Former overweights now set for Ironman:
Trainer's proteges now triathletes
Daily News, September 17, 2006 by Don Singleton

http://www.nydailynews.com/09-17-2006/city_life/story/453094p-381334c.html

Flab to iron. It's not an overnight process. This time last year, Margaret Bravo and Michael Nelson were overweight, out-of-shape, unmotivated couch potatoes.

Today, Bravo and Nelson are slimmed down, buffed-up and ready to compete in the 140.6-mile Florida Ironman event in November.

Bravo, 39, a labor and delivery nurse from Pearl River in upstate Rockland County, and Nelson, 42, a West Sider who owns a fried chicken restaurant and a wholesale meat company, have spent the last year remaking themselves into hardbodies.

Following a regimen of diet and exercise prescribed by Christophe Vandaele, owner of SBR Multisports, a Manhattan store that caters to triathletes, Bravo lost 100 pounds and Nelson dropped 93.

And the pair are scheduled to compete in the Nov. 4 Panama City race in which participants will swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles and run 26.2 miles in less than 15 hours.

In August of last year, Vandaele posted an ad on the Internet offering to train and equip two fatties who would commit to changing their lives by working out two hours a day and eliminating fats and sugars.

Hundreds sent Vandaele letters and e-mails spelling out their reasons for applying; Bravo and Nelson were picked to swim, pedal and run in the Florida race under SBR's banner.

Bravo, who has daughters ages 11 and 13, was an out-of-shape soccer mom - in fact, a soccer coach - when she applied.

"I had just quit smoking and I wanted to get back in shape," she said Friday. "I didn't think I was being a great role model for the kids."

Now, she says, "I could train forever - it has become part of my life. I come home from work and I can't wait to do a 6-mile run."

Nelson, who became the father of a baby girl on Aug. 2, says he stays away from the fried chicken he sells and eats mostly fruits and vegetables, along with some defatted chicken breasts.

"I eat so much chicken I could cluck for you," joked Nelson. "But I did a half-Ironman last Sunday, and my goal is the full Ironman in Florida."

Will he be able to make it?

"I'm gonna try like nobody's business," he said. "I feel like I have the proper training, and I'll be able to complete it if everything goes right."

Next month, SBR will begin accepting submissions for the 2007 challenge, by mail or in person, at the store, 203 W. 58th St., New York, N.Y. 10019, or via the Internet at sbrshop.com.