Ernesto's group (5th season) - Closed

Ernesto, I would love to be in your group and look forward to learning a lot and getting motivated for the upcoming season!

NAME: Tiffany 

STORY: I have a very busy life...full-time teacher, small business owner, and local radio sports director/play-by-play broadcaster...

I am entering my fifth season of triathlon and am registered for my first Ironman –
IM Texas – this spring. I have completed 3 HIMs, with PRs in each successive
attempt.

I am a "Type A" personality. I like to have and follow a plan and am very
committed to doing what I need to do to take care of my training. My weakness
is the bike and I need to really address that in my IM training. I'm not the
fastest runner, but I have improved tremendously since beginning this venture.
I am a very experienced swimmer. 

FAMILY STATUS: Partner of 11 years who also shares this triathlon passion with
me (who will hopefully join this group as well). We have 2 Boston Terriers (Torrey- 7 years; Tanner- 1 year) who would both do triathlons if they could.

CURRENT TRAINING: I have been doing mostly running in preparation for the Houston Half
Marathon in January. I’m noticing great improvements in speed, and look forward
to crushing my HM PR. I have not started a formal IM training plan, so I am a
bit nervous about being behind already.

 
2012 RACES: Ironman 70.3 Texas (PR); Tejas Triathlon (sprint; race PR); Sylvan
Beach Triathlon – Relay (swim – 2^nd place team); Shadow Creek Ranch
Sprint Triathlon -Relay (swim – 1^st place team); Bridgeland Sprint
Tri (race PR).

2013 RACES: Houston Half Marathon; Ironman Texas
(“A” race); Possibly Ironman 70.3 Texas if I feel it will benefit my path to
Ironman Texas; other various sprint distance races and relays.

WEIGHT LOSS GOALS: I am currently 5'6" and around 150 lbs. I raced IM 70.3 Texas at 136.
Ideally I would like to be at 128-130 and maintain within 5-7 pounds of my goal
race weight.

WHAT WOULD MAKE ME A GOOD MENTEE: As with my "Type A" personality, I am a
diligent workout logger, so my logs on BT are always up-to-date. I check in
multiple times daily and love to read the insights others have to contribute.
I'm no expert by any means, but I do like to help others if I can. I am looking
for a welcoming mentor group. I have had unwelcoming experiences in the past,
and it has definitely put a damper on participating in groups. I’m definitely
in need of extra knowledge and support as I attempt Ironman for the first time.

Ernesto, I would love to be in your group and look forward to learning a lot and getting motivated for the upcoming season!

NAME: Nikki 

STORY: I have a very busy life...full-time teacher, small business owner, and I am currently working on my Masters degree in Administration. 

I am entering my fifth season of triathlon and am registered for my first Ironman –
IM Texas – this spring. I have completed 3 HIMs, with PRs in each successive
attempt.

I like to have and follow a plan and am very
committed to doing what I need to do to take care of my training. My strength is the bike and I am the weakest in the swim...however I have improved by leaps and bounds since I started tris. 

I just returned to training after two and half months off because of injury.  I had a injured hamstring that I continued to race on last year and it took longer to recover from.  Then I also had a incident at school that caused a lower back injury and a neck injury.  I have been released to do light training for the past two and half weeks and I am ready to start increasing the mileage and intensity. 

FAMILY STATUS: Partner of 11 years (Tiffany) who also shares this triathlon passion with
me.  We have 2 Boston Terriers (Torrey- 7 years; Tanner- 1 year) who would both do triathlons if they could.

CURRENT TRAINING: Light running and biking....I am way behind.

2012 RACES: Ironman 70.3 Texas (PR); Tejas Triathlon (sprint; race PR); Sylvan
Beach Triathlon – Relay (swim – 2^nd place team); Shadow Creek Ranch
Sprint Triathlon -Relay (swim – 1^st place team); Bridgeland Sprint
Tri (race PR).

