About Brad
This is my fitness blog. Some people who knew me a long time ago may wonder, what the heck I’m doing writing a blog about fitness. Many of them wouldn’t imagine that I’d have anything to do with fitness. You see, up until age 34, I treated my body very poorly. I sat around at home, at work, at play. I ate junk food and lots of it. And the result was what you’d expect 5′4″ and 200 lbs with 36% body fat.
Then I decided to get healthy. I lost 50 lbs in 3 months. How? By working out 5 days a week 45-90min a day; and eating only 1200-1500 calories a day. Yes, it was extreme… and probably destined to start me on a yo-yo of weight gain and loss. But in the last three years I’ve kept it off.
The last two years I’ve really gotten into cycling, running, and triathlon. I have averaged over 5000 miles per year on my bike in the last couple years. The summer of 2006 I completed my first Ironman Triathlon. I came in 13th place overall, 4th in my age group.
My typical weight is now around 140lbs. And I’ve had my body fat tested at around 19%. This past summer I got down to around 135lbs, and I’d like to be at that weight with more core muscle strength.
My big goal for 2007 was to do the same Ironman, but 90mins faster. This was a crazy goal, and required running a 3:30 or less marathon (after already swimming 2.4 miles and cycling 112miles). I had also hoped to qualify for the 2008 Boston Marathon, which would require that I run a 3:15 solo marathon (without the 2.4 mile swim and 112mile bike ride… 
) I worked hard on these goals, and had a great Injury free year. But alas, I came up short of both of my time goals.
For 2008 I’m tempted to signup to try it all again. I will do another Ironman, and several marathons. I know I need to build my running base if I’m going to achieve these goals.
Wish me Luck!
So this is what you’ve been up to…
Tess and I have been revising our lives a bit, and have incorporated some different physical activities into our daily routines. It’s not triathalons, but it does keep us fit, and has improved our BMI by quite a bit (oh, and I reduced my resting heart rate from 60ish to 50). Lots of kettle ball swings, rowing, body-weight squats, etc, etc. Our instructor’s website is www.scoreperformance.com, and his name is Dave Young. I’m going to point him to this website as well, the base notions are similar.
Stay well!
Dave Hardwick
ZappoMan
Thanks for the interest. I just started using this site and was surprised at the rapid interest. You have quite the story and I notice you have two little girls also. Kids help give us a reason to stay active. Good luck on qualifying for Boston and I hope to see you up there this spring. I respect people who compete in ironmen… the full ironman has to be one of the toughest things in all of sport. Thanks for the support and good luck with your training.
yea i have done 2 sprints and placed in an olympic tri and my goal is to qualify for kona so i have a lot training ahead and can’t wait. I just need to pick a half and a full ironman and get a training plan. I am also running a half marathon in january to try and qualify for boston marathon but ill go into more depth on my blog though when i have time to. Good luck with your marathon.
Dan
Nice to meet you, el ZappoMan! Thanks for welcoming me to sweat365. You have an inspiring blog, for sure.
~Cheers
Brad,
Thanks for the welcome! I road cycle. The goal of 5,000 miles will also include time I put on my rollers in the basement as I live in North NJ and yesterday it was a high of 15 deg F. I cycle on average of 16 MPH on the road so will use that as a benchmark.
I belong to a road cycling club here in NJ and am also doing the 5,000 mile challenge with a vertual cycling team from over on 43things.com
CJ
Brad, thanks for the visit. I’m still trying to figure out how to use this site, but I’m loving it so far. I thought I might be able to “friend” you, but since you left a comment on my page I should be able to find you again and see how you’re doing
And about that 50 miler — hopefully you’ll see the training plan come together. I have a rough plan designed, based on quick and dirty research:
Bike 4 x wk (varying duration, 1 interval ride/wk),
and to cross-train and (hopefully) protect my back and knees;
physical therapy 6 x wk,
resistance 2 x wk,
core strength 3 x wk,
swim 2 x wk.
I may just invest in a pre-set plan in a few weeks though, since the idea of being my own expert is pretty intimidating to me.
Wow I just read your detailed profile and I am thoroughly inspired. Thanks for commenting me right off the bat. I’m glad to have a sweat365 friend already.
thanks for the comment! the picture’s a bit distorted on the header, but it still turned out ok. anyway, just trying this site out, needed a better way to keep track of my workouts and, hell, it gives me something to do while sitting in my last term of grad school. anyway, props on the ironman, that’s quite in accomplishment - and good luck with all your goals this year!
cheers!
hi, thanks. i’ve not been into it long, only a couple of months now but really enjoying it. the trainer mixes in some cardio work so its a good workout, useful and gves me confidence so all good really!
