2009 Introduction Thread (Page 2)

I'm so glad we are all getting to know each other.  We are a totally cool group.  Wow, what diversity in our experiences!

Andrea-I have a non-tri husband too, they are great!

Matt-wow, you have taken leaps in 2 years

Coop-quite a big goal for the 1st season, let us know how we can help you achieve it

Mitch-I think I've seen you at LTF.  We'll have to set up a Troy ride.

Kevin-your goal is my favorite goal

Leah-you were just a teenager when you started all this (or pretty close to it), wow

Kimm-I think someone lied on your birth certificate.  You can't really be near my age group

Scott and Brad-Welcome, join us for some training

Cheryl-How cool to do tri's with you husband.  I do them with my best friend, TrishM

Alaina-Good Luck!  Bring home some hardware!

Kristen-You have all the luck at those raffles.  You'll have to choose your tri's by the schwag they are raffling off.  Only choose the ones that give away a cerevelo or something

Elvin-Sounds like your wife takes good care of you.  Welcome

Rob-you have to do 4 tris so that we can do one together.  Welcome to the boards

Dan-You already know how great I think you are.  Great weight loss.  It is so cool that your wife is your HS sweetheart.  My son is marrying his HS sweetheart in July.

Lets keep this going, I know there are more of you out there.   

PERSONAL: 2 girls, one GF,I'm a Funeral Director in Troy

AREA: Clinton Twp.

Name: Steve

Tri History: Started tri's in 1988 through 1991 with the biggest being the old Chicago Sun Times Triathlon Oly, can't recall if it was still part of the USTS Bud Light Series or not as that may have ended in 89 (you have to be an old timer to remember that series which always had big names and events across the country) then took time off and got the itch to return in 2007, did some running events and du's during the off time.  Did my first HIM in 2008 at the Muncie Endurathon and enjoyed the challenge of longer races.

Tri Goals for 2009: It's all about the Ironman distance, Beach 2 Battleship on Nov 7 in Wilmington, NC.  I'll also be doing Racing 4 Recovery sprint, Harbor Springs Coastal Crawl 3 mile OWS, Sylvania Oly, Tawas HIM.

I'll be strappin at Hawk Island and hopefully IM Louisville.

Age group: 40-44

Personal: Married to TwoHearted (Karen) for 13 glorious years, we have 5 kids, 4 grandchildren, 2 Rottweilers, and 2 cats. 

Area: Canton, or wherever there might be a BT gathering

Name: Robyn

Tri History: I started in tris after I saw some people I knew complete their first race and thought, "I can do that," even though I didn't know how to swim.  Four years later I have countless races under my belt including 3 HIMs and 2 marathons.  I love racing so I like to do it a lot.

Tri Goals for 2009:  I'm with Rottieguy on the Iron distance bandwagon as I am hoping that Redman 140.6 will be my first full.  I am also doing Spirit of Racine HIM (July), Dances with Dirt 50k (May 9), the Trail Marathon (April 26), and a multitude of others scattered throughout the summer.  I hope to see y'all there!!

Age group: 25-29 F (thank goodness Jazz doesn't do the same races I do. )

Personal:  I'm happily single with two pups (labs) and a cat that might be the spawn of Satan.  I work for a large private company that designs automation equipment for engine testing.  IOW, I am a professional nerd.

Area:   Currently in Ann Arbor, but I will be moving soon to the Royal Oak area when I find my dream house.

Name: Kim

Tri History:  Started a few years ago - Sprint, Olys, one HIM relay, a few Half Marys and various 5K/10Ks 

Tri Goals for 2009: a couple of Half Marys, some 10Ks and at least one Tri

Age group: 40-44

Personal: Married with two active kids (ages 9 and 10) and an extremely busy job.  Due to a couple of promotions, my work/life balance has tipped the wrong way.  My primary goal this year is to try and find more balance and keep some level of training going.

