Official 2014 January OS Admin and Intro Thread
Hi gang, I thought I would start a thread for us to introduce ourselves, share what races we have coming up and perhaps how many OS this is for us.
Welcome to the 2014 Janurary OutSeason Group!
This OS will be an unprecedented-ly awesome learning, motivation and accountability opportunity for all of you!
This is the official admin thread for the January OS. As we go we will build this thread out with admin details, messages, etc.
If you are looking for information on the actual OutSeason, you can find that pinned to the General Discussion board here.
The rest of this forum will be filled with weekly mojo and accountability threads. For example, the JanOS Week 1 Thread, or the JanOS Week 1 Bike Thread, where you'll encourage each other, hold each other accountable, and generally support each other as you build your FAST across your 14 weeks together.
Help Wanted: We are looking for a two members to serve as JanOS Captains to create and guide these weekly thread. Bang the drum, basically. You will be rewarded with gold, riches, and accollades beyond your wildest dreams (ie, it would be super groovy and we'll figure out a way to thank you!) Please PM me (Brenda) at brenda@endurancenation.us if you're interested.
Instructions for you:
Please join/sign into the JanOS by introducing yourself by posting below. Please do so in the format below, so we can efficiently consolidate everyone into one list in this post or one of the reserved spaces below. And please post a picture and introduce yourselves! These are the people you'll be training with, virtually, for months and months so it would be great to put faces and personal stories to names and email addresses!
We recommend that you subscribe to this thread, using the Additional Options dealio visible when you reply to this thread when making your introduction. You'll then recieve an email when updates are made to this admin thread.
Finally, understand that the Coaches do not actively monitor these Training Group Forums, searching for training questions and support issues to address. That is, if you have a training related coachy-coachy question, you'll find us in the other forums and specifically in the Micro and Macro Threads!
Thanks! We look forward to seeing what fun and motivation you guys create for yourselves!
Introduction Format:
- Picture of you
- Name, City, State -- 1st A-race (chronological, A-races only) 2nd A-race, 3rd A-race
- OS Goals -- lift my FTP, VDot, achieve body comp goal, get in touch with my feminine side, whatever.
- About me -- anything else you’d like to share.
To add a picture:
1) When replying to the thread be sure to use the "Add Reply" up top near the "subscribe to this topic" checkbox.
2) Below the text box where you'd post your message, there's a way to add a file. Choose your file to attach and then hit "Upload"
3) The file name along with size of the file appears below along with 4 icons - click "insert image" and the pic appears in the body of your message. Boom.
I will start - Brenda Ross, EN Race Director.
- Name, City, State -- 1st A-race (chronological, A-races only) 2nd A-race, 3rd A-race
- Ottawa, Canada - 1st ARace - Rev3 Quassy, with 2nd being Musselman and then ending with Big George
- OS Goals -- I want to race this year. Up until this year I have participated in HIMs
- About me -- married for 26 years to fellow EN member Steve Ross, have a 24 year old son, have been a personal training since 1998 and have worked for EN as Race Director for 1 year. This will be my 4th OS with the team. I look forward to sweating, hurting, complaining, rejoicing and generally sharing my Jan OS with ya all. (please note that I am actually in NOS and this is just an example)
Now....chime in.
Comments
Hello JOSers
Thank you Brenda, for getting us started. I guess that means that JOS will be upon us soon
.
* 2014 A Races: My 2014 season plan is still a work in progress, but 1st A-race will likely be the Marine Corps Halfmarathon in Fredericksburg, VA; then REV 3 Half Ironman Morgantown, WV; Philly Half Marathon. There will be some more Olys and half marathons sprinkled in-between for fun
* OS Goals: #1: Have fun! #2: Finish strong without flaming out. #3: I haven't tested FTP/vdot in a while, so I'm not going to through an absolute number out yet, but I want to finish stronger than I began, while observing OS goals #1 and #2. #4: Don't neglect core routine during OS...