Thanks for the welcome. It is nice to chat with someone with such an inspirational story right off the bat. I myself admit to succumbing to a bit of the couch potato junk food junkie in the last few months. More than anything else I am hoping that the running will help me to get my energy back. I did run a 5K last year but my time wasn’t that great since I hadn’t trained much before hand.
Congratulations on all that you have achieved and good luck on your goals this year!
Thank you for welcoming me to this site! The support is encouraging. I am inspired by your story and have more determination now to stay with my fitness goals.
GO BRAD!
Hey thanks! I have a couple of things lined up for the next few months. I’m going to do the st. patricks 10K on the 15th of march, the carlsbad 5000 on april 6th, and I go to cal state san marcos and they are having a 5K may 8th. What are your plans?
Hi! Your story is amazing. I have been running for about 1 year now. I used to swim for 7 years, so I like triathalons. There is a specific half-marathon in April that I am doing, its a trial run. So I’ve made a plan to train for the half-marathon and also some triathalons in the summer. Biking is what I need to work on the most, but I love to run and swim, so I tend to focus on those more. I haven’t been able to run outdoors for a while, because it has been snowy. So I am planning on running 3 miles today, even though its cold. I don’t think it will be too bad, but I need to start training today! Do you have any events coming up?
Wow - your story truly is awesome.
I’m so glad you’re leaving me comments - the motivation is great!
Brad, WOW!!! What an inspiration you are!! The running is hard, I’m not going to lie but, it’s worth it, I have seen such a HUGE change in my body. I just started running 4 weeks ago and I haven’t stopped!
I have been weight training as well. The ironman is awesome!!!!!
Thanks for commenting, and any training plan advice is welcome.
I have no idea yet. I want to do one internationally for a cause if at all possible. All I know is I’m gonna do it. Thanks for the comment though. I read your story and its good to hear that I’m not the only person that didn’t grow up all athletic and sporty and am just now starting to take good care of myself. Its inspiring. Thanks for the support…cute kids
Thank you for welcoming me to the site! I have been running off and on for the past few years, nothing serious. I decided this year to get serious about it and compete in a 15 K race. My husand is an avid biker and competes in races, and one of his races has a run associated with it, so I thought that would be a good goal to reach for! Good luck with all that you are doing!!
Brad, you have quite the story yourself. I like to hear stories about the average “joe” who decides it’s time to make a change. I think the older we get, the more we realize we can’t just keep sitting around doing nothing. I never was really into athletics when I was younger. I was just a tall, skinny “stick” … no shape. I’ve always been an outdoors person though. I love hiking, camping, working out in the yard. When I hit my 40’s I decided it was time to get some “shape”. Now I love working out. I work out 5 days a week, mixing weights, cardio, swimming, etc. I wish I would have done this years ago. I feel great !!!!!
Hi Brad - I have never run a triathlon before so I’m starting out small and beginning with a sprint triathlon in mid-September. Your story reads similar to mine. Two years ago I weighed 178lbs. and I’m only 5′4 but something inspired me and I began working out 6 days a week, 1-2 hours a day and I ate healthy with smaller portions. Today I am currently 138lbs and I maintain my weight by running and biking. I have just begun to train for this triathlon and I feel my greatest weakness will be the swimming. I am confident though that I can reach my initial goal. It has helped to read your story and definitely gives me inspiration. Good luck with your goals!
Thanks, Brad, for the warm welcome. I enjoyed reading about your goals and they are very inspiring. Best wishes to you! I am awed by anyone who can do the Ironman!
I empathize with your weight gain. Two bad marriages, two kids and pour self-esteem helped me balloon up to 300 lbs. I’ve dropped 10 of it so far, but have a long way to go. I wish you lots of love in achieving your goals, and hope even more that you enjoy the trip. Friendship.
Thanks for the welcome. I am training to run in the Country Music half-marathon. I haven’t picked a full marathon to run yet. The training is going but not so great. Last year I was more determined to run the 1/2 marathon and had planned to run a full marathon a few months later, however, I had an injury and had to stop training and take it easy. I’m trying to get the same motivation I had last year, but I’m struggling. Any advice for an amateur?
Brad thanks for your comment back on Mar 8. I found this web site and signed up but did not get started until Easter. I am trying to train for a sprint. The only problem is that I have not been able to find one in my area (found one but does not allow mountain bikes). I work 12 - 14 hour days so it is hard to get into a workout program. I am not sure if this is how I am supposed to respond am still new and haven’t quite figured out this blog thing..
Hi Brad! Thanks for the nice, welcoming comments. I’m really looking forward to pushing myself toward my goals this year. Congratulations on the Ironman! Your story is inspiring, and it reminds me that the human strength –mind AND muscle– is undeniable. I’d love to keep up with your progress — best of luck with everything!
