Manatees - 2019 Edition - Practice Maximum Enthusiasm - CLOSED (Page 2)

Thanks to Janyne for always keeping me up to date!

NAME: Randee although some people do call me MBC (MtnBikerChk)

OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA: Facebook - not too many Randee Roucoulets - Strava is the same.

STORY: I'm a former couch to Ironman in 4 years. Well maybe it wasn't that bad. I started mountain biking after I graduated college but that was usually followed by beer and burgers and I never got much better until a few years back 2012ish DH and other members of my family started running and it was "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em....." and here we are......2019!

FAMILY STATUS: DH, DC1, DC2, DG (husband, cat Velocity, cat Cadence, Greyhound Bloo)

CURRENT TRAINING: About to ramp up for IMMT (again)

THIS YEAR'S RACES/EVENTS: Headed to FL next week for the Disney half.....WOOT! IMMT in August.

GOALS/OBJECTIVES/DESIRES: I like having like minded peeps to inspire me and share things "non tri people" wouldn't understand

WHAT MAKES YOU A GOOD MANATEE: I'm fun to have around

I feel like I should come up with a really great bio and then I can just reuse the same one every time. Instead I just wing it. But you can't tell, right?

Yay for new exciting year!

NAME: Marysia (it is Polish for Mary/Maria)

OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA: Facebook: Marysia Grabowska, Instagram: mary.grabie, Strava (I believe I am Marysia as well)

STORY: I've done Sprint and Oly triathlons in the past, trail runs, half marathons, marathon and 50K. In addition to the tri, I do rock climbing and mountain biking.
I live North from Chicago. I was born in Poland and came to US over 15 years ago. I am 35 and work as research administrator for the university.

FAMILY STATUS: I am a parent of two kids (11 and 9 years old). Have a wonderful partner who is also extremely passionate about sports. We do plenty together (climbing, MTB, biking), but also have some sports for ourselves (I run and do triathlons, he does soccer and volleyball). I have a cat I used to have two, but one of them didn't get along, so I found him a great place at my friend's.

CURRENT TRAINING: I *finally* discovered how important core training is. I created a little training program for myself to work on core and legs, and overall strength. I want it to help improve all of the sports I'm involved with: tri, climbing, running, and mtb.
Since I work full time, have kids, and travel a lot, organizing a nice training schedule has been a challenge. 2019 plan is to swim during lunch breaks, run in the morning, biking on weekends. Strength training every day (either during lunch break or before/after work).

THIS YEAR'S RACES/EVENTS: I'd like to do marathon in Wisconsin (April) and 70.3 Ironman Madison (June). Would love to add some half marathons/trail races as well.

GOALS/OBJECTIVES/DESIRES: My goal is to prepare for and complete 70.3. I would love to get stronger, especially my core.

WHAT MAKES YOU A GOOD MANATEE: I am open for advice from more experienced members, I offer support to anyone in need.

Apparently, I missed that there was a page 1 where I had already submitted my bio. I've never figured out how to delete on BT, so I deleted my first and here's another!!

NAME: Nancy

OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA: Facebook--Nancy Downard Schwertfeger; Strava--Nancy Schwert; IG--@schwertymac

STORY: Prior to 2011, my run training consisted of sprints and drills during high school basketball practice. The farthest I had ever swam was from the middle of the deep end to the ladder at the community pool. My longest bike ride was from my apartment on the edge of campus to class, maximum distance of 5 miles. In 2012, a friend BQed at the Columbus (Ohio) Marathon. She motivated me to want to become a runner. In October of 2011, I started Couch to 5K. I ran a few half marathons that next spring and a full marathon in spring of 2013. The day after the marathon I wondered, "What next?" A co-worker said, "We should do that triathlon thing they have in town in September." Unbeknownst to me at the time, Augusta, GA, hosts an Ironman 70.3 race. I signed up and THEN went a bought a bike. I also had to figure out how to swim laps. Fortunately, I we have a great tri club in the area and I found my people.

My 'real gig' involves trying to get 135 8th graders to not hate reading and writing.

What's funny is that I never ran a standalone 5K until 2017.

FAMILY STATUS: Married (DH is a professional Tour caddie--his schedule allows me a LOT of personal time to train) with 3 fur kids (Louie, James and Edward--all multi-cultural canine Americans)

CURRENT TRAINING: Enjoying the off season (1 swim, 2 bikes and 3 runs each week) which seems to consist of a LOT of speed work and high power intensity workouts. They're short, but they're tough! I'm currently dreading the next FTP test (which I've been expecting for the last month).

THIS YEAR'S RACES/EVENTS: I have a half marathon in Feb, a HIM (non-IM branded) in late May, and Ironman Louisville in October (my first!)

Feb. 23, 2019--Augusta Half Marathon (Augusta, GA)
May 26, 2019--Goose Pond Island half iron triathlon (Scottsboro, AL)--we've already dubbed this one the "Goose Poop Island" tri
Oct. 13, 2019--Ironman Louisville (Louisville, KY)

GOALS/OBJECTIVES/DESIRES: I'm never going to get a Kona slot, but I certainly want to give myself every chance possible to as successful as I can possibly be without sucking all enjoyment out of training and life in general. I'm definitely a goal centered person, and I like working towards goals. Obviously, my "A" goal is to toe the line at IM-LOU healthy and to finish and think, "That wasn't as awful as I expected it to be." (is that even a possiblity??).