2013 RACES: Houston Half Marathon; Ironman Texas
(“A” race); Possibly Ironman 70.3 Texas if I feel it will benefit my path to
Ironman Texas; other various sprint distance races and relays.

WEIGHT LOSS GOALS: I am currently 5'9" and around 157 lbs. Ideally I would like to be at 140-145 and maintain within 5-7 pounds of my goal race weight.

Name: Andy/ username: Climbinggonzo

Story: This will be my 2nd go around with Ernesto's group, joining last time around has been one of the best things I've done for my development and improvement in the sport.

I just finished my 2nd season in triathlon.  My first season was typical of many others, I quickly became addicted to the sport and did a whole lot of races but didn't train properly and was always fighting off overuse aches/pains.  I culminated the end of my first year deciding to do Austin 70.3, severely undertrained and not realizing what I was getting into, in 7:19.  During the winter months I completed the Disney marathon, my first, also undertrained and in a whole heck of a lotta pain, in 4:56.  Not too long after that I finally wised up and decided to start training better.  In the spring I was fortunate enough to join Ernesto's group and the result is night/day in my racing and training.  This 2nd year has been awesome.  I made absurd improvements in a few of the local sprints/oly races I did, then went out and had a great day at the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon.  I did two more HIM's and got my time under 6 hours, then went out and rocked IM AZ in 12:17.

My biggest factor in this past season's success was not only training smarter, but racing smarter as well.  I learned the benefit of smart bike pacing, not going out too fast and running conservative races and getting faster times.  I went from a 2:17 standalone half marathon down to 1:56 then 1:51, both negative splits.  Then I also negative split the marathon of my Ironman, finishing the run in 5:00:50, just 4 minutes off my standalone marathon time.

I'm a stay at home Dad and in my spare time I coach youth hockey.  I played hockey competitively through college (D.III) and now not only coach my kids but I coach all of our association's goalies from 9 year olds up through the high school level, in the spring I coach an Advanced Select team of 15 year olds from our region, then in the summer I run goalie camps.  My dad coached me as a kid and I'm thrilled to be able to carry on that tradition.

Family status: Married to a super strong runner and fantastic knitter, two boys (ages 6 & 9) who are both decent runners already, my oldest has already run two 5k's and a 7k, and is working on getting his one mile time down to low 7 minute.  

CURRENT TRAINING: This moment I'm still coming off IM AZ and just getting back into a routine.  For some crazy reason I'm signed up for the Disney marathon again in January, so I need to get my running legs back to the shape they were in one month ago.  I'm planning on taking this season to get faster, especially on the bike and run.  My swim is by far my strongest discipline so I'm going to maintain that and try and get at least 1000 miles running and 3k-4k on the bike this year.  I'm hoping to finish an Oly under 2:30, and try and break 5:45 in a HIM, with a run time closer to 2 hours.

THIS YEAR'S RACES: This upcoming year I haven't signed up for any races yet, however I think I'm going to try to stick to the Olympic distance and maybe 1-2 HIM's.  No full this year, I'm going to do another in 2014.  I'd like to revisit some of the races I did my first year and blow my times out of the water, then maybe find one or two fun destination races to do later in the season.

WEIGHTLOSS: N/A, I have a hard time keeping the weight on.

WHAT WILL MAKE ME A GOOD MENTEE:  My successes of this past season have left me hungry for more!  I had a few significant breakthroughs at the end of this year that have shown me that I still have the ability to improve lots, so I'm hoping to get in another year of smart, solid training.

Name: Mitch / Username: dangremond

Story: i'm at the point that I'm losing track of how many seasons i've been hanging with Ernesto's group.... Like everyone else - I am busy. Between a wife, three girls (ages 14, 10 & 3), a house, a job and a dog I feeling like I'm running on fumes a lot. Endurance sports have become my outlet that is supposed to help me maintain my sanity.

I got into triathlons about 5 years ago after getting 20+ pounds overweight and realizing that there were triathlons that weren't ironman distance. My first love before triathlons was cycling - and I absolutely hated running. I have since become an avid runner and feed off of the runner's high. My wife can tell when I haven't run for a few days. I starting to embrace the swim and that is one of my challenges.

