Scott and Kelly's Mentor Group- Closed

Name: Kelly (kaburns1214)

Story: I grew up swimming (distance freestyle and butterfly) and transitioned to water polo at Dartmouth College (class of 2002). I began running during my last year of law school at Emory (class of 2005). After ankle surgery in 2005, I bought a bike for cross training and participated in my first triathlon, the Niantic Bay Sprint in August of 2006. Since then I have raced in over 50 events including six 140.6 races. I’m a runner for Oiselle and a triathlete for Coeur Sports and I currently focus on long course racing and and half marathons and 140.6 races are my favorite events.

In addition to racing, I am a coach and race director for Sonic Endurance. I am a USAT Level 1 coach and a USMS level 2 coach. I direct the Greater Hartford 1/4 Marathon, Solstice Sprint 5K and Hogsback Half Marathon and have raised over $50,000 through these races for the Blazeman Foundation, Farmington Village and Library Association and Running for Rescues. I am also a writer for witsup.com, an awesome website out of Australia that focuses on women in triathlon.

By day I am an employment litigator at McCarter & English in Hartford, Connecticut. I represent employers in state and federal courts and before state and federal administrative agencies in cases relating to discrimination, sexual harassment, wrongful discharge, unfair labor practices, breach of contract, FLSA and virtually all other aspects of employment law. I have a special interest in trade secrets and non-compete cases, particularly those involving misappropriation through social media.

Training: At the moment I'm at the tail end of my off season. I pretty much run and bike when I feel like it, which amounts to 20-25 miles of running / week and a few hours on the trainer. Structured training beings for me on January 6th.

2013 Races: I had foot surgery in August so my year was pretty much just Ironman Florida.

2014 Races: Ragnar Cape Cod (May), Challenge Atlantic City (June) and Ironman Florida (November)

Weightloss: I have a chronic inablity to lose weight due to hormone inbalances. I'm working on a solution but at the moment I deal with being over weight on a day-to-day basis.

Hi Scott and Kelly! This sounds like the group for me!

Now, what info do you need to me to get signed up?

Real name: AJ Dunn

Background: I'm 23 years old and a married college student. I was a competitive swimmer for 10 years, mostly breast and IM with a little sprint free in there (I'm usually an FOP swimmer, at least in the races I've done). I've coached some HS and summer teams for about two years also. I got into triathlons in 2011 and I've done a total of six (four sprint and two olympic). I'm looking to do my first HIM in 2014 (New Orleans, also) and I'm in week five of BT's Beginner HIM 20 Week Plan.

2013: Power Sprint Triathlon in May and Jamestown International in June

2014: My main race for 2014 is New Orleans 70.3. Like I said, I'm in the fifth week of the BT HIM Plan. I've got some other races on my radar but haven't pulled the trigger on anything yet.

Training: I have been sticking to the plan with few exceptions. I work at a pool so getting the swim in is usually not an issue; however, it usually comes with odd hours that, combined with school, have me getting my workouts in at strange times (usually very late at night). My wife just got me a Kinetic 2.0 Fluid trainer so I've been putting a lot of time in on that. I've been spending a lot of my run time on the treadmill because running outside at night in some neighborhoods near mine is not advisable. I am meticulous about logging my workouts because I like to see my progress over time.

Other Info: I sort of let myself slip over the summer and gained some lbs. BUT, I've lost 20 pounds in the past two months to get back to my goal weight of 165 thanks to a combination of proper nutrition and exercise and my obsession with MyFitnessPal. My wife is really good about nutrition and has managed to keep me away from junk food and get me back on the right path.

So, I guess my biggest barriers to normal training will be school (once it starts back up, giving me little free time) and the fact that I don't like training in the cold.

Would like to join if possible, name is Scott, 43, married with 2 kids, this will be my first year in triathlon. Background is in team sports, began biking and running a few years ago for fitness and have just began swimming this month. I teach and coach high school sports so time is somewhat limited and causes me to train either very early or very late. Very competitive and looking forward to training with a purpose and racing. Race plans for 2014 are the Chatahoochee Challenge Sprint Triathlon and Augusta 70.3. I know that planning for a 70.3 as a first year racer may be overly ambitious but I'm committed to racing it this year and with 9 months to train shouldn't be a problem. Train outdoors whenever possible but have treadmill and bike trainer for whenever that's not possible. My biggest weakness is the swim, but help in all areas would be greatly appreciated. If you need any other information just let me know.

