mjewen's group - FULL

Hello Mike.  I would really like to join your mentor group.

My name is Roxann.  I live near St Cloud MN.  I am currently 50ys old, married for 25 year, and we have 3 adult children, 2 girls married, 1 son at home yet, and 1 grandbaby from each of the girls.  In the past 3 years I have lost over 1/2 of my body weight, and gone from a very inactive, ill lady, to loving every minute of activity.

Last year, I walked 1 half marathon, ran 1 half marathon, and took part in my first duathlon.  I actually started biking as a cross training due to some foot pain.  I found I LOVED the bike!

For 2009, I have 2 half marathons, and 1 duathlon planned.  I was also crazy enough to decide to take it to the next level and signed up for a Sprint Triathlon in Chisago City, MN on July 26th.

I really love the water, but do not have any structure to my swim strokes.  I know I have a lot of work to do in order to complete a triathlon.  I am not at all worried about the bike and run parts.. just that swim thing.  I sure could use the guidance and support that a mentor group can bring.

Roxann

Roxann, welcome to the group and thanks for being the first to sign up!  Hopefully we'll get some more soon. 

I'm very impressed with your progress the last 3 years.  Loving the water is a bonus in getting better at swimming.  It's great to have another Minnesotan in the group. 

Mike (Dad) I'd love to join your group.  Even though my goal is to beat you, I can't think of anyone else I know who knows more about training and tris.  I look forward to working with you in a more official capacity.  

NAME: RedBaron84MN / Scotty

STORY: I'm 24 and I currently live in St. Cloud, working in Sartell at the paper mill as an electrial engineer.  I moved here last summer after graduating from the University of MN Duluth where I studied electrical and computer engineering for five years.  I ran cross country 3 years in high school and raced in several local running races.  I ran Grandma's marathon in 2004 (3:36:09) and 2005 (3:35:51).  After the last race I injured my right petula tendon and struggled to get back into running.  I decided to do a tri with my Dad in 2006 and enjoyed the training and the race.  I became heavily involved with whitewater kayaking, which consumed a lot of my time.  Now that my time is much more structured (and I live a lot farther away from whitewater) I'm ready to commit the time to train and attempt to be competitive in my AG.   

FAMILY STATUS: I have two parents who have been very supportive in everything that I do.  My sister is what I would consider to be my exact opposite in almost every way but I still love her.  Other than my immediate family there's no one else significant in my life except for my friends and social network of paddling buddies.

CURRENT TRAINING: Right now I'm working on building a solid base from which I can work off.  My order of strengths would be swim, run, then bike.  I have no set plan but I'm looking at following one of the BT's for my first Oly in late June.  Since I joined the Janurary challenge in the MN forum, I've started doing two a days, my first being today.  Besides the main sports my cross training will inculde kayaking, x-coutry skiing, snowshoeing, and other adventure sports.  After my last race in early August I took a long break until I started up again in late November. 

THIS YEAR'S RACES: Graniteman Tri in July (sprint) and the brewhouse in August (near Oly) and some kayak racing in June.

2009 RACES:  I much bigger load, hopefully not too much: 4 sprints, one medium (somewhere between sprint and oly), 2 olys, and one 10-hour tri. 

 Hi Mike,

I am new to this sport and I would like to join your group.

NAME:  Jim Kenny

STORY: I live in Bainbridge island, WA.  I will be 48 in February and I am tired of being a slug.  I got motivated September 17th 2008, got on a bicycle and rode 6 miles.  I thought it was too hard!  I started looking on the web for training programs and  I found a few web sites about running and triathlons.  I have never competed in any kind of race but I was interested in the tri's.  I started running and swimming as well as bicycling and started to gain distance and best of all started to lose weight.  I have a long way to go but I have been pretty happy the way things are going.  I don't have anyone local to train with yet but a friend in California is interested.  

FAMILY STATUS:  Married, 5 kids ages 5 - 21, three girls and two boys.

