New Mexico Olympic weightlifter Barry Schroeder sets records and inspires

When I first started triathlon I was 292 pounds and couldn't swim, bike, or run worth a crap. Heck, I was so out of shape I could barely walk without breaking into a sweat and hyperventilating! Early on in my triathlon career I raced against a couple Clydesdales who were unbelievably fast. Arnold Ceniceros and Brian Pilgim. I was amazed and motivated by them and thier athletic dominance in the Clydesdale division. I used these 2 triathletes to motivate myself. By using these 2 amazing athletes as motivation to transform myself from the obese and sedentary person I had been to a triathlete who lost 117 pounds, qualified for 6 national triathlon championships, 1 national duathlon championship, and 1 world championship (the 70.3 world championships).


Now that I've given up triathlon and picked up Olympic weightlifting I've found another athlete who is equally unbelievable. Barry Schroeder. He's in my age group of 35-39, but he's probably even more impressive at Olympic weightlifting then Arnold and Brian were at triathlon. He has set 6 New Mexico state records in the 35-39 age group, 3 state records in the 85k (169-187 lbs) weight class and 3 in the 105k (206-231 lbs) weight class. Barry is a trainer at CrossFit Sandstorm in Albuquerque NM, and Barry's a beast! 

I've found that my body is not  particularly gifted for Olympic weightlifting, but I have the work ethic, determination, tenacity, and exellent coaching that very few do. And now I have found something- someone- that will fuel me. It's going to take a tremendous amount of time and hard work, but I'm going to out lift him someday. To compete with him will push every one of my physical limitations. I know I'll have to work twice as hard as him to get to where he's at. But once I get something in my mind I never let go.

                                   This is Barry Schroeder

finding a training program that works

A week and a half ago I stopped dieting and working out AGAIN. I feel like a broken record. I realize I need to change some things or this cycle of starting and stopping training will continue repeating itself. I need to start doing what I can and change the things that I cant stay consistant with.

I still love competing in triathlons. I still enjoy running but I currently have issues with cycling, so I started a run focused training program with just enough cycling to be able to finish the bike portion of a triathlon. I wont be as well rounded of a triathlete without a lot of cycling, but training consistently is more important than having a perfect triathlon training program that I dont follow. Now that I've addopted this new training regimine I seriously doubt I'll be finishing races with the caliber of athletes I used to. And I can pretty much garentee I wont be beating Arnold Ceniceros anytime soon;-( But those things aren't the reason I fell in love with triathlon anyways. I love triathlon because I love challenging myself, because of the amazing people I meet at triathlons, triathlon training keeps me healthy, and allows me to keep up with my babies!

I weighed in at 236 this morning.

triathlon fitness: a long way to go

Tonight after laying our three babies down to sleep my wife and I watched a 45 minute TV show on Netflix and I hopped onto the indoor rollers to gain a little extra cycling fitness. I felt this was appropriate since cycling is my weakest sport and it is Arnold's strength. Plus who couldn't use a little extra calorie burn? My average for the workout was much better than it was this morning. Tonight I averaged 12.9 mph, this morning I averaged less than 11. I'm out of shape, but it doesn't matter where I'm at, it just matters where I'm going. And tonight I moved in the right direction.

There aren't many wives who would be OK with their husband riding a bike, breathing heavy, and sweating in the room while she's trying to watch a television show. I'm a very lucky man.

This morning I weighed in at 227 pounds. I'm down 9 and have 27 more to get to my goal weight. 27 pounds is a total of 94,500 calories, but who's counting right?

chasing Arnold day 3

Friday was my first day back to training after having surgery on October 12th. I ran a little over three miles. Considering how little I've trained this year I felt pretty good.

Saturday was a triathlon rest/recovery day for my kids soccer and some time for my wife and I.

This morning I rode my bike for the first time in a VERY long time. I started a little before 7 AM when there was enough ambient light to ride safely. After only a few miles a large truck passed me pulling a horse trailer and I immediately came back home and finished the rest of my workout on my indoor trainer. A little over a year ago I got ran over by a vehicle while cycling, since then I've struggled to ride outdoors near traffic.

I've lost most of my cycling fitness in the last year, so my indoor cycling workout was terrible. My rpms kept slipping below 85 and when I tried to increase my cadence above 85 per minute my heart rate would sky rocket into zone 3. I wrapped up my workout after an hour so that I could get the kids up and ready for church. In that hour of riding the rollers my average pace was less than 12 mph. I have a LONG ways to go until I'm able to accomplish one of my personal goals of beating Arnold Ceniceros, the champion (multiple years) of the Clydesdale open division in South West Challenge series. At the Eagle in the sun triathlon in El Paso Texas in September Arnold Ceniceros swam 400 meters in 8:06, biked 12 miles keeping a whopping 20.2 mile an hour pace, and ran 5 kilometers keeping an average pace of 9:36, he finished in 1 hour 16 mintues. My average race swim and running times are comparable to his, but I've only had a few races in my life that I was that fast on the bike, and I'm no where near average right now. If I'm going to try competing against ol' speedy Ceniceros I have to get MUCH MUCH faster. There's a LONG road of training ahead of me.

