Introductions

MattAaronson

Team --

If you're checking into this group, please take a moment and introduce yourself.

- Name, AG

- What's on your race schedule this year? What are your fitness and/or race goals?

- What training plan you're on and with what end date

- Any other info folks would find interesting...

Cheers,

Matt

MattAaronson

Ok, I'll go first (I'm the only group member at the moment, so this could be absurd...)



- Matt Aaronson, M3539. Married, 2 kids (girls ages 4 & 7). I'm a management consultant so I travel a lot. I am constrained by time vs. money or motivation. In the last year since I've been doing triathlon I've accumulated an impressive collection of Garmin maps from workouts in far-flung places. The map collecting is starting to be a hobby...yes, strange...



- My race plan for 2012 is a bit uncertain. I really like racing but by September last year I was pretty burned out. So this year I'm planning to move the schedule up a bit. I'm targeting 70.3 Kansas (June 10) as an early season race. I also plan to do a local Olympic-distance at Pleasant Prairie WI on June 24. Then 70.3 Racine in July which I did last year. I happen to be renting a vacation house within 30 minutes of Steelhead to that will be hard to resist in August, as will the Chicago Tri which everyone loves to hate but it's in my backyard so I can't stand seeing everyone race that weekend and not partake. But other than Kansas, Pleasant Prairie and Racine everything really is TBD. There is a good chance that after Racine I take a month off then transition into marathon training and try to run my first ever marathon in Chicago in October. And then there are a couple of wildcards...a Vegas slot (unlikely but an outside chance) or winning the Kona Lottery which is the only way my wife will let me train for an Ironman...



- Goals for 2012: better FTP than last year on race day (248), better VDOT than last year on race day (49.5), same or slightly lower weight (targeting 135-137lb). My current VDOT is 51.5 and indoor FTP is 244 so things are looking good. I'd like to set an HIM PB and go sub-4:45 but that is out of my control. If I have really good fitness then that will be the goal at Steelhead which has a very fast course. One of my season goals was to make a step-function improvement in my swimming, which truly is the weak link in my racing (I swim about 2:00/100m in races). However, my travel schedule is a disaster and I have cancelled more swimming lessons than I attended by a wide margin. So I will be content to make a marginal improvement in my swimming and take lessons as possible.



- As of tomorrow I'm dropping into the HIM advanced plan with an end date of June 10, so week 12 of 20. Since it is a testing week and I won't be testing (ran an 8k road race 2 weeks ago), I will modify the plan accordingly.



For those who have seen me around EN over the past year, you will know I am extremely diligent about posting my workouts. Actually I'm practically a nutcase about it. I do it for 2 reasons...(1) to hold myself accountable to the team for getting my training done, and, more importantly, (2) because I like everyone else to post, and following everyone's workouts and progress builds a sense of "team" and helps us all to be able to root for one another and share in our training experiences.



Cheers,

Matt

Shaughn Simmons

Hi Matt, Shaughn here.

I have Buffallo Springs on 6/24 and IM COZ on 11/27. Just completed week 1 of 12 week Adv HIM....

AG - 45 - 50 3yr EN Veteran. Last IM - IM Louisville. Last HIM - Grand Prairie (Dallas)

Good luck this summer all!

saskat

 Hey guys!  Here's my schpeel:

-Sarah Kim, F30-34. I also work as a consultant and travel.  (Hopefully I won't have to travel a lot though with a new project I start on in May.)  I specialize in the SAP module for Portfolio and Project Management so nothing too exciting 

- I've got the High Cliff HIM on June 16 and then IMWI in September.  Those are the only tri's I signed up for this year along with some fun runs and maybe some bike races sprinkled in between.  As for fitness and/or race goals, I'd say my biggest is to complete the ironman.  It'll be my first full IM so I'm excited, nervous, and scared all at the same time.  The EN community is great and I've already seen great gains from this training program.  Fitness-wise I'd like to drop a couple pounds and I know I could be more disciplined about my diet but it's not my #1 priority at the moment.  Now that I've started the HIM plan and the training volume has gone up, I'm sure I'll see the scale go down a little in the coming weeks. 

- This is my first year with EN and I just finished up the beginner OS plan and am starting week 11 of the beginner HIM plan.  

 

 

Doug Johnson

Hey everyone, Doug Johnson here, 30-34 AG from Victor, NY which is near Rochester.

I started with EN in November. This is my first year seriously training for long course triathlon. Previously did a few sprints based solely on my run fitness.

I'm "racing" Syracuse 70.3 in June which will be my first HIM and then "racing" IM Moo in September which will be my first IM. My primary goal for these races is to complete them, but I also want to do well (which is why I joined EN).

I participated with the November OS group and made some amazing fitness gains. I'm the strongest at running that I've ever been (just PR'd a 15k by over 10 minutes). I haven't ever ridden the bike much but my rear got got toughened up in the OS and I feel pretty good on it. I'm a horrible swimmer despite taking lessons for the last couple months. It's definitely my weakest link and I'm just looking to survive through that portion of my races this year.

I posted on and off in the OS group but followed the posts regularly. It was really motivating reading your posts Shaughn. And I've read a lot of your posts in the forums Matt and am looking forward to your input for this group.

I really love the team EN atmosphere and am looking forward to training with everyone in this group and reading how everyone is progressing towards their goals!

