SBR Utopia - OPEN

Name: Jason

STORY:  Just finished my 3rd full season of endurance training.  Started out in the summer of 2009 training for my first marathon, then caught the tri bug in 2010.  I have since grown a strong passion for the bike, and have gotten more into bike racing the last 2 years.

I've done 3 sprints, 5 Olys, 2 HIMs, 3 marathons, a bunch of bike races, and other various events.  Still no immediate desire to do an iron distance race, but I am strongly considering one in early 2014.

I'm born and raised in Hawaii (lucky me), so I can train year round. 

FAMILY STATUS: GF is also a triathlete.  No kids, she has a cat, I have been deprived all my life and want a dog.

CURRENT TRAINING: Currently building up towards HIM training.  Usually a 6x a week runner, 3-4x bike, 3x swim.

2012 RACES:  3 time trials, 4 cycling road races, 1 Oly, 1 HIM, 1 Relay.  Won my first race ever during one of my cycling road races (Cat 4/5), and also won a Olympic relay (bike leg) I participated in.

2013 RACES:  Going to be my lightest race schedule to date.  Going to focus on Honu 70.3 as my real A race.  I'll throw in a few other races, but nothing that big.  I'm scheduling assuming I will race Strongman Miyako-jima in April 2014 (3k swim, 155k bike, marathon)...so I don't want to burn myself out in 2013, but just build a solid base...as training will need to start in October.

WHAT WOULD MAKE ME A GOOD MEMBER OF THIS GROUP:  I'm active on the forums, and I'm a sponge for knowledge.  I log every workout, and love to do analysis on my progress.  I've been training with power for over 2 years.  More than anything I love the support from fellow like minded BTers.

Sneaking in early.

NAME: GoFaster / Neil

STORY: This was my 5th year of Tri's and I wanted it to be a bit of a breakout year, which it was. Made the podium a couple of times at the Sprint/Olympic distance, and set a new PB for the HIM (result didn't reflect how good the race actually was). So 2012 was a banner year of sorts.

I didn't have a background in any of the sports, but have taken to running, while swimming seems to give me the most trouble. I'm generally solid MOP on the bike, although this year I moved to a Speed Concept and found some extra speed. I originally got into Tri's because I'd been lifting weights for a couple of years, but recognized that I wasn't really in shape, and I wanted a new challenge.

FAMILY STATUS: Married, great wife, two crazy kids.

CURRENT TRAINING: The last couple of months have been poor, as it was a long season and I needed some down time + I injured my ITB (not the first time). Training in 2012 was the most consistent that it's been, and I spent more time in the pool than ever before. I only got marginally faster, but felt that the fitness I built up with all the swimming lent itself to stronger bike/run performances this year. I enjoy running and was normally 3-4 runs per week, 2-3 trainer rides + 1 outdoor ride each week, and 3-4 swims every week. This volume was pretty close to the max that my life allows for at the moment (maybe a bit too much on occasion).

2012 RACES: Two Sprints, one Olympic, and one Half Ironman.

2013 RACES: Starting to think about this now. I said I wouldn't do the Muskoka 1/2 again, but I'm thinking about it.  Would like to target a HM in May, but need to fix my leg, and then most of the summer will be a mix of Sprints and Olympics.

WEIGHTLOSS: I'm a lightweight. At just over 6' feet I was below 150lbs for much of the summer. I'm thinking about lifting some weights over the winter just to add on a bit of weight. I'm sure it will slow me down a touch.

WHAT WILL MAKE ME A GOOD MENTEE: I've been lucky enough to be part of some great groups in the past and have learned that groups are a tremendous opportunity to share your own views, have those views critiqued, and hopefully help others while in the process of learning from others. I also key off strong, motivated individuals - so a good group helps push me, and I want to contribute as much as possible.

It will be interesting to see how this group works with Jason's proposed format.  Looking forward to it.

