Introductions, please
So if most of the December peeps have arrived, we should introduce ourselves. I will post something when I get back from the Sunday run.
Scott
0
So if most of the December peeps have arrived, we should introduce ourselves. I will post something when I get back from the Sunday run.
Scott
Comments
So here is my introduction. I found Rich and Patrick because a friend of mine forwarded their Actvie.com article on advising triathletes not to lift weights. I clicked for more and found their concepts of SAUs and ROI to make total sense. I said I would never do an Ironman because I did not have the time. Now, I knew I could do it. I joined the team and started my first Outseason 12/21/09 in preparation for Ironman Louisville. I used a Computrainer for the Outseason cycling and mostly ran outside. I got back in the pool in March. I ordered a Wheelbuilder wheel and Powertap from Rich and got it on my bike at the end of May right before the 12 week IM plan. My training went well and I had a great first IM experience after working my way from Sprint through Oly to two hal Ironmans from 2003 through 2009. Here is the link to my race report:
http://members.endurancenation.us/Community/Forums/tabid/101/aff/34/aft/3178/afv/topic/Default.aspx
I think the coolest part is meeting virtual friends for real at the team dinner. I worked the room to ensure I met everyone and heard their story. What a great group. If you are new to the team, the virtual friendship is fun but it results in live friendship with those participating in the same races.
I live in Fairfield, OH (Cincinnati area) where I have been a finance manager for Procter and Gamble for 20 years with a couple assignments out of town in Maryland and Michigan. My family is originally from the Rocky Mountain West and I grew up in Michigan, North Carolina, and Utah. I have been married nearly 25 years and have four children, two in college and two still at home. They are gracious to allow me to pursue my IM dreams. I will do the American Triple T Ohio in May which is the Ironman distance over a weekend and then do IM Louisville again. I would like to increase my fitness and improve my execution to shave an hour or so off my 2010 time.
I look forward to getting to know each of you better and helping in any way I can. Once I remember how to post a picture of the family, I will do so. I am also on Facebook if you want to friend me. On we go!
Hello, Dec10 OS peeps! My intro-
I'm a 58 yr old family physician in East Moline, IL on the Mississippi River in western Illinois. I am a Former Fat Boy(FFB) tipping the scales at 290# (6' 4") in 2003. I was inspired by Lance riding the TdF in 7/03 (especially the stage to Luz Ardiden where he fell then charged back to win the stage). Started to bike, got serious about diet and dropped 40 lbs by the next summer.
First triathlon was a local sprint 6/2004. In 9/2004 signed up for IMWI05 on a whim and trained using Rich's Crucible fitness plans to successfully complete IMWI05 15 months after my first tri(way too soon) on an old Schwinn beater(no powermeter)- the ugliest and cheapest bike on Monona Terrace that year. I continued to follow Rich's advice until he and Patrick kicked off EN in 8/2007 and have been drinking the koolaid ever since. I always do one long course yearly with my second IM at WI09(1 hr PR- after 2 strong EN OS's, real tribike with PM and tipping the scale at 218).
After IMWI09 I got the barefoot running bug and have run 85% of my miles since in Vibram FFSs, prepped in EN for a strong HIM in 6/2010 but mostly improved on the run working with CoachP in Marathon Nation to prep for Chicago 10/10/10 (30' PR). I have the good fortune to be sitting on a 14 race string of consecutive PR's(dropping my HM from 2:01 to 1:52 this year in 4 races) at this time partly due to finding nutritional habits to drop my race weight to 203# for Chicago(87# down!).
I'm very glad to be back home in EN and in my winter pain cave and look forward to sharing new successes with my old EN friends and new EN colleagues.
John
Hello Dec OS Peeps this is my intro,
I am a 28 year old male from the Springfield Mo area, I am a Correctional Officer for the Federal Bureu Of Prisosns here in Springfield. I went straight from High School into the Marine Corps till 2005. When I got out I went to work for the prison. Got real lazy and was the heaviest in my life on Thanksgiving day 2008 tipping the scales at 206. My cousin was there, he owns a triathlon store here in Springfield and Columbia MO. They also put on and time alot of Running and Triathlon events, he and his wife have done over 10 Ironmans they went and raced Kona in 2002. He told me that I should do a Triathlon to get into to shape.
