Jan OS Captain Intros
Hey Jan OS peeps!
This thread is just a quickie to introduce you to our Jan OS Captains and elaborate a little more on what we'll be up to. Carrie Chavez and I will take the Helm this time around, and we agreed that I would write first, with Carrie following up to indroduce herself.
If you've been around a while, you probably at least know who I am from my occasionally pedantic and comparatively numerous posts. But who am I? 
I am husband of 1, father of 3; the latter are a senior in high school and two seventh graders. I'll be racing as a 49 year old this year and I'm focusing on the half ironman distance. Professionally, I'm currently the chair of the chemistry department at Iowa State University, and for those who are interested in such things, my research focuses on physical organic chemistry, and photochemistry in particular. My wife is a science administrator on campus, and all my kids are involved in swim/bike/running at some level. (A few of you may have met Chris at the Wisconsin rally a year or two ago!) Additionally, I serve on the boards of the local soccer club, the local triathlon club, and the board that runs our city's local sports complex.
I've been a member of EN since April of 2010, so this will be my fourth racing season with the team and my third Out Season.
In that time, I've had a few incident-related injuries (e.g., separated a shoulder on my bike, tore a hamstring playing soccer), but I have been fortunate to have avoided any significant overuse injuries. This is one of the things that I try to keep close to mind when I am training. I have, however, driven myself into a bit of a training hole a few times, so I hope that I can share whatever tips I have found from my own experience to help you avoid that or get out of it as quickly. [Tip #1: For me, the first indicator I am starting to get in a hole is difficulty with the "add on" parts of the workouts, not the main sets...I can push through those FTP bikes or TP runs, but the slighly slower stuff is too much.]
Partly as compensation for my relatively limited innate physical prowess, I tend to sit and think about how to do things efficiently and how changes I make might affect what I'm doing. I am reasonably proficient with a calculator, so you may see me posting a bit more on the bike side of things, even though I am competitively better at running than biking. If there is one thing I am proud of in my athletic accomplishments, it is that I feel like I'm able to squeeze a bit more out of myself in order to compete with people who are naturally better athletes than me. But that, in many ways, is the EN Race Execution ethos!
If you want to get ahold of me for any reason (besides here), this is how to do it:
- I am on Facebook and Twitter as wsjinames (or just look up my name, I guess!)
- My non-business email is wsjinames@gmail.com
- My cell/text number is 515-451-4711
A couple of important resources:
Patrick is in the middle of reorganizing the wiki. If you have been a long time member and hit the wiki button, you will see that it looks different now. In order to save everyone some time and bring a couple of items to everyone's attention, I invite you to read three particularly appropriate Wiki articles now, as we are just getting started.
- Overachieving on the cycling intervals: http://members.endurancenation.us/Resources/Wiki/tabid/108/Default.aspx?topic=OverAchieving+on+Cycling+Intervals
- Workout Triage (What to do when you're not feeling up to snuff) http://members.endurancenation.us/Resources/Wiki/tabid/108/Default.aspx?topic=WorkOut+Triage
- Coach Patrick's Explanation of the (new) 25 minute bike warmup (YouTube video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GdHDRXvzQI&feature=youtu.be
A couple of procedural things:
Carrie and I will start up the Week X Run and Week X Bike threads, respectively. We will do that Saturday or Sunday for the week starting Monday. We realize that almost everyone will have some week here or there (maybe every week!) where you can't follow the day-to-day schedule as written, so people will post anything they have to say about this week's bike and run workouts in those threads, regardless of what day they do them on. Participation in these threads is, of course, entirely optional, but it's a great way to get the mojo going and see how everyone is feeling along with you.
If you think the Jan OS group has some particular needs, feel free to bring that to Carrie and/or my attention. We all have RnP's ears to a degree, but we have obviously been appointed as the intermediaries to help organize and help with extra communications with this group.
Go work hard, rest hard, and have fun!
Comments
Thanks for stepping up, Carrie and William! You guys will make a huge difference in so many folks OS, EN experience and 2013 season.
You ROCK!
thanks in advance.
I am looking forward to the opportunity to serve as Captain of the 2013 Jan OS with William Jenks. Thank you for the warm welcome. You are all cracking me up so far. Lots of great humor in this group. I already see some hard core efforts and willingness to dive in and just give it a go in whatever situation/time constraints/mechanical and equipment constraints you are dealing with. That will serve you well as we move forward. The plan looks pretty on paper and totally doable until you add life and work and family and weather to it. If you can learn to roll with the punches and modify as need be you will have a long and successful season and career in triathlon.
A little about me:
I have been with EN since Jan 2008. I remember vividly that first full OS for me- Nov 2008 into 2009 where I built myself into a strong cyclist with the constant help and encouragement from the group. I remember saying all I wanted for Christmas was 200W FT. I was so close at 198 forever. Everyone was rooting for me. By the first week in February I busted out a 214!!!HOLY COW!! The group was more excited than I was. That is when I truly learned the power of training together like we do in EN. I hope I can help you all get a little bit of that feeling I got back then. The friends I made in that off season are still my dear friends today and we have even traveled to see each other.
I am 44 years old and will be moving up to the 45-49 AG this year!!! Hard to believe actually. How does that happen??? Haha.
I live in Northern California but originally from Danbury Ct. I DO NOT miss the north east winters at all. I am driving distance to Lake Tahoe. Good enough. My family is still back east and I see them often traveling to Cape Cod to go "home" where my folks live.
I started running at age 14 to lose weight as I was an obese kid. The weight came off, I fell in love with running and have been a competitive runner ever since. I began racing tri's in 1998, began Ironman racing in 1999 and have completed 15 Ironman race, at least 15 HIM's , a 50K, a ton of marathons and countless short course races. It has been an amazing transformation from "fat" kid to athlete. I am so grateful.
I am married to Steve who is my Superman. Such an amazing guy and phenominal athlete. He rocks the 55-59 AG and has it in him to win local 5 and 10K's. As humble an athlete as I have EVER met. He and I train together as often as we can hiring babysitters for our "dates". It is a small mortgage that we spend on this hobby and we would not trade it for anything. Steve has raced 23 Ironman races including 12 in Kona. YUP!! He is crazy fast. He'll be racing IM Lake Tahoe this year and for the first time I have bowed out of racing and decided to support him. It just became hard to balance it all with our super active 8 year old daughter.
Our daughter is involved in year round swim team, soccer, softball, basketball, running, triathlons, skate boarding and playing guitar. INSANE. She loves them all and I enjoy taking her to everything. So I am more than willing to give up Ironman for the time being.
I work as a Physical Therapist at an acute care trauma hospital. I have a great job. It is very flexible and I have managed to break away from full time work and now only work 4 days a week with the 5th day spent training with friends including Tom Glynn ( EN member).
I am an active member of our local club- Forward Motion Race Club. My husband and I host a track workout for the club every Tues am at 6am for the last 6 years. IT IS AWESOME!!!
I look forward to helping you work this program. Over the years I have built a strong mental six pack and have a good knowledge of training and racing with power. My race execution has gone really well and I attribute that to being able to check my ego at the door and settle in to work the numbers and the plan. I am not afraid to adapt and modify as I go. I think that helps me in racing and in my training and has given me longevity. I hope I can impart some of that wisdom to you as well.
As your body begins to build fatigue and soreness I will be here to help you along there too with reminders on the importance of rest, compression, stretching, rolling and core work.
I am on FB. Feel free to friend me.
my cell 925 487-6927
Happy Training!!