Famelec Brian's Mentor Group - FULL

NAME: famelec / Brian (I used to have a side internet business called Family Electronics, hence the tagname)

STORY:  A few years ago I was in a mid-life funk.  I had a great job and great family, but something was missing.  To get out of that funk I tried to think about the happiest times in my life and what made them happy.  Among the things were being incredibly healthy (I was a swimmer in college) and riding motorcycles (I had 6 at one time, and once took an 8-month wander from Ohio through Nicaragua and back).  So I got a motorcycle and started exercising a bit.  The motorcycle thing only lasted about a year, but the exercise thing was kind of fun.  In late 2006 I entered a 5k that ran through my neighborhood and enjoyed it.  Later I entered a triathlon on a whim and very undertrained, but enjoyed it even though was 24th of 27 in my AG and near the bottom overall. 

At first my goal in triathlon was to become healthy and finish the races.  In my second year I surprised myself by getting faster than expected.  In my third year I was shooting for the AG podium in local races and actually racing with a strategy in the larger, more competitive races.  2010 will be my fourth year in triathlons and my goal is to be more competitive with the fast guys in my AG at larger races.   

FAMILY STATUS: Happily married for 16 years.  My daughter will turn 13 in January.  I'm 47, though my race age is 48 ;(

CURRENT TRAINING:  My key triathlon training season is about six months from January through June when I'll average a minimum of 10+ hours of training each week when all goes right.  I'll do another three months of run focused training and three months of casual training with no specific plan. 

Most of my swimming is with a local Masters team.  I bike commute once or twice a week so that helps get in bike miles without taking too much time away from home.  I run solo since that is most convenient for me.

My strength is definitely the swim.  I actually enjoy the bike and the run more, though, since that's where I get the satisfaction of seeing more improvement with training.

I enjoy and am more competitive in Sprints and Olympic distance race. I like the shorter distances since you can actually go fast, and I especially like the Olympic distance since the swim is proportionately longer and gives me a bit of an advantage.  That being said, I'll likely do another half Ironman this year since I also like the challenge of going longer.

THIS YEAR'S RACES: (2009) LoneStar Sprint, Capital of Texas Olympic, Tri-It-In Spanish sprint, Buffalo Springs 70.3, San Antonio RocknRoll Half Marathon.  I also did an OW swim race and a swim meet for fun this year.

2010 RACES:  Capital of Texas Olympic distance, Hawaii 70.3 (hopefully), San Antonio RocknRoll Half Marathon.  I'll also do some duathlons, sprints, and swims either as prep races for just for fun.

WEIGHTLOSS: I've lost about 25 lbs slowly since I started training and am at a good weight now.  I'm a believer in eating reasonably healthy food most of the time, and in moderate quantities. 

WHAT WILL MAKE ME A GOOD MENTOR:

I expect I'll be a good mentor since I know what it's like to be a beginner and what it takes to get through that first year.  I know the struggles of balancing job, family, and training.  I also know that good training and eating right can lead to a happier and healthier life.  While you'd think my college swimming background would make a better swim mentor, I actually think I have more to offer in running and biking since I actually know the trials and tribulations of going from a beginner to a relatively strong runner and cyclist while trying to avoid injury (I wasn't good at the avoiding injury part).

I was a mentee in 2007 and had a great experience!