Hi all. I’m Matt Aaronson’s dad, entering my third OS. Season one was an unqualified success with a first place AG finish at the Pleasant Prairie Oly. Last season was an unmitigated disaster marred by training injuries and torpedoed by surgery unrelated to training. I managed to finish the season completing my first half marathon, not pretty, but in the books.
My goal this year is to requalify for the AG Oly Nationals and to perform well enough to qualify for the 2015 Worlds here in Chicago under the age-up rules. I’ll be competing as a 70 year old in 2015. (I must say, it feels weird seeing that number on the page. But its years away. Right?)
My wife (of 40 years) and I moved here from Toronto four years ago and live not far from Matt, his wife and our three grandchildren. Our other two adult children are on opposite coasts. I mediate three days a week, do volunteer work, babysit, travel and train and train.
I’ve not been in the habit of posting my workout results, although every heartbeat, foot strike and watt is recorded and reported to Matt who is, as you can imagine, a demanding but inspiring coach, trainer and teammate.
Happy Holidays! Here’s to an injury free OS. Let the games begin.
Hello January OS peeps... Somehow missed this thread....What an awesome group...
Tim Cronk from Laconia NH... Racing age 52 this year...
This is my 4th OS....1st yr OS was huge gains , 2nd and 3rd yrs were in the 2-3% range on the bike , and the run/swim gains were probably 1-2% ...The low hanging fruit has been plucked.... OS goals this year will be 1-2% gain on the bike , and to better my best VDOT and swim TT of last year by mere seconds and I would be happy... Then I plan to parlay those hard fought miniscule gains to faster times by building the far on top of it and applying yet another year of execution experience and education... After 3 OS plans I know my strengths and weaknesses and will be hacking my OS to attack my weaknesses...
Races for 2014..... IMTX , IMCHOO , KONA are the IM's .... I will be racing IMTX and IMCHOO all out as A races .... KONA is 13 days after IMCHOO and will be a enjoy the day race..... Maybe if I'm lucky enough to go back when I age up in 3 years then I will race KONA ..... Inbetween IMTX and IMCHOO I plan to do a lot of racing REV3 Quassy OLY , Patriotman HIM , Mascoman HIM , REV3 OOB HIM , thats about 1 HIM every month , they will be B races and I will train thru them....
Retired Air Traffic Controller and living in Tucson this winter with Heather and our 2 dogs Otto and Maggie!
I was hoping to start my fourth EN OS this January, but have been sidelined for the last two months with a herniated disk! I made it through over three years with the team without significant injury, including two ironman races and a number of HIM's. I was into a fun focus block this fall and running better than ever when I was suddenly sidelined. Recovery has been painfully slow (in many ways), and it is looking like a Jan. start is out of the question. Maybe Feb, maybe March - I don't know. The good thing is I was planning nothing longer than Olympic distance for 2014. Maybe my body needed some time to rest up...
Greg Charbeneau Paradise Island Bahamas "A" race is IM Chattanooga JOS Goal: get speed and Endurance back, tighten up my BMI and stay healthy.
Turning 50 this year and hoping I can still crank to achieve a PR before I start my journey into youth of old age as I leave the old age of youth. I moved to Paradise Island, Bahamas in May 2013. Living in the Bahamas makes it exceedingly difficult to bike, especially since I am right across the harbor from Nassau. But will give it the EN effort. Been married 25 years, two girls ages 20 & 18. My oldest is a junior at James Madison University in VA and youngest is a freshman at the University of Georgia. I have been a member of the EN team since 2008 and this will be my 4th OS I think. I am finding it more difficult to maintain the high level of intense training as I get older and will be looking to get lots of mojo from the team. I will certainly reciprocate!
Ok tried to load a picture and failed! I'm Ralph Butler from Chesapeake VA. Been with EN since the start but not a vocal kinda member. No idea how many Os this will be be for me as I have been deployed a couple times and the OS s are hard to do at sea or in the desert! My A races have not been figured out yet. Will post when I plan it out. My kids are now racing and last year was an Iron distance year so this year is a HIM year (not allowed to do Iron Distances back to back years- House rules!). I am doing the Camp in NC this year and hoping to do the Alpine Gran Fondo in Harrisonburg in the fall. My goal is to get my FTP back up to a 3.25 w/kg.
Goals: to figure out some technology (how to get the most out of my power meter AND learn how to use the EN site better!)
Also, I am hoping to be a good team member to my friend, Kathi Blais, who I convinced to join EN.
Race goal is to make the second half of my run go as it is supposed to...would love to find a new gear at mile 18.
REALLY LOOKING forward to racing with (ok racing behind) my buddy, Greg Charb, who got me into EN and then deserted me. Don't buy the sob story about how hard it is to train in the Bahamas!
With Christmas over my focus now shifts to Jan OS and the upcoming 2014 season, and some new and exciting adventures with work to look forward to.
I have to say that this group seems mighty inspiring and I sense there will be lots to gain from training with the JOS peeps this year. Last year I was in the Nov OS - this is my second season with EN (thanks to Brenda and Steve Ross for getting me started) - I live in Ottawa, ON and am part of the Ottawa Sleeper Cell, so training in the cold and snow adds an added challenge to training!
