Come fly with me!- Closed again with a bunch of winners! (Page 4)

What excites you most and what scares you most about your first race?

Excites me:

The possibility of actually finishing all three disciplines within the allotted time.

Scares me:
Failure!

All the consistent training that is required. I am not he most consistent of people around.

The Transitions between disciples. Out pacing myself,  running out of energy these very practical things.

I agree the more input the better. I really am not intimidated by the race. I was always the type of person that performed better in competition. I just want to complete the whole race without walking basically the distance is doable.

 And wanted to say Happy New Year to everyone!

Happy New Year !!!

I have found a tri organisation here in Taipei. They also havea youth section, so in the 17th Jan, my son (15) will be attending a one day "training" time. Hopefully we will do this 'triing' together.

Enjoy the holidays and may 2009 be a good year all round.

Justin

Hi Scott -

Is your group still open?  I'll send more info. if you still have room.

Ruth

West Richland, WA

Welcome to the group Clint and Ruth.

Happy New Year everyone!

Welcome everyone and I hope everyone in the group had a great New Years. Mine was great.

 Can't wait to cont in the new year.

Again Happy New Year

Jeff

Thanks Scott, I did notice you are from Ellensburg, part of the reason I opted for this group.  I thought it might be nice to get advice from someone who knows the races in WA state and has similar weather.

After finally reading through the entire thread I feel like I have some catching up to do.  First, my name is Ruth Taylor (BT name krtkrt), I'm 46 and a mother of 3 (23, 21 & 16).  I work at a national research lab; an architect by training.

RACES: I tried my first tri in '05 with the Chelan Try-a-Tri. (it's a sprint with a 1/4 swim for newbies.)  I finished under 2 hours, which was not too bad since I was about 40 pounds heavier than I am now.  I did no races in '06 but did deal with some health issues (insulin resistance) and was able to start taking weight off at the end of '06.  In '07 I repeated the Chelan Try-a-Tri race and took 25 minutes off my time.  At the end of the season a did the bike leg of our local Olympic distance and decided to set a goal of doing the entire race the next year.  In ’09 I did a couple of sprint distance races and finally reached my goal by completing our local Olympic distance race.  I was very slow, finished at 3:28, but I did not stop, and I was not last :-).

GOALS:  I’m not completely sure of my goals except to get more structured and focused in my training.  I just read Joe Friel’s Triathlete’s Training Bible and I’m trying to put a training plan together, modifying what he has for my skill and fitness level.   I thought the BT mentoring program might help as well.  I love to work out but know I need to do more if I want to get  faster.   I am now able to do the Olympic distance but I’m embarrassingly slow!

TRAINING:  I typically work out 4-5 times a week, just doing what I feel like, making sure I cover every sport during the week.  In winter 07/08 I focused on my run (just trying to get to where I could run 6 mi) and in the spring of ’08 I bought Terry Laughlin’s Total Immersion book and DVD.  I was able to dramatically improve my swim.  My favorite workout is my Saturday morning routine in the summer where I take my bike to the river and do all three legs back to back, just like a race.  A cool dip back in the river after the run is the best! 

WEIGHTLOSS:  Weight loss was my primary reason for starting this crazy adventure.  I have always had lots of trouble with my weight.  Controlling my insulin levels has been an absolute God-send.  I finally feel like a normal person and not held hostage by my diet.  I still need to lose another 20 pounds or so, I know this will help me get faster for sure.

OTHER POST QUESTIONS:  I think my ‘it’ is that the competition of races pushes me to work out when I don’t feel like or don’t really have the time.  I picture myself embarrassing myself in a race and I get my butt out there.  I also really like doing something different every day, it helps protect this old body from injury and keeps me from getting bored!

I think my advantage is probably my driven nature, if I set a goal I usually reach it or die trying!  My disadvantage would be my creative, spontaneous personality – I find rigor and structure a pain.  I know I will need to keep the fun in whatever structure I come up with.

The prospect of reaching my goals is always exciting -- failure, of course, is scary.

Sorry for the long post, I think I’m caught up now.  I look forward to learning from all of you.

Ruth

Hey Scott and all the others,

 I have been an avid cyclist for a number of years (I am 39 yrs old) and have decided that before I am 40 I will complete an olympic distance triathlon.  I am a Deputy Fire Chief (so you know I like punishment) and don't have a great deal of time to spend but I am dedicated to this goal.

 I have a bit of running as a background with very little swimming.  

 I look forward to this program, meeting and training with new people (virtual anyways) and having a good time.

 Thanks,

 Vern Elliott