2014 Rookies - CLOSED

Hi everyone, I will be a co-mentor of this group with Jason.

NAME: Arend

STORY: My first triathlon was in 2009 but my journey started in 2007.  My introduction to the sport was seeing the results of a local race and noticing that a couple of guys that I used to swim with as a kid had done the race.  I thought, "hey, I can do that too!".  I made it a goal to do that same race in the following year.  Unfortunately I didn't make that goal as I had a very hard time with my knees when I started running.  It took many visits to see a physio to get things in order.  Swimming is my strength (as I was a swimmer as a kid), I do fairly well on the bike and then...  well I'm still working on the run.  

FAMILY STATUS: Living with my wife, no kids, 3 dogs.

CURRENT TRAINING: My original plan for the winter was to focus on my run but the snow and cold has arrived early in Atlantic Canada and has made a run focus difficult (I only run outside).  As such, my focus will switch to bike and swim while still running as often as possible.  My coach is Shane MacLeod - gsmacleod here on BT

THIS YEAR'S RACES: My two main races were Mont Tremblant 70.3 in June and Miami 70.3 in October.  I also did several other local races - pretty much a mixed bag of run, bike, duathlon and some tris.  I recently won our local tri association's "Warrior" award because I race a lot.  

2014 RACES:  The only confirmed one is the Ottawa Half Marathon but I am looking at Challenge Saint Andrews and the Niagara Half Iron.

WEIGHTLOSS: I'm about 5 lbs over what I would like to race at.

WHAT WILL MAKE ME A GOOD MENTOR:  I'm not sure but I always try to be as helpful as possible in the forums and I am always learning (or trying to).  The tri community around where I live is rather small so I learned a lot online from BT and other sources.   I've made lots of mistakes along the way so maybe you can learn from mine.  

Forgot to list the title of the thread as OPEN.  Glad to have you aboard Arend.

Hey everyone, I'll be co-mentoring with Jason and Arend 

NAME: Nicole

STORY: I just started the endurance sports and triathlon in 2012 when some of my good friends were getting more into running and decided to give triathlons a shot....they encouraged me to do so as well.  I was a bit hesitant as I was big into weight lifting and scuba diving, but I decided to give it a shot and really enjoyed it.  I'm still pretty new to this whole triathlon thing, but I think I can give a somewhat different perspective, still being relatively new and not having a background in any of the three sports.

FAMILY STATUS: Single with two dogs who love to run with me (well, at least during the winter!)

CURRENT TRAINING: Somewhat unstructured training for a couple more weeks -- typically swimming with a masters group 3x a week, riding on the trainer a couple times a week and one group ride, and running 5-6 times a week (all short runs as I'm just coming back from a knee injury)

THIS YEAR'S RACES: Knee injury severely limited my racing this year, but I did Vineman 70.3 (as an aqua bike race, followed by a jog/walk half marathon!).  Got back into running in September and did a local sprint, a 5k, and a Ragnar trail marathon

2014 RACES:  St. George 70.3 is the only confirmed race so far, but I suspect there will be some additional races later in the season

WEIGHTLOSS: Currently pretty happy with my weight

WHAT WILL MAKE ME A GOOD MENTOR:  I'm still somewhat new to the triathlon scene but do have some experience -- so I'm right at the point where being new is fresh in my mind, but I have gained some good experience (much from learning on BT) that I'm happy to pass along

Bump! 

Welcome to the group Lynn!

I see you are a gold member of the site.  Do you have a training plan that you will be following?

All those years you spent as a competitive swimmer will serve you well as you get back in the pool and spend a little time at it.  I had about a 12 year period where I did no swimming at all and was able to get back up to speed in the water fairly quickly.  Not anywhere near the same speed as before of course.  

That's great Lynn!  Logging your workouts here is a great way to track progress, keep yourself motivated and it also helps others provide assistance with any training questions you have.  I suggest putting in as much detail as you can tolerate.  It will come in handy when you want to go back and review things later.

Welcome to the group Adrian!  Happy to have another Canadian on board.  

I'm thinking of doing a race in your area in September, the new Niagara Half Iron event.  It looks like a nice area to race in.

Welcome, Lynn and Adrian!  Great to have you both aboard.

Looks like you both have some great goals for 2014.  As Arend mentioned, logging your training on BT's log is a great way to keep yourself motivated and know that you've put in the training to have a successful race.

Lynn, having a swim and run background is awesome!  A good friend of mine (who started at the same time as me) had been running for a few years and was a competitive swimmer (turned water polo player) in high school.  She also was worried about the bike....she picked it up in no time and is an incredibly strong competitor now.  Do you have a stationary trainer?

Adrian, huge congrats on the weight loss -- that is fantastic!  And even better that your wife appreciates what this is doing for you, and thus has ended up causing her to support your new hobby.  Your race schedule this year looks like fun....and even better if you and Arend end up being able to meet up.  Would be very cool!

Welcome Lynn and Adrian.

As the group begins to fill, there are a few discussion topics I'd like to bring up, but in the mean time, if you have anyhing you want to ask or discuss, fire away.

I will ask though that you please keep all posts in this group swim, bike, run, training, racing, recovery, etc related.  Lets try to keep politics, and other non training related topics outside of this group to keep the flow going.

Thanks

Thanks for updating your logs.  I feel that logs are a key part of my training regimine and keeps me accountable. 

Welcome Theresa!

3 marathons this year...CONGRATS!  There is no such thing as an easy marathon, no matter what pace you go.

Your schedule seems pretty reasonable.  If my focus were on races like sprint and Olympics, I like to race at least once a month if possible.  Joining a masters class is a great move to help your swimming and group riding is also a great way to challenge yourself on the bike.

Arend is a fish in the water and can probably give you more detailed help, but for me, the more time I spent in the water the better.  Some things just need time to click and the more comfortable you are with being in the water, the easier it is to work on the little things.

Welcome Theresa and Samantha!

Theresa, I think you have a good plan with starting Masters.  Do you know if the group has an on deck coach?  I agree with Jason that just spending lots of time in the pool goes a long way with getting more comfortable in the water and that will translate (to a point) to open water.  Definitely get some open water practice when you can though!

Samantha, it sounds like you are doing well with running.  How do you feel about your swim and bike?

Welcome Samantha and Jerry. 

Everyone's stories are bringing back memories of my first year and how exciting it was to do my first triathlon races.