Ryan Mac’s HIM Focus Group - CLOSED (Page 2)

I am probably going to cap the group at about 12 people so that I can keep up with everybody individually and also provide a good group for discussions.

As I mentioned in the first post, it will be the most beneficial if you are able to keep your training logs up to date here and also check in to the thread at least once per day to keep you engaged.  I know most of you log elsewhere, as do I, but it is the best way for me to give feedback if you also log here.

Once we get the group squared away, we can get into more pointed discussions.  In the meantime, if you have something on your mind feel free to fire away.

This is great value added to this group.  A buddy of mine just bought a GoPro.  I'm hoping to get some footage of my swim.  I hope you can tear it apart and turn me into a fish.

I believe you are lucky number 7!

Hoping the group is still open -- gonna post my bio under that assumption

NAME: Nicole

STORY: I used to be big into scuba diving (lived in Socal before moving to Houston) and three of my favorite dive buddies decided they wanted to give triathlons a shot....I felt abandoned and peer pressured into doing it, even though I didn't really have much interest.  Turns out I really enjoyed my first race, so I forgave all of them!  That was back in early 2012.  In mid-2012, I got hit by a car while I was out on a training ride, and that had me sidelined for a few months....and kept me from running with any amount of consistency for well over a year.  My desire to train and race was only strengthened by this.  So this past year was my first real year of training and racing.  I learned a lot, made a few mistakes, and am hoping to put those lessons to good use this year.

FAMILY STATUS: Married, two doggies who run with me (on shorter, easy runs only....and only in sub-75F temps)

CURRENT TRAINING: Currently doing a run focus as running has notoriously been my weakness.  I'm typically to 10% swimmer, top 15% biker, and solidly MOP runner.  Our pool heater has been broken since just before Thanksgiving and my bike workouts weren't being particularly productive (and probably hindering some of my run training), so I dropped swimming and biking altogether and will start back after my HM in 10 days.

2014 RACES: St. George 70.3, Buffalo Springs 70.3, 70.3 WC (in Mont Tremblant) -- all of these races were 8-10 weeks apart and I realized that I need more time between races.  Part of it was mental (I was facing a lot of burn out by the time MT came around) and part of it was physical because I didn't really feel like I could build and peak again in that short period of time, so it was basically just going off the previous race's fitness.  I also did a handful of local races, including an ITT/TTT weekend, which was fantastic (painful) fun!

2015 RACES: Half marathon in a week and a half, Galveston 70.3 in April (sounds like a few of us will be racing!!), hoping to do a bike (TT) focus and race the ITT again in June (assuming it's the same time of year as it was last year), probably a handful of local races, and potentially Silverman 70.3 in October

WEIGHT LOSS: I'm a few pounds over race weight right now (that was on purpose as I don't want to try to hold race weight year round), but suspect those will drop off as I ramp up 70.3 training in a few weeks

WHAT WILL MAKE ME A GOOD MENTEE: I log all my workouts (including a summary of what I did and how I felt) and have the drive to work hard to see improvements.  I am very analytical, but tend to be hard on myself -- I am really working on that because I realize it steals a lot of joy away from the process.

Ryan-room for one more? Plan is to do another HIM this Spring, either Galveston or Gulf Coast, so a HIM focused group would be great.

Thanks

Slornow/Randy....as in "slower now" than I used to be. 

Story: Will turn 53 this year and completed my 5th full season of doing triathlons last year. Have always participated in sports. Played tennis competitively as a junior and for a couple of years in college. After that I continued to workout but was more focused on weights, playing basketball and some running. Decided to give triathlon a go after having continuing injuries with running. Fortunately, I have progressed steadily over the last 5 years and have become more serious about the sport. Bike and run are my strong suit and the swim is a constant challenge! I have done everything from sprints to HIM but have been more focused on sprint/olympic distance over the last 2 years. I live in South Alabama, near Fairhope, just across the Bay from Mobile. I am an attorney and have my own small firm.

Family: Married for 24 years to my very tolerant wife. I have a son 21 that will graduate college in May and plans on attending law school. He ran college cross country and track before a knee issue recently sidelined him. I am grooming him to be my future relay partner. I also have a daughter 20 that is a sophomore in college and is a casual runner

Training: Depending on the time of year I probably average 9-13 hours a week.  I'm in my third year with my current coach and he keeps me working hard.  Run mileage was down in 2014 due to a couple of nagging injuries early in the year. Trying to avoid that this year so running frequently but almost all EASY. I am also trying to be more consistent with weight training and core work. Goal is to get in 1-2 short sessions a week for a total of 45 min to 1 hour a week.

2015-will be mostly short course although I will likely do a HIM in late April/early May. Maybe another HIM in the Fall. It always sounds good early in the season but come October I am usually ready for a break.  I have raced a good bit over the last couple of years and will likely do 8-11 races this year depending on how injury free I can remain. "A" race will likely be AG Nationals in Milwaukee in August.  The race season is long on the Gulf Coast and my first race will be in early April and my season will likely end in mid-October. I am on a team and we have 6-7 local races where we earn points based on our finish. I will race many of those races to try and retain my spot on the team.  www.gulfcoasttriteam.com . My overall goal for 2015 is to continue to improve. As an older triathlete my hope is to continue to improve for another 1-2 years, maintain for a couple of years, then deal with a gradual decline.

2014-11 short course races. Pleased with results other than AG Nats where I got sick the week of the race and was less than 100% for the race. Had hoped to qualify for 2015 AG World Championships in Chicago......now hoping for a roll down. Otherwise, it was a good year.

Weightloss: Fortuantely not a big issue for me but I am terrible about snacking after dinner on ice cream, cookies, candy...whatever I can find. Need some help there. Just installed the Loseit app on my phone hoping I will do a better job of monitoring food/calorie intake. I currently weigh around 165 but like to race around 157-58.

What will make me a good mentor?: I was a mentee in several strong groups led by some really sharp BT members. I have co-mentored groups with Jason/Wannabefaster over the last few years and we had some great members and wonderful discussions. Some of the members of the group made amazing progress and it was great to follow along. I log all of my training here on BT and check in on the site more than I should admit. I like to see both the new and more experienced members work hard toward their goals and have success. Jason and I decided to skip a cycle of mentoring and I was undecided about joining a group. Looks like there are a lot of knowledgeable folks in this group. Hopefully, I can absorb some of that knowledge and chime in if I can help.

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Ok - here is what I have so far.

1.  Ryan Mac (Ryan) - Grand Rapids HIM (June)

2. Juniperjen (Jen) - Welland HIM (June)

3. GAUG3 (Cason) - Gulf Coast HIM (May)

4. Marcag (Marc) - Galveston 70.3 (April)

5. ShawnTX (Shawn) - Galveston 70.3 (April)

6. SwimDean (Dean) - New Orleans 70.3 (Late March)

7. Littlewj (Jim) - Troika HIM (May)

8. Ligersandtions (Nicole) - Galveston 70.3 (April)

9. Slornow (Randy) - Galveston or Gulf Coast (April)

10. Smithat05 (Todd) - ?? (June)

I will add you all to my friends list and would be good if you all did the same.

I am kind of sad that I am not doing Galveston or Gulf Coast!!

All the local schools are closed here today as we are supposed to get another 12-inches of snow.  So, I have to head to a different pool today which unfortunately has a hot tub and sauna .

I have 2700 in the pool and a 5 mile EZ run on the agenda.

Sounds good Warren.  Post up when you get time.