Jim Kelley's (Birkierunner) General and Long Course Group (OPEN)

Hello All, I would love to join this group if you will have me.

Name: Angelo

STORY: I'm a 41 year old Police Sergeant who has been to the doughnut tray a few hundred times to many. I have a terrible diet that I justify by claiming that "Its mostly muscle" and "I'm a power lifter", and "once I start training it will all come off". I have run about 7 half marathons and raced one sprint triathlon. I didn't train and started the swim like I was being chased by Jaws. After fifty yards, I was spent and had to breast stroke the last 350 yards while hyperventilating. To make matters worse, I have purchased two separate Time Trial bikes at two separate times in my life(Which I don"t own now) and never did a race on them. I would get excited, buy the bike, and then quit because sitting on the couch with a drink in my hand after a stressful day is easier then training. The reason why I am pouring out my dirty secrets like this is for full disclosure and for accountability. I want to get healthy. I want to be a triathlete. I want to be an IRONMAN. I am really concerned about my health as I now have two of the most beautiful children in the world who mean the world to me. I weigh around 250 lbs and need to be 195.

I want to join this group of like-minded individuals to assist me and motivate me along my journey. Everyone who I tell I want to become a Triathlete just stares at me and gives me 100 reasons why I can't. If you will have me, I want to be an active member of this group and become a triathlete. Besides, this will be my third tri-bike and I'll be damned if I don't complete a triathlon on it.

FAMILY STATUS: Married to a wonderful woman with two beautiful children. Ages 6 and 3.

CURRENT TRAINING: I just copied the 20 weeks sprint training plan from this site. I just added one swim because that is my weakest sport. Each week, I run 3 times, bike 3 times and swim 4 times. (Just started this week to get a head start on the whole New Year thing)

2015 Races: None yet. I'm in Miami and from April to November there is a race every weekend. I will post them as I register.

Weight Loss Goals: As I stated before, I am shooting to lose about 50 to 55 lbs. My goal weight is 195.

What will make me a good mentee? I have a lot to learn and a lot to lose (weight). I want to start this journey to see how much I can really achieve. I am not interested in "podiums". I want to get healthy and be there for my children in 20 years.

NAME: Sonya

STORY: Triathlon started out almost as a joke. My sister saw a poster for the local triathlon and joked we should do it as a team. She was a swimmer when she was younger and I was a runner at the time (we had no idea you could actually do it as a team). When I got home my running magazine was in the mail with an article with a program to finish a triathlon in 12 weeks. At the time, I was in the best shape I had ever been and figured I wasn't ready but the seed was planted. It took getting hit by a car while running and ending up 30 lbs overweight before I actually attempted it. It started when I was trying to get back in shape and joined a master swim club, most of the members of the members were also triathletes. I started with them in January and by June I had completed my first triathlon. It wasn't pretty, I was DFL (it was a very small race!) but I did it. I've been doing it for about 4 years now, improving every year since but haven't really gotten serious about training. Most of the improvement came from losing the weight and just getting back in shape. I also kept swearing to move up to an Olympic distance but never did. Last year I took the plunge with a group from here and signed up for a half Ironman distance race. And then I promptly got pregnant (to be fair, I knew that was a really good possibility).
I am now a first time mom to a gorgeous 5 month old boy and trying to drop the last few pregnancy pounds and get back into shape. I also have the year off of work for mat leave, a supportive husband and family so I've been threatening to do a HIM this summer. I'm not sure how realistic that is. At this point, I am trying to train as if I am and see where that takes me.
I never had much of an athletic background. I was a clueless gym goer who took up running in my 20s out of necessity, then later swimming and biking. I'm a back of the packer, maybe a back of the middle of the pack when in shape. I also love weight lifting, I dabbled in bodybuilding (competed in Figure in 2012) and CrossFit but triathlon is my first love.

FAMILY STATUS: Married with an almost 5 month old son and 3 dogs. .

CURRENT TRAINING: Right now I am focusing on building a base and getting back into shape. I'm working on technique in swimming. I'm lucky to have a great master swim group plus an experienced swim/coach friend at my local pool. I need to find a program to follow, I do very well with structured programs, I don't do very well on my own.

THIS YEAR'S RACES: I did my favourite local race (the first one I ever did, I do it every year). Since I was 8 months pregnant, I only did the swim portion as a team.

