Hol-Dawg's in the House! What? What?

[holli81]

Hey Everyone! I thought it time to finally add my intro. My name is Holli Charbonneau, I am a 4th year medical student, and I am proud to be “engaged to be engaged” to Jared (JaredDetroit). I call myself a triathlete, but I’m not as hard-core as some of you guys. ☺ I did my first triathlon (a sprint) in September of 2007 to prepare myself for the big commitment of an olympic distance tri in April, 2008. I never had the desire to do a triathlon before…until I saw the Team In Training group complete St. Anthony’s Tri in 2007 (that was Jared’s first triathlon, and my first supporting role as his girlfriend). I have always been a runner, but there was something about that event that made me decide to challenge myself. I had never ridden a road bike before, in fact, I was terrified of the skinny tires and riding on the road next to traffic. As for the swimming, well let’s just say that I only knew how to “doggie-paddle.” So yeah! This was definitely going to be a challenge!

I signed up for St. Anthony’s Triathlon with Team In Training, and it was the absolute BEST experience of my life! While training for St. A’s, I discovered that I absolutely LOVED riding my road bike! I loved it so much that I sold my golf clubs! I figured that if I had an extra hour or two, I’d much rather go for a bike ride than go to the driving range. As for the swimming, well thanks to Jared and Coach Anne, I can now swim like I know what I’m doing…although, as Coach Anne said, I look like a cartoon character in the water – my arms and legs are going about 100 mph, but I’m not actually going anywhere. HA! So my goal this time is to work on the “glide.”

I completed St. A’s in April, 2008 a bit slower than I hoped, but it was still a big accomplishment. After that, 3rd year of med school got the better of me and I no longer had time to train. Instead, I learned how to eat nasty food and enjoy sitting on the couch (after standing and running around in the hospital for 12-14 hours a day, going for a run when I got home was the very LAST thing I wanted to do! My poor lil’ dogs hurt more than wearing uncomfortable heels for an entire night!).

So here it is, about a year and a half since my last triathlon, and I am finally ready to do another! 4th year of med school is dubbed “vacation year” and I plan to take every advantage of my extra time. I once again signed up for St. A’s with Team In Training. Training will officially begin in a couple of weeks and the big event will take place in April of 2010, right before I earn my title as “Doctor.” Of course, as soon as residency begins, I will once again become a slave to the hospital ☹

I’m excited to get back into the spandex and spend time with friends, both new and old. And who knows, maybe someday I’ll end up doing an IronMan???????

Holli
(Pseudo Gangsta)

[jared]

And the award to the least gangsta' person on the team goes to...

I'm looking forward to seeing you dominate at St. A's and learning how to get the glide swimming. Check out the perfect smooth swim stroke. It will be great having you back training for triathlons again and kicking butt on the bike!

If there is anything I can do to help, you know where I live. You're the best!

[Ashley]

Awesome Holli! I'm so glad you've signed up for St. A's! I plan to sign up for it today and I'll be right along side of you trying to learn that "glide" ...

[holli81]

Awesome Ash! I didn't know you were going to do St. A's. And this is just a hunch, but you might be one up on me with the whole "glide" thing. That's okay, I don't mind being the source of humor for the team I'm really excited for training to start! Jared and I have been on a good role of working out every day and really watching what we eat. My goal is to lose 25-30 lbs, Jared wants to lose 40. p90x started today too, I was thinking that could be a fun group thing to do on our "non-team" day workouts.

Good luck at Cozumel and I'll see you in the pool!

Holli

[MikeJ]

Did somebody say p90x?

I'm going to start that again on Dec 7th I think. Was going to see who else wanted to get on that schedule as well.

[jared]

I would be interested in some sort of schedule...

[holli81]

I'm really excited for p90x! I think the strength training will really make a difference! Where do you think would be a good place for a group to get together for this? Our loft can fit 3-4 easily if we rearrange the furniture... It would be great if someone has a big basement that we can use.

[MikeJ]

Asher and I talked about starting on Dec 1, but I'm thinking Dec 7 would be a good start date.

Not sure about how many we could get together in the same place due to the distance we all live and work apart.

But at least it would be nice to all get on the same schedule. So that we can all be going through the same workouts and hopefully help each other through it. And maybe we could all get together on some days or weekends.

Last time we did all the weight workouts at the gym at OU in the mornings during the week. I don't have my own weight set so would probably do that again. But maybe we could all get together for plyo or something.

[holli81]

That sounds like a good idea. We'll have to see what kind of schedule we can work out.

[jared]

Don't make me have to moderate this and get everyone back on topic!

I created a Southeast Michigan P90x Workout Group thread. Let's continue the discussion there!