I will do my bio later, can't post pics from work. Just read through the entire thread. Phew. I'm in for January.
@Jim Hansen- rest and heal up. We want to meet you in person at IMWI. We have an entire EN Cowgirl contingency representing at that race! It's a long time until September 12, 2010- actually just under 40 weeks. I think if you lay low for another 6 weeks, you will be able to make it up over the following 34 weeks. Hope that helps with perspective. It is the reason I talked myself into sleeping in today, no exercise except the push-up challenge, I have plenty of time until IMWI!
@Al- umm, you've been swimming longer than I have been alive!! I love the respirator in Kona!
I'm in for January out season... looking forward to it! I just completed my first Ironman this past year and now I'm hooked. Unfortunately I didn't sign up for any IM races this year so I'm going to focus on a series of 70.3 races this year (St. Croix, maybe Hawaii, Vineman, Austin... planning still in progress).
A little about me... I started triathlons about a year ago with a 70.3 as part of Team in Training. After that race, I set my sights on Ironman and found EN via a web search. I liked what RnP had to say especially about the off season, power / pace and racing with a plan (of course you all know that already).
I live in Austin (great city for training) but work is 100% travel (gone Monday to Thursday) so the weekends are really my training time. The goal this year is to improve my swim so I'm not so far back when getting out of the water and of course the run to reduce the amount of walking... oh yeah, and improve my time on the bike... basically have a lot to improve.
Welcome to Rich from Austin.. yes I hear a great place to train!!! and heard great things about Team in Training too! we have several people from TX in EN....
Personal- Began my professional career as an ICU nurse, gravitating towards trauma. Did that for 12 years. Graduated with my Master's in 2002, began working as a Nurse Practitioner. We have moved a few times. These days I am part of a multi-specialty group practice. My office is in Framingham (home of the heart study) and I specialize in Occupational Health. As draining as workman's comp can be, I truly enjoy my job. I accepted the job for quality of life. Our dog died 2 1/2 years ago. She was my baby and I have not had the heart to look for a new companion. Max and I have been together for just over 9 years in total. No kids of my own yet... but I am 41...
Triathlon Start- When cable came to our tiny town in 1980, I saw Hawaii Ironman for the first time and knew that it was something I wanted to do someday. What 12 year old sees something that grueling and decides to make it a goal? My mother had enrolled all 4 kids in sports. I was the only 1 to continue beyond age 10. I continued to play soccer competitively and swim for recreation well into college. Graduated and at my first job, they had us write down 5 goals that we wanted to accomplish within 5 years. I still have that card in my desk. Compete in a triathlon is on there. It would be another 3 years, but I started doing triathlon in 1994. I was living in Salt Lake City at the time. It was insane fun. I stuck with sprints and Olys. Back then, the races were tiny. I often placed in the race. Dumb luck. When I returned east in 1999, I was amazed at the number of competitors at a race. I had been accustomed to deciding the day before that I would do a race. Now I actually had to PLAN. Time away from the sport during school and moving. Moved up to HIM distance in 2004.
How I found EN- Local tri club trying to start up. At first meeting, Linda Patch talked about EN. Until then I had been reading everything I could find, but couldn't afford a coach. When the club didn't offer the support I needed to improve, I looked into EN. I joined, put my faith in their methods, and I was not disappointed.
Triathlon Now With EN- Completed my 2nd race season and am starting my 2nd OS. Have done a half dozen HIM, getting better every outing, and 1 iron distance. A local independent race, not IM brand.
This year I am part of the EN Cowgirl contingency representing at IMMoo. I am also in the power clinic, so my workouts won't exactly match yours on the bike.
It is great that so many of you are planning on IMWI this fall. That accounts for 2 of my 3 IM races and I hope to be up there to cheer this fall. It is a fantastic event and crowd support is some of the best you'll find. If any of you have any questions I'd be glad to share my experiences there.
So here are some pics for you guys and my bio. The fact that I can do this at 9am Christmas morning tells you something. The kids are older now so early for them is 10:30!
Personal
I am married and have three sons and a daughter. My wife, Deb, is super supportive of my emphasis on fitness and triathlon. We celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary next February and plan to do something cool like bicycle tour in Italy. In season, she will come out a few times a year and do a sprint duathlon when I do an Olympic tri. Of course, she usually medals and I am firmly entrenched in 4th - 7th. She calls it "coming out to play with me." How awesome is that! Here we are at the Portages Lakes, OH Tri/Du in September.
Here is the family on our summer vacation at the UT/AZ national parks. Left to right - Aimee, Eric, Deb, Mark, and Brian. Personalities all!
Professional
I am the finance manager at Procter & Gamble's corporate new business development group called Future Works. I came to P&G 19 years ago from the MBA program at Indiana University. My family is from out west - Utah, Idaho, Nevada but I went to college in the Midwest and ended up in Cincinnati for the job opportunity. There is a certain beauty to the rolling hills of Butler county, OH that I am privileged to ride. I oftem ride up to Oxford, OH, home of Miami University, OH, a quirky college town friendly to cyclists.
Triathlon
I swam a year in high school and ran cross country a year and played some soccer. Always wanted to do tri. In fact, I bought a Trek 360, cro-moly frame "tri bike" in 1986 to do tri but family and education got in the way. It is still the bike that I use im my pain cave! Until ~2000 I was fit (jog/run 3x/week) but working my way to 196 on a 5'8" frame thanks to lots of rice, potatoes, and pasta. I got sciatica in my right leg in 2000. About the same time a work colleague challenged me to lose weight via Dr. Barry Sears' the Zone and to train for a marathon. I lost 40 lbs. and did the Columbus Marathon in '02. Never looked back! I switched to tri in 2003 to avoid so much running! 2003-06 was sprints. 2007 I moved up to Olympic. 2008 I did two HIMs. 2009 I cut back to heal up some knee issues. Here is my finishing pic of the 2008 Muncie Endurathon.