CURRENT TRAINING: Starting to put some structure into training.  I have worked up to a 30 mile bike, 4.25 mile run and 1 mile swim.  Now I have to put them together in the same day and work on improving time.

THIS YEAR'S RACES:   I ran my first 5k December 13th 2008 in the Bainbridge Island Solstice run. I plan on 3 sprints.  April 4, 2009  Arroyo Grande CA, July 19, 2009 - Benaroya Research Institute Triathlon at Seafair Seattle, WA and September 6th TriTurtleTri Bremerton, WA.  

Thanks, Mike.  I am excited to start training.

This is pretty uncharted grounds for this old lady.. but sure is making me young again.

I have yet to get into the pool.. but will in the next days.  I pretty much lived in the lakes as a kid.. but it has been a while for anything structured.  Still comfy in the water, so yes, that is a plus.

now, I have a really crazy question...  for a sprint Tri, does one really need to wear a wet suit?  I am signed up for the Chisago Lakes sprint Tri on July 26th.  Only 1/4 mile swim... it would seem futile to spend more time getting in and out of the thing in the transitions.  LOL

also, how do I add this to my "home" page so I can come back daily?  Just a little confused with the site, but figured it would be my best way to get my silly questions answered.   oh.. I think I found it.. LOL

thank you for taking on the mentoring. 

Roxann

Scotty, hello! I am in the St Cloud area.  I live about ½ way between Rockville and Kimball. 

Awesome that you will also be at chisago lakes!

I am doing that race with a friend who has done a couple HIM’s…  she is also helping me quite a bit.

My goals are NOT as aggressive as yours… mine is to merely survive and prove that at any age.. you can Tri.  LOL.. ohh.. and maybe not come in last.  LOL

Hi Jim!  good to know I am not the only rookie to this genre.

It's late, I just got home from working a basketball game (I officiate high school basketball) But I wanted to welcome our newest members to the group.  Scott, I figured you would join, so good to have you officially on board.  Also, welcome Jim!  Like Roxann, I am also impressed with the progress you have made in a very short time frame, great job in only 4 months! 

Training and getting into a more healthy lifestyle, just feeds on itself, it seems like.  Getting into triathlons, regardless of your goals (which tend to be personal) does directly lead you into changing your lifestyle.  It is a lifestyle change,  but one that seemed for me to be just the next step as I incorporated training in 3 sports.   

So far we have the relative youngster in Scott and then 3 of us more experienced folks in that 50ish range.  Who's next to join to our group?

Roxann, I'll answer your questions tomorrow when I'm a little fresher.  

NAME: Sandy

STORY: I will be 44 in February and am in need of some drastic life changes!  I seem to be the only one in the family with weight issues and I'm tired of being uncomfortable!  My brother and sister in law are Ironman alumni.  They inspire me.

FAMILY STATUS: I am divorced and have 3 children.  My oldest son is defending our country in Afghanistan.  He is 22.  My 16 y/o daughter is active in Poms at high school and my 13 y/o son is active with cross country.  I am not a very good role model right now. But that will all change this year!

CURRENT TRAINING: I don't have a current training program.  I found a 22 week program to begin on Monday (through this website).  I am looking for motivation.

THIS YEAR'S RACES: no races this past year...

2009 RACES:  Hopefully will be able to do 2 sprints this year. One in June and one in July.

 Hi Mike,

I'd like to join in if there is room! I picked your group actually because of your marathon experiance and it sounds like we both entered into tris from a running background.

NAME: Beth (Trirific10)

STORY: I was never the runner in the family but picked it up in 2004 when I was going through a separation/divorce. I basically lost about 15 pounds by walking/running around the HS track...It was my therapy at the time. After a few months of that I took to the roads and never looked back! The summer of 2005 a close friend of mine encouraged me to do a local sprint tri with her. It was my first race of any type and I was hooked!!..although , after that I fell into  running races as I didn't own a bike except for my 1975 fugi and I was a horrible swimmer! Since then I have done numerous running races. Fast forward to 2006 another friend motivated me into extending my abilities with tris. I now have two seasons of tri's under my belt. I've done one HIM and Timberman aquabike (was injured). This past fall I was thinking about setting some new goals for when I turn the big 5-0 in two years. What I came up with is to BQ and to have a full IM at least on the schedule.

