TriAya (Yanti) and lmscozz (Lynn), Manatee Mentors--FULL!

Welcome to Yanti and Lynn's Manatees! You would be a wonderful addition to our lively, supportive, and most useful crew. We're all mentors and mentees, but Manatees just sounds more fun!

Just to establish our street (and pool?) cred, we’ve done a bunch of triathlons and distance running events, and have lost a ton of weight during our journeys.

Read on for more details if you like!

Yanti

I grew up in Indonesia, where I swam with the national team and my high school team. In the States, I coached and competed in martial arts, but became sedentary after an injury. Fast forward … a student suckered me into doing a charity marathon—before long I learned how to ride a bike and picked swimming back up! After 15 years in the States, mostly Southern California, I’ve moved to Bali, Indonesia, where it’s great to have the ocean, a boardwalk for running, and easy bike routes at my doorstep.

I’ve been lucky enough to do marathons and triathlons around the world. I’ve lost over 120 lbs since becoming active again. This year I feel like a newbie again as I am taking on a new distance—Ironman Western Australia in Dec. 2010. While I’ll do a couple Olympic/international tris and some other races during this season, my entire training is focused on the IM goal.

I do BT or other well-researched plans and my own adjustments to periodize my training year (fancy word for training different ways during different times of year for maximum benefit). Most of my workouts have a purpose and fall into well-planned weeks: it helps maximize training time and prevent burnout and injury.

Lynn

I've done 2 half-irons, the last one Ironman Oceanside a week ago, plus 1 marathon, 5 half-marathons and a few gazillion other tris. I'm probably NOT smarter than Yanti and I don't know about faster -- we've never raced each other!!

I've always been active, except marriage and family resulted in me neglecting my exercise at times. About 9 yeas ago I realized I couldn't wear any clothes in my closet anymore, so I joined a weight loss program and dropped 30 pounds. I've been able to keep it off and now work for that organization. It's really been a lifestyle change. Adding the activity component is just one piece of the puzzle to me staying healthy.

This is my second full season. I did my first 5K 2 1/2 years ago and only did that because I knew I could walk if I couldn't run it all. That's the way I approached my first 1/2 marathon as well -- knowing I could always walk if need be. I didn't walk in either, btw.

I started doing tris in 2008 after a friend died of breast cancer. Realizing life is too short and we need to tackle the things we want to while we can, I embarked on a BT beginner sprint tri training program. I did the sprint and survived and was hooked. Along the way I've researched and read as much as I can about tris and the swim,bike, run. I have had the help of a swim coach and another friend/coach who's designed my HIM training programs. I certainly do not know all the answers, but will seek the answers for any questions. Plus, thankfully, Yanti knows a LOT!!  I am a good cheerleader and believe we can support each other. I do believe I met some friends through BT and gained some insights and knowledge as well. I'd like to pass on anything that might be helpful to someone wanting to embrace the s/b/r lifestyle or any part of it.

Personal: I'm married, am 49, (yikes) and have a teenage son who's a freshman in high school. I have a dog, Augie, whos' kind of nutty and 3 kitties (now 1 and two years old).

It's never too late to tri --- It's never too late to be who you might have been either.

I look forward to sharing your journey with you.