2015 RACES: I have a local sprint triathlon the beginning of June. I may move up to Olympic for this one, depending on my training plan. There is at least one other local race I plan to do.
For my half IM race I am considering Rev3 Maine in August.

WEIGHTLOSS: I am looking to drop another 20 lbs.

WHAT WILL MAKE ME A GOOD MENTEE: I do well with group and when I have people to report to.

Greetings! I'm looking for a mentor group for this year as I'm stepping up to the half-iron distance along with a marathon and this one sounds about right.

My story:

NAME: John Mosey - Toefuzz

STORY: 10 years ago I suffered from idiopathic hypersomnia (fancy way of saying I was always tired and didn't know why), slept 18-20 hours per day and had to quit my dream job at the family business and move to a new town. After trying just about every pill out there with some success I decided to run a 25k on impulse. My wife was a bit shocked by this as I weighed 271 pounds at the time (5'10"... still 5'10" actually), couldn't run for more than 30 seconds, and my greatest feat of endurance was watching all 6 Star Wars movies while eating an entire bag of pizza rolls. Fortunately I had signed up for next year's 25k (5th 3rd River Bank Run), not the one the following weekend. I have problems with impulse control so it was a legitimate concern on her part. I started training in my basement so no one could see me and thought I was going to be sick after my first Couch to 5k workout. Fast forward a year and I finished my race but ended up in the hospital for dehydration. I never had a problem in training but it was a nasty day. I had switched to a Paleo diet and lost 70 pounds! Unfortunately at that point I stopped running and switched to Crossfit, which lead to powerlifting, which lead to a stupid "bulking" phase. Earlier this year my brother-in-law was looking at a picture of me post 25k and wanted to know who the guy standing with his family was. This pissed me off so I jumped on the scale and was shocked to see I had put 30 pounds back on! I went through my old training logs and realized that what worked best for me was endurance training with a "clean" diet. I signed up for the Grand Rapids Marathon that day and proceeded to lose 30 pounds (again, down to 201). Unfortunately, as I'm prone to do, I went too much too soon and injured myself (PF). I took some time off and switched to the half marathon and finished. While sitting on the deck at my parent's condo in Petoskey I discovered a triathlon in a month's time not more than 400m from their place! I've always been intrigued by the idea of triathlon and my wife says it suits me as I'm less likely to get bored as I have 3 things to hold my interest instead of a single sport (I also have problems with attention span). I signed up for that in the middle of my half marathon training and was hooked from the start. I completed a second sprint tri later in the year and had a truly terrible swim (held onto the jet ski, lots of breast stroking, etc) which puzzled me as I was a definite MOP swimmer in my first tri. The best part about a crappy swim is that you can pass lots of people on the bike. I stuck with the race and ended up taking 2nd place in the Clydesdale division in what should be my last race as Clydesdale.

FAMILY STATUS: Married with two kids. My son is 11 and my daughter is 8. She was inspired to complete her own marathon last year (train 25 miles and then run the last 1.2 miles on the actual GR Marathon course)

CURRENT TRAINING: I am currently following the Barry P plan from the Slowtwitch message board for running. Essentially I run 6x per week. I am currently at 3 runs of 2 miles, 2 runs of 4 miles, and 1 run of 6 miles for a total of 20 miles per week. I try to hold my volume steady for a few weeks and then bump it up by 10% or so. I am in MI so many of my winter runs are on the treadmill, much to my dogs dismay. He starts freaking out as soon as he sees my running shoes and hears my Garmin beep. I am not swimming at the moment, mainly b/c it's my least favorite discipline and I simply love riding my bike. I try to ride at least 3, if not 4 or 5x per week. I signed up for TrainerRoad earlier this year and it's the best $10 I spend every month. I also bought myself all of the Sufferfest videos as a Christmas present and am looking forward to the Tour of Sufferlandria next month.