* About Me: Kate Kaufer, Washington DC. This will be my second season with EN. Last season was good, much to learn, all a bit overwhelming at times. Throw IMLOU in the mix, and it was a pretty intense year. I look forward to taking it a bit easier mentally and enjoying the ride a bit more.
Ok, who's with me come January 6???
Ask and you shall receive. We have our two Co-Captains:
Kori Martini has volunteered to be our Run Thread Captain and Kate Kaufer to be our Bike Thread Captain.
Suhwheat - The Chica's will be leading the JOS - get in line boys
My intro:
*2014 A-Race is IM Mont Tremblant, although I am registered for IM Choo Choo as well. (Commitment Issues! <-- but NOT to the JOS!) I am still locking down which HIMs I'm jumping head-first into. Hope to have that nailed down soon! <br />
*JOS Goals are focused heavily on run consistency and body comp. I don't necessarily aim to trash my legs run-training, but I will work on form and "healthy" running, as I was not happy about the injury that crept up pre-race last year. Secondary goals are to boost FTP slightly and maintain flexibility/core strength.
*A little about me? I'm a woman of many (rapidly spoken) words, so I'll try to keep this short: Full-time engineer, mommy to an (almost) 4 year old daughter and 2.5 year-old boy/girl twins, "firefighter wife" (which means single-mommy often!), and all-around-hyper-active-can't-sit-still-fun-loving-get-er-done-kinda lady. Any other questions, just ask! I've made many very good friends on this team over the past two seasons and am seriously stoked to be a part of it for a third!
Get your holidays rollin', get them over with, then get ready to WORK! January is on its way!!!!
Hello January OS! After a little break from EN I'm back.
Matt Ancona - Bloomingdale, IL
A-Race - USAT Age Group Nationals
OS Goals - To do the work and not burn myself out
About me - After this little hobby became a bit to serious for the last few years, this year is simply about having fun and enjoying training and racing again. This is the first time in 6 years that I don't have an ironman on the calendar. I'm going to be racing more often and locally. I can't help but set goals, so the goal is to earn an AG worlds spot and break 2:00 in an real Olympic distance race. Short course racing has always been my weakness so I'm going after it head on instead of continuing to only race long course.
I'm 38 years old (39 in 2014 by USAT standards) so this upcoming season will be my last year in M3539. I'm a management consultant and have 3 daughters ages 6 months, 5 and 8.
The OS is my favorite time in EnduranceNation because everyone gets really amped up seeing the great improvements and the team really gets to know one another via posting workouts. You'll see me post lots of workouts at night because I'm not a morning person when it comes to workouts, and also you can expect some Garmin maps from far-flung places since I travel a lot for work.
This year my goals are:
- To get my bike fitness back to last year's 4.2 watts/kg peak after 18 weeks Jun-Oct doing only running (my "A" race last year was the Chicago Marathon, my first marathon).
- To do a lot more run volume in years past and see if that improves my half-iron run split, which has always been 5-7 minutes short of my capabilities. I think I should be able to run a 1:30 but so far I really haven't gotten into the ballpark.
- To see if I can get about 5lb lighter than last year consistently and sustainably, which means without impinging on all the work dinners I have to do and without becoming hungry and irritable around my friends and family
- To experiment with some new things, in particular a new bike fit to be more aero (although I don't want to lose any power!!)
- Overall, to lay the groundwork for a good age-up year in 2015 when I plan to try my hand at the full ironman distance for the first time
The one thing I DIDN'T say is that I will improve my swim. Eventually I'll bite off that goal but it's a bit too much to put on the plate at the moment.
My race schedule is a bit up in the air and will depend on my work and family situation. As of now, the thought is:
Spring:
- My "come back to triathlon" race will be 70.3 Florida in April. It'll be my first truly early-season race with virtually 100% indoor training. I don't fancy the idea of 3+ hour trainer rides so I plan to do this race coming off of OS training.
