Hello ladies!

I'm new to the group and just wanted to say HELLO! My name is
Jennifer, I live in Redmond, I'm 36, a working professional and
single (President of the "Never been married / no children" club
although I'd LOVE to step down from that role!) I do have one very
handsome and crazy ferret named Dante however :-)

I'm training for my second Danskin tri coming up in Aug. (did my
first in 6/02) and am hoping to achieve my new, current health and
fitness goals by race time. I've caught the "tri" bug and most enjoy
the swimming and biking part. Although I've put together my own
training and weight-loss fitness/nutrition plan (which I used
previously to lose 40+ lbs in '02), I would really like to learn
better, more efficient techniques for properly training for tri's
b/c I eventually want to be a serious competitive athlete once I'm
in tip-top shape. I'm also a very big advocate of 'personal
empowerment' and strive to support and encourage people to achieve
their goals as much as I can.

So, I'm starting at the bottom here and have lots of what I'm sure
are typical "newbie" questions - what kind of road bike should I get
to train on? Should I purchase a wetsuit? How often should I be
training? What type of program is most effective? ETC . . . .

Well, right now my MAIN priority is using the training for the race
as my workout program for weight loss (need to get off the 40 lbs.
again) and I'm meticulous about logging my workouts so I can
eventually see improvements in biking, swimming, and running times.
I ran/walked the Beat the Bridge 5 mile course in 1:11:59
(averaging a 14:30 min/mile) and I used to average a 5K in 30 min!

Since I'm at a slower pace that probably most of you, I may not be
joining you as a group at the moment but would like to very soon!

All the best to everyone!

Jennifer

* * * Just because no one tells you 'you can,' it doesn't mean you
can't! * * *