Bob Stocks' Group - Full for now!

Can I be part of this group?

I started training in 2007, I have a distant background in swimming and very limited background in running and biking. I would like to be part of this group because of your race experience and extensive knowledge in swimming. I have enjoyed participating in past mentor groups that are fun and motivating, during the winter months I need all the motivation I can get! Currently I am training for Oceanside 70.3 with Wildflower Long course shortly after, I am really stoked, I just hope I prepare enough. I too have a family with a five year old daughter, she helps with my training and loves to get involved. I am a member of masters swim,also local bike and swim clubs. I pretty much lean on them for group training support and have learned a ton about each discipline, however they are very competitive and I do get dropped, passed,and left behind enough times to let me know I still have allot to learn. I live in California and have a platform to train all year if I want, for me its great to get a little motivation during my 75 hour work weeks!

Stuart

I would love to join your group, if you would have me.

I'm comin' back around for a 2nd trip through the wild and wooly jungle of Bob's mentor group.

Hi Bob,

 I was in your group last year and got into another group this year but if you don't mind I might lurk in your group.  Anyone in your group is lucky as you are wickedly fast.  I am trying IMKY again this year and could use any advice you have to improve my time.  Thanks and good luck at IMLP.

David

Hello.  I would like to join your group if there is space still available.  I am right down the road from you in Horseheads, NY.  I plan to do my first sprint tri at Keuka Lake in June.  I will fill out the rest of my information tonight.

Thanks!

George

I'm just coming back in to give you my information.

Name:  phillybarb/Barb

Story:  I have a background in soccer and running.  While I was in the Army, I messed up my ankle really bad while running.  I had surgery 3 times over 4 years.  During that time, I lost all fitness and gained 81 pounds.  I started walking/running in the spring of 2007.  I started doing triathlons because I found that I could not run as much as I wanted to, since it aggravated my injury, so I needed to cross-train.  I completed my first sprint tri in July 2007.  I started taking swim lessons in February 2008, as I had never learned how to swim.  I am a nervous bike rider, but I'm working hard on improving my bike skills.  I'm also hoping to improve my speed in all three sports.  My prior running pace was around 7:30/mile; currently, I'm around 12:30/mile. 

Family Status:  Single, no kids, 2 cats

Current Training:  I'm a gold member of BT.  I'm currently following the Winter Maintenance-Swim Focus Plan.

2008 Races:  2 half-marathons, 1 olympic triathlon, 1 sprint triathlon, multiple 5k's

2009 Races:  I'm only registered for Eagleman 70.3 and the Philadelphia Distance Run at this point.  I will do other running races and triathlons, but nothing big.

Weight Loss:  I gained 81 pounds from the surgeries.  I started really focusing on losing the weight in the fall of 2007.  So far, I have lost about 52 pounds, so I have about 30 more to go.

I'd like to join up with your group if you can handle another Bob! 

NAME: Bob/willie05

STORY: I live in Pittsburgh and am 42.  I've just finished my 2nd year of training and doing triathlons.  At the start of 2007, I couldn't believe how badly I was out of shape, so I decided to get serious about losing weight.  Pretty soon I remembered that I always wanted to race in a triathlon.  I always liked to swim and ride bikes, I had a mountain bike that I won at work, but I never liked to run, but figured I'd have to suck it up.  So I did a quick search, found this site, and the rest is history!

I had a great time training throughout 2007, and ended up doing 2 sprint triathlons that year.  I also went from 210 to 165 lbs. 

Going into 2008, my mistake was that I figured I knew what I was doing and put it into cruise control.  I never got the speed back that I had in 2007 and put on weight even as I was training.  I got a tri-bike, and did 2 olympics and 1 sprint, but my results weren't nearly as good as I was expecting.

FAMILY STATUS: I've been married for 13 years, and we have two daughters who are 11 and 8. 

CURRENT TRAINING: I've been taking it too easy for the last month or so with only light running and now some stationary bike, but I'm ready to kick it back into gear. 