So I went ahead and signed up for one of his Sprint Tri in May 2009 dropped 34 pounds and got hooked on the Triathlon bug. The rest of 2009 I did a buch of Sprints and loved them. In the fall I signed up for my first Half Ironman, Ironman Branson. In 2010 I followed BeginingTriathlete.com plans. In the summber I got turned on to EN Nation by a video of Patrick doing a 4 Keys talk and was hooked, I was just biting at my heels to join the team but could not till the fall in September. I had a good season in 2010 doing Olys and Sprints. My half Ironman I did not even get the chance to race because of the stomach flu the day before.
For 2011 my big A race will be a Half Ironman in September the Redman plus some Olys and Sprints of course, my big goal is to do a Full in 2012. I am very glad to be on the team and I am ready for my best season yet. I am at 175 right now and would love to drop another 20 pounds.
I am 48 years old and have been running marathons since 1991. I've done over 25 (I've lost count really) and went to Boston three times in the late 1990's, including the 100th in 96 (got the tattoo to prove it!). My PB is 3:24 and my half marathon PB is 1:37.
I started running really because I was miserable living in Ottawa (sorry Brenda Ross) and trained solo up and down the Rideau Canal, alone. Two days after my first marathon in Ottawa I moved back to Toronto. When back in Toronto, I realised pretty soon that it wasn't Ottawa, it was my first marriage, that was the problem, and so that ended and I started up running again in 1994, and haven't stopped since.
Once I qualified for Boston, I realized I could get faster, so in 1998 I hired a coach and ran my fastest marathon ever. It was brilliant. I loved all the structured workouts and being yelled at at the track. Around the same time I met my husband Elly - running of course - and we've planned pretty much of our lives around distance running training and races.
I coached first time women marathoners for a few years in the early '00s, coaching was fun, but after a couple of years, that ceased to be interesting.
My husband started doing triathlons in 2006, and I swore I wouldn't do it - looked like a lot of work, and a lot of expensive equipmentb blah blah blah. Then I started watching Hawaii IM videos... and then I got convinced to buy a second hand bike, and did my first tri in 2007. It was really fun. So I did a second. I was almost last on the swim (I refused to buy a wetsuit then) and second last on the bike, but the run? Man I killed on the run. Passing all those ppl was sweet.
Since then I have done one Oly and a 70.3 (which was WAY harder than any marathon I have ever run). I am dying to do my next 70.3 properly and see what my real time is. And will do IMPL next summer, in 2012, when I turn 50.
So personal deets - I am married to Elly, we've been together 14 years. We have two daughters - Rachel, who is Elly's daughter from his first marriage. 18 and a lovely young person - a very talented singer. Eleanor is 8 - we adopted Eleanor from China when she was 11 months old and she is the joy of all our lives. Eleanor is a super swimmer and is nationally ranked in her age group for a couple of strokes. She can beat both Elly and me in a 25 M sprint! Work wise, I manage a not for profit arts company, Opera Atelier, an opera company in Toronto that specializes in 17th and 18th century repertoire. Relatively obscure (but very beautiful) - so it helps that I have an extensive background as a fundraiser.
I am really jazzed to be a member of EN. I enjoy working hard and playing hard. EN gives me the opportunity to play hard and smart!
Hi all - Here is my intro. I'm 55 (56 in 2 weeks) and have been a runner since a teenager. Played lacrosse in high school and college, where we ran seemingly endless 400m repeats to get in shape. I ran a few 5 &10ks off and on after graduating from college in 1977. Got serious about being in shape again in 1993 and ran the NYC marathon while my wife was expecting our son. We soon had daughter on the way too and I exchanged long runs on Sunday am for making pancakes. Ate too many of them and topped out at 215 lbs by 2006. Had to get back in shape so I started running in the am again as the kids (now 16 and 15) have become noctural and can make their own pancakes. Ran a couple of HMs and then did 2009 Chicago marathon (I live in suburban Chicago). Surprised the hell out of myself, running Chicago 7 minutes faster than I ran NYC 16 years earlier, and qualifed for Boston. Ran it this past April. My brother - JT Thompson - also a member of EN, ran the last 6 miles of Boston with me and got me interested in triathlons. I did 1 sprint and 2 oly tris last summer and placed 2nd in my AG in 2 of them, only 'cus I had good runs.