- I plan to do the Grand Rapids Triathlon (half-iron distance) as my "A-race". It's the USAT Long Course Nationals race and I'd like to qualify for the 2015 Worlds in Sweden (which I would do technically as a 40-year old since they have an age-up rule for qualifications).
Summer:
- I may do a series of short-course races in and around Chicago: the Pleasant Prairie Triathlon and the ITU race
- I might do the USAT Olympic-distance nationals in Milwaukee, although that would require me doing a qualifier race before the Nationals sells out, which is unlikely
- More likely than the short course options, I may try to set a half-iron PR at Racine (which is a great PR course as long as it's not 95 degrees…). If I pursued that option there's a possibility I'd do Steelhead both as a backup if the conditions at Racine don't cooperate and also to go for a 70.3 Worlds spot for 2015 which will be somewhere in Europe
Fall:
- Totally TBD…perhaps do a half-iron to get a 2015 qualification for 70.3 Worlds. Perhaps do Tremblant 70.3 Worlds if I qualify elsewhere (e.g. Racine).
- I said I wouldn't do another marathon but a bunch of buddies here are planning to train to go sub-2:50 and are remarkably convincing…
My A race is a marathon this year--the Bayshore Marathon up in Traverse City. Yes, like Matt I'm big enough to admit it. All my other races are B events. I don't have any ironman races scheduled in 2014. I'll explain at the bottom.
My OS goals--enjoy the OS and come out of the basement at 140 pounds with an FTP of 240 (currently 228), and a vdot of 54 (spring 2013 vdot was 53). I'm on a 3 year plan to improve my swimming.
Okay after years of raising kids, music lessons, sports, pets, houses, cars, weddings, travel, you know the drill, we decided to do Dave Ramsey and clean up the balance sheet. So I'm sticking to local races for the next two years. It's just as well as there is no way I will place at an ironman event until I fix my swimming. This year I swam my personal worst IM swim ever, a 1:29. I know the ROI doctrine. Nevertheless, if you're not superman on the bike and run, a bad swim is very difficult to overcome. I believe the issue is a combination of poor strategy/execution and a average stroke. I will continue to work the bike and run, but I'm looking into a strategy to move my swimming to the next level.
How about we call the smarter Matt "Matt A." and the faster Matt "mancona" ;-)
BTW Matt A., it's been long enough now that I kind of miss the pure and simple pain and suffering of racing an open marathon. I could be convinced to run sub-2:50 this fall as well if you need someone else to twist your arm.
-- Grand Rapids HIM - qualify for Team USA for the 2015 ITU World Long Course Triathlon Age Group Championship (Motala, Sweden)
-- Lake Stevens 70.3 - qualify for 2015 Ironman 70.3 Championships (Location TBD between Austria, Norway, Luxembourg and France)
-- Ironman Florida - will be my youngest son's 1st IM. I would like to finish within one hour of him! After this, no more flat course IMs!
•OS Goals -- Currently recovering from pneumonia and hope to be ready for intensity in January. I want to improve my FTP, complete a general strength routine, and do weekly running drills. I had 3 injuries in 2013 and cannot afford any more downtime.
•About me -- married with 4 children aged 33 (son), 26 (son), 23 (son), and 15 (daughter), and 2 grandchildren. I have lived all over the U.S. and in Germany, Iceland, and England. But I have been in Tampa for good since 2002. I intend to race less in 2014 and focus more intently on my A races.
So, I'm Al Truscott, from Gig Harbor, Wa & Snowmass, CO; 65 in April
A-ish races: IM Coeur d'Alene, IM Arizona
B-ish races: (at my age, I gotta travel to find any competition) USAT Nat'ls to qualify for 2015 ITU World's, either IM Lake Tahoe or Kona ( depending on results @ IM CDA), Xterra World's in Maui.
OS Goals: try and figure out the best way to modify the OS for people getting on in years ( both "athletic" age and real age); roll in the marathon hack for Boston; ski 2-3 weeks in Snowmass while not dropping FTP; finish OS with same FTP and VDOT as this year - 218 & 46.