With the little one at home, the last few years have been tough from a training and racing perspective. This past year i started to listen to Ernesto and my body and trained a lot smarter. i PR'd an early season HM, was on my way to PRing a 2nd HM in June and ended up with a stress fracture. i spent the summer doing some swimming and biking and started to rehab my leg in August. i ran a sprint tri in Sept, my first tri since 2009. I really live by the phrases "run a lot, mostly easy and sometimes hard" and "your easy is never easy enough and your hard is never hard enough". That shift in philosophy allowed me to increase my volume, get back to where I was when I ran my first half marathon in 2008, have a new PR in my spring HM, ramp my volume and maintain a consistency in workouts that I have never experienced before. Imam finishing 2012 very strong and looking forward to 2013. I have been associated with this mentor group for over a year now and think its a great team with a great leader. Thank you Ernesto and Ernesto's group!

Family status: See above. My wife doesn't quite get my passion and thinks I go overboard at times. As long as my training doesn't impact the family too much she is fine. That requires me to get creative at times and to work out mostly in the mornings. I have a treadmill and bike trainer set up in the basement which is imperative due to living in Michigan.

CURRENT TRAINING: I have been working on consistency in all three disciplines. I have been swimming more regularly, have been biking 3 to 4 times per week (indoor training) and currently following a Hanson's HM plan calling for 6 runs per week. My goal is to get swimming to 3 days per week, increase length of cycling workouts (and intesnsity of some workouts), and run 6 days a week (3 short and easy, 2 harder mid-length and 1 long run).

THIS YEAR'S RACES: Martian Half Marathon (Mid April), Dexter Ann Arbor Half Marathon (Early June), Ragnar Madison to Chicago relay (6 runners over 200 miles), olympic tri in july or august, Run Woodstock (Pace friend in 50 or 100 mile race)(Early sept), Tawas HIM (mid Sept), Brooksie Way Half Mary (Early Oct), Detroit Full Marathon (Mid to late Oct), Detroit Turkey Trot (Thanksgiving). Full Plate for sure and open to change and advice.

WEIGHTLOSS: In early 2007 I weighed in around 183 (5'9"). I've been as low as 158 but am hanging around 164 currently. I need to learn to resist the temptation of foods that I know aren't good for me and increase my intake of fresh fruits and vegetables.

WHAT WILL MAKE ME A GOOD MENTEE: I've listen now and have admitted that I don't know everthing and a second set of eyes and another brain or two can't hurt in evaluating what I'm trying to do from a fitness perspective. Ernesto and this group have become that for me and I am very thankful for that. I hope to continue to listen and improve my training so that I can accomplish my goals.

2013 GOALS: (1) Achieve consistency in training for Swim, Bike and Run; (2) Swim 3 times per week; (3) run healthy; (3) Bike three times per week and improve to point where I am not dropped on weekly roadie group ride; (4) Redeem myself in the Dexter Ann Arbor Half Marathon through running a smart race; (5)Complete my first Oly and HIM distance Tris; (7) complete my first full marathon, (8) PR the Detroit Turkey Trot with a time less than 46:30.

Ernesto. I see you did Boise this year but didn't fill out your race report.  Wow what a race and with the weather I am glad they shortened the bike course when I was there but after getting to town to run the weather was great I thought.

Name: Trevor Username/spie34

Story: I grew up playing the typical sports in school (football, wrestling/basketball, baseball). I got out of highschool and over the years went from 140lbs to 190lbs. One year I was trying to walk up the side of a hill and had to stop every hundred yards or so to catch my breath. I decided to change my life and started working out again. I couldn't run more than a tenth of a mile and even at that, it seemed to take forever to do.  I have a friend who I always told that 3.1 miles (5k race) was the farthest I ever wanted to run. Well that was before I was in shape and decided that 3.1 miles was a walk in the park and I needed to challenge myself more.