THIS YEAR'S RACES: I did the Morgantown Olympic.  Screwed up my aero drink and half of it spilled all over me during the bike, so I had nothing left for the run.  That was not ideal because the last 1 1/2 miles of that was solid, steep hills!  Did the Pittsburgh Olympic.  Had the aero drink all figured out and ready to go.  However, within 30 secs of the start of the bike, rounded a corner and promptly crashed right into a guy standing there on his bike.  Of course the drink all spilled out, and again I had nothing left for the run, so I took it nice and easy.  Finally did the Akron Sprint, with no mishaps except a sore hamstring, so just went out and enjoyed it while watching everyone run right by me!!

2009 RACES: Pittsburgh 1/2 Marathon in May, Pittsburgh Olympic, Springfield, OH HIM (my first HIM!), Akron Sprint, Savageman Olympic or HIM.  I'll also fit in a couple other shorter races in between.

WEIGHTLOSS: I've climbed back up to 185, so I need to get that back off - and now!

Looking forward to learning more about getting into the longer distances that I've planned this year and keeping the balance between that and family life.

Oh yeah...here's my story:

NAME:    Aimeep/Aimee Pingenot

STORY: I am from a suburb of Dallas, Texas (Frisco) and am an attorney. I have a background in running and ran cross country competitively in HS until I suffered some hip injuries that took me out of the game....for 13 years. I began running again in 2005 as a way to loose weight and relieve stress. I kept having ITB issues and knew I needed to cross train. I started doing bike rallies and decided to do the MS150 on my hybrid. Once I did that, I decided to add triathlon and in 2006 did my first tri. Though I swore up and down I would never do an IM, I signed up for IMFL and did it on November 1. Of course I swore that was the last one, and what do you know, I'm signed up for IMWI in 2009. In the meantime, I've done 4 marathons, 25 or so half marathons and lots of races in between. I'm a very steady mid-packer who would like to become a little faster and a little better with time. Maybe that and getting in the pool some, which I don't love at all. I need your motivation, Bob to get my lazy butt in the water. It's now been over a month.

FAMILY STATUS: I live with my boyfriend (who doesn't do tris) and our two dogs, Truman and Wallis.

CURRENT TRAINING: This is my off-season, but I'm training for the Houston Marathon right now and trying to maintain a base with my tri coach and team, Gerald Jackson with Negative Split Racing.

THIS YEARS RACES: In 2008 I competed in 3 HIM, 1 marathon, 1 IM and lots of running races and a few sprints thrown in!

2009 RACES: Houston Marathon in January, Little Rock Marathon in March, Eugene Marathon in May and Kansas 70.3 and maybe New Orleans 70.3 or Lonestar HIM. Then, it's time for IMWI and maybe try to regain some speed and qualify for Boston at the end of the year.

WEIGHTLOSS: I'm pretty steady weight wise, but I gained about 10 lbs training for Florida that haven't fully come off yet. I'm working on getting those off and getting down to 16% BF for race season. I'm at 17 something% now and just want to clean it up a little.

Hey everyone!!! I'll be happy to take everyone that has responded to this point. It's been a crazy day at work today and I haven't been able to monitor the forums much. I look forward to chatting with all of you that I don't know yet and helping you in meeting any and all of your goals!!

Bye for now! Train smart!!

Here's my story:

NAME: Brad/Lo-Daddy 

Age:  38

FAMILY STATUS: I've been happily married for 13 years.  My wife and I have 3 children.  We have two boys (7 & 6) and one girl (4 months).

STORY: I live in a small rural area b/w Columbia and Charleston, South Carolina.  Growing up I played football and baseball.  When I went to college I got heavily involved in power lifting.  Needles to say I didn't run/bike anywhere!  About 6 years ago a friend challenged me to do a off road duathlon with him in Florida.  I nearly died, but I've continued to come back for more.  I think having absolutely no natural talent with endurance events is one of the things that drives me to try to better myself.  I got involved in triathlons about 3 years ago, but this past year was the first year that I seriously applied myself to the sport.  I feel like biking is probably my strongest of the three events, and my running is getting better.  Swimming is def. my weakest link.  In fact for me they should change the name from swimming to sinking!  I've participated in several sprint distance races, an X-Terra race, and a half-iron last year.  I've run numerous 5k, 8k, 10k, 12k and 2 marathons.   

CURRENT TRAINING: I'm currently training for the Disney Marathon on January 11th.  I'm trying to find a happy balance b/w increased running miles, and still not completely negelecting the bike and swim.  However, my bike mileage has taken a serious plunge over the last several weeks. 