WHAT MAKES YOU A GOOD MANATEE: I'm still new enough at this that I remember that feeling of being a total newbie, so there's that. That said, I also have some knowledge to share and I love the comraderie of this group.

Edited by glfprncs 2019-01-02 2:20 PM

OK, here goes by bio:

NAME: Anne (Baker) Schroll (got married in 2018 and still go back and forth between my "new" and "old" name

OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA: Facebook as Anne Bretscher Schroll

STORY: I'm now age 57. Lived fairly unhealthily (former smoker, never exercised, ate crap) until my 40s --- started running and met some great people in our local running club. This new lifestyle truly changed me on a deep, fundamental basis. Made some great friends and worked up to the marathon distance -- never fast but it's all about the journey. Got LASIK surgery in the early 2000s and learned how to get across the pool. Did various distance triathlons and worked up to IMFL in 2015. As amazing as IM is, my poor feet couldn't take the high volume and I've dealt with PF since then. I can run short distances and have learned to be content with that. Over the last few years, I've fallen in love with gravel riding and now focus exclusively on that sport.

FAMILY STATUS: DH Steve, who is also my training and racing partner, DD Erin who will turn 30 this year (how can that be?), 3 cats -- BeeBee age 15, Ollie age 11, and Latte age 10.

CURRENT TRAINING: I live in Central Illinois and it's winter, so most of my training is indoors on Zwift. I also do yoga and strength several times a week. I'm following a gravel training plan on Zwift that seems to be a pretty good fit for me.

THIS YEAR'S RACES/EVENTS (all gravel bike)
March 2 - C Race - Dirty South Roubaix 62 miles, Alto Pass, IL
March 17 - B Race - Land Run 50, Stillwater, OK
April 27 - C Race - The EPIC, 80 miles, Lake of the Ozarks State Park, Missouri
May 4-5 - B Race - Tour of Hermann, two days of Missouri wine country gravel hills
June 1 - "A" RACE - Dirty Kanza 200 (assuming we get in through the lottery). If not, alternate is Almanzo 100 in mid May
June 22 - C Race - Opal Wapoo - 100 mile, Excelsior Springs, MO
July 6 (maybe) - C Race - Iowa Gravel Classic - 100 mile
August 18 - B Race - STeamboat Springs CO 100 mile
September - MAYBE the Ugly Dog Triathlon in Michigan (means I would have to swim!)
October - C Race - Cuban Gravel Crisis, Cuba, MO - probably the 50 mile race

GOALS/OBJECTIVES/DESIRES: The last two years have been a big learning curve for me as I ventured into gravel racing. At Dirty Kanza 2018, the knowledge I had attained from training for IMFL carried over big time into areas like nutrition, hydration, getting through rest stops quickly, pacing myself, etc. I'm about 8 pounds over optimal weight. For 2019, I'm working on losing this weight and fine tuning things to put in better performances at my races. Most of the events are in hilly areas, so I want to make hill work a priority and improve my recovery times.

WHAT MAKES YOU A GOOD MANATEE: The Manatees are awesome! They are a diverse, accepting bunch of triathetes and endurance athletes who keep things real. There's none of the elitism that I've encountered on other sites. Just good people who encourage and support each other. Who wouldn't want to be a part of that? And in return, I hope to be a bettter manatee this year and check in more frequently.

I've been around BT since 2008 and in recent years, have been on Strava. I've learned that nothing compares to BT for the social connection. Some of the friends I've made on BT are people I've met, ridden, raced and partied with in real life.

Edited by abake 2019-01-02 2:31 PM

I am tossing around the idea of switching to another coach (female, possibly cheaper, possibly better at communicating) within the group but failing that, yes, I will continue to work with Josh.

Thank you!

Randee, I love the cat names!

I’m in!

NAME: Jen

OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA: I’m jenstewey on Facebook, Instagram and Strava

STORY: I started doing triathlon after a bunch of years diving and then soccer. I am a systems engineer by day, live in northern Virginia (Herndon) and am part of a triathlon team, Team Z (though my participation lately has been lacking).

FAMILY STATUS: Single with 2 pups, Sadie and Mosley (Sadie has an ultrasound tomorrow for super high liver enzymes so hoping it’s something simple)

CURRENT TRAINING: I am signed up for half marathon in Atlanta in March and so far that's it. I’m behind in figuring out my schedule for the year.

2019 RACES/EVENTS:
Atlanta Half Marathon
TBD...???? Probably a couple Olympic tris and hopefully at least one long swim (maybe somewhere warm)

GOALS
I want to do a half marathon in half the states. Georgia will be #13. I still working on my next tri-goals.

WHAT MAKES ME A GOOD MANATEE: I love the support!