So I took up running from about 2000 till 2008. I was improving each year but in 2008 I grew bored of just running all the time. 2009 I injured myself (torn pectoralis muscle from the shoulder to the chest 2 surgeries) and didn't really do much from summer 2009 to summer 2010 when after my daugther was born. 

I decided that after my daughter was born that it was time to get back into working out and I started lifting weights again and running some but I soon grew tired of just running. There was a group of people in my office that were doing triathlons so about January I decided that was what I would do for 2011. I signed up for a sprint (Race to River CDA) and was stressed about it from Jan till the end of July when it was. I signed up for swimming lessons even though I did know how to "swim". I was hoping for more detailed instruction but that didn't happen.

So I go about starting to bike in 2011 and most of my training consisted of biking 9 miles to and from work.

After completing the Race to River tri I decided that a HIM was in order. I used to live in Boise so I felt that the Boise 70.3 would be great for me so I signed up for it and did it this year. But as we know it was shortened course so I signed up for Lake Stevens. I originally had a goal of 5:30 and would be really happy with completing in 5:15. I ended up at 5:11 and the day before when I drove the bike course I didn't even think 5:30 was doable. So I guess the training and the patience to go slow in the race paid off.

So this upcoming year I am doing IMCDA. I have very little tri racing background  - 2 sprints, 1 shortened HIM and one HIM -- but I have decent running background and I have a decent athletic ability. 

What I lack in some respect is the dedication or maybe not dedication but some of the will power to continue on for the next 26 weeks and want others to help me be accountable (granted none of you can do anything to me in the virtual world here) for my training and also to help me out when I have questions. 

I feel that I can also contribute to this forum here because I have a decent background of running and feel that from reading and doing that I can help others who are more new to the whole world of running, biking, swimming sort of thing.

I will say swimming is not my strong suit. I am 2min/100 yard but would like to get down to 1:50/100 yard by IMCDA. Seems like little goal but the 10 seconds makes a big difference in the race.

Family status: I'm married with 4 children 16, 14, 12, 2.5. My wife supports my habit as long as it doesn't interfere with family time too much . Really though I try to work out early morning and at lunch. On the weekends I try to complete my workouts before noon.

CURRENT TRAINING: I am currently using this program http://www.trifuel.com/triathlon/ironman-workouts/ and on my tenth week. I have found that while it is a dated program it is working for me and I am improving each week although it is slow and frustrating to continue to go slow while working out. Last years HIM program had me doing the same in the beginning and while I didn't like it I stuck with it and in the end I did well in my HIMs but I felt my run was slower than I should have been.

THIS YEAR'S RACES: This year I did Ironman Boise 70.3 (shortened course). Ironman Lake Stevens 70.3 and Race to River Sprint in CDA (3rd in Age Group -- my 4th tri ever)

WEIGHTLOSS: I am within 5lbs of my ideal weight for racing. I used to weigh close to 190lbs at 5'4" but now down to 144lbs the other day when I weighed. 140-145 I am strong and feel the best. above or below that I don't feel great.

Name: Taylor

Story: I am a full-time student at UC Berkeley as a physics major (with ADD). Was on the collegiate softball team there the past two years but unfortunately got diagnosed with a bulging disk in my back at L5 in April. Got injections for it in early August but it still left me medically retired at 20. Wasn't allowed to run all summer so I biked and swam. Got cleared to start running again on Halloween and haven't stopped. This year will be my first year doing triathlons, am training for a HIM with my uber-athletic, and competitive father. Other than that I am a pretty big goofball, I love smiling and doing stupid stuff.

Family Status: Single

Current Training: I have been building up my running stamina ever since I was cleared. I used to bike in Berkeley until I was hit by an opening car door in September. I am planning on joining the master's swim program in February. Using winter break to get outdoors on my bike before I head back to school, hopefully the weather will hold.