THIS YEAR'S RACES: This past year I did several road races, several sprint triathlons, and my first attempt at the half-iron distance.  I finished 6th overall in my age group for the 4 race Charleston Triathlon Series.  I trained really hard for my Half-Iron but basically bommed like a big dawg!  I was blowing chunks within the first mile of the run

2009 RACES: Disney Marathon Jan 11, might do 1/2 Marathon in Atlanta on 3/29, Langley Pond Internation Tri 4/25, Lake Murray Tri 5/03, Xterra Smith Lake, NC 5/31, Festival of Flowers Tri 6/7,  Charleston Sprint Tri 6/14, 7/5, 8/09, Hartsville International Tri 9/07, SC Half 9/28

Okay everyone!! Welcome to the group! The group is much bigger than I wanted but will do my best to keep on top of any questions or concerns everyone may have. There is also some very experienced Ironman triathletes in the group that can share their experiences (good and bad) to help each other out.

Here is a list of the group as it stands now:

SweetK - Kristen
nevergivin - Stuart
phillybarb - Barb
CubeFarmGopher - Shaun
mndiver - Bryan
razorxp - David
Lo-Daddy - Brad
Colleen - Colleen
gdale - George
triguynewbie - Mike
Aimeep - Aimee
willie05 - Bob
jsklarz - Jeffrey

This is going to be a lot of fun and I see some of you are within a few hours of Binghamton, hopefully we can meet up for a workout or a race over the summer. Anyone who is in the Elmira/Horseheads area I have to recommend Mike Timofeef's spin classes at Grand Central Fitness and HealthWorks, they are AWESOME!!!

Anyone that has not given their story yet please do so and I am looking forward to getting to know everyone!

Take care and keep an eye on my logs for the mentor group and links to everyone's logs. BTW - If you are not logging workouts, please start to do so. Noone will be able to encourage or harass you if you're not posting!

NAME: gdale / George

AGE:  36

STORY: I live in Horseheads, NY.  I decided just in the past 2 months or so to give tri's a try!  I have been running for fitness since the beginning of 2007 when I realized that I was about 55 lbs heavier than when I went to college.  I guess the freshman 15, the first years of marriage and then a lot of sympathy eating with my wife while she was pregnant over the years added up.  So with diet and running in 2007 I lost about 20 lbs but have since put about half back on.  I did some biking in the summer of 2007 too but only about once a week for 20 miles.  Seemed to be plateauing with running so I added swimming at the end of August this year.  I was a lifeguard in highschool but never a swimmer--just did the minimum amount of laps to complete my required workouts.  So now I am building volume in the pool--got to 2000 yards for the first time on Monday!  After I started feeling comfortable in the pool, I decided that working towards a tri would keep me motivated to improve my fitness.  From what I read on this site, I my be signing myself up for an addiction!  Besides work and training, I am actively involved in my kids sports (currently coaching youth wrestling) and serve on the board for a charity based in Dallas, TX.

FAMILY STATUS: I am married with 3 boys - 9, 6, and 2

CURRENT TRAINING: All of my training currently happens at lunch at the YMCA.  My plan is only for sprint distance this year so I am confident I will be able to get enough time in, especially when I add in some weekends after the first of the year.  Right now, I am building volume in the pool, maintaining my 3.75-4 mile runs and riding the stationary bike to build a little bike endurance until I can get outside.  I plan to do the beginner Sprint Program from BT but I have increased the starting volumes to be more in line with what I am capable of today.  This should put me well past the volumes necessary for a sprint and maybe put me in position to be a little competitive (with myself at least!).  Will likely join a masters swim group in January to get some instruction on my swim technique.

THIS YEAR'S RACES:  I watched some of the Kona race last weekend:-)  No races, just running and started swimming.

2009 RACES: Keuka Lake Sprint Triathlon in June.  If all goes well, I will look to also do the Musselman in July and the Cayuga Lake Tri in August.  I would also like to do a few 5K or 10K prior to my first tri to get the feeling of the race adreline.

WEIGHTLOSS:  As I mentioned above, I would like to shed the 10 pounds that I put back on late last year and early this year.

Looks like I may be the newbie-est in the group so I am looking forward to learning a lot from all of you!

George

Hey guys!  Glad to be apart of this group.  I'm looking forward to training with you guys and girls!