Hi Brad, thanks for the welcome! Your story helps me believe I can take my fitness to the next level and actually reach my goals. I have two young girls as well and when they grow up I want them to be able to say their mom inspired them to stay in shape and lead a healthy lifestyle!
Hey Brad..you left a comment on my blog the first day I opened it. You asked about more info on the Carlsbad 5000. I was a bit thrown off by such an immediate comment and deleted it. Sorry. Now that I’m a little more familiar with the site I wanted to formally says thanks. Happy excercising!
Just wanted to tell you and Phil thank you for this site! As being very new to the athletic world I think it is going to be great help to me!
Pam
Had a chance to read your profile, and WOW what a story. Very hard competitions you tried for..but the fact of the matter remains that you DID it. Congrats and good luck on future achievements and for next years goals.
Hey- I just read that you were interested in running the Boston Marathon. It holds a special place in my heart for two reasons.Mainly, I went to school in Wellesly….I am rooting for you. Cheers!
wow! thanks for your kind words and welcoming on my blog. i am new to all of this. i was a fit kid turned into a fat adult. yuck! i have lost a ton of weight and am training for a tri. the first one im doing is a small one at the beach in florida. i am hoping to do a few more by the time the season is over! i never thought i wanted to marathon but i just watched the boston marathon special on NOVA and now i think i want to run one! congratulations on all your accomplishments, especially the ironman, and maybe ill see you in boston next year! haha
Thanks for the comment. I have always been in shape but have never worked out. I noticed it becoming a lot tougher at about 32 and started gaining some weight. I like to swim and cycle and I am hoping to one day enjoy running (not at the moment however. I am goal oriented so I decided to pick a triathlon sprint in about 6 months to work towards. I just started on Saturday the April 18th and just returned from my 3rd bicycle ride. I am riding about 5 miles this week increasing to 8 next week and hoping to be around 10 in week three. I have looked at the training materials on the site and will be using them (especially the running part) once I get my cardio to a comfortable level. I haven’t had a chance to play around with the other areas yet.
Thanks for the incentive. I am looking forward to my first event!
Thanks for the encouragement! That is why I like this place! I am excited and don’t want to get down on myself and if I come here and have people who support me on the bad days it is just that much better! SO Thank you!
oh and I decided on which marathon I am going to do. My sister and I are going to be doing the Las Vegas Marathon in December!
Thanks so much for the welcome to this community. I am indeed training for my first triathlon. I figured I would start with a sprint, and see how I do. I’m going to do the one on Belle Isle in Michigan. I am also planning on doing the MS Bike Tour in MI in Grand Rapids. I have done it for a couple years, so I know I can bike. But any pointers on the other two aspects of the triathlon would be greatly beneficial. I’m signed up for the 10K in Grand Rapids and am thinking about doing the 10 mike Crim. After that, I’m not sure if I want to go big and try to train for the marathon, or do the 1/2 in Detroit. We’ll see what happens.
Brad,
Thanks for the info. on the NOVA series. I watched it last week - VERY inspiring for me, (although seeing that the participant’s overall body shape/size did not change with all of that training is not very inspiring! ; ^ )
Thanks again!
AWESOME!! You sound like a truely driven individual!! Thanks for the comment on my page. And yes, as a PE Teacher I do try to encourage ALL of my students to be as athletic as they can be. I tell them that they don’t have to be a basketball, football, soccer, volleyball, or any other sports’ top athlete to stay in shape. Simply working out a few days a week, and eating a little less at meal time..and a lot less fast food can make them healthier individuals.
We discuss all aspects of Health and Personal Fitness. I try to explain to them that they don’t have to go to extremes to be healthy. I’m sure you HATED PE when you were in school….and today that is more and more the case with kids….all they want to do is try to sneak & sit down every chance they get. Just last week we had an activity day for our Freshman class (1/2 a day outside), I’m a Freshman advisor so I was able to help & be out there with my kids. You should’ve heard some of the complaints….and all I could think was, if I were in their shoes I’d be loving it!! Play for 1/2 of the day….no class….HELLO!!
I just get so discouraged about where our country is headed (health-wise)..but when I hear stories like yours I see hope….like maybe some of these kids will one day remember what they learned in my class and turn things around….Sorry for the book….Sometimes I can’t help myself when I start talking about this issue….I truely love my job!! I can’t wait to get up & get started in the mornings!! But more and more, it’s looked at as an unimportant class….& I really feel that my job is imortant….even if the government doesn’t….I’m super proud of you for turning your health around they way that you have!! In today’s society, it’s amazing to see someone (other than health professionals - and sometimes not even them) that cares about their body….it’s so rare these days. GREAT JOB MAN!!!!
