Thursday, December 09, 2010

Battle of the Bulge

"You don't look like them." That's what my dad kept saying to me at Dave's FullRev race this past September. And by "them" my dad meant triathletes. Yes it's true, triathletes and runners look nothing alike. Triathletes are what I call triangle people--broader shoulders, smaller waists. Triathletes tend to be taller, and muscular, and a little less concerned about bulk. Runners, on the other hand, are what I call rectangles--everything is proportional. Runners are a little shorter (or in my case, way shorter), super lean, and almost too skinny, like emaciated-skinny.

I most definitely have always been a rectangle:

Nice picture!


But now that I've moved primarily to triathlon (except for that marathon I'm doing in March) I'm trying to transition my body to be more triangular. Now, I know I'll never be tall (dang it!) so bulking up has always scared me. Being that I'm 5'1", every pound that's added on, shows in all the wrong areas. So this time around I'm trying to build lean muscle while not putting on any extraneous weight. I've been tracking my body fat and my weight along with my calories and nutrition. Since my first big race of the season is a marathon, I'm trying to drop a little bit of weight but I'm also trying to bulk up my arms (swimming) and legs (biking). I'm hoping by the time the BIG race of the year rolls around I'm going to look like a solid triangle (and hopefully with abs like Michelle)

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hmm, I'm battling the bulge right now but I think I'm more round at the moment than rectangular . . . But I guess I do have the more triangle shape when I'm actually in shape!

Unknown said...

You sre too funny! Right now I'm kind of oval shaped... blah!

You are going about it all the right way though Meredith - and since you can compete with the triangles, you keep rocking that retangular world if it works for you! :)

Molly said...

I think the beauty of triathlon is that you see soooo many different body types out there! Keep up the good work and I'm sure you'll be fine :-)

Shannon (IronTexasMommy) said...

I'm a tall triangle, but I'm sure you'd pass me on the run portion of a triathlon. :) You're a great athlete, regardless! Keep it up!

Joel said...

I look like a triangle. The only problem is that it's upside down. ;-) So, in light of that, a rectangle is an improvement!

Unknown said...

yes michelle.. where do you get those abs! 1. don't worry about the scale so much... muscle weighs more than fat. If you gain muscle and lose fat.. you'll still gain weight! :D I hit the weights hard last winter/spring. Weight stayed same, but fat dropped and muscle gained... good luck and have fun, but as others have mentioned... takes all types! ;)

Anonymous said...

I don't have that look either; when I went in to get work on my IT band, the doc actually told me my legs had too much muscle for funning, and that's why I got injured... BUT... Look at Samantha McGlone (sp?) compared to Wellington; there's no "type"

Unknown said...

I enjoyed reading this post. It reminded me of the time my coach told me that I looked like the best gymnast until I actually moved...He meant that I had the right figure for it, but I just wasn't good at it. I sort of feel the same with tris at this point...I have the build, but that is just left over for gymnastics. I need to figure out how to better make it work for me. So, I think everyone gets a bit frustrated with themselves some times. Don't get too stressed out on your shape!