2013 Races: HITS Napa Olympic, Lake Stevens 70.3

Weight Loss Goals: Currently 5'6" and around 160, hoping to get down to 145 by race time.

What would make me a good mentee: I am extremely driven in everything I do. I keep the mindset that as long as I work as hard as I possibly can and there is nothing else I can do then the results will be what they may.

I am back to update my background

Name: Augg

Background: 35 y.o. with mostly running background.  I grew up playing tennis and played tennis in college but have transitioned to other sports like running as I have grown older.  Enjoyed training/running marathons in past but have recently become interested in tri.  Really no experience at all in this area-I am starting from scratch.  I initially saw some friends who signed up for a full ironman this past fall and decided that the only way to do this was to sign up.  So, I registered for the Louisville IM for 2013.  After doing this I signed up for a "prep" race, the half IM in Muncie in July.  About two months ago, I felt that I needed a "learning" experience before Louisville, so I signed up for the Texas IM to see what its all about....I feel that running should be OK but I really need some big help with the swim/bike components...

Training program: Ironfit 30 week intermediate program

Weakness: Swim/Bike

Races 2013: IM Texas, Muncie half, Louisville IM,  hopefully other smaller races

Goals: to finish and enjoy the experience at these races; I hope to learn as much as possible... 

I'll play along again though I am still on injured reserve.

NAME: GoBlueDDS (Scott or Doc)
STORY: I am from Michigan and have been doing Tri's/ endurance racing for four years now though I have recently switch my focus to long distance running.  I got invited (coerced, bribed, hoodwinked) into doing the swim leg of a team tri four years ago (age 38) after not doing any physical activity for many (18) years.  I used to be a competitive swimmer and thought this would be my way back into the sport and into better shape. My team disintegrated around me a couple of weeks before the event and so that race never happened, but I decided that I'd put enough effort into getting back to the pool that I should continue and decided to register for my first sprint tri the following spring. Did three sprints and 1 Oly and HIM that year.  Since then I haven't done as many races in a single season, but I still love to race.  Still trying to figure out how I can find the time to train for a full.

 
FAMILY STATUS: Married (Liz) 17 years. Two boys 13 and 7

CURRENT TRAINING: None.  Turned an ankle a couple of weeks ago and have not gotten clearance to restart training

2011  RACES: Did run my first marathon in the spring, but then chaos at work put the rest of the season on hold. Took over a second office and then my business partner moved out of state unexpectedly and left me running two practices by myself. No tri's all year.

2012 RACES:  Two Olympic tri's and two marathons, along with assorted 5 and 10k races. Was seven weeks out from my first 50 mile ultra when I got injured.

NAME: username: jackiep/ first name: Jackie

STORY: They did not have any sports for women when I went to high school and college.  That means I didn’t do the athlete thing until my late 20s. I played softball.  That was it.  In my mid-30s I started working for the Department of Defense.  I started running regularly with the Seals and Rangers.  Then I set all of it aside until 6 years ago, when I took up cycling. About 3 years ago, my eye doctor suggested I try triathlons since he was getting into them.  I got bit by the bug and the rest is history.  This will be my 3rd year of triathlon training, in beautiful, hilly Austin TX and also 3rd season with Ernesto.  He’s the best.  So far I've been the oldest one on this forum, and I'm making up for lost time.  I turned 60 in October. People still keep accusing me of being mid to late 40s. I'll take it!  

FAMILY STATUS: Single with two grown daughters and an awesome son-in-law who are my biggest cheerleaders besides this group. I am currently dating an active man who competed for several years
and still is an active cyclist. It's nice to have someone to go to the pool or rides with even if you do your own separate workout.

CURRENT TRAINING: Training for my 1^st marathon on Feb 24, 2013.  I am using
bike for warm up and recovery.  Swimming will be added later.

THIS YEAR'S RACES: Cowtown Marathon, Ft Worth in Feb.   I’ll decide the rest after the marathon.  My long term goal has been an IM before I turn 61.  Again, I’ll revisit after the marathon.

