"Introduction / Inspiration" game

I'll play!  I'll play!!

species from a sample mixture today.  Very boring work. 

I guess I am one of t he first BTers swadland met, along with SunnyS.  He is crazy enough to initiates the 'get-together-and-watch-the-"What It Takes"-movie' with people whom he barely knew. 

swadland comes from a cycling background and did 2 tri's in 2006, one of which was Cranberry, although the MA mafia didn't know him at that time.  Since "What It Takes", he had been actively involved in BT get-togethers, both race- and non-race-related.  He did the 2006 Feaster-5k, with his daughters doing the kid version of the same race.  Hope he can join us 5-milers next time. 

Now swadland is the official organizer of the Janurary 2007 MA Mafia party. 

celeb_ithil or "DK" as she is better known, is some sort of rocket scientist or brain surgeon, because she loses me when discussions turn to her job!!  She's fun to hang around.  When she started doing all this "triathlon stuff" she wasn't sure she could do things very well.  Like how nervous she was when I first met her at Danskin 2 years ago.  And when she first tried riding with clipless pedals.  And her first 5-mile running race, where she was hesitant about making it to the finish.  Same with her first 15-K race, not being sure she could run over 9 miles.  Well guess what...she did all of these things and more, and now she's an experienced triathlete.  She's a good swimmer too, because she kept up with me at Walden Pond, except that I was wearing a wetsuit and she wasn't!  Make sure you go out of your way to meet her and say "hi' because you will instantly have a new friend.

lucky me, I get to write about Max!  (see?  it pays to get up early  LOL)

Max was the first BT'r I ever met in person and vice versa.   Turns out he is as nice in person as he is online.  Never short on words, he is always encouraging andhas enough motivation to fuel even the most dedicated slacker. 

The first time we did an OWS together I was simply amazed at how well he swims.  Turns out he swam backstroke in school and still has a knack for it.  In real life I think he's a rocket scientist because he talks about some pretty wild work-related stuff.

We've ridden together many times.  I'll never forget the time I was dropped on a ride and it was Max who came back and saved me.  We ended up getting lost together and had a great ride.  Or the time, when I had the same bike, that we looked like an old married couple as we rode over to Wachusett mountain.  I bet the CRW guys who blew by us felt sorry for him having to be out there with his "wife" instead of getting in a decent ride.

And speaking of wife, to know Max is to know Patti.  The man simply adores her and it is plain to see.  Their marriage is everything everyone in a relationship should strive for.  It is easy to see how much they mean to each other. I cannot imagine Max without Patti or Patti without Max, they're like peas and carrots 

ok, I could go on and on, and I guess I have, but that was one of the easiest posts to write!  

Thanks Max, and welcome back!   

  Ellen is a swim instructor, life guard and personal trainer. She wants to go to graduate school to become a nurse practitioner. She wants to sell her house on the Cape and move to NH. She is married to Mike and has 2 children.

She likes to ski. She has been doing triathlons since 2003 (?) so she can answer lots of questions about all of the local races.

She has run a couple of marathons and done at least one 1/2 ironman. She perseveres and gets it done even if she's struggling.  She attempts things that I would never even think about!

She totally kicked a$$ in September at the Hyannis  tri and got hardware.

When her knees are behaving she is always up for a brick training session.

She likes DD ice coffee after a triathlon!

Hi everyone, have you met KathyG yet?  Likely you have...she's all over the tri scene here in MA.  She's a mom, wife, athlete, and Red Sox fan.  I met her in person near my office in Harvard Square towards the end of the last baseball season.  She had 2 tickets to Fenway Park for sale (forgot which game now) and she pulled up with her hubby in and girls in their mini-van.  What a cute family she has!  They'd all just gone to the NB factory outlet for new running shoes and Kathy was beaming as she told me about the joy of a day off with the whole family. 