Edited by scott14 2013-12-26 1:42 PM

I'd love to join again! I love the daily contact! Bio later if ok!

Hello! I'd like to join in!

Name: Christina (MechEChick)

Story: I grew up swimming competitively through high school, and ran cross country in high school as well. During college I quit working out regularly and took quite the break. Following college I started taking a spinning class and was convinced to get a road bike and start doing triathlons by the instructor. I did my first sprint in 2009, and did my first 70.3 in 2010 along with a bunch of sprints and olys. On New Year's Eve 2010 I tore my MCL doing stupid things skiing in the backcountry and was out for training entirely for 4 months and started running again in May. So 2011 was only sprints for me. Then 2012 I did my first IM, Vineman in Cali. I took 2013 off from triathlons and very much missed the routine of training.

By day I am a mechanical design engineer. I moved to a new job in a new town (Seattle) in November and I am not entirely sure how that will affect training. My schedule is fairly consistent but I could potentially be traveling in the New Year.

Family Status: Single, 27.

Current training: I train by heart rate and will be using Don Fink's competitive training plan, jumping in next Monday!

2013 Races: Hmm... did some 5ks, and a trail half mary. Had a very unstructured year.

2014 Races: IM Couer d'Alene in June, have not firmed up the rest of the schedule. Probably a oly in April/May, a half in March and a couple running races.

Weightloss: Whew, this year was not as bad as it could have been. Following the holidays though, I need to lose 15 lbs to get back down to 135 for CDA. I really need to get back on track with my eating habits as my sweet tooth has gotten the better of me this December.

Scott and Kelly,

I would love to join, if you'll have me. My name is Justin Kinne and I am completely new to triathlon.

I too have been a life long athlete. In high school and college I was heavily involved in wrestling. So I have always had one foot in the endurance world. In my adult life, I have trained for random events, ( tough mudders, spartan races, a couple of half marathons, a couple of full marathons) but never a triathlon. And that is kind of ironic, considering as a child, I was on a competitive cycling team. To this day I have more money tied up in bikes that I do my own car. I have been running as long as I can remember, and the kicker is that I manage the largest swimming pool management company in New Jersey. So really, my life revolves around these three sports.

I am a happily married 39 year old father of two. Cavan is 10 and Addison is 2. My wife Amy was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer in April of 2012, and we as a family have recommitted ourselves to eating healthy and living a generally healthier life for our children. As part of our healthy lifestyle, I have dedicated this year to getting back into shape. Really good shape!

My current training has been really just trying to build a base to work off of. However today I started a 12 week basic Olympic program. Basically the sprint training programs looked too easy and I am in for a challenge. This basic plan should give me what i need to get my base built and then its off to a longer HIM plan... Because...

This years schedule will revolve around The Princeton 70.3 HIM. . Feel free to leave whatever feedback you like, I have heard all of the stories about starting your triathlon career in a HIM. lol. So here is the scoop. I had the opportunity to be a part of the official charity race team for this inaugural event. The charity raises money for families who are going through cancer treatment. How could I resist? As part of the team we will have some professional coaching, on the course the month before the event. Oh, the event start line is exactly 1.2 miles from my front door, so again, how could I resist. More importantly, how could my wife tell me NO? Honestly, we both feel like the experience will be amazing, and we will be able to take part as a family, so i am signed up.

I will not make this my first race. I am thinking i should do a sprint in early May and the NJ state Olympic race in July. ( its at the same venue as the IM event in Sept. ) Depending on how my body holds up, I could see doing another sprint in between the Olympic and the HIM, just for some experience.

Right now I weigh in at 200 pounds, on a 5'9" frame. Kids, cancer treatment schedules and changing to a vegetarian diet, has taken its toll on the midsection. As I said before, I was a wrestler, so i am not concerned about the weight. The right training should take that off of me in the next two or three months. Ideally, I would want to be around 165 in September, but we will see. I will let the training and a good diet work its magic.

I would love to be a part of the group.

Real name: Dace
Background: female, age 46, married 24 1/2 yrs, 4 kids ages 11-22. I spent 21 yrs as a family focused stay at home mom. Never put much effort or energy into exercise, until last year. I started walking and that turned to running, which I have found I LOVE! I swam in high school and have done inconsistent stints at masters for the last few years. Trying to get better about that.
My husband is a runner and got into tris a few years ago.