2011 RACES: A 5K, a 5-miler, 3 sprints, and an Olympic. Had a couple of podium finishes and set some PRs.

2012 RACES: A half mary, 4 sprints, 3 Olympics, a half iron and 2 long registered bike rides. Had a couple of podium finishes and set some more PRs.

WEIGHTLOSS: Oh, please. 110 pounds dripping wet.  I'm the one who was always to trying to put weight on in high school.

WHY I'M A GOOD MENTEE: Because I listen to what more experienced people say, evaluate and ask questions and then I just go out and do it.  I am very consistent.  Even when I don’t feel like it, if I go and do the workout anyway, I feel like it about midway through.

www.funafterfifty.com

Hello Ernesto, past group mates and new members!

Ernesto, you have been a great coach and buddy and it will be awesome to be able to count with your support and valuable insights again in 2013!

My name is Gabriel and I'm from Guatemala.  After living for over 13 years abroad (2 in Chicago getting my MBA and the rest in SF/Bay Area and Pasadena, CA; where I enjoyed great road and mtn bike riding), I'm now back in Guatemala City. I'm also married to a lovely Guatemalan woman and the proud father of two beautiful girls and now a 5 month old boy.

2012 was my second year since I started running and doing triathlons and I was able to complete my first full Ironman triathlon, IM Texas in May in 12:44.  I've learned a lot from Ernesto's coaching and the insights and stories from other members of his group and look forward to learning even more and becoming a stronger, healthier triathlete.

My main goals for 2013 are to complete my 2nd Ironman (IM Cozumel on Dec. 1) and improve my time by targeting a finish in under 12 hours.  I will also compete in the Vineman 1/2 IM tri on July and the Antwerp Marathon in Belgium in April.   Additionally, I plan to compete in a number of Oly and 1/2 IM distance tris, along with other running races. 

I'm looking for good sound advice, particularly on improving the structure of my trainings, as well as sharing good stories, recommendations and support messages with other on this group.

Cheers,

Gabriel

Tiffany, Nikki, Trevor, Taylor, Augg and Randy: welcome to the group. Sorry I haven't replied earlier, I had no idea that the group was live already. To all the other thread members from the past season(s), welcome back.

This thread thrives on diversity and we've always been proud of that, there are members that are from totally different walks of life, ability level and goals. The one thing in common is that we love triathlons and are very dedicated athletes. All of us have had very good results in 2012, as far as I know everybody improved their times, some venturing into new distances and challenges.

Feel free to ask about anything, or to share your insights. Glad to see so many of you doing IMTX, this will be my second shot at that race and this time I'm gunning for sub 10:30 if everything goes according to plan.

Tiffany and Nikki, Galveston is a perfectly timed race before IMTX, so I suggest you pull the trigger. I will use Ironman Puerto Rico for a stepping stone and to gauge fitness, trouble spots, etc... It is also good to have a little reminder of the long distances before starting an Ironman, usually the biggest mistake in 140.6 is not lack of fitness but poor execution. BTW, if you want to know what a great Ironman execution looks like, go look at Andy's (climbinggonzo) race report and files from Ironman Arizona. Arguably the best executed Ironman I have ever seen.

Trevor, yes I did Boise and I froze my a$$ off. Never thought I would suffer a pre race like I did in that transition area and entering the water. I do agree with you, the run was great, but only after my toes started feeling something around mile four of the half. CDA is a beautiful race, many of my teammates have done it and I have heard wonders about the venue.

Taylor, always a pleasure to help youngsters!

Augg, busy season I can see!

To those doing early season Ironman races (TX and CDA), your training should go into high gear starting in January (20 weeks for IMTX and a little more for CDA). Depending on where you live that can be a challenge.

double post

NAME: username: JBacarella/ first name: Jim

STORY: I ran when I was young, but for fun and stress release, I had never raced until I was 43 years old. My wife and I moved to a small town, started a business and a family. I was Fat and Happy!