Area: H.Wds/Royal Oak/Berkley

Name: Joe

Tri History: 1 sprint tri, 1 duathlon

Tri Goals for 2009: 1st Oly and Battle of Waterloo, which is in between OLY and HIM distance

Age group:  45-49

Personal: Married, 1 daughter (8) and new puppy truning our house upside down.  I am a Skilled Trades Supervisor at GM.  Started running a few years back on and off at nights.  Then bought a bike last year, I liked it.  I went from the low 260 range to 210-213 range. Somehow and sometime I damged my left knee and am having surgery on Tuesday to repair it. 

Area: Davison

Name: Ryan

Tri History: My good friend asked me to do the Ludington Lighthouse sprint in 2007 (although he never ended up doing it).  I did extremely well and was hooked from that point on.  My sister has finished IM CdA & Florida and was nice enought to give me her tri bike so she could buy a new P2.  A free bike so no complaints here.  Last year was my first full year of tris and did 2 sprints and 2 olympics.

Tri Goals for 2009:  Get Faster!! My A race is Spirit of Racine HIM and hope to go Sub 5 hours and am also shooting for Tawas HIM as well.  I will be doing 2-3 other Olympics sprinkled in there to help prepare for those 2 races.  I see an IM in the near future but think 70.3 is the perfect distance for me.

Age group: 25-29 M

Personal:  I just got married in January and bought a house in Muskegon today!!! We close today so thats exciting.  I have been living in GR the last year and a half.  I am a civil engineer mainly doing road and utility design for a private consulting firm and work 50+ hours a week.  I love to just relax with an adult pop and hang out when not training.

Area:   Norton Shores - Muskegon

Name: Erik

Tri History: None (yet)

Tri Goals for 2009: Pure Awesomeness (none of that watered-down stuff)

I have my first half-mary (Indianapolis) in May, first Tri sprint in May (Hawk Island), and hopefully will be able to schedule another 4 or 5 sprints this year if my kids' schedules will permit.  I've already had the pleasure to meet several of the MI-BT crowd at some training sessions

Age group: 35-39, or clydesdale (yes, I am the "reverse pace-booty" that will make you run faster so you do not get caught following)

Personal:  Married 8 years, father of 2 (boy-6, girl-4), soccer coach for both kids, MSU grad, computer nerd by profession (storage administrator).  My wife is very supportive, and states that she is very proud of me, although she is not quite proud enough for me to go out and get a new bike and/or wetsuit before my first race.

Area:  Pinckney/Ann Arbor, though not too far from Kensington, either... yay me!

What up everyone?

Name: Josh

Tri History: 2 Sprints, 2 Duathlons

Tri Goals for 2009: a big year for me starting with Ann Arbor Tri (sprint), then Muncie Endurathon, IMKY, and finishing with Reeds Lake (sprint).  Three goals:  1. finish IMKY; 2. rock only the speedo in first and last tri's of the year; 3. represent for my Bike Sponsor.  He has done A LOT (!!!!!!!!!) for me and I want to reciprocate b/c I wouldn't be where I'm at right now without his support (and of course the support of my loving family, friends, and last but not least the really, really, really great BT community!).

Age group: 25-29

Personal: Married, 3 Dogs (great dane, greyhound, and rottie/lab mix with a gimpy leg).  I got involved in triathlon/endurance sports, etc. after my 19 year old step-brother (same age as my youngest brother) passed away in April last year.  It is a way for me to remember how lucky I am and that I need to enjoy life.

Area: Holland (West Michigan)

Name: Jeremy

Tri History: 2nd year triahtlete (Yeah, that sounds kewl - Except it means a Junior Triathlete, hmm).  2 Sprints, a couple 1/2 Mary's and too many shorter distances runs to list.

Tri Goals for 2009: A handfull of Sprint tri's, maybe my first Oly and too early to rule out a HIM.  A couple of TT's and Du's on the roster.