Races for 2014 have yet to be decided but my tentative schedule is: - Montreal half marathon (late April) - Rev3 Quassy Oly (early June) - Tupper Lake Tinman half-iron (end of June) - Bring on the Bay (3km swim in mid-July) - And I would like to do a few others but it all depends on work demands: "maybes" are Boilermaker 15km (July) and the Kingston Long Course tri in August
The reason for front loading the season is because I will be leaving the country to move to Dublin, Ireland to take up a new position at the Canadian embassy, probably in August. In theory, I should be in the Nov OS because most of the races are in the first half of the summer, but because I was traveling until Dec 19th, I could only fit-in the Jan OS in my training.
My goal is just to improve over last year, and possibly improve my body comp. No specific numbers I want to achieve other than to get "faster", "stronger" and "fitter".
Thanks Kori and Kate for being our Captains!!!!!
Really looking forward to the start of the OS program - I really enjoy training (something about sweating, and the mental feeling of pushing myself, is just so appealing); I enjoy the training almost more than the actual racing!
Hello everyone. I am Joe Matchette from Warner Robins, GA. I joined EN in the late fall of 2010 so this will be my fourth OS. My first A-race for the year will be the Macon Rock-N-Rollman 1/2-iron at the end of May. My AAA-race for 2014 is IMChoo in September. I will have various other races throughout the year where I will be working very hard to keep ahead of the 'young bucks' around here --- I am 46 and still whuppin' some of the 20-year olds.....
OS Goals -- Right now I am doing a "pre-OS 1/2-marathon plan" in preparation for a local 1/2 on the 19th of January. I am very happy with where my VDOT is currently -- 51. I have been neglecting the bike a bit, so that will be my priority in the OS.
My goals for this year are:
increase my VDOT at least a half point to 51.5 +
reach a new all-time FTP high (greater than 271). Reach goal is 300
race IMChoo at 165
participate in all the EN Challenges as they are a fun way to keep this fun and avoid getting in a rut.
Below is a picture of my wife, Gen, and me taken right before a local winter TT series last year. Looking forward to it again this year.
Akio Yamauchi, Tokyo Japan. 51 (turning 52 next July), male, married (with one daughter 16). I seem to be the only member here from Japan. English is actually my second language.
This is my second OS, and will be the third year with EN (including the plan customer period). I was lucky enough to already qualify for Kona 2014 at Ironman Japan 8/31 this year, so IM Hawaii will be my ultimate A-race. Before that I'm planning to do a few 51.5 and 70.3 local races, but haven't nailed them down yet due to work.
The last OS really wiped me out. I began triathlon when I was 26, but had never done such a high intensity training until the last OS! I believe it led me to Kona at IM Japan.
My OS goal is increasing my FTP from 269 to 275, and vDOT from 55.84 to 56.5, both of which seem to be very difficult because of my age. Actually, my worst discipline is SWIM (still taking 1:15-20 at IM). I may have to do something about it even in the OS…
Anyway I'd like to learn a lot, share the experience, and get motivated from here.
Ok, here goes.. Paula Nystrom, Weston Florida IM Florida 70.3 4/13 Motivation Man 70.3 (if still being held) June 1st IM Chattanooga 9/28 OS Goals - Get faster, and race not just finish This is my first year actually participating in OS training. I joined EN last year but missed out on following the OS plan due to craziness at work. I have not taken advantage of all that EN has to offer so I am trying to ramp up on all the good info out there. I am on a computer all day at work so getting on it again when I get home is less then appealing
This is my first outseason and I'm just starting with EN in January. I completed Ironman Wisconsin in September (first & only? IM ) which was honestly the highlight of my life and followed that with a brutal Marine Corps Marathon in October. I gave myself permission to rest and relax ALL of November which has bled into December too! I'm anxious to see what happens with my FTP test since it was 209 leading into IM, but I'm guessing it will have decreased a ton when I retest in a couple weeks!
My goals are to just get fitter and faster and lose some weight. (Admittedly, I'm freaking out about turning 40 in April!) My only race in 2013 right now is the Chicago SPRINT in June. Yippee! I'm intending to do shorter distance races to make training more reasonable and hoping to win or place as an Athena in all or most of them where the category is offered!
I'd love to plan some other 1/2 IM or Century ride outside the Midwest too. Cheers!
@Nemo -- I'm 14 hours ahead of you as you live in Carolina, and 17 hours if by PST. You know, Japan is called a land of rising sun. And I'm always coming and going between MILE and KM in my mind! (We use KM here)
I'm dropping in. Was in the NOV OS but it was all hacked up due to rehab. RnP have me restarting with yuze guyz.
Re: Intro's... 42, married to Sheri for 20 years, father of 3 (17,16, 10), I got a good team over here, blessed. Work in the OR as an anesthetist, too many weird hours that try to keep me from my fam schedules and tri schedules. But, a great job nonetheless.
Been doing tri's for many years (12ish?), long stuff off and on since 06. Been underachieving as far as I'm concerned and I'm still looking to put the pieces together so that I can get a little bit more competitive, no matter how long it takes me.
goals for this year...stepping back to save some travel time and $, race shorter oly's. So, some short course plans during the week, but will be getting in plenty of long'ish rides/runs in cuz I dig it and there's nothing to 'sabotage' in 2014.
If I had to sum it up...2014 is Body Comp change year, gonna get lighter and learn how to eat/train lighter. Run wise, I'm looking for a solid training year that goes injury free. And, I'm working on a run tweak in the schedule that may make a difference for my injury prone achilles/calf. Got some really smart coaches helping me with that. I'll be working on the swim stroke to the extent that the only swim interval longer than 100m might be thei race swim. Working hard on the bike is an ez one cuz I love this part.