FAMILY STATUS:  Divorced mom of two teenagers and a 10yo

CURRENT TRAINING: Im a fairly motivated person but could use some encouragement in getting ready for my first marathon in May. (New Jersey). As far as tri's are concerned I try to maintain a base so I could go out and do an Oly at any given point. My biking is my weakest link. I just don't have the power.

THIS YEAR'S RACES:  a few road races, Old Colony Oly,Timberman aquabike (was running injured), Reach the Beach 200 mile Relay. I bailed out of the Niantic Bay sprint because Im askeered of jellyfish!

2009 RACES: Colchester Half Marathon (feb), New Jersey Marathon (May), Old Colony Oly (july), Niantic Bay sprint(aug), Timberman (aug), Reach the Beach  200 mile Relay (sept). Also a few 5ks and 10ks. I will also probably do a fall marathon as well.

Sandy and Beth you are both in! 

Sandy, hopefully our group will be able to keep you motivated on your new journey to more active lifestyle.  I welcome all and any questions, I was there a few years ago and at that time I did not know about this site or any local resources so I struggled some learning the ropes,  I may not be able to answer all your questions on my own but will do my best and help search for answers for those I can't answer. 

Beth, our group will try to provide whatever you need from us.  I did get into to tris from a running background.  My Vegas marathon was partly a test to see how close I may be to a full ironman.  It was kind of strange to focus almost entirely on the run for 3 months.  I rode my mountain bike a few times but still have not been on my tri bike since my HIM on Sept 7.  I swam 5-6 times during the marathon training.  I have started swimming again and will start some trainer rides this week.  Training for Boston will have to include more 3 sport training than my training for Vegas.      

Roxann, use this link http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=142544&posts=10&start=1 to get into our group thread.  I think the start=1 will bring you to page 1 of the thread, as we add entries and the size of our thread grows, you can change the url to get to the current page.

As far as wetsuits, for your Chisago triathlon in late July, a wetsuit would not be needed.  For some of the earlier season tris they are very beneficial for the warmth factor.  USAT guidelines allow competitors to wear wetsuits if the water temp is 78 or under.  78 to 84 wetsuits may be worn but you are ineligible for awards.  Over 84, wetsuits are not allowed.  Non- USAT sanctioned tris are free to make their own wetsuit guidelines. 

If you don't want to spend the money on a wetsuit right away, try Chisago without one.  If you decide you will doing enough tris, make your decision later.  If you do get one, make sure you practice with it on either some OWS (open water swims) or in a pool.  OWS are better as pools temps are too high to wear your wetsuit for very long.  You should also practice getting your wetsuit off, see below on transitions. 

Here is a link with a summary of the USAT wetsuit rules, all rules are also available in a pdf file at the USAT site, see second link

http://www.setupevents.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=page&filename=wetsuitrules.html

http://assets.teamusa.org/assets/documents/attached_file/filename/410/usatcrandpcmodifications.pdf

I have worn my wetsuit for all my tris.  Originally because I was more comfortable (safer) with a wetsuit.  Literally you float like a bobber.  As my swimming improved I may not have always needed it but I also got fast at taking it off (10-15 seconds).  I think it saves me about 10 seconds per 100 yds so even in a sprint with a 400 yd swim I gain time by wearing my wetsuit.  We'll talk more about transitions and saving "free time" in the future.  Triathlons are really a 4 discipline race, swim/bike/run and the often overlooked transitions.  T1 (swim to bike) and T2 (bike to run) should be planned and practiced, the same as the other disciplines. 

Welcome Beth, Sandy and Victor.

I am looking forward to getting to know you, and working thru this together.