2012 South West Challenge series year end results

The only race left that needs to be tallied for the 2012 South West Challenge Series year end results are the Cotton Country sprint triathlon. Rather than wait for the series point counter I looked up the Cotton Country sprint triathlon results and figured out who the winners for each division are on my own. I'm %90 certain these are correct. I listed some amazing performances for the 2012 South West Challenge series below, the SW series points are listed below that.

The Age Group that had that had the highest combined points total for the top 3 in their AG was the male 60-64 with 214 points between them. They finished 29 races between the top three!!!

The male 20-25 AG was the age group with the closest finish between the top 3 finishers, the top 3 were separated by only 2 points!

Sara Hall and Flip Lyle competed in the most SW series races with 14 races in 2012! Sara Hall also completed 12 races in 2011, 15 in 2010, 16 in 2009, and 8 in 2008 for a total of 65 races in 5 years!!!

Robert Browning had the highest points for the 2012 South West Challenge series with 80.75.

Scott Darling of the 60-64 AG had the most age group victories with 9 races finished in 1st place in his AG in 2012!

In 2012 Flip Lyle of the 65-69 male AG had the largest margin of victory with 33 points over 2nd place.

There are 3 athletes in the men 35-39 who are tied for third place with 48 points!

Below are the 2012 South West Challenge Series age group winners.
Clydesdale open division
Champion B. Laird 57 points
2nd place A Ceniceros 45 points
3rd placeJ Sanchez 41 points

Clydesdale masters division
Champion M. Mowles 79 points
2nd place J. McClure 54 points

Male 20 and under:
Champion Josh Gordon 69 points
2nd place- Ben Campbell- 68 points
3rd place- Alex Bradbury- 50 points

male 20-24
Champion William Kessler 31.5 points

male 25-29
Champion Michael Castaneda 49 points
2nd place Matt Gonzales 48 points
3rd place Gage Bonestroo 47 points

male 30-34
Champion Dustin Ward 65 points
2nd place- Randolph Knox 49 points
3rd place- Jason Atkinson 48 points

male 35-39
Champion Price Lawhon 65 points
2nd place- Cody Hanson 50 points
T- 3rd place- Matt Hall 48 points
T- 3rd place- Jeremy Harwood 48 points
T-3rd place Jan Grande 48 points

male 40-44
Champion R. Browning 80 points
2nd place A. Lugo 58 points
3rd place G. Heredia 51 points

male 45-49
Champion J. Kehrle 80 points
2nd place G. Garcia 68 points
3rd place S. Crane 64 points

male 50-54
Champion R. Reynold 68 points
2nd place B. Gonzales 60 points
3rd place G. Southard 56.25 points

male 55-59
Champion C. Armstrong 78.24
2nd place L. Barfield 72 points
3rd place J Jackson 71 points

male 60-64
Champion S. Darling 80 points
2nd place R. Wiggs 72 points
3rd place M. Strum 62 points

male 65-69
Champion F. Lyle 80 points (14 races)
2nd place G Sargent 47 points

male 70-74
Champion K. O'Connor 78 points
2nd place M. Greer 48 points

75+
Champion R. Park 70 points

Athena masters division
Champion S. Hall 76 points (14 races!!!)
2nd place P. Miller 35

Female 25-29
Champion A. Howell 45 points
2nd place I. Speer 41 points
3rd place A. Wagner 39 points

Female 30-34
Champion R Ruiz 57 points
2nd place S. Bailes 30 points

Female 35-39
Champion D. Sather 43 points

Female 40-44
Champion D. Steele 80 points
2nd place S Heredia 65 points

Female 45-49
Champion D. Steele 80 points
2nd place S. Heredia 65 points

Female 50-54
Champion K. Carlsen 70 points
2nd place H. Crane 67 points
3rd place S. Crewe 60.25 points

Female 55-59
Champion J. Herbert 50.25oints
2nd place P. Baker 50 points

Female 60-64
Champion M. Balsiger 47 points

Female 65-69
Champion C. Akright

a triathlete extraordinaire is back, and I want to race against him!

Since I'll be racing as a Clydesdale next year I was looking at some of the race results and found a name I hadn't heard in a long time: Arnold Ceniceros. He was one of the fastest Clydesdales I'd ever raced against, but a few years ago he graduated from UTEP and moved away. I was very excited to see Arnold Ceniceros is back in the area and racing again. Not only was he a tremendous athlete but more importantly he was a great person.