Basically, have FUN with the training and racing in 2014 while recharging for an IM build in 2015.
Hi folks. This is my second year with EN and this time around I'm joining the JOS. My main goal is IM Mont Tremblant in August but I have several B races along the way.
I can't believe it but I'm going to be 50 years old this year. I'm also at the point where all the low hanging fruit has pretty much been picked. Last year I set big PRs in 5k, 10k, 13.1 (twice, down to a 1:35:54), 70.3 (took off 19 minutes to go sub 5:30 in Montauk), OLY and IM, where I took almost 90 minutes off my IMLP 2012 time to go 11:53:27 in Mont Tremblant.
Trying to improve on these things is my goal but it is going to take a lot more work than last year. If any of you ever pay attention to the age-graded performance data (PLP) on running races, last year was the first year I broke into the 70's. I just don't know if I can get any better but I'm certainly going to try. What I do know is that this community and this program helped me make huge leaps in a single season.
Heh. I've been conned into running the Central Jersey RRC's Westfield Hangover run on Wednesday. That will serve as my run test to start the JOS. I think that will be the perfect place to wear that hat.
Anu Rao, from The Colony, TX (one of the bazillion little cities around Dallas)
Races: Boston in April, Austin 70.3 in October, probably something called the Triple Threat in August(three days MtB race the first day, 100 mile Hotter than Hell the next, trail half marathon on the third day).
OS Goals -- Improve my bike fitness while keeping up enough running to have a decent race at Boston. Did the marathon training with OS last year also, hopefully I have similar success this year.
I did Austin as my first (and only) HIM in 2012, this time want to be faster. As close to the six hour mark as possible. Should be possible with some work, but will also likely start a new job sometime this year so some things are in up the air.
Hi Jan OS, am glad to be part of the group Started the Nov OS however sprained knee derailed that so starting over.....
My name is Greg Dykes, turning 50 y/o in March, live in Highland Village Texas which is a suburb just north of Dallas.
This is my second year with EN, Year one was a STEEP learning curve which I am still climbing. I really enjoy being part of this awesome team!
Between the knee and other scheduling uncertainties am still sorting out my race schedule, did my first HIM last year and want to do an IM this year and will fill in from there...., thinking maybe Louisville or Redman in OKC....
OS Goals - Improve FTP to 250, Improve VDOT to 32, Be able to actually race this year.
Personal - Married 22 years, 20 y/o daughter at Texas A&M, 13 y/o Chocolate Lab, I travel extensively for work so am ALWAYS juggling wko's
Jason Brandt, Auburn, WA --Just finished IMAZ 10:27, racing IMCdA as only A race at this time
OS Goals: Raise FTP by 10-15 pts. Was 256 pre IMAZ. Increase vDOT to shave 8 minutes off IM marathon. Was 47 resulting in 3:53 IMAZ
Body Comp achieve 159 lbs by IMCdA while gaining leaning muscle mass. Currently 170
First full year in EN. Was a non swimmer in college and after seeing kids become good swimmers decided it was time for me to really learn and set about doing my first IM. Fast forward two years and I've gone from being a rock to enjoying swimming, swam from Alacatraz last year, swam the 3.2 mile Fat Salmon and swam IMAZ in 1:08. IMCdA is my only A race planned. I'm also going to be commuting to NJ over 50% of the time starting Jan 1st so OS will be good for me to get into a routine of changing my workouts or using a hotel bike for workouts. I'm hooked with triathlons and a big fan of EN, they helped me get a lot of speed and smarts about racing. We've got a lot of wicked smart members that I've learned so much from in the forums.
Hi JOS gang! I am Betsy Kantor, and this is my my 3rd JOS, but I believe only my second serious one. I have done AZIM the last two years and had a 65 minute PR this past race (12:55;57) and am gunning to improve that much or more 2014 AZIM! I want to say my ultimate goal is to win age group-I will be racing again in the 55-59 women and will be 58 years old-so thinking I may be waiting until I reach 60yo group, or even 80 when I am the last one standing, but will keep trying.
I live in Scottsdale, AZ with husband Ron, and 18 yo son Tom, last of four children, who plans to join the Navy next fall. I also have 3 rescue dogs, all of whom are my running pals (a doberman and two pitbull mixes.) My A race is 2014 AZIM and will do the spring and fall Olys in tempe town lake. I am lucky to have many local races so don't plan to travel until I learn to actually swim.
Goals for JOS: Regain and exceed my previous FTP of 3W/kg and VDOT of 40. Also, continue swim lessons to perfect technique and obtain that 1:15 IM swim (2 years of lessons and I haven't improved as quickly as Jason Brandt above-I am still a rock damnit!!
I'm William Jenks, and this is my 4th OS with EN. I did the Boston Marathon in 2010 and officially joined EN a few days later. I turn 50 in 2014. Last year, I served as one of the OS captains, so I want to thank Kori and Kate for taking that on this year!
By day, I'm the chair of the chemistry department at Iowa State University. My favorite day in triathlon remains the day my now-college age son Chris (freshman at UNC Chapel Hill) raced with me (and beat me by about 3 minutes) at an Olympic distance race when he was around 14, maybe 15. The best part was that we ran together for a few miles. I finished about a minute before he did, but he had started later than me, so he won.