I was going to run Boston again in 2011 but got closed out. So JT, who was already signed up to do IMCDA 2011, talked me into racing it with him. I may have bitten off more than I can chew but I just want to finish.
I work as VP Marketing & Business development for Stericycle, a healthcare services company. Most ly work on acquisitions as we buy out one company per month. Started my career at Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati marketing laundry detergent. Later working as head of marketing for the Crayola crayon company and in marketing at the Wrigley gum company - yeah I've sold some fun stuff.
My son is on the Crew team at his high school, and last May his boat won the high school national championship in boys varsity 8s. Nothing like having a national champion rower in the house. My daughter is a sophmore and is on the girls
Sorry hit the send button too soo.
My daughter is on the field hockey team and doing well. My wife was a swimmer in HS and she is now a nationally recognised expert on how to live with food allergies. My son has life threatening food allergies and my wife has made it her life's work to help others, especially first time moms, deal with the life complications that sever food allergies bring. So if anybody needs to know anything about food allergies, just let me know and I can get you in touch.
Well - that's the story on the Thompsons from Wilmette, IL. Looking forward to learning more about and from each of you.
Bruce
Hey Team-
I'm 51 years young, married, and have five kids aged 20, 18, 17, 15, 14, a big dog and two cats. My son is a Texas-level distance swimmer and I cheer (and drive) for baseball, lacross, and soccer throughout the rest of the year. My girls are at Colorado State and Texas Tech University. My wife requires lots of SAP (Spousal Approval Points) as she teaches K-8 art every day (her own Pain Cave) I am a faculty member in Geriatric (Aging) Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.
I did my first long distance triathlon in 1982 (4mi, 50mi,15mi) and spent 10 years developing experience before doing my first Ironman in 1991. I returned to short course and was a USAT Age-Group All-American in 2003 and 2004. Since that time, I have dedicated myself to Iron Distance racing. I have five finishes and plan one last attempt to race to my potential in my hometown on May 21. I have not raced to my potential at the Ironman distance.
A flu bug kept me from finishing a strong Ironman effort in mid-November. My FTP has been significantly decreased by all of the long steady volume that my coach had me doing. My overall conditioning remains very high, and I'm hoping to bump my FTP enough to have a strong bike and personal best finish time (Sub-12:00) for my last Ironman. It will also be key for me to drop the 6-8 lbs that wereaffecting my run last season, and will slow my on the rollers north of Houston on the bike. I have a swimming background and maintain a moderate program year-round. I pace well and have typically run well off the bike on relatively low run volume. I'm going to hang into the off season through week 12, ski some Moguls in Colorado for a transition, and move through a 12 week IM plan. I am confident that the EN Program will have me ready for the race of my life.I'm looking forward to working together for the next three months! I am currently starting Week 2 of the OS Plan. I'm going to need to build a long run (1:30-1:45) into the schedule starting next month, and will probably be doing the longer outdoor ride option, building to 3:30 by February. Luckily, the winters are mild in Houston... we pay for it during the summer.
I'm 29 and married with two young boys (Otis & Ike). I grew up playing soccer and played in college. Before I had my boys I was playing probably 4 to 5 nights a week. After my first son was born, I continued playing in a women's premier soccer league in san francisco and was able to pick up more or less from where I had left off. But after the second child it was a lot harder to get back up to speed and keep up with all the youngsters who had just graduated from college soccer. So I came to the realization I needed to find another outlet, since I had proven what I wanted to with soccer. And since now it was extremely hard to find a sitter to get out on weeknights and weekends for games.
A friend of mine asked me last february if I wanted to do a triathlon with her and I thought, ok sure. I basically did 3 bike rides and played soccer once a week leading up to the tri. I took about four swim lessons (my swimming is still barely passable). Lets just say I got a rude awakening. I made it through but knew I had to do another one and improve upon my times. I was working with a coach up until this month. I had read a lot about EN and their philosophy and with two kids aged 3 and 1.5, it fits with my lifestyle. I can train at night when they are in bed. Or I run with my youngest son in a stroller after we drop his brother off at preschool.
In my life before kids I was a soccer coach for a women's community college team and was working towards my masters in kinesiology. I may go back and finish up once the boys are in school, but right now I'm just enjoying being home with them, even though sometimes I want to rip my hair out! ha!