Goals/EN
I found RnP and Endurance Nation from the Active.com articles this fall. I lurked around the free stuff, tried the OS sessions and was hooked. Spousal Approval Units, ROI, Work Works. It all made a tone of sense to me. Of course joining team is mostly about you guys, so I look forward to building relationship with you and hope to see some of you at my target race - Ironman Louisville or my HIM race, Muncie Endurathon. It will be my first IM so I should be happy to finish but 13 hours or less would be awesome!
Hi, I'm new to EN and new to the January OS team. here's my bio (not sure if this is the right place to post, but since I'm introducing myself...)
I bought the OS plan and the long course plan a while back (and started the OS plan). A good friend and fellow DC Tri Clubber encouraged me to join the team (she's been an EM member a few years now) and after mulling it over I decided to go for it (since I got in with a discount for buying the plans). So the coaches took a look at my schedule and told me to get started in January. Since I haven't been altogether on the mark with T'giving, holiday parties, and travel I'm happy to start over (and happier that I never got to the 2x20's on the bike).
As for my bio: I've been marathoning since 6/07 and caught the bug. I did 5 in 19 months... I had to scratch my 6th this past October because of an ACJ sprain. I started dabbling in tris the summer of 08 - doing 1 sprint to warm up for an OLY in August. Caught that bug, too... this past year is what I consider my first year. I did 1 spring, 2 OLY and a HIM. I love it... and have a more intense schedule set for myself next season (3 OLYs, 2 HIMs and capping off with IMFL in November).
In late August I was riding with a group and hit a storm drain and went flying over my aero bars... landing on my shoulder and my face. Amazingly I didn't break anything or lose teeth...but I sprained my ACJ. Wow, I had no idea how importing a shoulder can be. I had to scratch my fall marathon and my last OLY of the season. I ended up taking about 8-10 weeks off altogether and have been running and biking (able to stay in aero for decent stretches at a time)... happy to be back at it. I got into the pool for the first time since August yesterday. it was okay and I wasn't gasping for air on the wall at every turn... I've enjoyed my forced off season a little too much and am about 10 pounds up from my race weight... hopefully the New Year and the new team will help (fingers crossed it comes off as easily as it came on).
An IM was never on my list until the injury... I never ruled it out but I figured it wasn't a pressing need. But the injury really did change my perspective (or knock a few screws loose) - I'd rather do it now while I can than let the time slip away and kick myself for never having done it while I had the chance. Granted, I hope to be doing this for years (and years) to come.
I live in Northern Virginia. I run with Potomac Runners and DSG when my schedule permits. I train a lot with the DC Tri Club.
I think that's about it. Oh, and when I returned from Panama City (after volunteering and registering for 2010), my boyfriend got me Trizophrenia -- a super cute book about the minds of a triathlete. I highly recommend it for you all!
take care, and happy training!!! I'm looking forward to training with you all.
Welcome Becky!! glad to have another cool chick on board!! wow on the injury, sounds bad but I guess the wreck coulda been worse.... long time ago, husband was stationed at Ft Belvoir and we enjoyed a short stint in the DC area. I loved the history and we visited all local historic points of interest!! anyway good memories up there but NOT of the cheesy, cheap apartment infested with roaches that us newlyweds could afford!! glad to have you on board.
i' ve enjoyed seeing the pain caves and the bios. very cool.
my A race is IMAZ 2010. the goal is always to finish in one piece, but next year i want to try to go as fast as possible. i started triathlon in 2004 and since completed IMs Arizona x 3, Lanzarote, and Nice,France. i joined EN when it was crucible fitness with only Rich (i.e. no good cop coach P yet). my reason for joining was to get fast and smart in terms of racing properly.
my strength is running. my weakness is swimming and i am ok on the bike. this outseason i want to drop weight to near 150lbs from ~166lbs. i want to improve flexibility for swimming and a better bike position with yoga (got a dvd and a mat!). of course, i also want to get faster in all three disciplines.
as of november 2009: swim = 1hr 25min; bike = 265FT; run = vdot 53.
i live in southern california (south pasadena). i have an M.D., but not licensed yet. currently working on finishing up a ph.d at caltech, researching gene networks regulating denervation response in skeletal muscle. my trajectory is orthopaedic surgery with specialization in oncology and denervation injury (i.e. i need to race now while in still can!).
i will try to race wildflower 70.3 this year, since the timing works out well with our 20 week OS january start! anyone with me? i also race the LA triathlon every year as part of co-ed relay team. we have a third place, and 2 second places over the last three years, which is always fun.
that's about it for me. happy holidays!
GH
P.S. when i figure out how to attach pics, i will do so.
Gilberto, if you are working on your PHD you can figure out pics.... ,
okay so you see this little mt. icon on far right?, if you did the reply to topic and NOT quick reply..... so you hit the mt icon and up will pop another smaller screen and then you copy and paste the URL of the pic, press okay and voila a pic will appear. Now I use smug mug and upload pics from my camera, to my computer, crop them and move into smugmug (an online service) and THEN I get the URL and post here. Other peeps use diff stuff but I am not a gadget girl, nor do I have a "trajectory" for anything medical... so now you have your challenge before Jan 1st!!
i want to improve flexibility for swimming and a better bike position with yoga (got a dvd and a mat!). of course, i also want to get faster in all three disciplines.
GH
Hey! WHich yoga DVD do you have? Is it any good? I need to work on strength & flexibility too.