I was lucky enough to have two great racing highlights last year, neither of which were mine. :-) First, Chris finish a hot, small marathon with the guttiest mile I've ever seen him run to sneak in under the BQ time for his first marathon ever. Unfortunately, our plans to run Boston 2014 together fell through when it turned out he didn't qualify by enough to get in. My second highlight was seeing my younger kids Timothy and Olivia compete in the state middle school cross country meet, at which OJ came in first with the fastest time of the day for any girl, regardless of age or school size. It's always fun to see your kids do stuff...but how many of us actually get to see a kid actually win something like that. It was great.
Both my younger kids are in 8th grade and officially kick my butt swimming, and probably beat me running anything 2 miles or less, but I can still take them on the bike. :-) They did pretty well last year on the local sprint and youth triathlon circuit. OJ made the podium for Ironkids nationals and Timothy also placed well; it happened to be held pretty close to us. My wife Cynthia is also a scientist and is our great sherpa on the triathlon circuit.
My race goals are two fold for 2014. I started at this game pretty late in life, and I still have been able to improve at SOMETHING each year....though I realize that unfortunately that window may be closing soon. I am going to run Boston again in 2014, and I want to set a new PR there. If the weather is decent, my "A goal" is under 3:10.
After a two year hiatus from IM racing, I am back to do IM WI in the Fall. This will be my 3rd IM, all at WI. I have yet to run a good marathon at this event. The first time, I was getting over a cold, and the second time, I underestimated the temperature and didn't slow down at the beginning as much as I should have...and suffered through the end. If you ask me today, my stretch goal is to break 11:00. To do that, I have to run well...something like 3:40 or better. I should be capable of that if I execute to the best my ability, but it didn't happen in either of my two times, and I'm completely responsible for that.
Because of Boston, my OS will not be a normal one. I will be trying to hang on to decent enough bike shape while doing my run build up. I just want to be in a position to get back into great biking shape in the summer, not necessarily setting any personal bests on the bike during the winter. Nonetheless, I'm going to hang out here with my JOS guys and get jealous of Matt and his dad, Dave Tallo, Tim Cronk, and all the other Fast Guys and Gals. :-)
I'm Brett Prince, now living outside Boston, MA with my wife and our 2 dogs. This is my 2nd OS, but I took a year off of EN in 2012-2013. I'm glad to be back and anxious to make up for the lost time and fitness over the past year.
My A-race, and only scheduled event for 2014 is IM Boulder. I can't wait to test myself at altitude and I'm looking forward to my second IM.
For this OS my stretch goal is to raise my FTP to 200. I also want to lower my 5k time to 20:00, which will be all-time fastest for me. The only way for me to achieve these goals is to finally learn to push through the discomfort that comes from a great workout.
These past 18 months have been filled with changes, that include a move to the Boston area, new job, and almost a complete rehab of our new house. Now it is time to focus on fitness as I aim for my 2014 goals.
I'm looking forward to the support this great group will bring through the OS, and I hope I can be as helpful and supportive as others have been to me as we succeed in the coming weeks.
This is truly the AAA crew of the OS. Lots of smart/fast/strong peeps in here. So if you have any questions please be sure and ask!!! Looking forward to sharing the pain with everyone in here.
My name is Darren Freeman, I am in the M40-44 AG and reside in Piscataway, NJ very near several other great EN peeps and this will be my second JOS with EN. I had a pretty amazing year this last year in which I learned a lot about myself and found out what I thought I was capable of doing wasn't even close to what I actually could do. You know the old saying.. "The body doesn't mind because the brain doesn't matter!"
This last year I completed my very first Ironman at IM Lake Placid in 13 hours 10 minutes which had always been a life long dream of mine since I grew up watching Ironman Kona every year since I was a kid. On the not so positive side my finish time was a complete and utter disappointment to myself because I developed a case of IT Band Syndrome which shut my run down around mile 10 causing me to power walk the remaining 16 miles of the run. Vowing to redeem myself I signed up for the Beach2Battleship Full and did a complete redo of my training specifically for this next race to right all the wrongs I performed leading up to IM Lake Placid. As a result of my more focused training and correcting various other details of my execution I finished Beach2Battleship in 10 hours 48 minutes. I was in complete shock at this finish and never knew I could perform at that level in addition to it being my second full distance ever. My finish time at Beach2Battleship put me in 4th place AG, 45th overall and qualified me for the 2014 USA Triathlon Olympic Championship.
For 2014 races I have lined up the Rutgers Unite 8k, Rev3 Quassy 70.3, Musselman Triathlon 70.3, Ironman Mont Tremblant and maybe as a last race if I feel up for it the Rev3 Pocono 70.3.
My training objectives for this year are to continue to improve and increase my FTP for the year, be more deadly on my run execution and to knock it out of the ballpark again. This time last year as a untrained and inexperienced athlete as well as new to power training my FTP was 175 watts with 2.58 Watts/kg. After nine months of training with EN in mid October my FTP tested very close to 225 watts with 3.42 Watts/kg. I hope to improve on this before IM Mont Tremblant this year.
Great to join everyone again. It should be another fun year of training and dedication to the sport!
Darren, I'm down in Millburn. Good to see another Jersey guy in 'da Haus. You'll love IM Mont Tremblant. With your running that strong you'll have a great time on that course. You'll get your cycling strength up there and you'll be able to cruise those long long hills on the highway. You just have to have the EN discipline on the climb to Lac Superrieuurrrre - you get to do that little monster at the end of each lap. Yay. Just be patient and don't blow up your quads. Folks were walking up that thing on the FIRST lap.
As for Quassy. Start running hills. Like tonight...
@Peter, thanks for the advice.. I did Blackbear this last year which was crazy hilly.. The Syracuse run course wasn't a joke either in addition to the blazing heat.