Looking forward to getting faster with all of you this outseason!
Ok, Hello everyone,
I am a 48 year old, "big guy". Am married with three daughters 20, 17 and 15, a dog and two cats. Have been racing tri's since 1987, have done over 120 multi-sport events, two IM (94 & 98), and over 14 HIM's -- have never counted all the road races and was a high school and college swimmer.
Was a Peace Corps Volunteer from 84-86 in Ecuador and separated my left ACL in 85. I raced from 87-2000 without ever knowing I did not have a left ACL. Needless to say, that was not good. I have a mirco-fracture and then ACL replacement in 2001. Then had a high tibialosteotomy in 2007.
Have been coming back since then, as my middle daughter has caught the tri bug and has won her age group in th elocal tri series for the last two years.
This last year 2010 was the first year that I went back to "full time consistent" training and I have done six tri's, 4 road races, and two open water swims. I have a half marathon this Saturday in Charlotte.
As I was thinking through the next two years, I am aiming for two HIM (Charleston and Augusta -- April and Sept) so that I can test my knee for the long stuff, as I would like to do another full IM in 2012 without causing secondary complications with my knee.
Given I have been having issues since 2000 I have been good at going long and the only thing I have really pushed is the biking, the OS system within EN really appealed to me. I look forward to doing this jounrey together.
Thanks,
Paul
I"m a 38 year old Chiropractor located in Youngstown, OH (I'm about 1 hr from CLE, 1 from PIT). I have a wonderful wife and 2 kids, ages 4 and 21 months. I've been here in the haus for about 2 years now, but have 'done anything' with it yet. I had some personal and professional changes each of the past two years that have interrupted my training schedule (moved homes, opened a new office & of course my daughter's arrival). Unfortunately, I was never able to get back on track in time to feel comfortable racing. That changes this year. I'm planning on doing Muncie 70.3 in July '11, and hopefully turning around and doing a REV 3 race in Sandusky OH in Sept. Maybe mixing in a few B or C races along the way -- 5k, 10k, sprints.
I come from a swimming background, though nothing all that accomplished. Mainly age group, high school and college intramural swimming @ THE Ohio State University. My love of swimming and competing led me to triathlon in 2000. Since then, its been mainly sprints and OLYs. Ready to make the jump to HIM this year.
I have been able to combine my profession and my athletic interests in a unique way. I am a member of USA Swimming's travel medical pool, eligible to travel domestically and internationally to treat members of the US National team at various competitions. I just got back Sunday from Columbus where I took care of the team during the AT&T Short Course Nationals. Great time working with these trememdous athletes. It may be on NBC this weekend if you care to watch.
Anyway, looking forward to meeting and working with you all over the next few months. Feel free to friend me on Facebook
Andrew Schmutz
Andy
I've never been the athletic type so the past few years has been a serious change for me...but I'm enjoying every minute of it! Looking forward to meeting some of you at upcoming races.
This is great, guys. A great mix of backgrounds and experiences. Honored to be in your company. 11 checking in so far. Hopefully we get a drop by from Rich and Patrick, too. I have also requested that this group forum get the attachment function on the bottom so we can post things like pictures. Don't know why it is missing. This will be important when we decide to start posting pictures of our pain caves. Be thinking now how you will personalize it so we can experience the unique pain cave that is yours!
I am a 36 year old tax partner at PwC in New York City. I started my triathlon life in the Spring of 2009 when I was trying to raise money in honor of my mom's battle against cancer (which I am happy to say has been successful!)...yes, I did TNT. After my first race, I was hooked. I have been running for years in Central Park and along the Hudson and East Rivers but I really connected with Triathlons. When I started to think about getting ready for my third season next year, I figured it was time to get serious. But I was concerned about the massive time commitment of the local tri teams given that I often work 16 hour days, am married and have two kids. I really need a program that is flexible and allows me to train when I can fit it into my schedule. I heard about EN on Slowtwitch and, after reading up on it, thought I would give it a shot this year for longer races and faster times. With EN, a new tri bike on the way and some hard work to come over the next 6 months, I am excited for my two 70.3's in 2011 - Rev 3 at Quassy and Timberman. Maybe a Full IM is in the cards for 2012 if the one hour a day out season training works as advertised!