Thanks AL. I hope you MDs have a sense of humor, cuz you know I was just teasing you Gilberto!!! but great that we have good options for uploading pics and hopefully the rest of you will join the pic posting team of January OS. Nice pic btw AL. Yeah I order pics from smugmug too and use it as a "backup" from pics on HD! and while we are on the subject, I own a small Olympus Stylus 850 SW camera, now about a year old that also takes video.. so if you don't have one, and have some $$ leftover, I highly recommend it, cuz it fits nicely in a jersey pocket or running jacket pocket or other and good quality pics. I pretty much always have it in my car cuz you just never know when you will see a beautiful view... like this one right before I ran today!! I am on day 2 of run challenge and it is going well. still in PT for piriformis and it is a dull ache but tolerable! I think I read somewhere than new plans are up.. and haven't checked yet and also FYI the core workous that Leigh posted also very good and haven't looked at them yet (holiday business!) but I think in the main menu part..you know where you check in. what am I trying to say? you know.... Have a great day and just one more week of transition/recovery! while some of you have been preparing your pain cave, my husband bought me more cold weather gear! so I think (hope) that I am more set as my feet and fingers were freezing and made it mentally fatiguing thinking about it!! but today after taking almost 25' to get dressed in layers, I was able to ride!! so my "pain cave" is pictured below as I ride along the Rivertrail!! m
Haven't gotten any confirmation yet from RandP about joining Jan. OS, but I will definitely be lurking at a minimum. Life got in the way and I bailed on November OS and haven't done squat since the first week of December so I guess Geoff and I should hang out and suffer together here in NorCal. I will only be in this group for the first month and then I bail out and jump into IM Plan for IM St. George that is on May 1st.
As far as street cred . . . . those who know me no explanation is needed. For those who don't know me no explanation is available. I am simply here to gain mojo and to be your athletic supporter.
Posted By Geoff Wieczynski on 26 Dec 2009 03:05 PM
i want to improve flexibility for swimming and a better bike position with yoga (got a dvd and a mat!). of course, i also want to get faster in all three disciplines.
GH
Hey! WHich yoga DVD do you have? Is it any good? I need to work on strength & flexibility too.
Thanks Al & Marianne for the downloading photos advice! I understand the Al method. The Marianne URL method sounds like you need to be from JPL (jet propulsion laboratory-caltech) to work it.
i got my yoga dvd from REI, it's called "Yoga for Athletes". i like it because you can choose the level and time. i focus on hips, legs and shoulders each time. i'm already feeling the difference, which is cool. can also be found at www. bodywisdommedia.com
i don't have a classical pain cave, since i am in california and i can always be outside, but i think my yoga set up qualifies because yoga is super hard! pictures coming soon via the Al, M.D., method.
John I got a little email saying the coaches were on holiday vacay..... so could be why you haven't received notification, it takes a few days cuz I did the same thing.. didn't realize you were slacking in December!! now if you join the Jan OS, you are gonna have to run in the rain dude, no Danville housewife treadmill action for you!!! if there is lightning then you are off the hook. or ICE on the road
but you can bet we will have fun. Gilberto.... I love the JPL and if you knew me you would know I only know the simple ways of doing anything technical! but I like the AL MD method of uploading pics. so after you upload pics we will teach you to do some youtubes too! yep you have been a member for years and now it is time to stop lurking and show us California!! m
It seems as if we have a great mix of personalities in our group. The variety will be fun.
A little about myself:
I grew up in northern New Jersey, high school swimming and cross country. Started triathlons while in med school, and with a brief break during Internship, I've been a relatively competitiive AG'er for the past 28 years. Even earned USA Triathlon All-American ranking a few times, however, unable to crack the Ironman code. I've been pretty busy over the past couple of years with four new stepkids and a career as faculty in Internal Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, where I've been for 18 years. With my son, my poor wife has to put up with my Ironman training while managing a house full of teens (ages 18, 17, 16, 14, and 13). SAU's (Spousal Approval Units) are very important here!
Houston is flat and hot, and at 195lbs, hills really slow me down. I have trained exclusively for Ironman and Half-Ironman for the past five years, and have some experience with other coaches who emphasize lots of steady volume. I've completed five Ironman races, all on hilly terrain and slower than I would like. I found Coach Rich's Crucible fitness training a few years back, and noticed the intensity of the bike training. I have learned to execute well over the years, but have peaked out my performance at my level of training volume. As a 50 year-old, my consistency has suffered due to some some recurrent injuries, and my strength and speed have been dropping (it's painful to watch, guys). My goals this year include some short course racing early in the season, a couple of hilly 70.3's (Lubbock and Flagstaff), and a pancake flat Ironman PR at Florida in November. I am ready for a change, and I think EN IS IT.
My nephew and son both volunteered at Ironman Lake Placid in 2002. They were so into it that one is now a nationally-ranked distance runner and the other a state level highschool swimmer. I've got some great training partners. My wife likes to sleep late on weekends, so I ride early enough to reach 80 miles before the August south Texas sun and humidity brings the heat index over 100 degrees. (I will try not to mention the sunny 70 degree days in January lest there be payback). below are some pics. My wife is smiling because SAU's required that I paddle a canoe for ten miles the day after Vineman. The kids are fun, 'nuph said. On Christmas day, my nephew pulled me up (and down) a Sabino Canyon in Arizona. I'm really for January OS... rebel yell!
Haven't gotten any confirmation yet from RandP about joining Jan. OS, but I will definitely be lurking at a minimum. Life got in the way and I bailed on November OS and haven't done squat since the first week of December so I guess Geoff and I should hang out and suffer together here in NorCal. I will only be in this group for the first month and then I bail out and jump into IM Plan for IM St. George that is on May 1st.
As far as street cred . . . . those who know me no explanation is needed. For those who don't know me no explanation is available. I am simply here to gain mojo and to be your athletic supporter.
Looking forward to it.