Great finish at the Hangover today.. I remember seeing your secret Santa hat! haha.. I was there supporting my club members..
Aww snap. Should have come over to say hello (or had you seen the pictures of the hat on EN yet?). Now I have a witness that I actually ran the race in the hat. :-)
Comments
Hi all. I’m Matt Aaronson’s dad, entering my third OS. Season one was an unqualified success with a first place AG finish at the Pleasant Prairie Oly. Last season was an unmitigated disaster marred by training injuries and torpedoed by surgery unrelated to training. I managed to finish the season completing my first half marathon, not pretty, but in the books.
My goal this year is to requalify for the AG Oly Nationals and to perform well enough to qualify for the 2015 Worlds here in Chicago under the age-up rules. I’ll be competing as a 70 year old in 2015. (I must say, it feels weird seeing that number on the page. But its years away. Right?)
My wife (of 40 years) and I moved here from Toronto four years ago and live not far from Matt, his wife and our three grandchildren. Our other two adult children are on opposite coasts. I mediate three days a week, do volunteer work, babysit, travel and train and train.
I’ve not been in the habit of posting my workout results, although every heartbeat, foot strike and watt is recorded and reported to Matt who is, as you can imagine, a demanding but inspiring coach, trainer and teammate.
Happy Holidays! Here’s to an injury free OS. Let the games begin.
Tim Cronk from Laconia NH... Racing age 52 this year...
This is my 4th OS....1st yr OS was huge gains , 2nd and 3rd yrs were in the 2-3% range on the bike , and the run/swim gains were probably 1-2% ...The low hanging fruit has been plucked.... OS goals this year will be 1-2% gain on the bike , and to better my best VDOT and swim TT of last year by mere seconds and I would be happy... Then I plan to parlay those hard fought miniscule gains to faster times by building the far on top of it and applying yet another year of execution experience and education... After 3 OS plans I know my strengths and weaknesses and will be hacking my OS to attack my weaknesses...
Races for 2014..... IMTX , IMCHOO , KONA are the IM's .... I will be racing IMTX and IMCHOO all out as A races .... KONA is 13 days after IMCHOO and will be a enjoy the day race..... Maybe if I'm lucky enough to go back when I age up in 3 years then I will race KONA ..... Inbetween IMTX and IMCHOO I plan to do a lot of racing REV3 Quassy OLY , Patriotman HIM , Mascoman HIM , REV3 OOB HIM , thats about 1 HIM every month , they will be B races and I will train thru them....
Retired Air Traffic Controller and living in Tucson this winter with Heather and our 2 dogs Otto and Maggie!
I was hoping to start my fourth EN OS this January, but have been sidelined for the last two months with a herniated disk! I made it through over three years with the team without significant injury, including two ironman races and a number of HIM's. I was into a fun focus block this fall and running better than ever when I was suddenly sidelined. Recovery has been painfully slow (in many ways), and it is looking like a Jan. start is out of the question. Maybe Feb, maybe March - I don't know. The good thing is I was planning nothing longer than Olympic distance for 2014. Maybe my body needed some time to rest up...
Will be cheering you all on from the sideline!
Jim (just outside Albany, NY).
Greg Charbeneau
Paradise Island Bahamas
"A" race is IM Chattanooga
JOS Goal: get speed and Endurance back, tighten up my BMI and stay healthy.
Turning 50 this year and hoping I can still crank to achieve a PR before I start my journey into youth of old age as I leave the old age of youth. I moved to Paradise Island, Bahamas in May 2013. Living in the Bahamas makes it exceedingly difficult to bike, especially since I am right across the harbor from Nassau. But will give it the EN effort. Been married 25 years, two girls ages 20 & 18. My oldest is a junior at James Madison University in VA and youngest is a freshman at the University of Georgia. I have been a member of the EN team since 2008 and this will be my 4th OS I think. I am finding it more difficult to maintain the high level of intense training as I get older and will be looking to get lots of mojo from the team. I will certainly reciprocate!
Cheers to you all!
Greg
I'm Ralph Butler from Chesapeake VA. Been with EN since the start but not a vocal kinda member. No idea how many Os this will be be for me as I have been deployed a couple times and the OS s are hard to do at sea or in the desert!
My A races have not been figured out yet. Will post when I plan it out. My kids are now racing and last year was an Iron distance year so this year is a HIM year (not allowed to do Iron Distances back to back years- House rules!). I am doing the Camp in NC this year and hoping to do the Alpine Gran Fondo in Harrisonburg in the fall.
My goal is to get my FTP back up to a 3.25 w/kg.
Jodi Harbin
Valdosta, GA
A Race is IM CHATT
Goals: to figure out some technology (how to get the most out of my power meter AND learn how to use the EN site better!)
Also, I am hoping to be a good team member to my friend, Kathi Blais, who I convinced to join EN.
Race goal is to make the second half of my run go as it is supposed to...would love to find a new gear at mile 18.
REALLY LOOKING forward to racing with (ok racing behind) my buddy, Greg Charb, who got me into EN and then deserted me. Don't buy the sob story about how hard it is to train in the Bahamas!
With Christmas over my focus now shifts to Jan OS and the upcoming 2014 season, and some new and exciting adventures with work to look forward to.
I have to say that this group seems mighty inspiring and I sense there will be lots to gain from training with the JOS peeps this year. Last year I was in the Nov OS - this is my second season with EN (thanks to Brenda and Steve Ross for getting me started) - I live in Ottawa, ON and am part of the Ottawa Sleeper Cell, so training in the cold and snow adds an added challenge to training!