Name:  Mark

Story:  I played club soccer at a pretty high level for many years.  Gave it up, finally, after my 3rd knee surgery.  I started doing triathlons as a way to occupy my time and keep me off the soccer field.  In high school and college I played water polo and I have some cycling background as well.  I enjoy long course racing and my focus is on HIM / IM distance.

Family Status:  Single.

2012 Races:  IM Canada.

2013 Races:  IM Lake Tahoe.  Hoping to get out for an east coast race sometime but that might be 2014.

Weight goals:  6'2", pretty steadily 150-160lbs regardless of what I do.  I try to focus on just eating healthy foods with a lot of variety.

Health: I suffered from a pulmonary embolism June 30, 2012 and as many of you know, barely managed to race in Canada.  Doctors currently plan to have me on coumadin for a full year.  This has put a dent in my power numbers and aerobic output in general, so I'm working on recovery.

Name: Arend (pronounced like Aaron with a 'd' at the end)

Family Status: Married for 12 years to my wife Tabatha, no kids, 3 dogs

2012 Races: A few local races, the big ones were Epic Dartmouth where I had a great swim but pulled out of the bike at the 40k mark because of a gastro bug that caused severe cramping if I tried to ingest anything at all - my wife's family all reported the same symptoms when we got home.  Next big race was IM Mont Tremblant which was my first Ironman.  Finished in 11:47 after a great swim (54:02, 14th out of the water), a seemingly well paced 5:50 bike and a terribly painful last 10k of the run.  Very happy with the result, not sure it's the distance for me!

2013 Races: Mont Tremblant 70.3 in June is the only confirmed race but I plan to race a few more local races as well as a late season HIM (maybe Timberman or Pumpkinman?)

Weight Goals: 6'1" and currently around 163 which is about what I raced IMMT at, hoping to race next season under 160 but we'll see how that goes.  My wife and I have eaten pretty healthy for the last several years so it's just a matter of fine tuning things.

Story: I was a swimmer as a kid, quit cold turkey around age 21 and stayed out of the pool for 12 or 13 years until I saw the results of a local tri where a couple of guys that I had swam with had raced and thought I should give it a try.  I struggled with running for about a year and a half until I finally went to a physio who fixed me up.  I haven't looked back since, trying to improve each year and learn as much as I can.  I love riding my bike, running is starting to grow on me....  I recently hired a coach to see how that could bring my training to the next level.  So far so good, I'm loving how it is going and am very excited about the upcoming race season!

What would make me a good member: I try to be as helpful and supportive as possible and always enjoy learning new things.  

WHEN CAN YOU START: Immediately

NAME: bzgl40 / Kimberly Smith (Kim really)

STORY: Been an athlete pretty much all my life.  During school it was team sports, mostly basketball but when I went to university I didn’t want to do 40 hours of basketball on top of school.  So I started running off and on.  Did the occasional race, the Terry Fox runs and what not but really just dabbled in it.  Eventually I got turned on to marathons.  My first attempt at training lasted two weeks.  I then went back to mountain climbing.  But the next year for some reason it stuck.  I then got sucked into a cycling group and somehow ended up doing DU’s.  One of my friends decided to do a tri and that was all the motivation I needed to finally learn something other than the dog paddle.  I still remember standing at the start line wondering if I could do that swim, and it was just a tri-it.

FAMILY STATUS: Live with my significant other, 2 dogs, and 1 cat.  My partner is mostly supportive, even searching out races for me, regardless if I am wanting to race or not.  There does come a point though when it gets to be to much and I have to go birding. 

CURRENT TRAINING:  Since moving to Payson I haven’t been training much.  My last race was the DU Nationals back in Tucson.  I’ve been running and sometimes biking but no access to swimming here.  Biking here is not that safe so it has not been a focus.  I have been focusing on strength training and leaning up as of late.  My winter goals are to increase my running to at least 20MPW and hopefully improve performance around there and just get my base back on the bike, even if it means the trainer

2012 RACES:  The 2012 season ended early for me with the Galveston HIM, followed by the National DU’s.  I had planned on more but you know what they say about the best laid plans

2013 RACES:  I am unsure what I will do in 2013.  I know there is a move in my future so I will see what access that brings me to biking and swimming.  I have started training for an April marathon.