John (aka Marrianne and Nemo groupie)
For those of you that don't know John, we're remarkably fortunate to have him be part of the JOS.
He's a strong, motivated athlete as well as a good-natured cheerleader without peer.
Thanks, Bill. Does JOS stand for John'sOut Season?
1- I just looked at my post and I came off a little cocky. Didn't mean to. Was just in a mood when I wrote it. Glad to be in here with you guys.
2 - Marrianne, loved the Danville housewife comment, I think.
3 - For those that don't know, Bill and I rented a house together this year at IM Coeur d'Alene. We were in the same EN IM CdA group and he flew in from the far east in Martha's Vineyard and me from the west coast 40 minutes from San Francisco. We had a great time together sitting on the porch chatting while Bill downloaded apps to his iPhone and he would play the games and laugh like a kid on Christmas morning. On race day there were many times I would here "STAAARRRK" and I would look up and see Bill smiling telling me he was going to run me down! He almost did! If it was a 50k run he would have. He was my "stick" and I guess I was his "carrot." I will never forget that week.
4 - About me - Joined EN and been fully engaged since 10/2008, 2nd OS, 2x IM finisher, 15 or so HIM finishes, ultrarunner (50k and 50 milers - Plans for 100 miler in 2012 or 2013), mid-pack age-grouper, stay-at-home-dad, small biz owner, Cub Scout Leader, love to tinker with tech and an amateur photographer.
Some pics below including a great shot of Bill.
Later,
John
Me, my wife and my son Nolan. I am a Cub Scout Den Leader and Pack Webmaster. FYI - EN NorCal Sleeper Cell member Tom Glynn is in the black shirt behind my wife.
The fam at Lake Tahoe.
EN finish!
Bill Russell with his speed machine at IM CdA this year!
" />Background 4x IM Finisher, 3 Half IMs, 10 marathons, I did my first triathlon in 2002. 2009 was a pretty solid year, I bought a power meter and learned how to use it. In the process of learning how to use it, I found EN. I've been coached for the past two years but had my biggest gains when I took ownership and stopped blindly following.
" />
Goals for 2010 I'm doing Kansas 70.3 and IMLOU for my big races. I'll add some other races in there as well to keep things interesting. FTP when last tested was 270 I'd like to get that around 315. Last year I took a serious look at body composition and went from about 195 to 172 lbs. I'm 6'2 so roughly the size of Coach P. My last vDot was 56. I'd like to see at least 58.
Personal I live in rural Iowa with my wife Brittany and two dogs on an acreage in the country. By day I'm a full time firefighter and moonlight on my days off as a paramedic at a couple of part time jobs. During the winter I log a lot of hours at work 80 to 90 hr weeks are the average so the OS works great for me. I'm going to Tucson to do some epic training in March. Trying to book another vacation to somewhere warm in Feb/March.
Greetings everyone. I too will be joining the fun come monday. I haven't really been on a bike since mid August. Did some cyclocross over the fall but that doesn't count. My fall was spent running prepping for the dallas marathon. Since then a few weeks ago the only exercise I have gotten has been lifting my right arm to gently place another cookie in my mouth.
So literally monday I will be testing with no warm up or prep. No idea what my vdot is, what my ftp is or anything. To add insult to injury I am going to be switching up my power meters (again) to a quarq. So who knows my wattage may be through the roof or may be in the cellar (to keep the haus metaphor going).
Been training with EN since I guess both my start in the sport and the combo of RnP skills. Married to Leigh. I am also watching her get much much much faster this year and worry that my time post finish to wait for her may become the opposite. So I really need to actually get my butt in gear.
A race this year is Wisconsin. Will be my third IM (Florida 08, Placid 09). Had a disastrous year for me for whatever reason. Crashed pretty bad in June doing a race rehearsal in the rain. Training for dallas I tripped and face planted reopening my hand wounds and giving me a few new facial scars. So this year I am hoping to be injury free in terms of non-leg damage
I am a computer geek by day. Work at a company that provides e-commerce services for major brands online. So just coming off our peak season (the holidays) and trying to recoup from that as well. My only other real hobby is car racing.
Goals? Really want to be consistent this year. Last year (09) was just not right for some reason. Don't know why, just never got my mojo going and when some hurdles got in the way it was really easy to point at them as the reason for a really bad race. So really want to get back into the groove of hitting the workouts and feeling good about it. My run has been great recently and that really gave me some confidence that I still have it. Also want to be able to keep up with some of the others at ToC this year (not Halligan of course, I am mortal). I feel good about my run, but know that my run will come back to earth as the bike increases.
my boyfriend got me Trizophrenia -- a super cute book about the minds of a triathlete. I highly recommend it for you all!
Too funny Becky! I got the same book for my girlfriend! Her birthday was the 9th and she's been loving the book. Can't wait for my turn to read it. [script removed]
hey also a member of the "John Stark fan club"! background i was just teasin him about running on the treadmill instead of in the rain!! happy you are here with us in JAN OS.....didn't think you sounded cocky at all!!
welcome also other new members to the clan... now I can't see everybody's posts but liked all the pics!! and some great goals out there! and yes Dave I remember all of the mishaps but sounded like Dallas really capped the whole year off with a BQ!!
also I had this thought: when we officially start... let us all use the full words on the acronyms to include all new and old ENers... so like , "I rode on Saturday and due to the cold it was ABP (always be pushing)" so that we don't lose anybody with all of the ENisms..... especially since a lot of those meanings are in 3.0 .....and then as we move along, we can all learn or relearn and then not be ???? when we see a new word.. also want to encourage peeps on just asking the ?? no matter how trivial or silly it sounds...
OTOH (on the other hand), we have a lot of great podcasts, ebooks and the like that if you have the time, we need to listen to, one of my personal goals too!