Heya Brad– Wow congrats on the path to fitness. Last time I saw you (& JeffA) was on ChillyHilly. I can’t believe you’ve taken it further. I’m not sure I’ll do tri’s again but as an avid cyclist I really admire you’re tenacity to push it to the limit. Boy I’m sure the guys at Real will be amazed but also wide eyed on the dramatic difference on what you’ve been doing and have changed. Hope to see out on the road and keep the rubber side down! -r
Thank for the tip brad I will look up those books.
Thanks for the welcome. I’m just getting started, with a vague aim of doing a half-marathon in a year or so. But really just trying to get fit! Best Regards…
Hey Brad,
Thanks for putting my post on the top of the Sweat365 home page - wow, was I surprised to see it there, and very honored!
I told my kids that I am famous blogger now (ha ha).
Enjoy the weekend!
Hi Brad,
Wow, I am impressed and inspired. Thanks for your good words on my tiny starter-blog.
Beautiful daughters!
Thanks for the comments and welcoming me to the community. I’m inspired by your path towards achieving your goals!
I’ll keep posted to your achievements!
Hey Brad, I too was a fat kid. I am 41 and did my first sprint tri in May. Man I had a blast but cramped up at the beginning of the run. Got past that to finish my first goal. I am going to do a ten mile run called ten for Texas later this year and one more sprint tri. I hope to do an olympic distance along with the sprints next year with a goal of a half ironman later and an eventual goal of a full. My question is do you have any nutrition tips for me that I may be able to use. This seems to be my biggest foe. Thanks, Kevin
Hey Kevin, Congrats on your recent triathlon! Isn’t it a great sport!
As for nutrition… I’ll drop you a note on your blog.
Thanks Brad. My distances are sprint for now, Olympic in the near future, and IM in the next couple of years.
Thanks for the welcome. I’m just testing out the training blog thing. I used a paper calendar/journal last year, more as a record to myself, as in “see, you did it.” Inspiring story. That’s what fitness is all about.
Thank you for showing interest. I kmnow that my goals are minute compared to the goals that you achieve, but I think the passion is still there. You have an awesome story that I think gives hope to a lot of people, and they can relate to you. I hope your 2008 season is a success and wish you the best of luck.
Hey! Thank you so much for the comment! It was so nice hear from someone on here!
I used to live in WA, in Bremerton actually! I wasn’t fond of Bremerton, but Seattle is great! It’s such a big city with a very small town feel!
So you left me a comment forever ago and I havn’t been on. Yea I take a tri swiming class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I grew up doing swim team and love team practices, its way more fun then swimming alone. Plus Micheal really pushes me! Good luck training!
Hey Brad I’m not very computer savy. I’ve been leaving posts on 365 and they just disappear, so I never get any feed back on any thing. I tried to leave a post about this problem but it too disappeared. I tried saving, save and continue editing, and publish. Any suggestions? Everything else is great, and my workouts are being kept. I just want someone to talk too.
Thanks Brad for your comments on the kayaking.
Just got a call this morning - they felt bad about what happened and they are booking us on the same trip for Aug 2nd that we were supposed to do - no charge! And there was also no charge for that two hour trip saturday.
I love when that happens!
Thanks for the welcome. I am inspired by your accompilshments and strive to have the same happy ending. As you read I have enlisted the help of a very good and trusted friend to get me going His bootcamp is no easy challenge; but The real reason is we are going to Aruba in Oct. ‘09 and I plan on surprising hubby with new body and renewing our vows. I am doing this for ME, he just reeps the benefits.
Thank you for the post. Your story is really an amazing one. At the age of 22 I am FAT and am willing to admit it and do something about it. I have given myself a few goals including a bunch of 5k races and a half marathon this winter, and a full marathon in 2009. I can not even dream about an Ironman yet, but that would be something of a lifelong accomplishment.
Good luck with your goals!
Enjoyed hearing your story. Fantastic!
Thanks for the comment. I love your profile, so cool! You just convinced me I can run a 1/2 marathon, no problem!
Ha! Keep up the good work, I can see how fitness is so ADDICTING!
I loved hearing your story too! Thanks for your comment on my blog too Brad. I think I am on my way to becoming one of you freaks that keeps track of my times and I think I have been bit by the running bug. I’m running my first 5K at the end of the month and was hoping to run most of it. I was a skinny athletic type growing up and porked out after having my first baby, never taking it off again 14 years later. I started counting calories this week too! Typically I’m into yoga and cycling only, but I added the running and I think I need to do some strength as well. Thanks for your inspiration! I’m lucky I have that one Ironman client. I ran today partly so I could tell him I ran 3 miles! Keep it up…and let me know if you have any tips for me!