  When I was 39, I had one of those tell all physicals. I was 30 lbs overweight, had high blood pressure, and when the nurse called to tell me my test results, everything that was supposed to be high was low and everything that was supposed to be low was high. Finally I got frusterated and said was anything normal, she said yes your Cholesteral. I asked what it was she said 199, bad is 200. I went on a wieght loss plan, but knowing how I am, I created my "don't eat like a pig" diet. Its ok to eat pizza but not half a pizza. I also started walking. I lost 30 lbs but grew bored, and started looking for a sport. I tried softball, but the local mens league is just an excuse to drink beer while people throw ball at you, not a lot of sport.

   Our town hosts a triathlon, and as we were driving through it I had flashes of Dave Scott and Mark Allen, and turned to my wife and declared I want to do that next year. She said ok ( heavy dose of disbelief included). Then I aked her, will you teach me how to swim? That was 4 years ago.

   Now I am in good physical condition, even during my slow training periods and higher weights. I also act as the liason for our local triathlon, basically making sure the city, businesses and compan that owns the event are on the same page. 

FAMILY STATUS: I have been married 19 years, my wife is very supportive to all of my hairbrained ideas. We have 4 children, 3 girls and a boy. They are aged 17,16,13 and 12. My 16 year old daughter has competed in a couple of Sprint tri's taking second in both, and my youngest daughter and son have done kids tri's. All three of the youngest children have done several 5 k's. My oldest daughter has voices no interest, in racing. She has trouble understanding why anyone would run without a ball. I have gotten her to do a couple of 5 k's in the past year.

CURRENT TRAINING: I lightened my load after my HIM this fall, and did more family stuff. I am increasing my run volume. I have a 15 mile night time trail race coming up next month. The bulk of my training is during lunch. My job allows me to go in early, and take extra time at lunch. I have working out in the morning. As the third leg of the Michigan triumvirant (state of not University of, sorry guys you can't bring me over to the Dark Side), I also spend a lot of my winter on the bike trainer and treadmill. Swimming is my weak spot. I live in a resort town on Lake Huron in Northern MI, we have no public pool readily available. A neighboring school district has a pool, but it is open sporadically. I do most of my swims in open water between the end of May (water temp hits a balmy 50 F) and mid-September. I have no problem with cold or rough water, I just swim like a barge. I had illusions of hitting 1,000 running miles, but then bruised a rib playing soccer last week. Running at speed and distance hurts, so I will probably end up a few miles short.

THIS YEAR'S RACES: Withcy Wolf Trail run, a couple of 5k's, either the Martian Marathon or The midland Marathon, Tawas HIM, maybe Beatles on the Bay HIM. Klondike 10K. Maybe the Iron Cheese race.

2012 RACES: 3 5k, an 10K and a 15 mile trail race. Tawas HIM 6:15 (first HIM)

FUTURE RACES: IMAZ 2014.

WEIGHTLOSS: A constant battle, currently 5'9" 175, I need to get down to 168, I want to get to 160 for races. I will reinstitute the "Don't Eat Like a Pig" Diet after the new year. Right now its the Don't Eat like a Hog diet because pigs get fat and hogs get slaughtered.

WHY I'M A GOOD MENTEE: This past year in Ernesto's group has been great for me. I finished my first HIM, had three podiums, 2 second place finishes in 5 K races and I won the mens division of a 10 K (yes, for the macho types I got chicked, for me she is a good runner and a friend and we race several times a year and are usually within a minute of each other).

 I have more than doubled my run milage without injury, added almost 700 miles on the bike and have 5x the swim distance over 2011. I attribute that in part to my involvement with Ernesto's group. I have learned a lot, love the commaraderie and motivation I have gotten from this group and Ernesto's leadership. I want to build on what I did in 2012. I listen, take advice and criticism, and love the sport. 

Mitch- I'm glad to see you have 3 Disciplines HIM on your schedule. If you come up to train on the course, let me know.

Scott ? Are you ready to come back to Tawas and do the HIM again?