THIS YEAR'S RACES: I didn't start training until late May:

5/24 - Memorial Day Bridge Run (across Mackinac Bridge) - 5.05 miles (11:41 pace)
7/4 - T-Rex 10 Mile Trail Run - 10 miles (12:41 pace)
7/19 - Bear River Crawl 10k - 9:37 pace
8/17 - Petoskey Sprint Tri - 1:28:34 overall (5/9 in my age group). Swim: 9:34 (500y), Bike 42:05 (11.39 miles), Run 29:41 (3.1 miles)
9/14 - LMCU Bridge Run - 10 miles (9:56 pace)
9/20 - Le Tour De Donut Bike Race - 33.88 miles (17.4 mph). Fun bike race, deduct 2 minutes for each donut you eat, minimum 2.
9/28 - Tri the Creek Sprint Tri - 1:16:34 overall (2/7 in Clydesdales). Swim: 12:29 (500y), Bike 31:56 (10.33 miles), Run 28:42 (3.1 miles)
10/4 - Michigan Mountain Mayhem Gravel Ride - 1:09:37 (18.09 miles)
10/19 - Grand Rapids Half Marathon - 2:10:21 (9:55 pace)

2015 RACES: Big year coming up! My goal is to win the West Michigan Endurance Award for completing the River Bank Run, GR Marathon, and a half distance tri

3/28 - Barry Roubaix (36 mile bike race) Just for fun with my team
4/25 - Rivertown Races Half Marathon - Training run for River Bank Run
5/9 - Fifth Third River Bank Run 25k - First A race of the year
6/14 - Grand Rapids Triathlon - Olympic Distance
7/4 - Bostwick Lake Sprint Triathlon - Fun race close to my house on 4th of July
7/18 - Tri Del Sol - Olympic Distance, benefits a camp I went to as a kid
8/23 - Michigan Titanium - 2nd "A" race, half-iron man distance. Fired up for this one!
10/18 - Grand Rapids Marathon - My first marathon
11/8 - Iceman - Largest mountain bike race in the country


WEIGHTLOSS: Weight loss is big for me and an ongoing struggle. It seems that every time I get down to 201 I do something stupid and sabotage myself. I haven't been south of 200 since Jr High. My goal is to lose around 5# per month and be closer to 180 by the time my "A" races roll around. I am down 7 pounds in the three weeks since I tightened up my diet and even managed to lose weight over the holidays. They say you gain 2 seconds per pound lost... I should be flying come May!

What will make me a good Mentee: I like accountability and could use some help developing my overall program for the year. I am the type of person who immediately orders every book they can on a new subject... now I just need help putting this theoretical knowledge into practice.

I just noticed you are in WI. My goal for 2016 is IM Moo. My team sends a pretty big delegation so I will have lots of motivation. I think we actually won second place in the Tri Club competition this year.

Im In!

NAME: Kat

STORY: I am a stay at home mom who just turned 40. And I discovered that 39 1/2 and dreading 40 is a whole lot worse than actually turning 40. I teach swim lessons over the summer, and I start a part time coaching job with my kid's swim team next week. I have been a swimmer my whole life. I was on a competitive team from the time I was 8 through high school. Unfortunately I burnt out and refused to swim collegically. I regret that. I started triathlon 12 years ago when I wanted to get back in shape and realized finding a competitive masters team in my area was impossible. I thought - I can swim, I know how to ride a bike, and surely I can learn to run even though I hate it. So I signed up for an oly, started training and found out that I can swim, I have no idea how to ride a bike, and once I got through the first couple of months, I love running as much as I love swimming. I finished my first tri and then got pregnant the next month. With a newborn, I did nothing for a year except work on getting way out of shape. Then I undertrained for a marathon. Finished it, barely, and got pregnant the next month. With a newborn and 2 year old, I did nothing but work on getting way out of shape for 5 years. I missed being an athlete, so I started running again. That lead to my obsession with the half marathon. If I had to choose one running distance to race for the rest of my life, it would be the half marathon. That lead to the Gulf Coast Half Ironman. Which I finished, slowly, but I finished with a smile on my face. Then I started my swim lesson business and once again I worked on nothing but getting out of shape for 3 years, but this time I was at least still swimming. Last year at this time I was determined to get back in shape and STAY there. It has been slower than I wanted, and there have been many disruptions and disappointments. My biggest problem is lack of consistency, putting in the day to day work, and not letting small setbacks and life chaos derail me.

FAMILY STATUS: Married, my husband has Rheumatoid Arthritis so while he is wonderfully supportive, his goals about fitness and mine never line up. I have 2 boys age 11 and 9 who both started swimming competitively this year. I have Jenx, a german shorthair pointer - AKA the Psycho Devil Dog - but he is an excellent running partner, and we just got a kitten who is plotting to usurp my role as princess in the house.