Races for 2014 have yet to be decided but my tentative schedule is:
- Montreal half marathon (late April)
- Rev3 Quassy Oly (early June)
- Tupper Lake Tinman half-iron (end of June)
- Bring on the Bay (3km swim in mid-July)
- And I would like to do a few others but it all depends on work demands: "maybes" are Boilermaker 15km (July) and the Kingston Long Course tri in August
The reason for front loading the season is because I will be leaving the country to move to Dublin, Ireland to take up a new position at the Canadian embassy, probably in August. In theory, I should be in the Nov OS because most of the races are in the first half of the summer, but because I was traveling until Dec 19th, I could only fit-in the Jan OS in my training.
My goal is just to improve over last year, and possibly improve my body comp. No specific numbers I want to achieve other than to get "faster", "stronger" and "fitter".
Thanks Kori and Kate for being our Captains!!!!!
Really looking forward to the start of the OS program - I really enjoy training (something about sweating, and the mental feeling of pushing myself, is just so appealing); I enjoy the training almost more than the actual racing!
Hello everyone. I am Joe Matchette from Warner Robins, GA. I joined EN in the late fall of 2010 so this will be my fourth OS. My first A-race for the year will be the Macon Rock-N-Rollman 1/2-iron at the end of May. My AAA-race for 2014 is IMChoo in September. I will have various other races throughout the year where I will be working very hard to keep ahead of the 'young bucks' around here --- I am 46 and still whuppin' some of the 20-year olds.....
OS Goals -- Right now I am doing a "pre-OS 1/2-marathon plan" in preparation for a local 1/2 on the 19th of January. I am very happy with where my VDOT is currently -- 51. I have been neglecting the bike a bit, so that will be my priority in the OS.
My goals for this year are:
Below is a picture of my wife, Gen, and me taken right before a local winter TT series last year. Looking forward to it again this year.
Akio Yamauchi, Tokyo Japan. 51 (turning 52 next July), male, married (with one daughter 16). I seem to be the only member here from Japan. English is actually my second language.
This is my second OS, and will be the third year with EN (including the plan customer period). I was lucky enough to already qualify for Kona 2014 at Ironman Japan 8/31 this year, so IM Hawaii will be my ultimate A-race. Before that I'm planning to do a few 51.5 and 70.3 local races, but haven't nailed them down yet due to work.
The last OS really wiped me out. I began triathlon when I was 26, but had never done such a high intensity training until the last OS! I believe it led me to Kona at IM Japan.
My OS goal is increasing my FTP from 269 to 275, and vDOT from 55.84 to 56.5, both of which seem to be very difficult because of my age. Actually, my worst discipline is SWIM (still taking 1:15-20 at IM). I may have to do something about it even in the OS…
Anyway I'd like to learn a lot, share the experience, and get motivated from here.
* The picture below is from IM Cairns this June.
Akio
Paula Nystrom, Weston Florida
IM Florida 70.3 4/13
Motivation Man 70.3 (if still being held) June 1st
IM Chattanooga 9/28
OS Goals - Get faster, and race not just finish
This is my first year actually participating in OS training. I joined EN last year but missed out on following the OS plan due to craziness at work.
I have not taken advantage of all that EN has to offer so I am trying to ramp up on all the good info out there. I am on a computer all day at work so getting on it again when I get home is less then appealing
Shannon Mangiameli, 39 years old, Chicago, IL
This is my first outseason and I'm just starting with EN in January. I completed Ironman Wisconsin in September (first & only? IM
) which was honestly the highlight of my life and followed that with a brutal Marine Corps Marathon in October. I gave myself permission to rest and relax ALL of November which has bled into December too! I'm anxious to see what happens with my FTP test since it was 209 leading into IM, but I'm guessing it will have decreased a ton when I retest in a couple weeks!
My goals are to just get fitter and faster and lose some weight. (Admittedly, I'm freaking out about turning 40 in April!) My only race in 2013 right now is the Chicago SPRINT in June. Yippee! I'm intending to do shorter distance races to make training more reasonable and hoping to win or place as an Athena in all or most of them where the category is offered!
I'd love to plan some other 1/2 IM or Century ride outside the Midwest too. Cheers!
I'm dropping in. Was in the NOV OS but it was all hacked up due to rehab. RnP have me restarting with yuze guyz.
Re: Intro's... 42, married to Sheri for 20 years, father of 3 (17,16, 10), I got a good team over here, blessed. Work in the OR as an anesthetist, too many weird hours that try to keep me from my fam schedules and tri schedules. But, a great job nonetheless.
Been doing tri's for many years (12ish?), long stuff off and on since 06. Been underachieving as far as I'm concerned and I'm still looking to put the pieces together so that I can get a little bit more competitive, no matter how long it takes me.
goals for this year...stepping back to save some travel time and $, race shorter oly's. So, some short course plans during the week, but will be getting in plenty of long'ish rides/runs in cuz I dig it and there's nothing to 'sabotage' in 2014.
If I had to sum it up...2014 is Body Comp change year, gonna get lighter and learn how to eat/train lighter. Run wise, I'm looking for a solid training year that goes injury free. And, I'm working on a run tweak in the schedule that may make a difference for my injury prone achilles/calf. Got some really smart coaches helping me with that. I'll be working on the swim stroke to the extent that the only swim interval longer than 100m might be thei race swim. Working hard on the bike is an ez one cuz I love this part.