About: about to retire from 40 years as an Ob-Gyn...last day Jan 18/19. My future is open. Married x 35 years (30 yrs in the same house); 3 adult children. Started running, doing tris in 1999, lotsa success in IM 2005-2012 (7 KQs).
Ian Kurth from Wausau, WI
This is my second year with EN, and my second OS. Because of some scheduling/travel issues, I will be sort of straddling both the Nov and Jan OS, and extending the OS to 20 weeks broken up by 2, 2 week vacations/interludes (no bike - just running, and swimming).
OS goals include getting faster and stronger on the bike (4 watts/kg) , staying healthy, and improving run durability. Might even (SHH...) swim a couple of times...
I am planning on racing GR HIM (USAT LC Nats), Rev 3 Dells HIM, Door County HIM, USAT oly nats, IMWI again this year, and IMFL.
I am a father of 4 (2,4,6, and 8) and thus get all training done before 7am by necessity. Pain cave is utilized year round.
Great intros everyone, and looking forward to sharing the experience!
This is my 4th OS and looking forward to continually pushing my limitis and making gains little at a time. Hey 1 watt is a gain
Backing down this year from the racing circuit and giving the body some rest. Only two races paid for at this time but I am sure there will be more as the 2014 year progresses.
1st race of the 2014 year however is the Dopey Challenge(in WARM Orlando, FL), which I am in the last two big build weeks and then will start tapering. 69 miles of running this week has left me eating everything in site. The race is 4 days and the runs progress as a: 5k, 10k, 1/2 marathon, and lastly a marathon. Looking forward to the challenge.
#1--A race---Wisconsin Dells 70.3
#2--A race--Ironman Choo Choo
I am 40 yo been married for several years and have a 17yo son and a 11 yo daughter. I work as a career Firefighter, moon light in the Pediatric ER as a Trauma Nurse, and lastly spend too many hours precepting medical student during SPAL and SIM Labs.
Lets GET IT ON!!!!!!!
Bruce Thompson here....turn 59 next week so I age up to 60-64 AG in 2014. Married 22 years with 2 kids in college. This is my 4th OS with EN. My brother JT is also in EN so we compare training notes and often race together. My OS goal is to improve my run durability while maintaining my FTP and swim fitness. My "A" races for 2014 are:
Grand Rapids HIM (goal is to qualify for 2015 Long Course Worlds), IM Mt. Tremblant, and IM Arizona. I'll also do a few local Oly races, including Chicago ITU Oly, plus some 10Ks and half marathons in winter/early spring.
It looks like we'll have a strong EN group at Grand Rapids looking to qualify for Long Course Worlds...Matt A, Paul H, Ian K, David Salzman. Looking forward to racing with all of you.
Mary Russo from the Jersey Shore checking in for the JOS, my first. My OS goals are to build strength, get faster on the run, and be ready to rock the bike when the season starts.
I know it's not part of the kool aid, but I continue to swim and am working on technique.
My A race in 2014, is IMLP and I am already feeling the butterflies. I have a March half Mary, Syracuse 70.3, Family Challenge Aquabike, and then the piece de resistance, IMLP.
After that it is up in the air...
A little about me: My husband, an avid fisherman and I live near the beach and enjoy it as much as we can. Our Yellow Lab, Buddy, keeps us busy and his antics keep us smiling.
Looking forward to all that the team has to offer.
Thanks for so many great intros...Let's Go JOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks Bruce
With all of you racing Grand Rapids, I may have to come and cheer you all on. I love about 2 hours away. I'm not planning (as of now) to race it, but EN is going to make quite the showing, so it'll be worth the commute to watch you all kill it!
Well I'm in for some pain and suffering!
Lance Nobles from Potomac Falls, VA (outside DC)
A Race is IMLP.
Goals: Consistency. I've been nursing a broken foot for the past 10 weeks so very little running. I have been doing a good bit of cycling though so hopefully I can just ramp up running slowly and get to where I need to be by July! But my main thing is consistency. In the past two years I can workout 4-5 times a week one week and then zero the next week. That won't cut it!
