I am still figuring out if I’m going to do the Spring Sprint Tri again with my brothers or try the Avia Wildflower Tri with my friends. They both fall on the first weekend of May. The sprint was supposed to be a new annual tradition with my brothers but my brother Steve is a doctor now up in Portland and can’t commit to it yet. The Avia Wildflower is on it’s 30th year and is the Coachella of triathlons. It’s also one of the most difficult olympic distance tris to do because of the course and the heat. It’s a tough decision but I’ll decide within the next couple of weeks.

If both of these go well and I’m up for it, then I might try to do the Big Kahuna Long Course Tri (HALF IRONMAN!). It’s in September and held in Santa Cruz so I’ll definitely have some time to train after the GG tri with a half-marathon or two.

Future of Fat Yip

It’s kind of crazy that  I’m currently on Day 18 of my adventure and I guess almost done. I started off thinking it was going to be 19 days only but I think a modified version of this will be lasting for another week or two. I decided though that I really enjoy blogging and writing every day for you guys. So after I’m done with this endeavor I’m going to continue writing about new and healthy foods that I’m going to cook a few times a week and also about my life training for these triathlons and the ultimate goal of doing a Half Ironman. I think it’s going to be tons of fun and I hope all of you will enjoy it! In the meantime here are my weigh-in results after Day 17 last night.

Day 17 (12/20) – 167.6lb/13.6%

Yeah, I kick ass.

-Fat Yip