brick94513-GoGoGo Mentor Group - Closed For Now! (Page 2)

NAME:  Norcal_SAHD (David)

STORY:  I'm a 39yo stay at home dad to two girls (5 and 7).  I have a loose background in mountain biking for fun, but had never seriously exercised in my life.  I was a water skiier growing up, but never properly learned how to swim.  I most certainly never ran, unless someone was chasing me...  Most of my life (from 10yo till now) was focussed around motorcycles and motorcycle racing.  I still ride, but haven't raced in a few years.  Last year on a bit of a whim I bought a Tri-training book and signed up for a sprint tri at the end of last summer.  My wife and 7yo daughter also did their first Tri's on that weekend, it was a gas!  My daughter loved it (it was a short kids tri) and we're all looking to do more this summer. 

FAMILY STATUS: Married (11 years) with our 2 girls, age 5 and 7.   One overactive dog, and two lazy cats that don't like me.  We live about 30 minutes north of San Francisco (Novato) so I have good weather all year long.

CURRENT TRAINING: I followed a beginner super sprint Tri plan for my first Triathlon in September (pulled the training plan out of a book I'd bought), and it worked very well.  I then followed a 5k plan for running (found somewhere on the web) in preparation for a thanksgiving 5k fun run, and that too worked great.  I ran it in 25:40, which exceeded my expectations!  I used a somewhat modified Olympic training plan to train for my most recent race, an XTERRA sprint, which was 2 weeks ago.  I'm now trying to figure out how to plan a training program around racing 1x/month over summer...  I'll have some questions on that front soon!

THIS YEAR'S RACES: Did a Super Sprint in September (400yd, 8mi, 2mi) put on by tbfracing.com (I loved them, and plan to enter as many of their events as I can!), and ran a 5k Turkey Trot while visiting my in-laws over thanksgiving.  I loved the 5k race itself, though the organization of the particular one I raced really sucked. 

2011 RACES: I completed the Xterra Real MTB Triathlon on March 28th in Folsom (.5mi swim, 16mi bike, 4mi run), the race report is in my logs.  I plan to do the 4 race series at Rancho Seco over the summer with tbfracing.com.  They offer both Sprint and Olympic length events, I don't know which I'll do yet, but for June will for sure do the sprint.  At those 4 weekends, they also put on kids Triathlons that my daughters want to race in.  My older daughter did one last year and loved it, my younger daughter needs to learn to swim first... 

WEIGHTLOSS: I weighed 225lb in January 2007.  That year my wife and I went hardcore South Beach Diet, and I lost 50 pounds by Thanksgiving 2007.  That was strictly diet based, I did zero exercising during that time.  Since then, my weight slowly crept from 175 at my lowest up to around 185 now.  I'm still living with an overall diet based on the South Beach concepts (no processeed food, lots of veggies, no sugar, basically a low GI diet which includes me cooking meals every day, no more store bought 'ready made' meals) but I'm not that hardcore about it these days.  I do enjoy a good (or bad, I'm not that picky) beer once in a while, and sometimes have some wine with dinner, but don't really drink much alcohol.  I'm not currently trying actively to loose weight, but I'd like to get back to 175.  I'm more focussed on getting in good shape though.  So far, I have not lost any weight since starting to work out, but I have dropped two inches in my waist.  More muscle, less fat, but still 185 pounds right now.

GOALS: Mostly looking to have fun and get a little better/faster at everything.  I am solidly lower middle of the pack in all three events.  I don't currently own a road bike, and so far don't really even like road biking.  I hope to MTB ride 1-2x/week, run 4x/week, swim 2x/week, and then throw in a little more biking either on the road or on rollers in my garage.  I'd love to do more XTERRA races, it was definately fun, but most of them are either too far away, too long, or just don't fit my schedule for this year.  I think I can train about 6-8 hours/week comfortably, but it's fairly hit or miss on a week to week basis due to life stuff.

QOTD:  What do you hope to gain from the Mentor Group?
Answer: Something I miss from a lifetime in uniform is the camaraderie of a bunch of Bothers focused on a common mission. From this group I hope to gain a source of learning and motivation from a group of people committed in a common goal. 

Training Plan for the rest of the week:
Today  AM: Treadmill Run (3 mile)  //  PM: Club Open Water Swim (1.1 mile) + T1 Drills
Friday  AM: NONE (Attending LODD Funeral)  //  PM: Treadmill Run (3 mile)
Saturday  AM: Bike (35 mile)  //  PM: Couples Yoga Class (No laughing… It keeps Wifey Happy!)Sunday  AM: Bike (22 mile) w/hill repeats  //  PM: Trail Run (2 mile)

David -  How long have you been in Novato?  I used to run the Fire Station on the flightline and fly medevac out of Hamilton Army Airfield when it was open.  Back then I rode for Sammy Hagar’s Red Rocker Team in Sausalito and loved bombing singletrack all over Mt Tam.  Whenever I visit I still enjoy running the trails behind IVC.  Next time I’m up we’ll have to grab a run (or ride) and a beer.

Tim - Capitola… That’s bitchen!  Back in the 80’s I used to spend many many days surfing between Moss to the Hook (and nights in Santa Cruz)… Good times.  A few years back I taught a CBRNE-WMD class at a Firehouse in Soquel… I think it was one of yours (?).

Bill - I like beer too! 


You all have a great day.

I would like in with you guys.  My name is Brian.  I'm 35 years old 6' 1" tall 170lbs.  I'm married with no kids.  I originally started running around the neighborhood for weightloss, but at 215lbs my knees couldn't take it.  I bought a bike and started riding.  That was 3 years ago, and I have since been able to run again.  Last year I did my first indoor tri and mainly focussed on mountain bike racing.  I'd still say that's my main focus but I'm moving more to tri's.  I did another indoor tri already this year, but my first real tri is an Xterra coming up in may.  I've already reached some of my goals this year but I have a few more:

1.  Complete the Xterra and conquer the open water swim- I haven't swam OW since I was 12

2.  Place above mid pack in the Sprint tri I'm doing later in the summer

3.  Maybe do a half IM later in the summer if I can squeeze it into my MTB schedule.

4.  Run a 20 minute 5k-  I'm under 22 right now

5.  Move up to sport class in my mountain bike racing

6.  I've already lost 15lbs this year.  I'm not stuck on this but maybe lose another 5-10

Current training:
-run 2-3 times a week between 4-6 miles
-Bike currently computrainer class on sat. and spin on wed. -soon outside!! 3 days a week
-swim 2 days a week for an hour and 1 day masters class
-weight lift 2-3 days a week
-core workout 5 days a week

You guys got me jealous.  I use to ride the hills and trails on Camp Pendelton when I was stationed there in the 80's. I Rode my MTB to work most days.  I lived off base in Fallbrook. 

Sawfish,

Hey another crazy tourney fisherman!  I just sold my Ranger 360V this past week.  With the move up to Chicago, going to focus on training and enjoying the city.  Started fishing tourneys around 20 years back.  Done clubs, buddy tournaments, the co-angler thing, and the boater thing.  Twice I've come within a single fish of winning a boat, ARRRRGGGGHHHH!  I'll miss the challenge, but not the time commitment.  As you know it's more time intensive than just about any other hobby.

Take care.

Curt