Thought I would share this article about Setting Goals --- it's written by my former coach who works for Training Peaks, so there's a plug for TP toward the end, but you can disregard that.

https://www.trainingpeaks.com/blog/how-to-set-real-goals-for-your-ne...

"Obviously, my "A" goal is to toe the line at IM-LOU healthy and to finish and think, "That wasn't as awful as I expected it to be." (is that even a possibility??). "

Nancy, I think it is possible. That was actually what I was thinking after IM Malaysia. It was a long, tiring day with a lot of challenges, but it actually wasn't nearly as "awful" as I thought it would be. Once I started the run, I never doubted I could finish, and really didn't feel any worse at the end or in the following days than after a typical 70.3 where I raced hard. I can definitely think of some things I've done that felt physically and mentally harder (long treks/climbs at altitude in tough weather conditions, my first marathon, doing 70.3 Worlds only 48 hours after getting food poisoning, etc.)

Really the hardest part was the training. There were many times when I looked at what my coach had written and thought, "OMG, I just can't physically do that." I often felt her plan was more suited for someone in her 20's, or a semi-pro trying to KQ. (I think one time I even messaged Janyne to ask her if 21 hours in a week was "normal" for IM training!) But in most cases I could manage the workouts, or at least finish the time/distance, if maybe a bit slower than planned.

I think the key is sensible pacing (it probably pays to be a bit overly conservative), and really working out in advance what works/doesn't work for you in terms of equipment (bike position, shoes, etc.), nutrition, and hydration. Plus a bit of luck with the weather and staying healthy.

I’d like to join y’all if you’ve got room. I’ll get a bio up soon.

Swim lesson #1. Kicking.

I hate kicking. Apparently, the swim instructor thinks I need to kick better (which I'm okay with) and kick more (uh...I like my 2 beat kick, thank you).

I also kick less with my left leg. That may explain why I always keep listing to the left on my kick board.

Stay tuned for week 2 (and I'll practice my kick in the meantime).

Meh....I thought kicking was for sprinting. (I do kick, but not that hard for distance swimming, which by definition is most tri swims, except for the start "washing machine", and trying to get rid of annoying people trying to swim over the top of me.) In my mind it's more to help maintain proper body position. I've been a distance swimmer for a long time and tend to do well in my AG in tri swims; have done video analysis with two coaches and no one mentioned needing to kick more. But probably a kick should be pretty symmetrical.

That being said, I'm not an expert--neither a coach, nor an ex-collegiate fish.

Yeah, not a kicker either. I kick mainly to initiate body roll, BUT if my one kick per stroke is what's screwing up my body position, then I'm ok with making it better ( just don't want to kick more).

Kicking is over rated! My right leg does most of the kicking and my left leg just kind of drags itself along.

I have a crossover kick, meaning my ankles actually crossover when I kick. While my coach as a kid never cared that I did that, and neither does my coach, I did have a masters coach who gave me grief about it (he actually said I also have the worst stroke he's ever seen and it kind of killed my confidence). So much so that I actually went to Swim Labs for an analysis and the instructor loved my crossover kick! She said it's very common in distance swimmers and that I have a very strong kick for someone who has a 2-4 beat kick.

NAME: David

OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA: Facebook

STORY: XC runner in college. I started running again in 2011. A friend talked me into a sprint and my ridiculous nature throttled that up into IMFL in 2013. I sprinkled in 6 Ragnars, a dozen or so HMs and numerous shorter runs and triathlons. My last race was Chatt 70.3 in 2015. I took a couple of weeks off and when I started back I began having chest pains. That culminated in a stent in early 2016 and I haven’t raced since. I’ve gotten fat and lazy. I miss running and riding (not swimming), and I’m ready to get back.

FAMILY STATUS: A supportive wife and a 7 year-old son.

CURRENT TRAINING: Starting tomorrow. Or the next day. Or whenever it decides to stop raining here. I don’t do treadmills or bikes indoors.

THIS YEAR'S RACES/EVENTS:
September 29 - Augusta 70.3 (registered)
Whatever else peaks my interest.

GOALS/OBJECTIVES/DESIRES: Part of what keeps me interested/motivated is sharing and conversing with others of a like mind.

WHAT MAKES YOU A GOOD MANATEE: I look like one? ?????

David that last line made me spit out my oatmeal! ??

I'm in for 2019!

NAME: Laura

OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA: I'm mostly on Instagram (@laurayouldon) but sometimes find myself on FB as well.

STORY: No athletic background. 3 seasons of triathlon, firmly back of pack. Diagnosed last year with anemia and POTS, so still learning how to live and train with those.

FAMILY STATUS: Married 3 years, and almost as long since our dog passed. Somehow still not ready to get another.

CURRENT TRAINING: I took "off season" a little too literally. But slowly get back into it.

THIS YEAR'S RACES/EVENTS: I haven't signed up for much yet this year. Eyeing a few things in early season. BUT....I signed up for the MiamiMan Aquathlon and Half Aqua Bike. Gulp.

GOALS/OBJECTIVES/DESIRES: I like keeping up with everyone, and being inspired by your adventures.

WHAT MAKES YOU A GOOD MANATEE: Once a Manatee, always a manatee, right?