WEIGHTLOSS: I am at a healthy weight but I want to lean up some.  I want to look like the athlete I feel I am

WHAT WILL MAKE ME A GOOD MEMBER OF THE GROUP:  I love to talk about training in general and of course specifically sbr.  I also like to share my experiences so that others can learn from either my mistakes or successes but also like to encourage others.

My head is still swimming so hopefully this is ok:

Name: brigby1 / Ben

Story: I’ve been involved with a number of sports my entire life, the biggest ones growing up were soccer & basketball, but at least bits of everything were tried at one point. After college it was harder to do any team sports, so ended up doing various workouts, more strength oriented though. Also rode the bike around, trails, roads, whatever. Occasionally ran too. Not really a swimmer but had lessons to stay afloat. Lots of familiarity with water from canoeing, kayaking, fishing, etc.

Think I always had some interest in tri, but could not get over the swimming. Not until a friend with almost identical capabilities started and found being able to make it came fairly easy. From there, everything kind of came together and took off.

Family Status: Single

2012 Races: An assortment of sprint, Olympic and Half Iron races. There was a duathlon in there as well. A few bike events just took the place of a long ride that day. All for fun. Pretty good season (4th yr in) even though I fell short of goals for a number of events.

2013 Races: Still picking things out. Was close to burning out this past year, so am going short to start. Then maybe HIM at the end of the season.

Weightloss: More of a body type change. Converted from general strength/fitness to endurance, which seems to be a more natural build for me.

Winter Goals: Learn from last year so I can put up a strong training load again, but keep it going more consistently. Lots of running. Smarter, directed swimming (and more of it). Keep it going on the bike, but balance work/recovery better.

What Would Make Me a Good Member: I love to learn & figure things out, then share that with others.

Name: Kim Carroll

Story: As a kid I rode horses competitively and was a barn rat until I left home for college. Most of my fitness pursuits for the next 20 years were random and fleeting. I ran my first 5k followed by a sprint tri at 45. Since then sprints/oly's/HMs but I've never raced a great deal. I actually enjoy training more than racing and I sign up for events mostly to keep motivated. I've also been pretty injury prone.  My last major race was a marathon (MCM) in late 2010. I was training for NYC Marathon in 2011 when I started having severe hip pain. Story is long and boring, but eventually determined that the primary issue was a herniated disc L4/L5.  I had a series of epidurals that have helped and am slowly returning to running again.

Work (start-ups mostly) and subsequent travel (lots of it and often international) have always been a challenge for training but I'm finding myself in a very different place right now. The company where I've worked the last few years was recently sold and I am exiting. I have no plans to go back to work right away. Bottom line: I have time to train. I just need to stay healthy.

Family Status: Single. Live with a beast that has a "dog brain" trapped in a cat's body. I have recently started volunteering with a program that raises service dogs, so weekends frequently bring a guest puppy into the mix.

Current Training: Following BarryP (5-6 runs/week) with very low weekly mileage to hopefully keep injuries from recurring. I just started Jorge's winter cycling plan, so 3-4 trainer rides weekly. Swimming with a Masters group and tri-club 3 x week.

2012 Races: I spent the past year working on injury recovery and a swim focus.  I did complete my first 2.4m OWS and was not last out of the water, barely. I'm looking forward to actually having something to train for in 2013.

2013 Races: Patriot Half (70.3) in June. I have a deferral for NY Marathon and hoping to run. Nothing else planned...for now.

Weightloss: Assuming I get through the holidays unscathed, none really. 5'10" and 130-135.  I seem to have developed a massive sugar habit though, so I'm interested in improving overall nutrition.

What will make me a good member: I'm a good student and enjoy sharing what I learn with others. 