CURRENT TRAINING: Training for IM Chattanooga

THIS YEAR'S RACES:
Disney Princess Half Marathon
Local Sprint Tri

2015 RACES:
February: Frostbite Half Marathon
April: Country Music Half Marathon
May: IM Chattanooga 70.3
June: Chattanooga Waterfront Oly
August: Lake Logan Half Ironman
September: IM Chattanooga

WEIGHTLOSS: My weight has always been a struggle. Currently I am 50 lbs overweight. I have lost and gained this same 50 lbs about 5 times. The last 2 times I was at goal weight, I did it through a strict starvation diet (almost anorexic behavior - my Dr. is watching me closely this time) While this was effective at losing a lot of weight really fast, it was not effective as a weightloss strategy as in point I gained it all right back. My plan is to eat real food in moderate amounts and make sure that I fuel my workouts. Progress, not perfection. And the journey is more important than the goal. I don't know if I will make "race weight" by September, but this time it is more important to learn the lessons than reach the magic number.

WHAT WILL MAKE ME A GOOD MENTEE: I talk - a lot! Which would make me active in this thread. I also can be a resource for swimming. I still don't know how to ride a bike, so I will need lots of info on riding. Cycling is my weakest sport. I need consistency and to stay motivated in the day to day training so I am hoping this will help with some accountability.

Kat - Have you read Racing Weight by Matt Fitzgerald? It's a solid book on diet and nutrition for endurance athletes. Granted, it sums up what we already know (eat real food, mostly veggies, not too much), but his diet quality scoring system helped put things in perspective for me.

Thanks for the recommendation - I haven't read it. Off to put in my Amazon que. Thanks!
And I will check out Paleo For Athletes. That is the direction I am going in. I'm doing carbs in the morning, and paleo at night. Because I know I don't need fuel to sleep.


Edited by KatNWater 2014-12-30 11:14 AM

I started out with a Paleo diet and had great success when my training consisted of low volumes of running, but don't label what I'm doing as Paleo anymore. If you read Paleo for Athletes he adds in grains, sports drinks, gels, etc, all of which seem to contradict the generally accepted Paleo philosophy, hence the recommendation for Racing Weight. I tried eating a true Paleo diet while endurance training but it was difficult to get enough carbs. I think Robb Wolf's philosophy of cutting out grains, legumes, dairy, etc for 30 days and then slowly adding things back in is a wonderful idea. We learned that dairy doesn't bother me as much as we expected it to, but legumes and something in most grains (not gluten strangely enough) really bother me. I now eat LOTS of rice, which definitely isn't Paleo... but again, that's just a label and I'd like to think I don't need to label what I do.

I haven't come across Gordo before... gives me something to do this weekend when I'm not running, biking, or skiing!

Mike - do you start with Garmin and then have Strava pull everything from there? If so, BT can be set to do the same thing. I actually prefer Strava as well... if everyone else uses it we could always start a Strava group.

Did you spring for Strava Pro? If so, is it worth it?

I keep getting the offers for 30 days of Pro free and just don't see the value. Maybe if I trained with power some of their analytics would be helpful, but I need to fix the engine before I buy a fancy tri bike, before I buy a fancy power meter.

I do train with virtual power indoors via Trainer Road and Sufferfest... Looking forward to the Tour of Sufferlandria coming up!

Jim - any idea what the maximum number of members for the group will be? I was curious if a smaller group is better or a larger group? Does it just depend on how active people are? I defer to your judgement since you've done this before. I just want to make sure I can keep everyone straight in my head

Jim,

Would like to be part of the group!!

NAME: William Gould - jhupcom

STORY: I am a 43 y/o physician. I recently spent the past year and half getting into the best shape of my life (why did I not do this years ago??) Between the long hours my profession demands and the other life stress we all incur (family, children,...life) I found myself at 6ft 285 lbs. Having been a lifelong athlete working out was something I had always done however despite that I just wasn't committed to the diet part of things as I know I needed to be. My answer was always just train harder. Obviously that didn't change the picture.