Larry
My name is Bo Ekkelund. I just recently joined EN and this group. I'm 35 years old and have a wife and two kids (3,5 years and 7 months)...
I did my first triathlon (Ironman Lanzarote) back in 2002, but have had a few years where injuries, family and work prevented me from training and racing. In 2009 I made the commitment and started training again. Last year, I did two IM's, I did 1 in 2010 and plan to do two in 2011.
Looking at the charts, I should be capable of a really competitive time (sub 10), but I have yet to break the 12-hour barrier..This is both due to race execution problems (hence why I joined EN) and some issues running after a long swim..
My background is in cycling, but I have only recently started using a powermeter.
I live in Denmark (where snow currently makes training outside very difficult) and work in marketing within the IT-industry.
Hey Larry - Elly (my husband in OS November) and I come to NYC 2-3 times a year - Central park is our favourite place to run in the whole world. We chose EN for the same reasons - crazy work scheds (he tours internationally and I work long hours). We are aiming for IMPL in 2012 and will volunteer there this summer to get spots.
take care
Jane
Jane, Let me know the next time you are in the City. I think I know every inch of pavement (not to mention the Bridal Path) in Central Park. Comes in handy for the NYC Tri - which has 5 of the 6 miles in the park!
It is nice to know others are in the same boat as me schedule wise! I suspect many people in EN are also in similar situations; locally, most of my friends that are into triathlons have 9-5 jobs and are always talking about going for runs at 5:30 (let's just say that they stopped asking me to join them a while ago!).
As for IMLP, it is a very popular one for people in NYC; I know at least 4 people that will volunteer there this year to get a slot (hopefully, they don't run out of slots!).
Larry
Runs at 5:30 - am, right?! I don't think I could ever get out of the office before 6 or 7...
where do you swim for the NYC tri?
where do you swim for the NYC tri?
The Hudson River...It's not that bad, as long as you don't think about the 100 years of pollution before they started to clean it up!
Was going to retire from triathlon after this season and start getting my golf game back in shape until a I got a call from my buddy who said he and three other training partners had signed up for IMLP and I "had to sign up and join them." Being on a boat in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay and having a few drinks in me I foolishly signed up. So here I am, trying to figure out how I am going to get through this thing. Hoping EN can get me to the finish line.
Looking forward to interacting with everyone throughout the journey.
Hi everyone, I'm Robert 48 years old, live here in Oak Park, IL, around the corner from Matt Sullivan also in this DecOS. Joined EN once I saw how much EN improved Matt's bike. Did IMWI in '08 followed Huddle & Frey IM start to finish, had a great day, joined EN Oct '09 followed the intermediate plan last year but had some injury problems coming out of the OS (My own stupid fault, beware the lure of light weight racing flats!). I tend to not race too much, I pick 1 or 2 races a year, this year will be IMWI again, which is great as we have 5 people from Oak Park doing the race. Looking to drop about an hour off my '08 IMWI time this coming year.
Hi everyone, I'm Nick. I live in Kaneohe, Hawaii and teach fully self contained SpEd just up the road. I'm 34, married 10 years with 3 cats and labrahorse named Mongo. Been a cyclist since I was about 12 and "raced" mountain bikes during college but when I moved to Hawaii at 30 I had really let my fitness and health go. The weather allowed me to be more active and my old body started to come back to me. I did my first tri a few days shy of one year on the island to celebrate and I was hooked. A few more sprint tri's just to be sure and I signed up for IMAZ 2009. In 2010 I did mostly longer single sport events and ended the year at Silverman. I joined EN simply because I am ready to be fast. I had a bad achilles injury 6 weeks out from IMAZ and I got hit by a minivan one month before Silverman. Needless to say, I am ready to go to IMTX in May and have a great race! Third times a charm, right?
Hello everyone! I just turned 35 and am the proud father of two kids, Lily (3) and Rory (6). Chasing them around the house is a workout in its self! Next year I will celebrate my ten year wedding anniversary with my college sweetheart Jenn. I started running in middle school and ran CC up through high school. My junior year in college I did my first marathon and have done twelve in total. In 2009 I completed my first trail ultramarathon and actually enjoyed it! I was reluctant to get into triathlons due to the swimming. I finally bit the bullet in 2007 and did my first sprint. I loved it and have been hooked since. I've completed sprints, Oly's and in 2008 I did the Steelhead 70.3. It's been a life long dream to complete an IM. For the longest time I can remember watching the Hawaii IM on tv and saying to myself I can do that. In 2011 I will be doing the Rev3 Half IM in Knoxville and IM Louisville. I look forward to training with Team EN and seeing the results of the hard work. Happy training everyone!