She trains hard and has the Tri-Hard guys Jason and Will as her coach, and now she's a BT newbie mentor.  She discovered her love of cycling this year.  She has lost a lot of weight in recent years, but you wouldn't know it because she looks like someone who's always been fit and healthy.  In November she and I teamed up to lose 3 pounds, and we did it.  Always ready to send an inspiring thought or personal note, she's a gem of a training friend.  I look forwad to actually breaking a sweat with her on a ride or run sometime in 2007 --- I only wish she lived closer or vice versa.

Say hi to Kathy!!

Hey, this is fun!

May aka "Type A Girl Pilot" is a kick- IronWoman. She is a commercial airline pilot who amazingly squeezes  in workouts in whatever city/airport hotel she's in.  In person she's one of the sweetest people I've met.  I remember we were running together during a race (Race to Remember? Feaster Five??) and she kindly asked how my shoulder injury was healing....

Her training logs are a hoot!  Full of information and often off-color commentary.  Sometimes I find it hard to reconcile the sweet "girl" in person to the trash-talker on the internet

It was fun tracking her progress at IMFL in November and actually watch her cross the finish line.  She is now setting her sights on Lake Placid and has started training with gadgets...

Great post, Joanne, but you were supposed to be writing about SunnyS, not TAGP (sorry May). 

So, about Sunny - she was the very first BT person I met, just a few months back at the screening of "What it Takes".  She's part of the Wheelworks Multisport team, and has a pretty active training calendar (1 rest day in December!).  She does strength/core work almost every day, and I'm jealous that she gets to commute by bike to/from work and the gym.

Look for Sunny later this year at the Hyannis I Sprint, the Timberman Half-Iron, and perhaps several other races.

So, can the next "player" pick-up here and write about Joanne (tri_again)?

not to be a party pooper or anything, but Sunny was supposed to write about Patty! 

Did I just hear my name?? Sorry, I'm still preoccupied with wondering why max's avatar would have a isoceles triangle b0ner...ohhhhhhh........! right....

LOL anyways, eating my oatmeal before I head out to BOS for a wonderful work week, need to get the warpaint on the face so I'll have to play when I get back!

So there. Someone can talk about me for real now!

Despite being a pilot, May does not necessarily like movies about gladiators, and has never spent time in a Turkish prison! 

I wonder if she's seen "Snakes on a Plane?"  Matt loves that movie  LOL

Ok, let me see if I can get us back on track.

Hopefully you will all get a chance to spend some time with my friend Joanne. She is a loving mother of 3 and has a DH that understands the needs of triathletes. She works for the town of Concord, Ma. She has been training and racing since at least 2004. I am not positive, but I think she may have been the first BTer I ever met at Sudbury that year. For some reason I think we crossed paths, but not sure we actulay had a chance to say hi.

On Mothers Day 2006 she was given the "gift" to race at the Sudbury Sprint. The course is close to her home as she sometimes trains on the race course. An added benifit of that race for her is her local tri club comes out in force to compete adding to the enjoyment. The only problem for her was the sheer cold and wet, making it a tough decision, but she showed her tenacity and came out and races well anyways.

2006 was a breakout year for Joanne. She competed in her first Olyimpic distance triathalon. She was able to come out and play with a record number of BTers who raced at the Cranberry Country tri in August. She is currently playing with the idea of doing one of a few 1/2 IM races in the New England area.

I would venture to say that traveling to a race would not bother her much since in her youth she had the great pleasure to follow the Greatful Dead on tour in there hayday. She is well grounded and knows what she wants for her and the family.

Let me play again

so that I'll get written up TWICE 

Joe is the first BTer I ever met.  We used to hangout at the BT chatroom often and one day he invited me to join in an early morning OWS (a.k.a. the "Sunrise swim" at Silver Lake, 5 o'clock the following morning.  I was nut enough to go meet him.  It was mid May, 2005.  Water temp was still low, maybe low 60s.  I didn't have a wetsuit and I chickened out.  He didn't want to swim by himself, so we ended up chatting he ended up gas-bagging for half an hour.  The sunrise swim became our usual OW practice in the summer. 