Basically, have FUN with the training and racing in 2014 while recharging for an IM build in 2015.
Looking forward to sweating with y'all!
I can't believe it but I'm going to be 50 years old this year. I'm also at the point where all the low hanging fruit has pretty much been picked. Last year I set big PRs in 5k, 10k, 13.1 (twice, down to a 1:35:54), 70.3 (took off 19 minutes to go sub 5:30 in Montauk), OLY and IM, where I took almost 90 minutes off my IMLP 2012 time to go 11:53:27 in Mont Tremblant.
Trying to improve on these things is my goal but it is going to take a lot more work than last year. If any of you ever pay attention to the age-graded performance data (PLP) on running races, last year was the first year I broke into the 70's. I just don't know if I can get any better but I'm certainly going to try. What I do know is that this community and this program helped me make huge leaps in a single season.
Heh. I've been conned into running the Central Jersey RRC's Westfield Hangover run on Wednesday. That will serve as my run test to start the JOS. I think that will be the perfect place to wear that hat.
Anu Rao, from The Colony, TX (one of the bazillion little cities around Dallas)
Races: Boston in April, Austin 70.3 in October, probably something called the Triple Threat in August(three days MtB race the first day, 100 mile Hotter than Hell the next, trail half marathon on the third day).
OS Goals -- Improve my bike fitness while keeping up enough running to have a decent race at Boston. Did the marathon training with OS last year also, hopefully I have similar success this year.
I did Austin as my first (and only) HIM in 2012, this time want to be faster. As close to the six hour mark as possible. Should be possible with some work, but will also likely start a new job sometime this year so some things are in up the air.
Hi Jan OS, am glad to be part of the group
Started the Nov OS however sprained knee derailed that so starting over.....
Jason Brandt, Auburn, WA --Just finished IMAZ 10:27, racing IMCdA as only A race at this time
OS Goals: Raise FTP by 10-15 pts. Was 256 pre IMAZ. Increase vDOT to shave 8 minutes off IM marathon. Was 47 resulting in 3:53 IMAZ
Body Comp achieve 159 lbs by IMCdA while gaining leaning muscle mass. Currently 170
First full year in EN. Was a non swimmer in college and after seeing kids become good swimmers decided it was time for me to really learn and set about doing my first IM. Fast forward two years and I've gone from being a rock to enjoying swimming, swam from Alacatraz last year, swam the 3.2 mile Fat Salmon and swam IMAZ in 1:08. IMCdA is my only A race planned. I'm also going to be commuting to NJ over 50% of the time starting Jan 1st so OS will be good for me to get into a routine of changing my workouts or using a hotel bike for workouts. I'm hooked with triathlons and a big fan of EN, they helped me get a lot of speed and smarts about racing. We've got a lot of wicked smart members that I've learned so much from in the forums.
-Dave Tallo, gadzillionth year faithfully with EN. Firing up the JOS one week earlier than the crew based on scheduling constraint.
-M45-49, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
-2014 as IMWhistler, IMLou, with goal of KQ.
-"A" goal is sub-10 Kona.
-Goal of ending OS with 281 outdoor ftp (@ 4.2w/kg) and 52+ vdot.
Unfunded action shot:
I am Betsy Kantor, and this is my my 3rd JOS, but I believe only my second serious one. I have done AZIM the last two years and had a 65 minute PR this past race (12:55;57) and am gunning to improve that much or more 2014 AZIM! I want to say my ultimate goal is to win age group-I will be racing again in the 55-59 women and will be 58 years old-so thinking I may be waiting until I reach 60yo group, or even 80 when I am the last one standing, but will keep trying.
I live in Scottsdale, AZ with husband Ron, and 18 yo son Tom, last of four children, who plans to join the Navy next fall. I also have 3 rescue dogs, all of whom are my running pals (a doberman and two pitbull mixes.) My A race is 2014 AZIM and will do the spring and fall Olys in tempe town lake. I am lucky to have many local races so don't plan to travel until I learn to actually swim.
Goals for JOS: Regain and exceed my previous FTP of 3W/kg and VDOT of 40. Also, continue swim lessons to perfect technique and obtain that 1:15 IM swim (2 years of lessons and I haven't improved as quickly as Jason Brandt above-I am still a rock damnit!!
I'm William Jenks, and this is my 4th OS with EN. I did the Boston Marathon in 2010 and officially joined EN a few days later. I turn 50 in 2014. Last year, I served as one of the OS captains, so I want to thank Kori and Kate for taking that on this year!
By day, I'm the chair of the chemistry department at Iowa State University. My favorite day in triathlon remains the day my now-college age son Chris (freshman at UNC Chapel Hill) raced with me (and beat me by about 3 minutes) at an Olympic distance race when he was around 14, maybe 15. The best part was that we ran together for a few miles. I finished about a minute before he did, but he had started later than me, so he won.
I was lucky enough to have two great racing highlights last year, neither of which were mine. :-) First, Chris finish a hot, small marathon with the guttiest mile I've ever seen him run to sneak in under the BQ time for his first marathon ever. Unfortunately, our plans to run Boston 2014 together fell through when it turned out he didn't qualify by enough to get in. My second highlight was seeing my younger kids Timothy and Olivia compete in the state middle school cross country meet, at which OJ came in first with the fastest time of the day for any girl, regardless of age or school size. It's always fun to see your kids do stuff...but how many of us actually get to see a kid actually win something like that. It was great.