I started running in 2002 because one day I realized that all of my 38" waist pants no longer fit and I refused to step up to 40's. I'm 6'4" and was up to 252 pounds at the time. I eventually got down to 190 but my weight has been fluctuating between 205 - 230 for the most part of the past 8 years. I ran a bunch of 8k and 10 mile races and even a half marathon, but I always struggled with staying in shape year round. Typically I would start training for a fall race around April, have a good summer, lose some weight, get in shape, have a good race, and then sit on the couch from October to April and gain all my weight back and lose all of my fitness, and then next April the process would start all over again.
I've always been super intrigued with Ironman. I remember watching Kona on Wide World of Sports in the 80's and being glued to the TV throughout the broadcast, and I would watch it pretty much every year and always tell myself "I'm gonna do that one day". So, last December I was watching Kona like usual, and I just said, I'm gonna do this and I'm gonna start now. I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into but I went online and signed up for Louisville. Didn't even own a bike and couldn't swim one length of the pool. Over the next 9 months I trained and bought all the gear, and finished IMLOU in 15:34. My main goal was just to finish so I'm pleased with that, but I just have this feeling inside of me that I'm capable of a lot more. I was entirely self trained last year and I don't think I had a great program. I felt that if I got on a solid program that I had some additional speed in me that could be unlocked. I did some searching, stumbled on EN, and felt that the entire philosophy of what the team is all about, and how they go about doing it, aligns nicely with what I'm trying to accomplish. So here I am
My big goal is sub 13 hours at IMLOU 2011. That means shaving 2.5 hours off last years time so that's a big goal, but I think it's possible. I'm already starting the OS in a WAY better position than I was in when I started training last January.
Really looking forward to this year, and would love to get together with some SW Ohio Team EN peeps for some epic weekends.
Jason
I live about 20 miles south of Boston with my wife and two children. I started doing tri's in 2005, did my first sprint and from there I was hooked.
Since 2005 I have done several races - up to the HIM distance. Injuries and a new job slowed my training down to almost nothing from early 2008 into 2009.
Started training again last year did a sprint and had the desire to do many more races - unfortunately I committed to coaching my son's football team ( not realizing it was a 20 hr a week commitment ). This year I'm focusing on Mooseman and IMKY.
My goals for this season are to remain injury free, break 5:15 HIM, and complete IMKY.
Looking forward to this journey with all of you!!
Jason and Bill
Welcome. I am also doing Louisville so it will be great to meet you in person. Jason, we'll for sure get the SW OHIO peeps together at some point. I will likely do a practice ride down in Louisville in June so we could connect then.
Again, welcome!
hello everyone
I'm currently finishing up week 3 of the Intermediate OS program and thought it was about time that I stopped stalking and said hello!
I did my first IM in Nov this year (Arizona) and so far haven't signed up for anything in 2011 but I suspect I'll do a half in the second half of the year. While I know it's almost forbidden by EN, I will be doing my first marathon in May (well if you don't count the Marathon at the IM!) so I will be substituting the runs with the marathon hack runs starting two weeks from now.
My current Vdot is 40 and my FTP on the bike is 167.
I'm British but now live in Las Vegas with my husband and dog. We are experiencing a very cold new years eve ( I pity the tourists on the Strip tonight) with temps as low as 25 degrees (pretty cold for Vegas).
Other facts about me - in March 2010 I underwent open heart surgery to fix a multiple holes in my heart that had gone undetected for 41 years. I feel very lucky to be alive and I was determined to still compete in the Ironman - and finishing it was one of the best days of my life. I am about to publish my first book - which is about my Ironman journey, from open heart surgery to Ironman in 8 months. Here's to a less dramatic 2011!
cheers
Ellen
Hi Ellen
Great story. Congratulations to you for your perseverance and I wish you all the best as you move from surgery to IM!
Important Question: How do you have time to train when you live in Vegas? My butt would be planted at a BJ table all night, every night!