I was thinking it started 1 Jan but it is really 4 January... so a bit more time for transition! have a great Monday!!! one week left. m
also I had this thought: when we officially start... let us all use the full words on the acronyms to include all new and old ENers... so like , "I rode on Saturday and due to the cold it was ABP (always be pushing)" so that we don't lose anybody with all of the ENisms..... especially since a lot of those meanings are in 3.0 .....and then as we move along, we can all learn or relearn and then not be ???? when we see a new word.. also want to encourage peeps on just asking the ?? no matter how trivial or silly it sounds...
i was getting my bike ready for the outseason start and i can't find my ergomo monitor! i haven't ridden since IMAZ, so never noticed it missing.
sucks.
the only good thing was i did run for the first time since IMAZ yesterday. 2 x 1 mile on the track. felt a bit winded at the last lap of each mile, but otherwise ok.
Comments
I will do my bio later, can't post pics from work. Just read through the entire thread. Phew. I'm in for January.
@Jim Hansen- rest and heal up. We want to meet you in person at IMWI. We have an entire EN Cowgirl contingency representing at that race! It's a long time until September 12, 2010- actually just under 40 weeks. I think if you lay low for another 6 weeks, you will be able to make it up over the following 34 weeks. Hope that helps with perspective. It is the reason I talked myself into sleeping in today, no exercise except the push-up challenge, I have plenty of time until IMWI!
@Al- umm, you've been swimming longer than I have been alive!!
I love the respirator in Kona!
We are gonna rock!!
A little about me... I started triathlons about a year ago with a 70.3 as part of Team in Training. After that race, I set my sights on Ironman and found EN via a web search. I liked what RnP had to say especially about the off season, power / pace and racing with a plan (of course you all know that already).
I live in Austin (great city for training) but work is 100% travel (gone Monday to Thursday) so the weekends are really my training time. The goal this year is to improve my swim so I'm not so far back when getting out of the water and of course the run to reduce the amount of walking... oh yeah, and improve my time on the bike... basically have a lot to improve.
Rich
Welcome to Rich from Austin.. yes I hear a great place to train!!! and heard great things about Team in Training too!
we have several people from TX in EN....
So my bio...
Personal- Began my professional career as an ICU nurse, gravitating towards trauma. Did that for 12 years. Graduated with my Master's in 2002, began working as a Nurse Practitioner. We have moved a few times. These days I am part of a multi-specialty group practice. My office is in Framingham (home of the heart study) and I specialize in Occupational Health. As draining as workman's comp can be, I truly enjoy my job. I accepted the job for quality of life. Our dog died 2 1/2 years ago. She was my baby and I have not had the heart to look for a new companion. Max and I have been together for just over 9 years in total. No kids of my own yet... but I am 41...
Triathlon Start- When cable came to our tiny town in 1980, I saw Hawaii Ironman for the first time and knew that it was something I wanted to do someday. What 12 year old sees something that grueling and decides to make it a goal? My mother had enrolled all 4 kids in sports. I was the only 1 to continue beyond age 10. I continued to play soccer competitively and swim for recreation well into college. Graduated and at my first job, they had us write down 5 goals that we wanted to accomplish within 5 years. I still have that card in my desk. Compete in a triathlon is on there. It would be another 3 years, but I started doing triathlon in 1994. I was living in Salt Lake City at the time. It was insane fun. I stuck with sprints and Olys. Back then, the races were tiny. I often placed in the race. Dumb luck. When I returned east in 1999, I was amazed at the number of competitors at a race. I had been accustomed to deciding the day before that I would do a race. Now I actually had to PLAN. Time away from the sport during school and moving. Moved up to HIM distance in 2004.
How I found EN- Local tri club trying to start up. At first meeting, Linda Patch talked about EN. Until then I had been reading everything I could find, but couldn't afford a coach. When the club didn't offer the support I needed to improve, I looked into EN. I joined, put my faith in their methods, and I was not disappointed.
Triathlon Now With EN- Completed my 2nd race season and am starting my 2nd OS. Have done a half dozen HIM, getting better every outing, and 1 iron distance. A local independent race, not IM brand.
This year I am part of the EN Cowgirl contingency representing at IMMoo. I am also in the power clinic, so my workouts won't exactly match yours on the bike.
Jan OS gang
So here are some pics for you guys and my bio. The fact that I can do this at 9am Christmas morning tells you something. The kids are older now so early for them is 10:30!
Personal
I am married and have three sons and a daughter. My wife, Deb, is super supportive of my emphasis on fitness and triathlon. We celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary next February and plan to do something cool like bicycle tour in Italy. In season, she will come out a few times a year and do a sprint duathlon when I do an Olympic tri. Of course, she usually medals and I am firmly entrenched in 4th - 7th. She calls it "coming out to play with me." How awesome is that! Here we are at the Portages Lakes, OH Tri/Du in September.
Here is the family on our summer vacation at the UT/AZ national parks. Left to right - Aimee, Eric, Deb, Mark, and Brian. Personalities all!
Professional
I am the finance manager at Procter & Gamble's corporate new business development group called Future Works. I came to P&G 19 years ago from the MBA program at Indiana University. My family is from out west - Utah, Idaho, Nevada but I went to college in the Midwest and ended up in Cincinnati for the job opportunity. There is a certain beauty to the rolling hills of Butler county, OH that I am privileged to ride. I oftem ride up to Oxford, OH, home of Miami University, OH, a quirky college town friendly to cyclists.