NAME: Experior / Michael

STORY: I am an adult-onset athlete.  Until age 40, setting aside a few failed attempts to start running, I was completely inactive, aerobically,  At 40 I turned it around and now -- excluding the truly important things like family and trying to be a good person -- training is my priority.  I have some other hobbies but they all take a back seat to training.

FAMILY STATUS: The most important facts are that I've been blissfully married for 18 years (and that won't change, apart from going 19, 20, 21...) and that we have multiple children, and pets, all under age 12.  Our house is basically a zoo, but a happy zoo.

CURRENT TRAINING:  Right now, I am not training apart from the occasional 3-5 mile trot.  I will start back in earnest right after Christmas.

PAST YEAR'S RACES:  A dreadfully hot (but still fun) spring HIM, IMWI, several sprints, a couple of Olys, and a fall HM on little to no training.  So, a typical year.

2013 RACES:  I'm signed up for Raleigh 70.3 and Florida 70.3  Not sure what else I'll do.

WEIGHTLOSS: When I got into this business I was quite overweight.  I've lost a bunch, and it doesn't seem to be a huge issue now.

WHAT WILL MAKE ME A GOOD MEMBER:  Well, honestly, I cannot promise that I will be.  I'm going through some pretty big life-changes now.  But BT (more precisely, certain people at BT, including this group) has been a big motivator for me and I'm hoping to use that to keep going with training.  I do try to give back as well.  I love endurance sport, and in the past I've spent a lot of time reading about it, discussing it with others, trying to learn from others, and trying to help others learn about it.  I've also worked with some local researchers (I'm an academic.)  I believe that we all have things to learn from one another and I try to participate accordingly.

YANTI (TriAya)

Story: Growing up in Indonesia, I swam with the national and high school teams. In the U.S, I coached/competed in martial arts at the world level, but after an injury became sedentary and eventually morbidly obese. Fast forward … a student suckered me into doing a charity marathon—then I learned how to ride a bike and picked swimming back up! After 15 years in the States, I've been back in Indonesia for 3.5 years, mostly on the paradise island of Bali, where I've started a triathlon club and coaching.

Family status: I'm 36, strange and single (the two can't possibly be related?), have a black Lab who's smarter than I am and trains the other dog and cats to outsmart me, too. We call it the Funny Farm here. I'm also often at my parents' home in the capital, Jakarta (1.5hr plane flight) since they're old and their lives require a great deal of management. 

Current training: After taking a one-week "break" (consisting of tromping everywhere doing touristy stuff) after getting to 216km (out of 226km) in Ironman Western Australia, I am back into peak Ironman training (15-20 hrs/wk) to get ready for Ironman New Zealand in 10 weeks. 

2012 Races:
March - Ironman Melbourne
June - Bali International Triathlon
July - Bali 5K Ocean Swim
December - Ironman Western Australia

2013 Races:
March - Ironman New Zealand
April - Laguna Lang Co Triathlon, Vietnam (1.8km swim / 62km cycle / 12km run)
May - Koeln 12K Lake Swim, Germany (or maybe 4km swim / 20km aquathlon)
June - Bali International Triathlon
July - Bali 10K Ocean Swim
(not sure about the rest until ... )
December - Ironman Western Australia

Experience, encouragement, empathy, and EXTREME FUN are what I offer you. I've done dozens of endurance races all over the world. I also worked as a researcher, writer/editor, and trainer for a global fitness and sports company for several years, so I'm pretty keyed into sports physiology and endurance coaching. I have the dubious distinction of being BT's top poster, but I also read (almost) all the forum threads, articles, programs, lots of blogs, and other endurance forums, books, news, and research.

Name: Marc

STORY:  I probably won't be a very active member, but I will drop by and share ideas with my BT friends in this group. There is a good vibe here. I hesitated, but the draw of some great people was too strong.

4th season completed. I saw decent improvements but feel I need to do something different to get to the next level.

2012 : 3 Olys, 3 HIMs. I finished the season off with my first 70.3 AG Win in Muskoka and got a slot of Vegas 2013.

