kaburns1214 Mentor Group 2011 Part 2 - CLOSED (Page 78)

I work for the state government as an environmental scientist although im currently seconded to a financial management position (family reasons forced a quick move back to the city early this year and this is where work needed me most for now). Basically, i'm responsible for a $4.5mil program coming in on budget and all project milestone being met, I have around 40 different projects spread across Western Australia. My previous role with the Department was researching and protecting threatened flora in the South West.

I should love my job, but i dont. I think i ruined my passion for the outdoors by working in the field. Currently contemplating going back to Uni to become a Paramedic, actually more than contemplating, i'm pretty certain i'm going to enrol part-time for next year.

I couldnt figure out how to put pics up from Facebook , but thats me on the right in my profile pic =)

yup -my one vacation/year.  i'll waive to you across the sound

i freak when seaweed touchesmy leg.  if i got humped by a sea lion id soil myself.

I'm a stay-at-home-mom to 4 beauties.  Once Freddie is in school for the full day, I'd like to start writing again.  I wrote poetry when I was younger, but I studied film in graduate school.  I'd love to actually finish a screenplay one day.  I'm thankful I get to stay home. I have problems with authority, so I don't make a very good worker.  I like to work for myself   I can make each day different if I want to, and I get to go to all of my kids' plays, concerts, school stuff.  It's awesome!

This is me last year (yep, pregnant for the last time):

This is what I've been doing for the last 7 years:

?

This is me now (well, I've dropped about 8 lbs. since this pic):

bwahaha. 

Here's my favorite "suit" picture -- me in a bathing suit when I was 5:

You look up to no good Kelly.  

Thanks for sharing all the photos. I'll have a Tri one soon!

Rudy, love the hair in your second photo! (it's a bush actually, but looks awesome)

Awesome video of blowing up the Chili.

Jen, great photos. That smile holding the baby has turned into a "I'm going to hunt you down" look in your avatar.  Love it.

Karen, that's great you love to help dogs.  Is that type of dog your holding now a giant?  Oh, nice bike!!!!

Hour fifteenish in the pool this morning again.  Core work prior.  Alternating between swimming and drilling.  Did fit in a 500m straight swim to gauge progress and hit it at about a 1:50 split.  Not bad considering I wasn't pushing it and focusing only on form.

I am a QA Analyst for an employee benefits program.  Chances are decent if you have a legal benefit through your employer I work for the company that provides that in some form or fashion.  So I deal with the complaints as well as trying to proactively ensure the quality of the service.  After 5 years I'm just burn out.

Here's my favorite "suit" pic.  From the girls' first trip to a beach a couple weeks ago.  Notice the appealing color of the water.  This is one of the few pics w/o an oil tanker in the background.

Here's the new Cervelo aero road bike thor will be riding at the TdF:

Yes, what were you up to Kelly?

Jen looks so cute pregnant.  I was as big as a house, it was not pretty!

And yes the dog is much bigger now.  She's almost 3 years old and weighs about 70 pounds.  All legs, she was not a rescue, she's pure bred Rhodesian Ridgeback.  Our other two dogs are rescue dogs.  I'd have a dozen dogs at home if I could.  There are some more photos in my "album" of our dogs and race photos.  And yes, I do love my bike!

Another pic of a little girl up to no good.

Awesome looking bike.  There goes free time for the next month starting, what, Saturday with training and my face glued to the TV watching the TdF.  Haven't been keeping up . . . any early favorites besides Contador?

FINALLY!

AWESOME!!!!!!!

CONGRATS!!!!!

Yes, congratulations! 

It's nice to see the pictures and hear a little more about what everyone does for a living.  Thanks for sharing, all!

Congrats!!  I remember that day very clearly.  I hadn't been under 200 since I was 11 or 12 until July/August of last year.

Shaun of the (not) Dead

I'm a program manager for HP in their applications consulting group.  I work from home so I am very thankful that video conferencing has not caught on.

