Bryan Payne...his P.F.G. Story

August 1987 - 160 lbs

July 2006 - 227 lbs

My First day getting on my Bike to get back into snap - May 2007.

May 2007 - Milton Sprint Tri - 549 out of 613

August 2008 Kentucky

November 2009 - Clearwater 70.3 World Championships

July 2010 - Lake Placid - Qualified for Kona

October 2010 - Kona - Ironman World Championships

2011 ITU Long Course Word Championships

I'm Bryan Payne and this is my P.F.G Story....

I got into triathlon in the early days. I did my first triathlon at 20 years old in 1986, it was a half Ironman. They didn't even have Olympics or Sprints back then, it was just Ironmans and Half Ironmans, so the first year I did a half Ironman and the following year I did Ironman Canada in 1987. There was only about 600 of us and it was the early days, we were scared. If we saw someone jogging or riding a day or two before the race we thought they were fools. Boy have times changed.

In 1991 I did my last Ironman. A year earlier I started my own business and focused all my energy on it and my training and Ironman dreams. For the next 16 years I worked and training not so much. In the process I went from 160 lbs to 227 lbs by 2007. 

In May of 2007 I felt crappy and had a semi-mid life crisis at 41 years old. I said to myself, "either get in shape and lose weight, or shut up and enjoy your fatness". 

I've always loved triathlons, even when I was fat I'd show up and do some Olympic races and even half Ironmans without much or any training. It wasn't pretty, I was slow but I'd finish. Actually in my mind I always thought I was an Ironman. It wasn't until someone gave me a gut check and got me thinking, "hey, it was like 15 years ago I did my last Ironman....I guess I really wasn't an Ironman. 

I decided to get back into shape and on the first day I got all dressed up in my U.S. Postal Cycling clothes and went for a ride. Once of my neighbours laughed at me. I didn't understand why until I looked at the picture I had Alice my wife take of me that day. 

That summer I raced running or triathlons almost every week. By the end of the summer, I had dropped a lot of weight and ran a sub 4 marathon in Philadelphia. My next stop was a masters swim club where I met John Barclay on the deck of the pool. He had done one sprint triathlon and he signed up for the Louisville Ironman. I went home and signed up. I now had a goal.

In the end I dropped 50 lbs and got into great shape. Better shape than I was in in my 20's. I beat my best Olympic, Half Ironman and Full Ironman times in my 40's that I set in my 20's. I also started training like a maniac and signed up with markallenonline for my coaching. In the next 5 years I went from a mid packer to qualifying for the Ironman 70.3 world championships and Ironman World Championships in Kona. Then in 2011 I was selected to represent my country, Canada, at the ITU Long Course World Championships. It's been an incredible journey for a someone that is an average athlete. In 5 years I did over 50,000 km's of swimming, biking and running and that has been the key to my success. 

The training has also been worth it. I like food, beer and cigars and without the training I'd be about 250 lbs right now. 

With all that said, I'll always be a fat guy inside and it doesn't matter how much you train it's always a constant battle to keep my weight down. Thank goodness for Ironman triathlons, there is nothing like setting a goal to do an Ironman and the fear forces you to train. The by product is keeping the weight down. 

If I can do it, anyone can do it if they set their mind to it. Good luck.