Both my younger kids are in 8th grade and officially kick my butt swimming, and probably beat me running anything 2 miles or less, but I can still take them on the bike. :-) They did pretty well last year on the local sprint and youth triathlon circuit. OJ made the podium for Ironkids nationals and Timothy also placed well; it happened to be held pretty close to us. My wife Cynthia is also a scientist and is our great sherpa on the triathlon circuit.
My race goals are two fold for 2014. I started at this game pretty late in life, and I still have been able to improve at SOMETHING each year....though I realize that unfortunately that window may be closing soon. I am going to run Boston again in 2014, and I want to set a new PR there. If the weather is decent, my "A goal" is under 3:10.
After a two year hiatus from IM racing, I am back to do IM WI in the Fall. This will be my 3rd IM, all at WI. I have yet to run a good marathon at this event. The first time, I was getting over a cold, and the second time, I underestimated the temperature and didn't slow down at the beginning as much as I should have...and suffered through the end. If you ask me today, my stretch goal is to break 11:00. To do that, I have to run well...something like 3:40 or better. I should be capable of that if I execute to the best my ability, but it didn't happen in either of my two times, and I'm completely responsible for that.
Because of Boston, my OS will not be a normal one. I will be trying to hang on to decent enough bike shape while doing my run build up. I just want to be in a position to get back into great biking shape in the summer, not necessarily setting any personal bests on the bike during the winter. Nonetheless, I'm going to hang out here with my JOS guys and get jealous of Matt and his dad, Dave Tallo, Tim Cronk, and all the other Fast Guys and Gals. :-)
I'm Brett Prince, now living outside Boston, MA with my wife and our 2 dogs. This is my 2nd OS, but I took a year off of EN in 2012-2013. I'm glad to be back and anxious to make up for the lost time and fitness over the past year.
My A-race, and only scheduled event for 2014 is IM Boulder. I can't wait to test myself at altitude and I'm looking forward to my second IM.
For this OS my stretch goal is to raise my FTP to 200. I also want to lower my 5k time to 20:00, which will be all-time fastest for me. The only way for me to achieve these goals is to finally learn to push through the discomfort that comes from a great workout.
These past 18 months have been filled with changes, that include a move to the Boston area, new job, and almost a complete rehab of our new house. Now it is time to focus on fitness as I aim for my 2014 goals.
I'm looking forward to the support this great group will bring through the OS, and I hope I can be as helpful and supportive as others have been to me as we succeed in the coming weeks.
This is truly the AAA crew of the OS. Lots of smart/fast/strong peeps in here. So if you have any questions please be sure and ask!!! Looking forward to sharing the pain with everyone in here.
My name is Darren Freeman, I am in the M40-44 AG and reside in Piscataway, NJ very near several other great EN peeps and this will be my second JOS with EN. I had a pretty amazing year this last year in which I learned a lot about myself and found out what I thought I was capable of doing wasn't even close to what I actually could do. You know the old saying.. "The body doesn't mind because the brain doesn't matter!"
This last year I completed my very first Ironman at IM Lake Placid in 13 hours 10 minutes which had always been a life long dream of mine since I grew up watching Ironman Kona every year since I was a kid. On the not so positive side my finish time was a complete and utter disappointment to myself because I developed a case of IT Band Syndrome which shut my run down around mile 10 causing me to power walk the remaining 16 miles of the run. Vowing to redeem myself I signed up for the Beach2Battleship Full and did a complete redo of my training specifically for this next race to right all the wrongs I performed leading up to IM Lake Placid. As a result of my more focused training and correcting various other details of my execution I finished Beach2Battleship in 10 hours 48 minutes. I was in complete shock at this finish and never knew I could perform at that level in addition to it being my second full distance ever. My finish time at Beach2Battleship put me in 4th place AG, 45th overall and qualified me for the 2014 USA Triathlon Olympic Championship.
For 2014 races I have lined up the Rutgers Unite 8k, Rev3 Quassy 70.3, Musselman Triathlon 70.3, Ironman Mont Tremblant and maybe as a last race if I feel up for it the Rev3 Pocono 70.3.
My training objectives for this year are to continue to improve and increase my FTP for the year, be more deadly on my run execution and to knock it out of the ballpark again. This time last year as a untrained and inexperienced athlete as well as new to power training my FTP was 175 watts with 2.58 Watts/kg. After nine months of training with EN in mid October my FTP tested very close to 225 watts with 3.42 Watts/kg. I hope to improve on this before IM Mont Tremblant this year.
Great to join everyone again. It should be another fun year of training and dedication to the sport!
Darren, I'm down in Millburn. Good to see another Jersey guy in 'da Haus. You'll love IM Mont Tremblant. With your running that strong you'll have a great time on that course. You'll get your cycling strength up there and you'll be able to cruise those long long hills on the highway. You just have to have the EN discipline on the climb to Lac Superrieuurrrre - you get to do that little monster at the end of each lap. Yay. Just be patient and don't blow up your quads. Folks were walking up that thing on the FIRST lap.
As for Quassy. Start running hills. Like tonight...
@Peter, thanks for the advice.. I did Blackbear this last year which was crazy hilly.. The Syracuse run course wasn't a joke either in addition to the blazing heat.
Great finish at the Hangover today.. I remember seeing your secret Santa hat! haha.. I was there supporting my club members..
Aww snap. Should have come over to say hello (or had you seen the pictures of the hat on EN yet?). Now I have a witness that I actually ran the race in the hat. :-)