2013 : Probably similar schedule, 3-4 HIMs trying to peek for WC. So far I am registered for Tremblant 70.3 and Vegas.

I plan to get back to serious training starting next week (Dec 24th). I need to fix my swim and lose some weight.

Potentially some big-big projects in 2013. Stay tuned :-)

there is a trick to it. You just need to be old :-)

but seriously, the folks in this group are class acts. It's a group that Fred got together and Jason continued the group. Very knowledgeable and helpful.

Stick around, you'll learn a lot, I'm sure

Riding today and hoping the weather will cooperate (relative to Hawaii that is).  I know...I know...

21F and a bunch of half melted ice/snow here. Get on it.

mndymond - 2012-12-23 12:02 AM

tri808 - 2012-12-22 8:12 AM

Riding today and hoping the weather will cooperate (relative to Hawaii that is).  I know...I know...

Weather is cooperating on Maui!! I am sunburnt even with SPF 50...can't ride this morning because two of the tubes I brought from home are not long enough for my rims...first time that's ever happened...so I still have a flat tire. Rookie fail and I'm not even really a rookie...:S Will do tomorrow's run instead and just flip my days around.

Aw! I forgot, are they new wheels?

Weather's not cooperating here, though--we're into full-on rainy season. 6-hour thunderstorm today, torrential rain, near-zero visibility. Not ideal for swimming or running or even going anywhere on the roads in order to reach a treadmill. Traffic impossible (holiday weekend), many roads impassable due to downed trees or flooding. Totally ordinary for big-city tropics but just a pain in the azz.

So I put in two hours on my folks' plastic stationary (that thing is HARD to ride, I'm always in better shape coming back from Jakarta!) and some yoga. Honestly, at this point, I think I have more to lose by over-cramming for IMNZ in 10 weeks (unlike the run-up to IMWA where things were so tight I may as well go for broke) than being a little cautious. I think I'll be in great shape if I just keep up a solid volume, throw in some good pockets of intensity (especially on the bike) and cruise right in.

Also, my joints are really feeling IMWA this week instead of last. Still pretty tired. Muscles are all good, though.

Lots of rain here today so the snow is all gone.

About to get on the trainer for 2x20 - good times!  

Great group with some awesome knowledge...lookin forward to more in 2013!

NAME: Ryan (rymac)

STORY:  I am 32.  This will be my 6th year in triathlon.  I played every sport when I was younger except for swimming, biking and running.  I was primarily a hockey, basketball, soccer player.  My sister did a couple IM's and I got hooked on it immediately after crossing my first finish line.

FAMILY STATUS:  Married with a 20 month old daugther.  I primarily workout very early in the morning and at lunch time so I can have all evening with them.

CURRENT TRAINING: Currently doing the Endurance Nation Outseason plan and focusing very heavily on Biking and Running over the winter with lots of intensity and weekly volume only in the 6-8 hour range.  Also playing hockey twice a week.

2012 RACES:  2 HIM races (Grand Rapids & MI Titanium) and 2 Olympics (Grand Haven & Tawas) with several running races.  Set 10K, 15K and Half Marathon PRs and also placed in my AG or OA in all the triathlon races.

2013 RACES:  I will be focusing primarily on the Oympic distance this year and running races.  There is an outside chance for a late season HIM but not planning it.  Really looking forward to getting really fast this year at short course and then transferring that speed to HIM in 2014.

WEIGHT LOSS GOALS: Currently at 168 lbs but would like to race below 160.  I am watching what I eat quite a bit now but it goes in spurts.  Not overly worried about it.

WINTER TRAINING GOALS: Get Fast!  I am going to push swimming to the back of the bus again this winter and continue to work on Bike/Run through intensity.  The ROI for swimming is low for me* considering all the admin/travel time.  I will still swim 1x week minimum.

WHAT WOULD MAKE ME A GOOD MEMBER: I continually learn and pick up different things from this group and love all the input.  This group/program truly is my favorite thing about BT.

Have fun! 