2013 races Ameliaman sprint in Florida this past Oct. followed one week later by San Diego's Esprit de She sprint. Both were a blast and I can't wait to do another.
2014 races: At this point the only thing truly scheduled is a Santa Barbara tri in August, between an oly and 70.3. I have a lot of work ahead of me! Right now I am focused on a running block because I am pretty weak there. I think I will start to incorporate cycling in my training in Feb/March...not sure.

Right now I am running 5 days per week building a stronger base. I would like to do a half sometime this spring but I also want to focus on biking. not really sure how to put it all together.

I am a food nut, my husband and daughters are gluten intolerant (extremely) and I like to eat a whole foods based clean diet. When I did my first two tris I was on a 30 day challenge...no sugar, no grains, no dairy, no legumes and no alcohol. Had a blast and breezed right thru. I am toying with doing a nutritional therapy program and I love to help people with their diets. I am slender although I did have a few years with a little extra fluff around my midsection, I have found training keeps me quite trim and allows me to eat a lot!

NAME / username: Michele/DDVMM

STORY: I am a busy mom and a veterinary internist. this will be my fourth season of Tri. I completed my first HIM last year and my first marathon.

FAMILY STATUS: I am married to a very supportive husband with 4 very busy kids: 14yo girl, 12yo girl, 10yo boy and 5 yo girl.

CURRENT TRAINING: I work under a coach and I do what she tells me to do . Just finished up an easy off season block.

2013 RACES
My two A races were Eagleman HIM and the Marine Corps Marathon. I did a couple other sprints and half marathons.

2014 RACES:
So far:
Cape May sprint June
Challenge Family AC 140.6 - first long distance tri

Weight loss: I am always trying to lose 5-10 pounds. I eat primarily clean whole foods with very minimal processed foods and very minimal natural sugars.

Hi Scott -

I joined here based on your post on MFP.

Real name is Kathleen. I live north of Seattle. I crashed my bike in my first tri this September, had surgery with a plate and screws, and have been recovering from that.

I've been a swimmer nearly all my life. Biking is new to me, but I love going fast. Getting back on the road bike might prove a mental challenge for me. I'm horrible at running and most triathletes could probably walk beside me while I attempt to run. My goal is 70.3, but I don't know if I will get to that this summer or not (I'm hoping so).

I'm 43, married almost 20 years. We have 3 boys (16, 13, almost 10). I've lost a bit over 80 pounds in the past two years. Triathlons have been a goal of mine since I was 17, when I competed as part of a team doing the swimming leg. I felt cheated at the end, that I should have done the whole thing. I wanted to do triathlons, not for the events, but for the journey. About 3 years ago, at my heaviest weight, it dawned on me that my lifelong dream probably wouldn't be happening. But I wasn't ready to give up. I got sick and had some surgeries. Getting sick kick-started my weight loss, and I kept going. Now I'm currently healthier than I've been since I was 13. I began running Jan 2, 2013 after I had lost the first 55 pounds. I'd like to lose another 20 pounds because the mirror/camera looks like I could do at least that much. I think it will help me with speed, too. I've had my BF checked over time in the Bod Pod, though, and results there show I need to lose about 12-15 to get to 20%. I can't seem to lose any weight since I upped the tri training. I have not been willing to give up the training in order to lose more weight. I love working out and pushing myself.

I work part time as a hospital pharmacist.

I'd be very interested in joining your group and it might be just what I need.

Real name: Jim

Background: the short version is that at age 41 and 270 lbs I decided to quit smoking and out of fear of reaching 300 lbs started exercising. 15 months after quitting smoking I finished my first triathlon Racine Ironman 70.3.

2013 races: one half IM in 6:02, a sprint, numerous 5k and 10k running events and my first cycling century.

2014 races: My A race is Racine 70.3 with a goal of taking a full hour off last years time, several sprint and Oly events and the Chicago Big Shoulders 5k swim and finally volunteering for Ironman WI with the plan to registering to compete in 2015.

General overview of current training protocols: right now I am working on a solid base in swim and bike so when the serious training starts in March I am ready to go at it hard. Also working on speeding up my training runs at shorter distances up to 10 miles over the winter. Training right now is 9-10 hours per week with 3 sessions of each discipline. I'm thinking I will start adding more swim yards soon and more bike as well.

I've enjoyed competing in some races and the base I built training for Racine 70.3 last year helped my place in some 5k and 10k events. My goal for Racine next year would put me in about the top 10% and may help me place in my AG in one of the smaller local tris which is also a goal.