I've done three Ironman's (Arizona is 2008, Florida in 2009 and Beach to Battleship in 2011). Unfortunately my age has gone up and so have my Ironman time
I've never done a formal training program before, more homemade stuff so I'm hoping to improve on my IMAZ time in 2008 on a harder course at IMLP. We'll see.
Yay! So many hard core veterans, lots of motivation for us regular folks!!!!
Rian Bogle -- Flagstaff, AZ Ill be racing as 43yo this year,
This will be my 3rd Jan OS, starting the 3rd year with EN. Looking for more Watts and Vdot of course, but really looking to keep motivated and trying some other non-Triathlon events in the first half of the year. I want to deepen my run strength, moving it closer to where I used to be / think I can be when I was a runner years ago. So, I plan to do a couple Half Mary races and 10ks this spring. There's also a 100+ mile MTB race in my town in June, I've been wanting to do, so I'll be doing some long rides on dirt this spring. As for Triathlon my A-races are late in the year: Mountain Man HIM in August, and IMAZ in November.
Number goals I'm setting for the year: FTP 290, Vdot 54, TT 1:30 100/yd, and sub 160lbs racing weight. They're reachy, but thats what I thought about my goals last year…
Hola Haus-mates
I am Jenniferlyn Kryvicky, AKA Seashell, AKA Red Zone, AKA Jennikins. You can call me whatever you want, as long as it is not late to the OUTSEASON! I am ridiculously excited for this. No really, it is a sickness.
Hi everyone! Wow! Great intros!
My name is Susan Ogilvie, I am 36 from Brighton, MI (so many people from MI- that's exciting!). I thought I would start the Nov OS, but a hip injury kept me back from running consistently, but I am excited to get it going. It's my first season with EN.
My A races? First 70.3 at Rev3 Dells, USAG Nats, and hopefully... 70.3 Muskoka. I have heard it's beautiful up there.
Goals: To not miss a race. We moved this summer from Colorado for my husband to take a new job, and then I hurt my hip, so I missed a lot of races and my goals for last season. I would like to improve my bike and run and continue to stay injury-free. And to help my 7 year old to do her first kid's triathlon.
About me: Wife of 12 years, mother to 2 awesome girls, 5 and 7. Not working for the first time in a while, but I just passed my ACSM personal trainer certification and am looking to start something new! Missing home (CO), but trying to appreciate all the gifts of our new adventure! According to my daughter's family project for school, I also make "excellent squash-a-roni", and I like to think I do a pretty mediocre job of crewing my husband's ultramarathons.
My name is Danielle Santucci and I currently live in Ashburn, VA with my husband and four children (son 10, son 8, daughter 6 and daughter 4). I completed my first IM (AZ) this past Nov and am looking forward to competing in my 2nd IM in 2014.
My A races will be the RnR half marathon in DC-March, IM Raleigh 70.3 in June and finally IMMT in August. I have a few other sprints and olympics throughout the summer as well.
Goals for 2014: become a stronger runner and faster triathlete. Beat my 11:46 IM time and place in top 10 of AG (40-44) in Mont Tremblant.
Very much looking forward to JOS and training with y'all!!!
A Races are IMMT, IMAZ & the American Zofingen, Chris Gleason Memorial, Duathlon
JOS goals are to regain the fitness i lost in my 9 months off for a incorrect cardiac diagnosis. a strong OLY & NYC Marathon performance have me setting high goals for this year. My goals in the JOS are to see where i can get my FTP to while consistently running strong and doing (dare I say) some swimming to work on stroke. I have a body comp goal bet with a friend that should get me to my leanest weight midway through the OS.
current FTP -231, goal is 250+, weight goal is 148lbs, Vdot is 44 goal is faster...
