Atl_runner's group - full for now.

Can I join?

Races:

The Chicago Mary is probably my A race.  I'm following Hal Higdon's plan for that.  Otherwise, I'm following the Oly plan from here which takes me to the Russell State Park Oly.  After that race, I start the Oly plan over which takes me to the PTC Sprint. 

I'll toss my hat in the ring too!

Name: TriForrestTri / Ben

Story: This is my 3rd full season doing triathlons.  I actually got started when a co-worker wanted someone to do an adventure race.  I've always been fairly good at endurance sports (track and cycling in high school) and it sounded like alot of fun.  So, my co-worker who had already completed several Iron distance triathlons thought it'd be good to incorporate a couple tri's into our plan.  I was an absolutely awful swimmer but I ended up liking the triathlons as much or more than the adventure race.  So I've done alot of work on my swim and am finally able to hold a competitive pace.

Family: Married w/ 2 cats 

Current Training:  I just finished my first HIM in St. Croix a couple weeks ago and that was "the" race for my season.  I'm planning a sprint, an oly and another HIM in that order, so I'm currently focusing a little more on speed and strength with a little help from Joe Friel's "Triathlete Training Bible."

2007 Races: St. Croix HIM (done), 5430 Sprint 6/17, Boulder Peak Oly (7/?), 5430 Long Course (8/?) and anything else I can afford to do.

What I Want and What I'll Contribute:  I really think these groups can and should be a 2-way street, so I'm really hoping that everyone here will hold my feet to the fire when it comes to turning up the intensity of my workouts.  And I could use any training tips/suggestions along the way.  On the flip side, I've made a bunch of mistakes and learned from them, so I'd be happy to share what I've learned along the way too.  Beyond that, I'm just here to have fun and train so I can justify eating more

excellent, and I am in full agreement about these groups. I don't know all, and very much welcome a two way street. I do have quite a bit of experience working with lots of different types of people in terms of experience and ability. So far, it sounds like we have some members who definitely want to challenge themselves, and I very much appreciate that. I too will want my feet held to the fire when it comes time to up my intensity. After a little recovery period following the Gulf Coast Triathlon, I already feel a little guilty about not training as much. That all changes as of this weekend though. Time to ramp up for Rock N Roll man in two weeks.

Ok, we have two..

I'd like to get in on this group!

Name: Peter

Story: Been relatively active my whole life but have only become competitive in sports in general since I started racing cars (autocrossing) in my mid 20s.  I'll be 32 in July.  This is my third year of tris and I love this stuff!  I'm generally a MOP'er and while I'm content with that I want to see just how far/fast I can go.  Did my first tri in May 2005, the mountain bike sprint at Wildflower.  Did one more sprint that summer.  In '06 did an 8k, the Olympic at Wildflower, a sprint, and another Oly, and capped off the season with a half ironman that my girlfriend talked me into.  Crossed the finish line swearing up and down that there is no good reason to do a full IM.  A few days later after a couple beers I decided it might be cool to finish a full Ironman.  Went to IMWI to cheer on some friends, and just couldn't help myself--I signed up for '07, and talked my girlfriend into doing it too!

Running is by far the hardest of the three sports for me but I have been making progress with the help of a coach who is helping me prep for IMWI.  Until January 2006 my longest run ever was about 4 miles.  I've been in the water all my life, though without much formal training and most of the time on a waterski or wakeboard behind a boat!  Plenty of miles mountain biking single track over the last ten years but didn't really do any significant road riding until last year.

I'm a mortgage broker and landlord, former attorney, and have entrepreneurial tendencies.

Family Status:  Girlfriend of 2.5 years

Current training:  Focus on IMWI.

Last year's races:  See above

2007 Races:

3/31 Trailbreaker 1/2 mary 2:01:04
4/28 Crazylegs 8k 41:02
5/6 Wildflower Oly 2:59:01
5/20 Tour de Cure (100k bike tour)
6/3 Lake Mills Sprint
6/9 Elkhart Oly R
6/16 Horribly Hilly R
7/22 Racine HIM R
8/18 Waupaca Sprint
9/9 Ironman Wisconsin R
9/10 Sleeeeeeeep ZZZZzzzz

These days my favorite place in the world is the finish chute of a triathlon. 

I'm part of the Donkey Planet, a group of BT'ers with no particular purpose other than having fun, and some of us in southeast Wisconsin get together for some training and beers.

My blog has all my workout info and a bit of personal stuff too.  Feedback is welcome.  Excited for another fun season of tris and training!

Is there room for one more in here?

NAME: Lacey

STORY: I was pretty active growing up but then hit my teens and became a 100% couch potato.  Last fall I heard about this "couch to 5k" program thing and thought hey that'd be cool.  Googled it and ended up here.....now starting to get interested in the triathlon thing.  Ironically, now my shins are giving me all sorts of injury trouble so my working out for the time being is nearly all swimming and biking.  I'm loving it though....I've actually gotten myself to the point where I enjoy working out and I miss it when I don't get to.  This is a HUGE change for me, and I want to make sure I keep with it. 

FAMILY STATUS: Very very single!

CURRENT TRAINING: Lots of swimming and biking....hoping to get my swim fast enough to join a masters team. 