I'm a MOP swimmer at best, love the bike and can't wait to pile on the miles when the snow melts and have improved my running a lot in the last year.

Finally, where I really need some help is with weight. I started at near 270 and was down to 185 at one point which is the lowest I've been since I was 14. Right now I'm around 195 and slowly working toward 180. I just find it to be a massive struggle to lose the weight anymore. Using myfitnesspal helps but the workouts make me ravenous. I'm 6'1" and guess I have a fairly athletic build. I know if I can get leaner it will help me get a lot faster. I'm not afraid to put in the work in training but I guess I've always liked food and lots of it.

I'm interested in joining your group. My name is James. I'm 41, and 260 lbs. Been in the Army for just over 20 years. Married with 4 kiddies. Brand new to triathlons. Bit out of shape, as I've just had two minor surgeries. I'm pretty decent at running 2-5 miles, an adequate swimmer, and I bike quite a bit on a fixie. Currently in Alaska, so road work will be a bit difficult, but relocating to Colorado soon.

Good morning everyone!

Great, diverse group here. First question for everyone as we are approaching the new year is what are your resolutions / goals for 2014?

My goal is to get to the start line of Challenge AC and IMFL healthy, well trained and mentally prepared to give it my all but underneath there’s also the number goal that I’ve been chasing after for a while — I want to go sub 11 hours. It is not unattainable (maybe I should state that in the positive, I can go sub sub-11). In 2011 I went 11:26 at Florida and if you add together my three best splits –my 2013 swim (1:12), 2012 bike (5:48 with a 4 minute penalty) and 2011 run (4:06) — you get 11:06, which is getting close. I know it won’t be easy and I know it requires going an hour faster than I did in 2013 but I truly believe its doable and I have two chances to make it happen on flat, fast courses.

What are your goals?

My main goal is to complete my first HIM. I know that comes with a big commitment to training and nutrition, something I've been doing a good job with the past two months. The hard part will be sticking to that for the next 15 weeks before the big race!

Hi Scott & Kelly,

I would like to join your group. I will post a bio later, but for now. My name is Tom and I will be starting my 3rd year of tri's. This year I am signed up for the NYC Tri in August.

Thanks,
Tom

My biggest goal for the year is to finish a 70.3 in 5:02 which is on hour off last years time. I did my first 70.3 last July and had really trained well for it but had only set a goal of finishing "well" which to me simply meant well ahead of cutoffs and no walking on the run course. In retrospect I probably could have pushed/raced and finished in 5:30.

My swim was 48 min which is pretty bad but the swim course was rough that day and I was quite pleased just to have gotten to my bike. I had done 37 in training last year so 35 will be no problem.

My bike time was 2:56 and getting to the 2:30 I need will be very tough. Two things that tell me I may be able to do it: I held back in last years race quite a bit and finished with 19.1 mph avg so I think I could have done a 20 mph avg. I was riding a road bike with no aero bars and have never been properly fitted. While I can't afford a new tri bike this year I do have some money put asside for some upgrades to my Trek Madone that might help me hit the 22.5 mph avg that I need to do the bike in 2:30.

My run time was 2:03 last year and will need to be 1:45. I walked through all the aid stations on the run and was also having some hip pain that I could have run faster through but was afraid

was afraid of having to walk across the finish if I aggravated it. So I ran easy and soaked up the atmosphere of the day and had a good time.

Finally, I spent 15+ minutes in transition last year and can easily get that under 10. Overall, hitting a 5 hour HIM is a pretty lofty goal for me but I am anxious to see how far I can push myself.

I love challenging myself and trying new things. I hate resolutions, so my goal for 2014 is to finish my first 140.6 distance. I am excited to hopefully be able to do this. It's hard to think past June 29 at this point for other goals.

My 2014 goals are simple...Stay focused on training and keep healthy! I would like to continue to see improvements in my times.
- I am a lazy swimmer, I hate pushing myself in the water and hate having someone on my toes, it is all mental but something that I need to overcome in order to get faster in the water.
- I would also like to get better on the bike. Everyone passes me. I am not built for biking, I do not have powerful thighs! I could probably benefit from some gym time, not sure if I can really fit that in though.


My A race is going to be Santa Barbara, Aug. a long course 1mi swim, 34mi challenging bike, 10 mi run with a couple big hills.
I am thinking about training for a half Mary, but I keep reading that that approach met not be the best.