Joe likes to do crazy trainings.  Like riding the bike in pouring rain and running some 15 miles at 3am, or in the snow.  Or run 2 road races (one 1/2M) in one day as "training".  Or running on the "dreadmill" while holding his head in between the beams hanging down his basement ceiling.  To many people his training conditions may not be ideal but he does that so that he can balance his life as a triathlete with that one as a father/husband.  And like father, like son/daughter, his kids inherited his outwardness.  They would come running and greet anyone with big smiles, and start showing you their latest toys, or to discuss star wars with you. 

You'll never get bored with Joe.  Talk with him once and you'll be on his buddy list. 

edit:  took me so long to write about Joe and I didn't notice Jorge has posted.  :p

By the way Jorge, it was the BT "Tough Cookie" award that he got.  From Trimom217.

and DK would know about the tough cookie, she got the other one

You guys goofed up and noone has done Patty...but I will jump in.

Patty is a Mom to 2, wife, triathlete and works in the lab in a hospital. She balances her roles as mom, wife, worker and triathlete and often trains with friends from work and when I'm lucky enough with me.  Patty is dedicated to training as she often gets up early to train after working late at the hospital. She comes from an athletic family with a sister who is an IM finisher and a brother who races mountain bikes.

You'll find us frequently meeting to ride the Cranberry course and laughing much of the ride. She did her first triathlon at Try the Tri in Bristol RI in I think it was July 2005. 2006 was a great year for her as she moved up in distances and did two Oly's Mooseman and Cranberry and improved a lot over the 2006 summer. She belongs to Bay State Tri team.

She did amazing doing a very hilly Metric Century in Western MA in October and has done great stuff this year on her new tri bike.

I see an amazing 2007 for her as her run times are dropping and catching up with her swimming and cycling skills. She is planning on doing her first HIM in 2007; and I for one hope it is the Nutmeg HIM in CT as that will be my first as well.

Come on Patty sign up to do Nutmeg!!

thanks for the reminder about the tough cookie medal!

ok.  Jorge is not human. 

I first met him as a volunteer at his own race - the Dash and Bash Sprint in 2005.  He was the race director and was holding this event for the first time.  Due to some messed up of parking places, he seemed to be pretty frustrated.  He looked quite mean. 

The second time I met Jorge was at my 2nd tri (2005 Boston Triathlon) registration/expo the day before race day.  He was attending the Fastsplits tend and told me won't be racing as his coach told him to focus on training.  Then very next morning I saw him in his trisuit racking his bike!  We were at the same wave.  I got out from T2 and saw him sprinting toward the finish line, got 2nd place of his AG.  I hung out with him and watched him got his medal.  During that race I messed up the run and got DQ'd, and was pretty upset about it.    He tried to cheer me up and left me inspires to encourage me.  He didn't seem to be mean any more. 

That summer, he held a record of 8 races in 8 weeks or something.  His "short" swims are over 3000 m and his "easy" runs are 7 min/mile for 10 miles.  Jorge is now a pro athlete and coach himself.  If you have any question regarding training/race, don't hesitate to ask him. 

I'm not sure what inspired me to pull this relic from the dustbin (maybe off-season boredom?), but here goes:

If you're from Massachusetts and you haven't had the opportunity to meet DK yet, you're missing out.  I met DK in the fall of 2006 (Along with SunnyS) at the Boston-area premiere of "What it Takes".  Since then I've had the pleasure of swimming and biking with her at Walden Pond, running the JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge with her, and generally hanging out with her at a number of races.  Her quiet demeanor cleverly hides the fact that she's a great athlete, and her motto - "Life is more than swim/bike/run" - describes how well balanced her life is between work, exercise, music, etc.

Wow, I didn't know all you guys have been posting together for well over a year.  Pretty cool.  I don't know Scott very well yet but I'll give it a try.  And, D.K. by the way is one of the funniest, sweetest people I've met this year through racing.

Scott is the President of a triathlon team called Dreamfar.  He has recently moved back to Weymouth and reached out to me (I also live in Weymouth) to get together for some training.  He is a big supporter of all his teammates at Dreamfar and BT.  Scott seems to be a hell of a biker so maybe I should be scared to take him up on his training offer!  Scott has also completed the Timberman HIM this year.  Congrats Scott.