I had 2x15 and 1x5 this morning on the schedule.  This was the first bike workout with my new FTP number and it was tough.  The top of my range became the bottom !!

Beautiful in MI today (although cold) and got a shorty run in too...now off for some holiday cheer (beer and pizza) .

Hum, I might have just come up with supper. 

Got my run in this morning, just easy pace.  Weather was pretty nice for it

Name: Sally (riorio)

Story: I grew up in Scotland running track and XC, also played soccer and rugby during school. I have lived in the USA for the past 18 years, currently in AZ for the past 13 years and appear to be staying here. I got into Triathlon in 2006, completing my first sprint tri on a mountain bike. I was almost last. I quickly decided this was the sport for me so I moved up to longer distances, and did IMAZ in 2009. I loved the IM distance and planned to do more however I had a few mishaps along the way including a pretty bad bike crash that resulted in broken ribs, a lot of road rash and a chipped piece of cartilage in my knee. I had surgery in 2011 to remove the loose cartilage but I have a nice big hole in my knee which will likely make running long distance impossible unless I have some type of cartilage restoring surgery. At the moment the knee is fine, I run about 15mpw and cycle a lot, I still have a rocky relationship with swimming but we're working on it

Family: I have 2 awesome boys age 10 and 13, they are active in Mtn biking, BMX, running and team sports. My hubby of 17 years is a mtn biker first and foremost but is also a very fast runner, Xterra competitor and all around great guy. We support each other in training and racing. I work part time as a teacher aide. I taught for 8 years but decided I need to be at home for my own kiddos just now, not sure if/when I will go back to full time teaching. 

Current Training: I am trying to have an off season but it's hard to do that in AZ. Our weather is just great here. I am enjoying group rides and some short trail runs. I make myself go to the pool 3x per week because I find if I take time out of the pool, it's like going back to square one. 

Disclaimer: I don't like technology, I rarely do intervals, I don't own a PM, HR monitor etc because it takes the fun out of it for me. However, I am hooked on Strava

2012 Races: I did a bit of everything, a few sprint tris, a bike race, time trial and some running races. It was a nice break from formal training, I had no A races, everything was for fun.

2013 Races: I plan to do a couple of Spring Tris, maybe the Leadman tri here in Tempe and Deuces Wild up in Show Low. I want tri do a time trial series, a bike race and a century ride. I also plan on doing some stuff to get out of my comfort zone, not so much racing but some epic rides and new challenges.

What would make me a good member of this group?: I love to talk S/B/R with people without the drama  

Name: Kev

 Story: Slightly on the old side (55) to be starting this.  It will be my third year. Two years back a local hospital put on a sprint  basically in my backyard. I always wanted to do one so it was low key and I was hooked. In my younger days I had a cat 4 license, TT and have done numerous cycling tours. I've been up MT. Washington on race day 13 times and had a blast every race on it, tough but fun.  Presently I am participating in the Bike Journal Consequtive Days of cycling.  Todays ride made 1451 straight days of cycling in rain, snow, hurricanes etc. The end of this year will be four years straight.  Pretty proud of that.

Current training:  Doing the cycling every day. When spring hits the tone will change for bigger and harder miles.  Presently in training for the 26.6 Run with Donna on Feb 17 in Jacksonville Fl.  Never ran a marathon before.  Knocked of 19 miles this morning. In January I'll be taking swim lessons to improve in that area. Really need work here so hitting the community pool to keep what I have going.

2012: Couple tri's with podium in one. Couple 1/2 marathons and some 5ks.

2013: Same tri's and would like to do a half iron. Not worried about the bike or run. But the swim is in the ocean so I'll really need to work on that after winter. Probably other 1/2 marathons and a bunch of 5k's with friends then go out and drink beer.

Good member: I would be a good member because I also enjoy helping others and welcome comments or suggestions that could help myself. There is a lot to this sport I don't know but have been reading up on.  I don't mind my log looked at and welcome all suggestions.

 Family: Married to a very patient wife of 32 years. We have two great daughters in their 20's out on their own.