mentor groups!

I don't understand, what is the purpose of a mentor group?

I joined a group this year, but found it easier to just go to the main tri talk thread for questions/help.

the main advantage of the group over hte main forum is that (hopefully) the group gets to know each other a bit more, and there is a bit more one on one contact (can you have that via the interwebs?)

One advantage I found with my mentor group was having a few people look at my logs daily.  I knew they would encourage me, motivate me, give me tips, and they promised to give me a hard time if I missed too many days.

Exactly! I think in some ways the mentor groups are more about getting comfortable at this website than in the triathlon world (although they can be very helpful there, too). I'm still good friends with a lot of the people I met in my first mentor group a couple of years ago. (Thanks, Yanti!)

yeah its sort of the next step away from actually having a group to train with. you and a few other bounce ideas back and forth, rant, check logs, ask questions, etc, just like the main forum, but a bit more personal. for those newer, or looking for a certain person as a mentor, etc, its a good way to kick things off or learn from someone.

When i first came to BT i was in my 2nd year of racing (entering my 5th now), and picked a group because someone i new and wanted to learn biking stuff from was running it.

what are the requirements?

sign up, say hi, and stay active in the group

I'm still really new to the tri world but I've been working at it. Did my 1st Sprint a couple weeks ago and met my goal which was to finish. Now I have my 1st Oly in 3 weeks and I want to get under 3 hours. I've also committed to do a 1/2 IM in Oct. It has been great for my physical and mental being and I would like to have a group to look at my logs and give me feedback. I don't know if you are looking for someone that is new or not but I would like to get in on a mentor group.

check out the mentor groups section of the main forum. see if any of the groups match what you want.

If not, wait till tomorrow and check back, there will be total prob 1-2 pages of groups within the next week, so many many styles/people to choose from.

I was very tempted to join yours newbz but I went with Penn States since he had more IM ppl in that group...

I enjoyed my last mentor group, most people really didn't need much mentoring but we all cheered each other on for our races.  I highly recommend doing it if you haven't.

thats the great part about them, you can pick one that has exactly what you are looking for (be it information, pushing from others your speed, just sharing info, or harassing the others;-)