When I was looking at some of his race times I saw he is still one seriously FAST triathlete! I've raced him dozens of times and never even came close to beating him. One of my bucket list goals had been to beat him in a triathlon. Now that he's back it looks like I have a new goal for 2013, to beat Arnold Ceniceros in a triathlon. That's a pretty lofty goal, one I've never even come close to accomplishing before, but one I'm very motivated to accomplish. Looks like a season of ultra endurance trail running will have to wait awhile, because I'm on the hunt! Time to start healing up from the surgery I had on Friday and get into serious training mode!

This is Arnold:

South West Challenge series points almost totaled!

There's only 2 more races left to be tallied for the 2012 South West Challenge Series! The Elephant Man olympic triathlon and the Cotton Country triathlon. So far, with just 2 more races needed to be counted, there are seven triathletes in the 35-39 age group who are still in contention for the coveted top 3 awards in the South West!!!!

35-39 Age Group
58 points- Price Lawhon
49 points Cody Hanson
48 points- Jeremy Harwood
48 points- Jan Grande
46 points- Mathew Hall
44 points- Mike Edwards
38 points- Valentin Ramirez

I'm still 232 pounds and the first two races of the 2013 multisport season are only 7 weeks away so I'm certain I'll be racing in the Clydesdale open division next year. These are the top in the Clydesdale open division with 2 more races left to be tallied. This divisions year end points aren't nearly as close, but the athletes in contention are very fast.

Clydesdale open division:

57 points- Brett Laird
45 points- Arnold Ceniceros
35 points- Jeremy Sanchez
28 points- Martin Hedge

My daughter is only a few years away from competing in adults triathlons so I looked up their points totals for the season for the female 20 and under division and there isn't a single female under the age of 20 who completed the minimum 5 races to be eligible for awards in the South West Challenge series. Looks like my daughter will probably be able to take top 3 in the Female 20 at the age of 10 just by completing 5 races!!!!

Turning over a new leaf

As many of you know I have been struggling with my weight. In Feb/March I was down to 211 and was faster than I'd ever dreamed I could be. At that time I weighed less than I'd weighed in over a decade. But now I'm struggling to keep off the lbs. What changed? My motivation is what changed. The last two years I'd been racing against 2 really fast guys in the Clydesdale 39 and under division. Jay Engebretson and Arnold Ceniceros. They were fast, and the competition drove me. I ended last season 2-2 against Jay. And 1-3 against Arnold. I have to say the only reason I even got 1 win against Arnold was because he wrecked. By the end of last season I was obsessed with training, diet, and racing. I wanted to beat these guys so bad!

By the Dec 06 Polar Bear triathlon I had made major time improvements. It was the 3rd time I'd done that course and I beat my PR by over 13 minutes! The closest Clydesdale in my division was 3.5 minutes behind me. In April of this year I placed 9th overall at Sully's super sprint and 15 overall at the Atomic man duathlon. But alas, Jay and Arnold never showed at ANY SW races at all.

Turns out at the beginning of this season Jay moved away and Arnold took this year off to concentrate on college. By April I had 5 1st place finishes and one 5th place (due to 2 flats at MVTC). Without those two triathletes there, there wasn't really anyone in my division to compete with me. So as I got more comfortable with mounting wins I became lazy and started cheating on my diet.

I got news recently that Arnold graduated and he has stated training again. Hard. He plans on competing again next season.
Struggle alleviated.
-I haven't cheated on my diet in 7 days.
- I've givin up coffee for the first time since 2000 because I want to ensure I'm always well hydrated. If a person is hydrated they recover faster.
- I've been making sure I get a full 8 hrs sleep (very unusual for me).
-I even started swimming.
-For the first time ever in my life I've started doing portion control when eating.
-I'm eating every 3 hrs to speed up my metabolism.
-Any workout under 2 hrs I make sure to do first thing in the morning on an empty stomach to burn more fat.

I'm back. I am now in predator mode and I have sighted my prey.

I'll keep you updated on how the hunt goes. So farThis week:
hrs trained 14.05
swim 1000 yards
Bike 50.1
Run 13
Brick 50.1
Running stairs 2 miles
Weight 233lbs

An honorable sportsman

I had come to watch my cousin Greg Layton compete in an Olympic distance race when my eyes were first opened to the mystic world of triathlon. That was the day I caught the “triathlon bug”. Triathlon was attractive to me because it offered two training aspects that I felt would assist me in staying dedicated to a life of health and fitness. Triathlon could provide a positive focus for my own training and would provide numerous accomplishable goals. Without exciting short and long-term goals I had a tendency to become bored and quit at just about everything I’d ever started. But somehow I knew that triathlon was something I could commit myself to. That day my cousin took third in his division and I became obsessed with the sport.