I am also starting with the Beginner triathlete 22 week trng.  Mine will start in March, however, I will already be working the swimming portion of the first 2 weeks of that plan this week and repeating until the official training starts.

In the mean time, I have a half marathon in 2 weeks, and then one on May 3rd that I will be training for.  So that will keep me busy!

Roxann

Thanks Mike,

That is another reason why I decided to step up to a marathon and also want to do a century ride as well. The IM goal! I really am much better at shorter distances but want to challenge myself. Another motivation for stepping into tris was because I kept getting injured if I didn't mix it up and cross train. I try not to run two days in a row. Im not sure how this will pan out for a marathon. I have a training plan that I want to follow but have no clue about the actually experiance or race day  plan.  Im a border line case at best for BQing and realize that on a first attempt it may not be in the cards.

Mike, thank you so much for the info on the wet suits!  It is helpful... and actually a relief that I won't need it at this year's Tri. 

I am naturally bouyant.. LOL.. so no worries there.  I will see how the Tri goes.  Renee - my friend - seems to think I will be hooked.  hmmm.. well, she was right on the duathlon.. so in that case, I will consider it for 2010.

Roxann

Good luck on the half marathon Roxann! As far as swimming. I don't know if you have a masters program at the pool you go to, but they can often be quite helpful. I also found some  youtube links with some great stroke drills that I started using this past fall.  Let me know if you are interested; I can hunt them down for you.

Beth, I would love the link to the YouTube drills.  any drills would be great.

I travel for my job, so I am not home during the week, so I don't think the masters program will work too well for me.  but I certainly can do the drills!

thank you.

Roxann

I just emailed them to you!

Hi Mike,

My name is Steve, First I'd like to thank you for being a mentor,I'm sure it takes alot of your time. I'm new to to multi sport life but I'm lovin it. I just lost my 130th lb this week and also signed up this week for three tris this summer here on Long Island. My ultimate goal is to do the half in St Croix. in 2010. I'm 44 yo and have a  medical practice here in NY. So time is tight to say the least, but training is high on the list, I have a great wife and 10 yo boy who are 100% behind me in my quest. Once again thanks for being there. I only have one question now for you, Its about times, I am swimming in a pool at a local school here and Im doing a half mile in 37 mins, I can bike 9 miles in 30 mins, and im running between 9-10 min miles. My question is how is that stacking up in the 44yo clysdales??? just dont want to look foolish out there!!!! thanks for your input.

To Mike and his happy Clan,

If there is still space I too would love to join your mentor group.

NAME: james.budge/ James

STORY: I'm 23 and current based in London where I am attending Imperial college school of medicine. During my undergrad years at durham university (up in the north of england) I did a fair amount of longer distance running and competed in a few mountain marathon races (two day races in the fells 35-45km a day carrying all the kit you'll need for the two days). Though my main sport has been rock climbing which I started at the tender age of 12 and still enjoy to this day.

FAMILY STATUS: I am unmarried, with 2 wonder parents who live in Hong Kong (where I grew up) as well as 2 great siblings.

CURRENT TRAINING: i am currently about to start rebuilding a good running base as well as working on my swimming (which i used to do compeditively at school when much younger) and cycling. Of course I am still going to be climbing hopefully twice a week as long as my finger tendons behave themselves

THIS YEAR'S RACES: None really as the year has been focus on getting into med school and also climbing compeditively.

2009 RACES: I have already signed up for two sprint triathlons in may and will also be hopefully doing a mountain marathon in oct. I am hoping to add to this list as the year goes on.

Steve and James, you are in!  Welcome to the group. 

I think I'll leave the group open for another day or so, maybe allow 1 or 2 more if we get any more interest.  I'll try to post again tonight with a recap of our group and some of my thoughts on how I want to proceed.  Stay tuned. 

Hello to all who have recently joined.

I just wanted to say welcome and I wish you the best as we work together to try and achieve our goals.  I'm really excited about the wide range of skills, ages, goals, and geographic locations we have.  I look forward to following everyone progress throughout the year.