Mndymond and Disturbed275's Awesome SBR Group--- Phase 2--CLOSED!

Hi! I am a complete newbie, wondering if you'd be willing to help me out! 

Name: Christine

Story: I am a 28 year old music teacher in Pennsylvania. I have signed up for a sprint tri in August. This will be my first event like this, I've just done some 5k's before.

Status: Happily married, 4 years. 2 awesome dogs. A cat. Kids in the next year or so?

Current Training: Like I said, I am new to this so I am quite open to learning what exactly my training schedule should look like. I started some strength training and cardio 3x a week about a month ago, and now I want to get going with a consistent plan for this event. My favorite, and most comfortable part is the biking. I can't start swimming until the end of May, when the community pool is open. That will be my toughest area. Right now I can tread water, WOO HOO!  My husband  used to work as a lifeguard, so he will be able to help me with some basics. Until then I am going to alternate running and biking daily, with a few hikes and regular strength training thrown in as well. My school year/teaching ends in late May, and I will only be working 2-3 days a week this summer, so I will have a decent amount of time to train.

This Year's Races: A local sprint triathlon in August. I am also going to sign up for some 5k's between now and then to keep some motivation going for the run

Weightloss: Weight loss is definitely a part of my motivation. I'd like to lose about 15 pounds by August.

What will make me a good mentee: I'm open to any and all feedback!

Hello,

Do you have room for another?  I've been training now since September of '11.  Still relatively new to sport of tri with a running background.  I have a few races coming up and could use the accountability/advice/mentorship.

Thanks

Kevin

Originally Red Deer, now Leduc.

NAME: Kevin

STORY: I was a hs/colegiate wrestler.  I used to run to help with weight cut.  I ran a 1/2 mary in 1:46 in '96 for college team.  I got tendinitis in left heal, and it took years to get rid of.  Fast forward 15 years.  I've run 4 marathons.  I was motivated watching Terra Costa and others on Biggest Loser show complete marathon.  PB is 3:35. 

FAMILY STATUS: married w/ 2 daughters, 6 and 2.

CURRENT TRAINING: Currently in Last month of training before taper for May 19th marathon.  My 5th.  Hoping to go under 3:30 this time.  Also, I started HIM in Feb. training for August 6th Troika HIM. I'm using the free HIM plan on this site while trying to adapt it to fit marathon training.

 2012 plans: Besides my two A races, marathon and HIM, I am running a 25k trail run at end of April.  12k first week of May.  I will probably do a Sprint Tri in June/July for some experience before HIM.

WEIGHTLOSS: I started this year at a chunky 203.  Now down to 185.  Hoping to get down to 165 by August.  I too enjoy an adult style beverage a little too often, and this hampers weight loss.

Hi All:

I will post more later when I get home from work - but I would like to reserve a spot in the group.  Looking forward to supporting y'all in the weeks to come.

NAME: Christie 

STORY: I'm a 40 year old mother of three daughters (9, 12, 15 soon to all move up a year). I work full time as a mental health therapist and I am a clinical social worker by profession. I've been running for about 7 years started the triathlon thing last year. I have completed one super sprint race last summer and I came in second last! Not last! (In my defence there were only 7 people in my event). 

FAMILY STATUS: Married 19 years 

CURRENT TRAINING: I'm trying to increase my training right now and I'd like to get to around 7 hours a week consistently over the next while. I am pretty weak in all threes sports, and in sports in general. I never exercised at all, and I mean AT ALL, until I was 34 so I figure I'm doing pretty well with what I've got. I have some chronic health issues that impact my training and my racing as I cannot tolerate exercise intensity past a certain (lower than I'd like) level. Yes, I know this sounds like an excuse, but it is what it is. I've been working on trying to accept that I can likely never improve to the level I feel I "should" be able to and instead focus on just enjoying the process of participating in events. I am finding I'm getting surprisingly better at that! 

THIS YEAR'S RACES: Undecided. But there's a local sprint in August that I'd like to muster up the courage to try.

WEIGHTLOSS: I'm 5'3" and about 127 right now. Last summer I was down to 119 and that took a lot of work! I would like to get there again but really I feel pretty content at being anything under 125. So some work to do on that regard.

Name: Punker/David

Story: I live in Edmonton and this seems to be the Alberta group, so I'd like to join.

