Evondo's Group - CLOSED! (Page 4)

Thanks for letting me in!  This looks like a terrific group.  Here's the bio:

Name:  KimC 

Story:  Grew up riding horses competitively (Emmanem, we should trade notes.  It was a long time ago for me, but I remember how hard it was to go to college and leave my big guys at home in the barn for my sister to ride.)  After college, got busy with career stuff and never moved beyond being a gym rat.  Discovered my "inner athlete" in my mid 40s.  On a dare, I signed up for my first tri but had to overcome the fact that I really couldn't swim.  I did a weekend Total Immersion TI clinic and gained enough confidence to give it a shot.  Bought a bike and that was it.  I'm hooked.  I'm slowly building base for running, but have struggled with injuries.  Plantar Fasciitis and Patello-Femoral syndrome.  The Princess Feet are under control thanks to lots of stretching and good orthotics.  The knee is an ongoing challenge. 

I work fairly long hours and travel quite a bit, often internationally.  I find that swimming and biking when I'm out of town can be a challenge.  I'm frequently in Europe, and the hotels don't usually have pools or gyms so those weeks are run focused.  Most of my training is early in the morning.  I'm usually up and out the door before 5am. 

Family Status:   Single.  Two cool cats.  One is a dog trapped in a cat's body...poor thing.  Lots of supportive friends to train and race with.

Current Training:  Slowly building my run base back up after a knee issue a month ago.  I have a half marathon in February.  Swimming 3-4 days a week.  Strength training 2 days a week and will ease back into running 3 days over the next few weeks.  Bike is on the trainer, but I've not been on the bike for a while. 

2009 Races:  2 Sprints, 2 Olys, 1 half-mary, lots of 5 & 10ks.

2010 Races:  So far, 2-3 Sprints, 2 Olys, 2-3 half-marys, NYC Marathon (please let me be lucky in the lottery)  I'll add more as I get closer to spring.  I really want to do a HIM, but it may be 2011.  My swim is still so slow that I'm afraid I might not make the cut-off.   I see there a couple of NYC dwellars in the group.  I live in NJ and come into NYC for NYRR races in CP fairly often.  I love running in CP.

Weightloss:  None, at least for now.  Hopefully I feel the same after the holidays.

What will make me a good mentee?  I'm disciplined and eager to learn.  I'm not afraid to ask the dumb question (I've been in a few groups previously and the mentors can attest to that).  I like to share what I've learned with others but most of all I enjoy the camradarie of these groups and seeing everyone reach their goals.

Really look forward to getting to know everyone in the group!

NAME: Gofaster / Neil

STORY: I have no real background in sports, except for playing hockey as a kid.  I got into Triathlon in 2007 with a Try a Tri, and in 2008 did a few Sprint races.  In 2009 I moved up to the next level and did some Sprints, plus an Olympic, and the season ended with the Muskoka 70.3.

Unfortunately, I got injured during the run in Muskoka, and it turned out to be an ITB issue.  I’ve been dealing with this for the past 3 months, and am currently stuck running a maximum of 20 minutes at a time.  Since running is my strength, this has led to a lot of frustration since I can’t really run at the moment.

This year I’d like to return to do another ½ Ironman, but this all depends on being able to run the way I’d like to.  I’d also like to really improve my biking and swimming, since I’m MOP on the bike and BOP in the swim.

FAMILY STATUS: Married, with two terrors for kids.  A 5 year old boy, and 1 year old girl (but they’re great).

CURRENT TRAINING: Swimming is my weakness so I’m currently trying to improve in the water.  It would be nice to get faster, but more important is I would like to see some better fitness that should let me bike and run better, rather than feeling exhausted getting into T1.

I’m currently riding the trainer 3x a week (I have a Tacx I-Magic which I love), and would like to bump that up to 4 sessions, but never seem to find the time.

2009 RACES: 3 Sprints, 1 Olympic, and a ½ Ironman.

2010 RACES:  Currently registered for a ½ Marathon in May, which is part of the frustration since I’m looking to rebuild my run base at the moment.  I’m planning to do a ½ Ironman next year as well, although this plan is on hold till I get the ITB issue sorted, along with a couple of Sprints and perhaps an Olympic.

WEIGHTLOSS: Not lose more weight.  At 6’, I’m typically tipping the scales at between 155-160 lbs.  Before I started Tri training I was just under 175 lbs.

Other notes:  Pre-New Years resolution is to start logging all my workouts again.  I’ve become a little complacent about doing this in 2009.

Swim...
I thought I could swim before I started training, turns out I was wrong, so very very wrong...
I can swim from the boat to shore or after my kid in the wading pool.

My first swim consisted of me somehow locomoting from one end of the pool to the other a couple of times. I could not keep my arms in plane, they rippled through the water in a most unco-ordinated manner, my legs were all over the place and I forgot how to breath.

I did not die that day.

My second was a little better same distance but not quite as uncoordinated thanks to a couple of youtube videos.

last one was good. I am not focusing on stroke or breathing, just get the distance in, All is done head out of the water, one less thing to focus on. the first 2 lengths are just arm frontcrawl with my legs crossed. then whip kick to rest and catch breath with 25m of sculling before going through it again.

My kick and breath are what I feel are my weakest areas, any pointers would be great.

Dan.