Age group: 30-34

Personal: Married, 2 daughters (2+ and 3mo)

Hey someone up in my neck of the woods.  We'll have to get together and do some "up north" training, might be able to drag some of the other northern (aka non detroit area) peeps up this way.  I used to live in saginaw, went to SVSU and the roads are alot better for riding up there compared to flint.

Name: Amanda

Tri History: Second year triathlete. I've done Hawk Island and Clark Lake in 2008.

Tri Goals for 2009: Focus is on Olympic distance this year (Motor City, Lansing Legislator and at least one additional one), but I've been so busy with training for the Bayshore Marathon (May 23) that I've been completely slacking on anything but running. Eeek!

Age group: 25-29 F (last year in this group!!)

Personal: Married, two dogs (Newfoundland/Lab mix and St. Bernard ... I like 'em big!).  Running is my first love (if you can call it that!), and I just started in on the swimming and biking last year. Got an awesome tri bike at the end of summer, and am jonesing to get out and ride it more than my little trips I've been squeezing in. May 26 "real" tri training begins!

Area: Lansing

Name: Jon

Tri History: Hawk-I Tri Sprint and Lifetime Fitness indoor tri.

Tri Goals for 2009: Compete in 2-3 triathlons this summer and GET FASTER!  In the past, I have always struggled with my swim training - I really enjoy swimming but I MUST get better at it.  From reading the boards on here for the past year or so, it seems that most want to conquer longer distances -- I really just want to be faster.  My long term goals are to eventually win my age group at a Sprint event and perhaps, if i'm lucky, be able to win a sprint event.  It's a big goal I know...but hey -- Shoot for the moon, I might end up among the stars p

Age group: 26

Personal: Engaged - will be married in September of this year.  I was a sprinter and basketball player in high school.  After high school I got out of shape, started smoking, drinking like a mad man and got up to 247 lbs.  About 3 years ago I decided that was enough and started running/exercising again.  Even up until the end of last year I still had the occasional smoke.  I am smoke free this year -- but I still love a good sam adam's/killians/amberbock -- in moderation of course.  I am back into tri training again as of a month ago and i'm down to 196 lbs, 51 lbs lost since '06!  I love all the information and support that is on here.  Even though I don't post much, and haven't trained with anyone on here yet, I still appreciate all the michiganders on here! p -- I plan to come out for a group training session sometime soon.

Area: Brownstown

Name:  Dave

Tri History:   Started as a runner three years ago, have run  a 50k, 3 marathons, 3 half's and about 20 other race's. This is  my second year of tri's, last year did 4 sprints (ann arbor, motor cty, big fish,  t-rex) 2 oly (Sylvania,Blue water)

Tri Goals for 2009:  Going big this year 1 maybe 2 Him and Ironman Louisville.

Age group: 40-44 or 45-49  (at USAT races only)

Personal:   Divorced, no children, no pets, looking for a roomate,  New Boston area, Work as a Machine Repairman at Ford

Name: Dan

Tri History: 3rd tri season: 5 olympics; 2 sprints. Last year I ran my first Marathon.

Tri Goals for 2009: First HIM (Tawas), run another Marathon, improve on my road biking

Age group: 25 - 29

Personal: Enjoying being single for the time being. Skiing is my biggest passion when the snow flys (60+ days this past Winter). I started swimming competitively at the age of four and swam/ran through high school. After graduating from college I started training for triathlon's and have been ever since. I also enjoy mountain biking, riding harley's, traveling, my job (just passed the CPA exam), cooking, and trying new things.

Area: Troy ... workout at Lifetime daily and the surrounding area (Stoney, Island Lake, Kensington, Bald Mtn, etc).

Looking to meet new people who enjoy being active. Who is up for it?

I so did not guess you at my age.  I thought you were in your 30's.  

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Congrats on the house in Muskegon. I grew up in Norton Shores and moved to GR after school (I'm an engineer too, but ME). Where's your new house?