I ran track and played basketball in school, but that was 20 years ago; I've spent most of the subsequent time behind a desk and getting out of shape because I had trouble motivating myself to go sit in a gym. I'm one of those "exercise is boring, but competition is fun" types, and haven't been able to find a good outlet. I'm pretty tall (6-4) so I was able to pretend that the weight gain wasn't too bad for a long time, but once the number on the scale started getting close to starting with 3, it was time to get serious and stop this.

When I was a kid, I watched the Iron Man with my dad and loved it; I always wanted to try one, and about a month and a half ago, I made up my mind to do it. I found a Sprint triathlon in about 3 months which seems like a tough but doable challenge and decided to do it, forgetting that I hadn't ridden a bike in at least 15 years, and had never swum more than 100m straight, while fantasizing about my teenage years of running 10K road races.

Family status: Married with a 6 year old son

Current training: When I made the decision, I decided I'd better work on swimming first since it's what I've done the least. I started going to the pool most days and can now do the 750m in about 22 minutes.

The bike has proved to be a disaster; first I had to get one, and at present I can barely do 10k without being completely dead.

The run is tough but I can feel it's not too bad; I can traverse 5K with about a 70-30 run-walk right now.

Each day, I go out and do one (eg, Monday I did bike, Tuesday I did run, today I did swim), with the goal (for now) of just finishing the required distance, no matter how slowly. I'm struggling hugely with the mental part of just "I'm tired, maybe I should just stop here"; I feel like my body is less the problem.

Race planned: Lake Summerside Sprint Triathlon (June 24)

Weight loss: I literally could stand to lose 75-80 pounds.

Hi Everyone!

I'd like to join again if there is room! Nice to see another Canadian in the bunch 

my story:

NAME: Tera

STORY: I work full time and have been racing triathlons since 2009 after I had my daughter to stay busy while on maternity leave. This year I decided before we have a second child I would train for my goal of Ironman! I live in a small town just outside Calgary, Alberta. I have completed 1 marathon, 2 half marathons, and numerous sprints,5k's, 10k's races.

STATUS: Married 3 years, One daughter 2 &1/2 Years old going on 16 some days I think!!

CURRENT TRAINING: Training for Ironman Penticton

THIS YEAR'S RACES: CPS half marathon- april, Coronation sprint- May, Wasa Olympic- June, Great White north half ironman-July, Ironman Penticton- August!!

WEIGHTLOSS: at this point i'm at a happy weight, now just trying to tweak my nutrition for optimal training!

Alright here is my bio. I am in BC so I hope I am still aloud in here

Name: Lisa

Story: I decided to take up running in 2010 after I had my second child. At the time I was looking for some sort of identity other then being a mother. It worked! Since then I have completed 3 half marathons and a handful of 5km and 10km runs. Last year, after trying to improve my running times I ended up with a couple of overuse injuries (nothing serious) from running too much, too fast. I had to take a couple months off of running so I picked up swimming instead. After learning to swim I figured my next step was triathlon.

Status: Married with two kids (5 and 4) and two dogs

Current training: Training for my first sprint tri in June and an Olympic in September with a couple 5 or 10kms in the middle. My official plan begins April 21st.

Weightloss: Would love to lose a few pounds but that is on the back burner for now.

Just my 2 cents but I would plan my first triathlon to be a pool swim.

A)Apparently Lake summerside is just a tad warmer then a ice cube. You will need a wetsuit and you will probably still come out numb.

B)It can be very intimidating swimming in a lake during a mass start.

I know there is one in Devon mid july or one in Westlock early june, both pool swims...

Good luck on the weight loss, once you get there you will wish you had done it long ago, I know I did!

Thank you in advance for all of you being patient with my newbie-ness!

Today I went ahead and registered for a 5K each month in April, May, and June, and a 5-miler in July. I saw (online) all of these awesome events I could do (I'm quite interested in the long trail running/hiking events, as well as the adventure-type triathlons with canoeing/kayaking) and it made me excited to think I could get there someday. I mean... that I WILL get there someday!

Punker, right now I have a similar approach to yours (just do the distance!), minus the swim until the pools open. That is really going to be an issue for me, since I've never been a swimmer - but until then I'm just going to work on improving on the bike and feet. Mentors, do you think this an ok approach for now? I am off for Easter break until Tuesday, so the plan for tomorrow morning is to ride my bike to a trail, hike the trail, and ride back. It will wind up being about 16 miles on the bike and 2 or so on the trail. I think this route will be a good one for me to do fairly regularly. I'm not going to worry about my time tomorrow, except to measure it for marking progress.

I don't live in Canada, but both of my grandparents are from Quebec, so maybe I can still be a cool kid here?