Triathlon
I swam a year in high school and ran cross country a year and played some soccer. Always wanted to do tri. In fact, I bought a Trek 360, cro-moly frame "tri bike" in 1986 to do tri but family and education got in the way. It is still the bike that I use im my pain cave! Until ~2000 I was fit (jog/run 3x/week) but working my way to 196 on a 5'8" frame thanks to lots of rice, potatoes, and pasta. I got sciatica in my right leg in 2000. About the same time a work colleague challenged me to lose weight via Dr. Barry Sears' the Zone and to train for a marathon. I lost 40 lbs. and did the Columbus Marathon in '02. Never looked back! I switched to tri in 2003 to avoid so much running! 2003-06 was sprints. 2007 I moved up to Olympic. 2008 I did two HIMs. 2009 I cut back to heal up some knee issues. Here is my finishing pic of the 2008 Muncie Endurathon.
Goals/EN
I found RnP and Endurance Nation from the Active.com articles this fall. I lurked around the free stuff, tried the OS sessions and was hooked. Spousal Approval Units, ROI, Work Works. It all made a tone of sense to me. Of course joining team is mostly about you guys, so I look forward to building relationship with you and hope to see some of you at my target race - Ironman Louisville or my HIM race, Muncie Endurathon. It will be my first IM so I should be happy to finish but 13 hours or less would be awesome!
Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Year!
Scott
Hi, I'm new to EN and new to the January OS team. here's my bio (not sure if this is the right place to post, but since I'm introducing myself...)
I bought the OS plan and the long course plan a while back (and started the OS plan). A good friend and fellow DC Tri Clubber encouraged me to join the team (she's been an EM member a few years now) and after mulling it over I decided to go for it (since I got in with a discount for buying the plans). So the coaches took a look at my schedule and told me to get started in January. Since I haven't been altogether on the mark with T'giving, holiday parties, and travel I'm happy to start over (and happier that I never got to the 2x20's on the bike).
As for my bio: I've been marathoning since 6/07 and caught the bug. I did 5 in 19 months... I had to scratch my 6th this past October because of an ACJ sprain. I started dabbling in tris the summer of 08 - doing 1 sprint to warm up for an OLY in August. Caught that bug, too... this past year is what I consider my first year. I did 1 spring, 2 OLY and a HIM. I love it... and have a more intense schedule set for myself next season (3 OLYs, 2 HIMs and capping off with IMFL in November).
In late August I was riding with a group and hit a storm drain and went flying over my aero bars... landing on my shoulder and my face. Amazingly I didn't break anything or lose teeth...but I sprained my ACJ. Wow, I had no idea how importing a shoulder can be. I had to scratch my fall marathon and my last OLY of the season. I ended up taking about 8-10 weeks off altogether and have been running and biking (able to stay in aero for decent stretches at a time)... happy to be back at it. I got into the pool for the first time since August yesterday. it was okay and I wasn't gasping for air on the wall at every turn... I've enjoyed my forced off season a little too much and am about 10 pounds up from my race weight... hopefully the New Year and the new team will help (fingers crossed it comes off as easily as it came on).
An IM was never on my list until the injury... I never ruled it out but I figured it wasn't a pressing need. But the injury really did change my perspective (or knock a few screws loose) - I'd rather do it now while I can than let the time slip away and kick myself for never having done it while I had the chance. Granted, I hope to be doing this for years (and years) to come.
I live in Northern Virginia. I run with Potomac Runners and DSG when my schedule permits. I train a lot with the DC Tri Club.
I think that's about it. Oh, and when I returned from Panama City (after volunteering and registering for 2010), my boyfriend got me Trizophrenia -- a super cute book about the minds of a triathlete. I highly recommend it for you all!
take care, and happy training!!! I'm looking forward to training with you all.
-Becky Hirselj
nice family pics Scott! I like the vacation one.
hello jan os group,
i' ve enjoyed seeing the pain caves and the bios. very cool.
my A race is IMAZ 2010. the goal is always to finish in one piece, but next year i want to try to go as fast as possible. i started triathlon in 2004 and since completed IMs Arizona x 3, Lanzarote, and Nice,France. i joined EN when it was crucible fitness with only Rich (i.e. no good cop coach P yet). my reason for joining was to get fast and smart in terms of racing properly.
my strength is running. my weakness is swimming and i am ok on the bike. this outseason i want to drop weight to near 150lbs from ~166lbs. i want to improve flexibility for swimming and a better bike position with yoga (got a dvd and a mat!). of course, i also want to get faster in all three disciplines.
as of november 2009: swim = 1hr 25min; bike = 265FT; run = vdot 53.
i live in southern california (south pasadena). i have an M.D., but not licensed yet. currently working on finishing up a ph.d at caltech, researching gene networks regulating denervation response in skeletal muscle. my trajectory is orthopaedic surgery with specialization in oncology and denervation injury (i.e. i need to race now while in still can!).
i will try to race wildflower 70.3 this year, since the timing works out well with our 20 week OS january start! anyone with me? i also race the LA triathlon every year as part of co-ed relay team. we have a third place, and 2 second places over the last three years, which is always fun.
that's about it for me. happy holidays!
GH
P.S. when i figure out how to attach pics, i will do so.
Gilberto, if you are working on your PHD you can figure out pics....
, 
okay so you see this little mt. icon on far right?, if you did the reply to topic and NOT quick reply..... so you hit the mt icon and up will pop another smaller screen and then you copy and paste the URL of the pic, press okay and voila a pic will appear. Now I use smug mug and upload pics from my camera, to my computer, crop them and move into smugmug (an online service) and THEN I get the URL and post here. Other peeps use diff stuff but I am not a gadget girl, nor do I have a "trajectory" for anything medical...
so now you have your challenge before Jan 1st!!
glad to have you on board and nice VDOT!! m
Alternative method if you don't want to/can't upload your pics to an online service like flickr (this is the "easy" method for those of us with MDs):
1. Down below the reply box (not the Quick Reply one), there are two pop down boxes: Attachments and Topic Review.
2. Select "Attachments"
3. Click on "Browse..." button.
4. Select a picture from your hard drive or other source connected to your computer.
5. Select "Upload" (to the right ot Browse button)
6. More choices appear; select "Insert".
Advantage: these are stored on same server as this forum, and you can then select "My Files" to add the same pic to another post.
