THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 13, 1995 TAG: 9508090047
SECTION: REAL LIFE PAGE: K1 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: FITNESS QUEST
SOURCE: BY KERRY DOUGHERTY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 124 lines
SOMETHING ABOUT Anne Ferrell Tata and Becky Lyle in training reminds you of Ethel and Lucy.
Maybe it's because they've been working out for a year for the Sandman Triathlon in Virginia Beach, but neither knows the exact date.
``It's sometime in September,'' Tata, 33, says, shrugging.
``I sure hope we don't wake up one day and find out we missed it,'' jokes Lyle, who's 40.
Maybe it's that right after they began training together the duo naively bought cute matching cycling helmets - without air holes - leaving their heads dripping with sweat every time they took their 10-speeds on the road.
``Then Becky went out an bought this great helmet, an aerodynamically designed one, and was wearing it backwards,'' Tata says, laughing.
Perhaps it's because the Virginia Beach women tend to bring up the rear in any of the early competitions they've entered.
``We do well in the running, though - we never get last place in that,'' Lyle enthuses.
Then again, maybe it's because they're having so much darn fun.
The two friends began training with borrowed shoes and flea market bikes last August. Neither was able to run more than a mile or swim more than two laps in succession. They've engineered their own unorthodox biking, running and swimming workout program.
``We're kind of from the Lucille Ball school of training,'' admits Tata. ``But if we can do it, anyone can do it.''
Tata and Lyle are close friends who share a love of tennis. Last summer, after her third baby was born, Tata began to toy with the idea of training for a triathlon as a way to get back in shape.
``I've always been very goal-oriented,'' Tata says. ``I figured if I was training for a specific event I would stick with it.''
She knew it would be more fun to train with a friend.
``I talked Becky into it late last summer after I'd had the baby and just felt like I wanted to get started,'' recalls Tata, adding that she began with swimming.
``Yeah, she had to swim,'' interjects Lyle good-naturedly. ``She was too fat to run.''
``The first day I went to the rec center and swam one lap,'' Tata says. ``I got out of the water, toweled off and was dizzy.''
``The next day I tried running,'' she recalls with a grin. ``I got around the block and the same thing happened: I was dizzy and feeling sick. I had just run a half mile.''
But she stuck with it, through those tough early weeks and months when muscles ached and motivation was low.
``The results you see are amazing, and they happen fast if you don't quit,'' Tata says. ``I rarely miss a day, but if I do, I try not to beat up on myself.''
Before long Lyle was hooked on training, too.
``Now I hate missing a workout,'' she confesses. ``I just got back from a trip to Maine where I ran every day. I'd be thinking the whole time as I was struggling up those hills that as soon as I got back to the cottage I'd reward myself with bacon.
``But I couldn't do it. I'd have strawberries instead.''
Neither Tata nor Lyle is concerned with weight loss. They don't weigh themselves, even though they both say their clothes are getting baggy and they eat twice as much as they did before they began training.
Training for a triathlon is all about feeling good, they agree.
``I may have even gained weight,'' Tata says. ``But all I know is my clothes fit better and I feel so good. I sleep great at night and I'm just happier.''
Lyle says the training program has had an unexpected benefit: It's deepened the friendship between the two.
``All the training, the running especially, has brought Anne Ferrell and me a lot closer,'' she says. ``We've shared so much during those runs.''
Neither woman was an avid swimmer before training. And both say the Sandman ocean swim is the part of the competition they dread most.
``I'm still not a great swimmer, but by the time I had been swimming for six weeks I could swim a mile,'' Tata says with pride. ``Not fast, but I could do it.
``If I could give anyone advice I'd tell them to get out there today and try to do something, then get out again tomorrow and do a little more.''
With five daughters between them (Tata has three, Lyle two) they say they think triathlon training is setting a good example for their girls.
``The girls seem so proud of us when we compete,'' Lyle says. ``The little ones don't understand that we're not winning. They see the finish line and us crossing it and they think we're great.''
These days the ladies lace up their running shoes and head out for a five-, six- or seven mile run without hesitation. The heat doesn't bother them. Nor the time of day.
``We work out when we can - with our jobs and children we have to be flexible,'' says Tata, who is in pharmaceutical sales. ``Sometimes we're out really early, sometimes we do a lunchtime run. It just depends.''
Lyle, who is a court reporter, says triathlon training made turning 40 a breeze.
``You know there are a lot of things you can't do when you hit 40,'' she says, smiling. ``I can't wear halter tops anymore, for instance.
``But I know one thing I can do now that I couldn't do when I was 20 - I can compete in a triathlon.''
The Sandman is about a month away. Both women say they'll keep working out when it's over. Then they'll be searching for a new set of goals.
``I'm thinking about training for a marathon next,'' muses Lyle.
From across the room Tata just groans.
ILLUSTRATION: STEVE EARLEY/Staff color photos
After some comical trouble with their helmets, Becky Lyle, left, and
Anne Ferrell Tata were soon off and rolling on their fitness plan.
Tata, foreground, and Lyle have engineered their own unorthodox
workout program of biking, running and swimming.
Photo
STEVE EARLEY/Staff
Becky Lyle and Anne Ferrell Tata run through Bay Colony in Virginia
Beach. ``The results you see are amazing, and they happen fast if
you don't quit,'' Tata says.
by CNB