About year and half ago something clicked. I tightened my diet little by little. I actually cut back on exercise and focused primarily on diet. A year later I was down 75 lbs. At this point I started working out again but in a different direction then what I had been used to in the past. Gone was the heavy weightlifting and in was a new spirit of multi activity/sport training. I starting doing things I would have never done before such as martial arts, high intensity crossfit training etc..The result was another 30 lbs weight loss and packing on a decent amount of lean muscle. I truely found myself in the best shape I have ever been in including dating back to my days of high school and college football.

About four months ago I said to myself what is one thing you never thought you would do..answer..marathon...As I pondered this I new one thing was the singular nature of just running might be a challenge from a boredom standpoint. After bit more thought I said hmm...triathlon? Before I knew it next day I found this site downloaded a trainng plan and been at it since.

I have signed up for to sprint tris this spring summer and have my eyes set on those but even more so I am having a blast training. I know I have found a new way of life. I have worked up to swimming a mile during session training, running 6-7 miles on longer days and biking 20-25 miles. I hope to learn more from here and be part of a community that is committed to this healthy way of life.

FAMILY STATUS: Married 3 children 12, 9 and 6 years old..I am blessed with these people in my life!!

CURRENT TRAINING: following training plan for sprint tri with hopes of advancing to longer races later this season or by next year

2015 RACES: Tus far plan to do:
BlackBear Triathlon Sprint -Lehighton PA
TriRock- Philly
Nations Tri-Washington DC

HERO- My son Jacob!! Along with me this 12 year old boy went from a 150lb chubby 11 year old to a 105lb 13% body fat workout machine. In an age where children are inundated with poor food choices, video games etc this guy would rather do a metcon workout then sit on the coach. He in one year has gone from simply participating in sports to being the quarterback of his 7th grade football team and a competitive wrestler on his middle school team. All this while being in the top 3% of his class. Truly my hero!! And after the wrestling season he wants to begin training to do his first sprint tri as well!

WEIGHTLOSS: Down about 110lbs Currently weight 181-184lbs 6ft

WHAT WILL MAKE ME A GOOD MENTEE: I love learning especially from others experience. I love hard work and the feeling of the results. I have a very supportive family who I am blessed with in this journey

Welcome William! Well done on the weight loss. I love working out with my family... either running with my wife or daughter or having my daughter run with me while I ride on the trainer. We tried having the kids bike with us while we run but they complain we are too slow

I'd like to join.

NAME: Chris West (Toffels)

STORY: I swam competitively in high school and for years before that, but after high school I just stopped. I'm 32 now, and over the past five years or so, the idea to do a triathlon has always been in the back of my mind, but I never pulled the trigger until this year. I bought a bike and actually signed up for a local sprint tri this past August, but unfortunately it was cancelled the day of because of bad weather. I'm not going to let that stop me though; there's plenty of other races this coming year. I live in the Kansas City area.

FAMILY STATUS: Married for 8 years to the most wonderful woman I've ever met. She's really what inspired me to get off my duff and do a tri. She is a marathon runner and helps keep me motivated.

CURRENT TRAINING: Balanced training five days a week for a mini-sprint the first Sunday in March. Around February I'll likely focus more on running as I have a half-marathon at the end of April.

THIS YEAR'S RACES:
August: Matt Mason Cowboy Up Memorial Triathlon (cancelled due to inclement weather)
October: Kansas City Marathon Relay (ran the first leg of 3.4 miles)


2015 RACES:
March: 68's Inside Sports Indoor Triathlon (mini-sprint)
April: Rock n Roll Marathon in Nashville, TN (half-marathon)
May: Kansas City Triathlon (sprint)
August: Matt Mason Cowboy Up Memorial Triathlon (sprint)
October: Border Wars Triathlon (half-Ironman)
October: Kansas City Marathon (half-marathon)

WEIGHTLOSS: I weigh about 200 pounds now, my goal is to get to between 160 and 170, but the numbers aren't firm. As long as I can lose my gut I'll be happy, regardless of the number on the scale.

WHAT WILL MAKE ME A GOOD MENTEE: I'm obsessive about logging my workouts (although somedays I wait a day or two to actually log it). I use a garmin watch to help keep track of time and pace. Beyond that, I'm new to the sport and willing to soak up any advice/knowledge anyone has that will help me.

Edited by Toffels 2014-12-30 4:37 PM