Paul Hough

Hey Guys & Gals - I'm married with 3 adult sons and a 13 y/o daughter at home. I've aged up to M55 this year so have an extraordinarily ambitious schedule to take advantage of being the young guy. But I did 5 HIMs in 2009, so I'm no stranger to a long competitive season. I'm less than 4 weeks out from St Croix and am simply retracing the last few weeks of the HIM advanced plan. However, my volume for the past 2 weeks exceeded anything I did in my run up to the San Juan 70.3 last month. After St Croix, I will give myself a very easy week, then I'm going to follow a short course approach to the Muncie 70.3 with with several sprints and olympics on each side. I'll start my IM Cozumel build in early August and treat the World Championship 70.3 as a B race. If I make Kona at St Croix (a slim possibility), it will also be a 'B' race, and Cozumel will be my IM "A" race. Meanwhile, I'm just enjoying training, travel and "tri-cations."

rbogle

Hi Guys!

I'm 40, married with a very patient wife and eleven yr old son in Flagstaff, AZ. I work as a research scientist / computer programmer. 

I'm a noob EN'er and have 1 year of Tri under my belt. I set a goal of an Ironman before I turned 40 last summer, and got off my butt and started training 7 mo out for IMSG last May. It wasn't pretty but I got it done. Now I'm hooked. Turned out 2 HIMs and 2 Olys last year. 

This year is all about performance and ROI, hence being here. I'm in wk 13 of the OS and will transition to a HIM plan at the end of May. Getting good solid gains and love that I'm fitting it all in outside of family time. I'm already way more fit than I left off with my last HIM in December. My goals are to pop into the 50 range for vdot and 3.5 w/kg by the end of the year. The running is improving very well (started at 44 upto 47 now)  and cycling is improving but more slowly( started at 2.4 w/kg upto 3.1 w/kg which is mostly due to weight loss)

This year all  I have on schedule is my hometown HIM scheduled for Aug. That should be a tough race as its all above 7000' and has some decent hill climbing, I'll be curious if I can PR for that one. After that I'll transition into IM mode for the IMAZ in Nov, where its all about the PR. 

kkiefer

Team

- Name, AG:
Kai Kiefer, M40-45, married, 4 children

- What's on your race schedule this year?
A-Race: 70.3 Wiesbaden on Aug 12th
B-Race: Frankfurt (Cycling 100km) May-1st
B-Race: Heilbronn (2/70/15km) on June 24th
B-Race: 70.3 or Oly Cologne on Sept 1/2nd

- What are your fitness and/or race goals?
Race a HM, done in March,
Race a Bike Race, due in 3 weeks
Complete first HIM and see what it takes to finish sub 5:40

- What training plan you're on and with what end date
Finished NOS 2011/12 in March-19,
GF Intermediate May-19,
12wk HIM Intermediate end on Aug-12,

- Any other info folks would find interesting..
Started EN on Oct 2011,
2012 is my 2nd triathlon season (little endurance history but 20+ years playing volleyball and 10+ years "rescue" swimmer)
Train with pace in/out and power indoors.
Race with RoadBike and HR (until i have saved some money for a power tap and tribike).

Thanks Matt, for the initative helps me keep accountable since i am not racing a one of the big ones in US - that will be my only group checking my progress in.

Kai

[Deleted User]

Hi everyone. I am in the 45-49 yr age group. Planning on doing two half ironman races this year, and then next year I am planning on doing Ironman Lake Placid (will be my second Ironman). This year it is two Rev3 races - Quassy in early June, then Maine in late August. Probably an Olympic during the summer as well. For goals, I would like to get my outdoor FTP above 300 watts. Tested last week at 296 - close! On the run, do a 5K at faster than a 7:00 min/mile pace. Last week I just did one at a 7:04 pace, so getting close there as well. My main goal is to break 6 hours in a HIM, and generally get faster/stronger/fitter in preparation for next year.

Currently in week 13 of the intermediate HIM plan. Have the day off today and about to head out for this week's long run. Perfect day for it here, sunny and around 50 degrees. Very spring-like!

MattAaronson

Posted By Kai Kiefer on 12 Apr 2012 05:42 AM

Team



Thanks Matt, for the initative helps me keep accountable since i am not racing a one of the big ones in US - that will be my only group checking my progress in.

No worries! We'll keep you accountable regardless of what you're racing. Btw I don't know the difficulty of the course you're racing, but at 3.5w/kg and 45 VDOT you're looking good for sub-5:40 on a course without massive elevation gain.

Paul Hough

Raced the 26th Edition of the Escape from Ft Desoto (sprint triathlon today) to blow out the carbon before St Croix. It's a 1/2 mile swim in the Gulf, 10 mile bike (pancake flat), and although the organizers claim a 4 mile run each year, I'm going to venture about 3.4 miles, although 1/2 of that is on the beach. Finished in 1:03:53 for 1st in the M55-59 Age Group and had the fastest swim, bike, run and T2 (45 finishers in that group). I was 27th overall with nearly 1000 finishers counting the beginners. Sprints may be short, but they hurt intensely! I followed my normal training program through Thursday, then did a light swim and short run Friday morning. I'm hoping the race helps my VO2 max, but to keep up the HIM volume, I swam another 1500 yards in the pool later today plus 20 more miles on the bike. Tomorrow is right back at it with a 60 mile ride. I'm 3 weeks from race day so plan to go hard for another 10 days before I start my taper.

Full race results at:
http://www.altavistasports.com/results/2012 results/escapefromfortdesoto04142012.htm

kkiefer

@paul, metal is good for the mojo...nice way to do an VO2 session. Contratulation.