LAST YEAR'S RACES: Nada....never raced before.  Did my first race ever (a 2 mile run) May 5th.

2007 RACES:  Would like to do a late summer sprint-tri.....looking at a couple of potential ones in August, and a couple of 5k's during the summer, but that all depends on the shins....

WEIGHTLOSS: Coming in I didn't think of this in terms of weight loss so much as just wanting to build endurance in general and feel healthier.  I decided I was going to focus on exercise and deal with dieting later since I'm a junk food addict.  The more I worked out the more I realized that junk food wasn't doing it for me anymore so I've been focusing on healthy eating, and that lead me to start paying attention to my weight.  At first any loss was slow and frustrating, but now I've seen some big changes and I'm lovin it!  Have dropped 12 lbs since I started in february. 

Let me know if this group is full already....not sure on the numbers for a "full" group....or if I'm too much of a beginner for this group since i'm not sure when I'll be able to actually do a race....but if I can join I think it would be a huge help for me to have someone (a group of ppl) behind me and pushing me, since I tend to get frustrated and start feeling like success (especially with running) is "never" going to happen.  Deep down I do believe that my fat, couch potato self can one day become a distance runner/triathlete, but I struggle not to get bogged down in the day to day frustrations of not being able to do as much or as well as I'd like to be able to.   

Kim,

Did you keep running between college and the start of your marathon obsession?

I ran cross country in college.  I tried in high school to play football.  Wide reciever - I could run but had no hand-eye coodination.  My coach used to yell at me and ask when I would run x-country and track (he was the coach for those also).  I said when chicks dig runners LOL.  It wasn't until college when a coach offered me a scholarship that I took up the sport. 

After college, I promptly quit the sport to focus on career, family, me and trying to bulk up.  My running weight was 135 lbs at 6'.  After college I immediatly gained 30 lbs and in the 10 years after that continued until I topped out at 190.  Now I'm back to 166 (just today).  Sometimes I regret that I stopped running but then again I was burnt out. 

I've heard similar stories from other college athletes and just wondered if that applied to you also.

You should read my wife's blog, Mila's blog, Leslie's blog and Mindy's blog.  All 4 are moms who struggle with the same issues you described.

You WILL finish a triathlon one day.

I just took my first masters class today.  Assuming the coach is not a bonehead, you are fast enough now.  Just explain to the coach that you will be a little slower than most and he/she should put you in the right lane. Don't feel like you have to do the whole workout.  Heck, you might just start with the warmup, do a few of the laps with the group and then take off. 

As long as you practice good swim ettiqute, most people will be cool about you being there.

Welcome everyone!!

I will log on tomorrow to post some more information, and to talk to those who I have not chatted with.. also to check your logs.

So.. bottom line is this. If you requested to join, and are above this post, you are in. We will make this an Awesome group.

Group Members:

jonathan22
TriForrestTri
Graycat
PeterAK
lil_turtle
kimje
triornot
daspanglers

Talk to all of you tomorrow.

lil_turtle,

What really help me was getting a lesson and upping my swims to 3 days per week.  I was probably 2:20 to 2:30 when I first started back in Dec.  As soon as I upped my yardage and got a few tips, boom, I was down to 1:50.

That was my original plan....get some lessons in first and then try the masters thing....but it turns out my pool has stopped doing lessons of any sort until september!!  Grrrrr  Apparently the aquatics director quit and now everything has pretty much gone to hell w/out her...the only programs they're continuing for now are the masters and the kids swim teams.  This summer I'm going to look for a new pool, but it sucks because I should be able to get super cheap lessons here because I'm a student, but now that's clearly not happening.  For now I'm just hoping i'm not reinforcing any major bad habits.   

I had a good weekend full of workouts, and yardwork too.. Hope everyone was able to get in what they had planned.

Quick request for everyone, PM me your next race and indicate what your absolute goals are for it. Whether it's 'just to finish', or you want a Podium finish.. even if it's not possible. (I like the attitude though). Also include what a typical workout week looks like by day, time, and distance..

e.g.

Monday. Intervals (running) 10 x 400 meters @ 10k race pace.

or if your workouts are a little more basic:

Monday, run 3 miles.

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lil turtle, Welcome, I may have something that can help you with your swimming for now. Also, are you doing swimming drills of any kind?

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daspanglers,

Welcome. Sounds like you have found something to rekindle the competative spirit of yours. Great job on the weight loss. I like the attitude that you're not in a rush. Really, you shouldn't be. What you have done so far is excellent. Have you considered any longer distances in terms of running, such as a half or full marathon? How are your knees holding up to this point in your training?

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PeterAK,

Welcome.. we have a lot to talk about. As you know, Wisconsin is on my schedule as well, and it too will be my first. Also, After my first half IM, I swore I would never do another. Last week I got some sweet revenge on the course that nearly ended my Triathlon career.

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I'm adding everyone to my blog, and everyone feel free to add me as well. I want this group to be as active as possible. There is enough disparity here that we all should learn a bunch from this group.

There are a few others who I want to talk to as well, and will do that after I learn more about where each of you are right now, and where you want to go from here. I believe that I can help everyone here become a better athlete.  

Alright, let's go!