Hello JOS Group -
My name is Thomas Jones. My wife Valerie and I will celebrate 13 years on February 3rd. This is my 1st OS. I participated in short course triathlons for 3 years and have been away from it for 3-4 years. I am so excited to be back! Plan to complete a series of OLYs in 2014. A Race is Augusta 70.3 (1st HIM!)
OS Goals:
1. Body comp - Lost 30 pounds in Sept/Oct; continue to maintain weight through holidays. Lose an additional 30 pounds during OS (80 pounds total weight loss by June 30th)
2. Focus on speed (run) and power (bike). Will set some more specific goals once I perform my tests at the beginning of the OS.
3. I will select my swim coach and have an improvement plan nailed down to start in April.
Looking forward to it!
Thomas
Try to make sure to remember that I answer all of the questions...
I'll have to find a picture to insert at some point - I'm not big on allowing myself to be photographed, even in race photography
Bill Manard, from Saint Peters, MO (exurb of St. Louis, MO).
A races - Hospital Hill Half (KC, MO); Lake St. Louis Oly (LSL, MO); Ironman 70.3 Miami (first HIM!)
OS goal - 10% increase in FTP (I've been using virtual power with TrainerRoad; my PowerTap just arrived today to fully cross over to the dark side) and 30 sec/mi improvement in 5k pace; maintain or slightly improve body comp (since I'm pretty happy with my 60 lb weight loss over the past 3 years)
About me - although I recreationally participated in all three disciplines to one degree or another prior to last year, this was my first year competing (I use that word loosely; I'm far from the fastest but working to improve!) in any races. I'm the medical director for our faculty family medicine practice at Saint Louis University, married to my wife of 15 1/2 years, have 2 cats and 2 parrots.
I think that's about enough. Looking forward to the JOS!
Satish Punna, 44 male, Moncton, New Brunswick Canada.
This is my second OS, and second year with EN, 3rd year racing triathlon. Last year I did my first 2 half iron distance races ( mont tremblant and rev 3 maine) and had a blast. This year I am doing the inaugural challenge half iron distance race in St. Andrews , NB, Canada , July 7, and I am returning to rev3 maine in August , as well as various and sundry smaller races in between.
I learned a lot last year about what I can and can't (or shouldn't ) do, and a lot about how to do just about everything better. This year I want to continue to build and add more items to the can do column. Faster, stronger, smarter etc etc.
This is me at the Olympic distance event at St. Andrews last year in 90 degree heat (rare for these parts). And yes that is blood on my shoes.
Holy Cow this is turning into quite the OS Class!!!! We couldn't ask for a better group thus far.
I'm Nemo Brauch from Nags Head, NC. If you don't already know who I am, well, it's understandable because although I'm an EN OG I've been a bit unusually quiet over the past few months because of a torn meniscus. I had surgery on 11/12 (report can be found in the Medical forum) and have been completely focused on my recovery since then. So no running and only very short/easy biking (I only got the "OK" to ride outside again last week).
Anyway- I got myself a Powerbeam Pro for Christmas and I'm really psyched to use TrainerRoad with it this year!
1st A Race: You might say it's t the Kinetic Half (aka Lake Anna in VA) in May but I'm not putting any pressure on myself for it. In fact, if I need to do it as Aqua-Velo I'm already cool with that. I really didn't want to register for any races until after I felt my body was ready because I didn't want a date on the calendar to dictate my recovery schedule. But the Kinetic Half is more about a weekend at the lake with friends and maybe some swimming and biking while I'm there.
OS Goals: My hope is to be able to train with the OS crew doing the bike workouts mostly as prescribed, but will have to do my own thing when it comes to the run (ie, following more of a "return to run" program as my PT allows).
About Me: EN Original Gangsta, Chica, and L'il Peep. I live on the Outer Banks of NC with my husband Joe (aka "Mr Nemo") and two spoiled cats (Otto and Leia). I work from my home in a "virtual office" for a fortune 500 software company doing contract negotiations which is essentially how I manage to live here! It's great, but I do miss the mountains.