Last time I took a pic like that of my feet my friends made fun of them! I learned my lesson

I've been thinking about Kona slots a lot lately and just wrote this for my blog, I'd be curious as to what y'all think:

Like every person who participates in long course triathlon, I have (had) an aspiration to qualify for and participate in the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii.  Unfortunately, I do not suffer from delusions of grandeur and I have come to realize that with the proliferation of WTC Ironman races and the limited number of spots available on the Kona pier, qualifying for Kona is probably not in the cards for me. 

Once upon a time, each Ironman race had 72 Kona slots to allocate to finishers.  The way slot allocation works is that prior to race day, WTC tentatively allocates at least one slot to each age group category (both male and female). If you have someone in every age group from 18-24 up to 70-74 that's 22 slots.  WTC then determines final slot allocation on race day based on the number of official starters. If there are no starters in a particular age group, then that slot will be moved to the next calculated Age Group within the gender. So if 8% of the age group starters are Female 30-34, then 8% of the slots are allocated to the Female 30-34 category.

Problem is the total number of slots allocated to any one race has gone down dramatically and the number of transition spots on the Kona pier has remained constant at about 1800.  Once upon a time (pre-2007) there were only 16 full distance Ironman races worldwide, today there are 27 (and rumor has it that two more will be added in 2013).  Here's the history of slots available at Ironman Lake Placid:

Kona Slots Available - Ironman Lake Placid

2008 - 72 slots
2011 - 65 slots (addition of Ironman Texas and Ironman Saint George)
2012 - 50 slots (addition of Ironman New York City and Ironman Mont Tremblant)
2013 - ??? (rumored addition of Ironman California and Ironman Norway)

So from 2008 until 2012 the number of slots has been reduced by 30%.  The numbers are even worse for 70.3 races (although WTC probably has room to grow the 70.3 World Championships in Las Vegas if it chooses to do so because of the wave start).  In 2011 most 70.3 races have been allocated 40 Vegas slots, in 2012 that number goes down to 35. 

So, how does this affect me?  When there were 72 Kona slots available the Female 30-34 age group generally received 3 to 4 slots (as it represents about 4% - 6% of the total number of starters).  With only 50 total slots available that number likely goes down to 1 or 2 slots (remember one slot has to be allocated to each age group before additional ones can be distributed so in reality there are only 28 "additional" slots available after a slot has been allocated to each age group).  What this means is unless I think I can win my age group (which I can't -- there's way too many REALLY fast girls who have qualified to be pros but still race as age groupers in the 30-34 age group -- I'm just not that good) there's no realistic chance of a Kona slot for me.  For guys, its going to mean that its harder to qualify for Kona than it is to podium (no more Kona slots going 8 deep). 

What will be interesting to see is whether competition gets diluted because of the number of races on the calendar.  In 2006 there was one race in North American is August -- Ironman Canada.  In 2012 there will be four -- Ironman Canada, Ironman Louisville, Ironman New York City and Ironman Mont Tremblant. 

I don't think I'm going to stick around long enough to find out.  I have three WTC races on the schedule at the moment -- Lake Placid and Florida this year and then Texas next May.  I'm not signing up for any more WTC Ironman races in 2012 and depending on how well I do this year, I'll figure out exactly what I want to do next year, one thing I do know is that in the near future Kona is not part of the plan.

I am glad WTC added some new races, as some of the older, more established ones sell out too quickly.  As someone who is entirely new to the sport, I like to have lots of options.  Not just Louisville   

Having said that, I will be giving my $$ to Rev3 next year.  Cedar Point is supposed to be an awesome race.  It's local.  It's cheaper.  I'd like to support someone other than WTC.  Funny that over the last 3 months I've been thinking more and more about races in Ohio.  There are several half iron distance events I can support next year.  Why in the world do I feel the need to drive to Maryland?  I'll go there someday, but why the rush?  LOL   

I can see how more experienced athletes would be discouraged and annoyed.  If the sport has grown, then the World Championships ought to reflect that.  I guess you could look at it as getting more competitive though.  The top 1% in 2011 is different from what it was in 2006.  It's like when there was an outrage because all of the BQ standards were changed. 

Kelly - I think you ought to race your best race possible.  Who knows?  You could qualify.  I think it's good to be realistic AND optimistic.  I think you ought to race your best because it brings you joy.  It might just be your day.....either way, we'll be cheering you on