I went to school at Athens at Ohio University. Small world.
Hey! WHich yoga DVD do you have? Is it any good? I need to work on strength & flexibility too.
Thanks AL. I hope you MDs have a sense of humor, cuz you know I was just teasing you Gilberto!!! but great that we have good options for uploading pics and hopefully the rest of you will join the pic posting team of January OS. Nice pic btw AL. Yeah I order pics from smugmug too and use it as a "backup" from pics on HD! and while we are on the subject, I own a small Olympus Stylus 850 SW camera, now about a year old that also takes video.. so if you don't have one, and have some $$ leftover, I highly recommend it, cuz it fits nicely in a jersey pocket or running jacket pocket or other and good quality pics. I pretty much always have it in my car cuz you just never know when you will see a beautiful view... like this one right before I ran today!! I am on day 2 of run challenge and it is going well. still in PT for piriformis and it is a dull ache but tolerable! I think I read somewhere than new plans are up.. and haven't checked yet and also FYI the core workous that Leigh posted also very good and haven't looked at them yet (holiday business!) but I think in the main menu part..you know where you check in. what am I trying to say? you know....
Have a great day and just one more week of transition/recovery! while some of you have been preparing your pain cave, my husband bought me more cold weather gear! so I think (hope) that I am more set as my feet and fingers were freezing and made it mentally fatiguing thinking about it!! but today after taking almost 25' to get dressed in layers, I was able to ride!! 
so my "pain cave" is pictured below as I ride along the Rivertrail!! m
Haven't gotten any confirmation yet from RandP about joining Jan. OS, but I will definitely be lurking at a minimum. Life got in the way and I bailed on November OS and haven't done squat since the first week of December so I guess Geoff and I should hang out and suffer together here in NorCal.
I will only be in this group for the first month and then I bail out and jump into IM Plan for IM St. George that is on May 1st.
As far as street cred . . . . those who know me no explanation is needed. For those who don't know me no explanation is available. I am simply here to gain mojo and to be your athletic supporter.
Looking forward to it.
John (aka Marrianne and Nemo groupie)
I have been using
Firehouse Yoga. I just have DVD #3 and it has been great.
i got my yoga dvd from REI, it's called "Yoga for Athletes". i like it because you can choose the level and time. i focus on hips, legs and shoulders each time. i'm already feeling the difference, which is cool. can also be found at www. bodywisdommedia.com
i don't have a classical pain cave, since i am in california and i can always be outside, but i think my yoga set up qualifies because yoga is super hard! pictures coming soon via the Al, M.D., method.
GH
x2 on the flexible warrior 3rd DVD, good stuff. In my previous life I was coached by the same coach as Tom.
John I got a little email saying the coaches were on holiday vacay..... so could be why you haven't received notification, it takes a few days cuz I did the same thing.. didn't realize you were slacking in December!! now if you join the Jan OS, you are gonna have to run in the rain dude, no Danville housewife treadmill action for you!!!
if there is lightning then you are off the hook. or ICE on the road
but you can bet we will have fun. Gilberto.... I love the JPL and if you knew me you would know I only know the simple ways of doing anything technical! but I like the AL MD method of uploading pics. so after you upload pics we will teach you to do some youtubes too!
yep you have been a member for years and now it is time to stop lurking and show us California!! 
m
Hi Jan OS Group-
It seems as if we have a great mix of personalities in our group. The variety will be fun.
A little about myself:
I grew up in northern New Jersey, high school swimming and cross country. Started triathlons while in med school, and with a brief break during Internship, I've been a relatively competitiive AG'er for the past 28 years. Even earned USA Triathlon All-American ranking a few times, however, unable to crack the Ironman code. I've been pretty busy over the past couple of years with four new stepkids and a career as faculty in Internal Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, where I've been for 18 years. With my son, my poor wife has to put up with my Ironman training while managing a house full of teens (ages 18, 17, 16, 14, and 13). SAU's (Spousal Approval Units) are very important here!
Houston is flat and hot, and at 195lbs, hills really slow me down. I have trained exclusively for Ironman and Half-Ironman for the past five years, and have some experience with other coaches who emphasize lots of steady volume. I've completed five Ironman races, all on hilly terrain and slower than I would like. I found Coach Rich's Crucible fitness training a few years back, and noticed the intensity of the bike training. I have learned to execute well over the years, but have peaked out my performance at my level of training volume. As a 50 year-old, my consistency has suffered due to some some recurrent injuries, and my strength and speed have been dropping (it's painful to watch, guys). My goals this year include some short course racing early in the season, a couple of hilly 70.3's (Lubbock and Flagstaff), and a pancake flat Ironman PR at Florida in November. I am ready for a change, and I think EN IS IT.
My nephew and son both volunteered at Ironman Lake Placid in 2002. They were so into it that one is now a nationally-ranked distance runner and the other a state level highschool swimmer. I've got some great training partners. My wife likes to sleep late on weekends, so I ride early enough to reach 80 miles before the August south Texas sun and humidity brings the heat index over 100 degrees. (I will try not to mention the sunny 70 degree days in January lest there be payback). below are some pics. My wife is smiling because SAU's required that I paddle a canoe for ten miles the day after Vineman. The kids are fun, 'nuph said. On Christmas day, my nephew pulled me up (and down) a Sabino Canyon in Arizona. I'm really for January OS... rebel yell!
For those of you that don't know John, we're remarkably fortunate to have him be part of the JOS.