I’d been extremely competitive my whole life. All I’d ever done was compete to win. Everything I did, was dedicated to one goal: winning. In two and a half years I’d transformed myself from a 300 lb obese slob to a still plump, but fiercely focused clydesdale eating, breathing, and training triathlon. From all my time studying the sport I had seen one person repeatedly winning most every race and claiming victory at most every southwest challenge series championship. Arnold Ceniceros. He’d been at the top of his division longer than I had even known that the South West had it’s own series. I’d seen him at a few of the races I’d done, but only at the start. Then he’d quickly become a speck in the horizon.

He is one of the fastest triathleletes in his division, he’s also one of the most consistent and respected competitors I’ve seen in this sport. He’s my age, relatively young, yet he’s been dominant for years. I’d been taught that to be the best I had to beat the best. And there was no doubt in my mind that Arnold Ceniceros was one of the best. Everyday after I trained I would log my training on beginnertriathlete.com. On this web site, the first page has the goals I’d set for myself. My two top goals were to become an Ironman and to beat Arnold Ceniceros in a race.
Once I started training, each year the huge gap separating Arnold’s time and my own got smaller. One year during the 2005 Polar bear triathlon at white sands missile range I had been involved in a bike wreck and shortly after that I had a flat. Consequently I placed last.
Afterwards at the awards ceremony I moped around feeling sorry for myself. There were plenty of other competitors in attendance who did not place top three in their division, but I was the only one who was not enjoying the post race activities. At the time I failed to notice that. In the midst of my self-sorrow I heard the top 3 finishers for the Clydesdale’s. Not surprisingly Arnold was at the top of his division. When I heard his time I was, as always impressed. But it dawned on me that if I subtracted the time I spent fixing my flat and spitting dirt out of my mouth, I would have only been four minutes behind Arnold. As soon as I realized this I jumped out of my seat and ran outside to phone my wife and tell her the news.

With my enthusiasm resparked I was exited and confident about the upcoming 2006 Stealth Duathlon at Holloman Air force base. In the three months before the Stealth Duathlon I had made great improvements. I wasn’t sure if I could beat Arnold, but I knew I was close enough that I wanted to tell him that I had my sights set upon beating him. I had no idea how he’d respond to me telling him this. The morning of the Stealth Duathlon I started setting up my equipment two bikes down from his, and while doing so I told him how I had, in the last three years been chasing his times. And at the last race was only 4 minutes behind him. I let him know that it was my intention to eventually beat the great and speedy Arnold Ceniceros. When I told him this he smiled, walked over to me, shook my hand, slapped me on the back and said with what seemed like great sincerity “That’s great! Good luck! I’m sure in no time you’ll be faster than me, I’m surprised you haven’t beaten me already!” Then he walked over to my bike and started making suggestions: take off the extra water bottle cage, in this race you’ll only need one, and the extra one will make you less aerodynamic. Try using lighter tubes, the rotational weight in the wheels are the most important weight to reduce. He even went as far as to remove my race number from where I had placed it and put it on my bike where it would create less drag. I was confused…was this some kind of psychological ploy? Was this his way of letting me know that nothing I did could help me beat him? What the heck just happened? After a bit, I decided not to let it rattle me. Someone as experienced as him probably had a lot of trickery in his arsenal. I was determined not to let him throw me off my game.

When the race started I took off like a jackrabbit! I’d never run so fast in my life. I knew Arnold was still a superior cyclist. So the only way I could beat him was to finish so far ahead of him on the run that he’d be unable to close the distance on the bike. I finished 74 seconds ahead of him on the run leg. Just before the half waypoint on the bike he ended up passing me. As he passed me he slowed down and yelled “Come on, come on”. That motivated me and I picked up the pace and held to within three bike lengths of him. After awhile my legs began to shake and my lungs burned. I was simply not able to keep up the pace he was riding at. As I started to lose ground on him he looked back at me, stopped pedaling and again shouted, ”come on Cody, come on!” I stood up and started hammering. Thanks to his encouragement I took my first ever third place in the Clydesdale division. During the race Arnold slowed down three separate times to encourage me to go faster. He also took the time before the race to teach me ways to make my bike faster. He did this even though it meant risking his placing in this or future races. After the awards ceremony I was walking away with something more awarding than a medal. I was leaving having learned a better way to approach competition. Because of the change of attitude that I learned from Arnold, triathlon is now much more rewarding. And after a race, regardless of how I may do, I am simply happy to be there with other triathletes of all abilities.
If you log onto beginnertriathlete.com you will see one of my top goals has recently changed. It now reads, “compete with as much honor and integrity as Arnold Ceniceros.