He's a strong, motivated athlete as well as a good-natured cheerleader without peer.
Hooray!
Bill (aka #1 member of the John Stark Fan Club)
Ditto!!!
John C- Welcome aboard! I just love all the pics of your family- looks like you have a great crew there!
Thanks, Bill. Does JOS stand for John's Out Season?
1- I just looked at my post and I came off a little cocky. Didn't mean to. Was just in a mood when I wrote it. Glad to be in here with you guys.
2 - Marrianne, loved the Danville housewife comment, I think.
3 - For those that don't know, Bill and I rented a house together this year at IM Coeur d'Alene. We were in the same EN IM CdA group and he flew in from the far east in Martha's Vineyard and me from the west coast 40 minutes from San Francisco. We had a great time together sitting on the porch chatting while Bill downloaded apps to his iPhone and he would play the games and laugh like a kid on Christmas morning.
On race day there were many times I would here "STAAARRRK" and I would look up and see Bill smiling telling me he was going to run me down! He almost did! If it was a 50k run he would have. He was my "stick" and I guess I was his "carrot." I will never forget that week.
4 - About me - Joined EN and been fully engaged since 10/2008, 2nd OS, 2x IM finisher, 15 or so HIM finishes, ultrarunner (50k and 50 milers - Plans for 100 miler in 2012 or 2013), mid-pack age-grouper, stay-at-home-dad, small biz owner, Cub Scout Leader, love to tinker with tech and an amateur photographer.
Some pics below including a great shot of Bill.
Later,
John
Me, my wife and my son Nolan. I am a Cub Scout Den Leader and Pack Webmaster. FYI - EN NorCal Sleeper Cell member Tom Glynn is in the black shirt behind my wife.
The fam at Lake Tahoe.
EN finish!
Bill Russell with his speed machine at IM CdA this year!
Goals for 2010 I'm doing Kansas 70.3 and IMLOU for my big races. I'll add some other races in there as well to keep things interesting. FTP when last tested was 270 I'd like to get that around 315. Last year I took a serious look at body composition and went from about 195 to 172 lbs. I'm 6'2 so roughly the size of Coach P. My last vDot was 56. I'd like to see at least 58.
Personal I live in rural Iowa with my wife Brittany and two dogs on an acreage in the country. By day I'm a full time firefighter and moonlight on my days off as a paramedic at a couple of part time jobs. During the winter I log a lot of hours at work 80 to 90 hr weeks are the average so the OS works great for me. I'm going to Tucson to do some epic training in March. Trying to book another vacation to somewhere warm in Feb/March.
Greetings everyone. I too will be joining the fun come monday. I haven't really been on a bike since mid August. Did some cyclocross over the fall but that doesn't count. My fall was spent running prepping for the dallas marathon. Since then a few weeks ago the only exercise I have gotten has been lifting my right arm to gently place another cookie in my mouth.
So literally monday I will be testing with no warm up or prep. No idea what my vdot is, what my ftp is or anything. To add insult to injury I am going to be switching up my power meters (again) to a quarq. So who knows my wattage may be through the roof or may be in the cellar (to keep the haus metaphor going).
Been training with EN since I guess both my start in the sport and the combo of RnP skills. Married to Leigh. I am also watching her get much much much faster this year and worry that my time post finish to wait for her may become the opposite. So I really need to actually get my butt in gear.
A race this year is Wisconsin. Will be my third IM (Florida 08, Placid 09). Had a disastrous year for me for whatever reason. Crashed pretty bad in June doing a race rehearsal in the rain. Training for dallas I tripped and face planted reopening my hand wounds and giving me a few new facial scars. So this year I am hoping to be injury free in terms of non-leg damage
I am a computer geek by day. Work at a company that provides e-commerce services for major brands online. So just coming off our peak season (the holidays) and trying to recoup from that as well. My only other real hobby is car racing.
Goals? Really want to be consistent this year. Last year (09) was just not right for some reason. Don't know why, just never got my mojo going and when some hurdles got in the way it was really easy to point at them as the reason for a really bad race. So really want to get back into the groove of hitting the workouts and feeling good about it. My run has been great recently and that really gave me some confidence that I still have it. Also want to be able to keep up with some of the others at ToC this year (not Halligan of course, I am mortal). I feel good about my run, but know that my run will come back to earth as the bike increases.
-Dave
Too funny Becky! I got the same book for my girlfriend! Her birthday was the 9th and she's been loving the book. Can't wait for my turn to read it. [script removed]
hey also a member of the "John Stark fan club"! background i was just teasin him about running on the treadmill instead of in the rain!! happy you are here with us in JAN OS.....didn't think you sounded cocky at all!!
welcome also other new members to the clan... now I can't see everybody's posts but liked all the pics!! and some great goals out there! and yes Dave I remember all of the mishaps but sounded like Dallas really capped the whole year off with a BQ!!
also I had this thought: when we officially start... let us all use the full words on the acronyms to include all new and old ENers... so like , "I rode on Saturday and due to the cold it was ABP (always be pushing)" so that we don't lose anybody with all of the ENisms..... especially since a lot of those meanings are in 3.0 .....and then as we move along, we can all learn or relearn and then not be ???? when we see a new word.. also want to encourage peeps on just asking the ?? no matter how trivial or silly it sounds...
OTOH (on the other hand), we have a lot of great podcasts, ebooks and the like that if you have the time, we need to listen to, one of my personal goals too!
I was thinking it started 1 Jan but it is really 4 January... so a bit more time for transition!
have a great Monday!!! one week left. m
Marianne- that is a GREAT idea!!! Count me in!
sucks.
the only good thing was i did run for the first time since IMAZ yesterday. 2 x 1 mile on the track. felt a bit winded at the last lap of each mile, but otherwise ok.