Meet The Team: Ironman World Championships (aka Kona)

It’s Kona week!  Uber-fit tri-geeks are descending on the Big Island, The Aloha spirit is happening, and Endurance Nation is there in force with 9 EN rock stars ready to roll.   And not just racers!  We have quite a few TeamEN members on the island ready to help out and volunteering on race day.  Very, very cool.

For your reading pleasure, we have a few of our members bios below.

Enjoy.

Patrick McCrann

Endurance Nation Coach and Co-Founder

This is my fourth trip to the Big Show, but the first since 2009. I am excited to head back to the island to test my fitness and resolve. This is truly an extra bonus for me, as I even getting back to Kona was a long shot. As if qualifying wasn’t hard enough, training for the last ten weeks has been pretty much the hardest thing I have done in my tri life. The net is I am pretty fit, and pretty ready, so now it’s time to see what the Island gods have in store for my day. My trip of full five days of trigeekery kicks off at 3am tomorrow morning…so it’s time for me to go to bed. Stay tuned to Twitter (www.twitter.com/pmccrann) for full updates and thanks for your support. Go Team EN!

Tom Glynn

Greg Charbeneau

Patricia Rosen

So, here’s my bio.  I am 58 years old and started dong triathlons when I turend 48.  My first race was Danskin which I did on my pink Schwinn.  I cam ein 22nd but had a wonderful time! My new nick name was “on the left, Pink!”

This year I decided to learn about training and racing with power.  I had gone to a clinic with Hunter Allen and had not gotten a power meter yet, but being the geek I am I was really into the idea.  did my first FTP at that time without a power meter and since then have used a Cinco/Quarq set up with a Garmin 705.  My coaches here did not seem to understand what I was doing, but that didn’t deter me from wanting to learn more, so I went on line and found First Endurance.  I bought the 4 keys DVD and the endurance nation running DVD with Joe Friel and was hooked.  I am very fortunate to live in Austin and be able to train most of the year outside and to have so many talented athletes in my backyard but was finding I had to start training more on my own and by myself due to my work schedule so that is how I got here.

Fast forward to Louisville IM.  this past year I did a ride in Colorado called the Triple Bypass.  I had never done anything like that before.  I had done ironman before and Kona but this was totally different.  Ascents were two hours long and descents were at least an hour long.  I had to hang on for dear life on those mountains! and I got really good at climbing in zone 2 for hours.  This was the best training I had ever done and it absolutely pushed me to faster speeds and improved my cycling skills.  At the end of this just to test myself I did the Texas State time trials and came in second for my age group.  Average of 20.4 miles per hour on  40 k.  The lady who beat me is 5 years older and a fantastic cyclist!  She had watched me the whole time (she started 30 seconds behind me) and when I got to 300 meters is when she attacked!  needless to say she won by 29 seconds even though I had enough left to beat her to the finish line.  (She maintained 20.6 miles an hour!) That was an education!  so… IM Louisville has a time trial start.  I’m not a great athlete but I like to think I’m clever or at least I learn quickly.  so I started the race 1/2 hour back from the group.  I followed the EN model and stayed in the box and at the end, I won my age group by 11 minutes.  When I got to the podium, the person who finished before me was the only one who knew I had one….  even though she got to the finish line first.

I don’t know what else to tell you!  I hope this is a good bio.  In general, I am 58, a Medical Toxicologist (you can ask me what that is as there are only a few of us) and my office addresses not only those with injuries but also preventive medicine.  I’m on the Mayor’s Fitness council and also continue to work in the ER to help pay for my triathlon habit.

So this is my second time to Kona.  My race plan?   Have fun.  I am totally surprised that I qualified again and am definitely not interested in killing myself out there.  I am looking forward to my shaved ice and hanging out in the sun with the turtles and maybe diving with the Manta Rays.  I’m looking forward to meeting you all!

Jay Lakamp

Jonathan Lieberman

My name is Jonathan Lieberman.  I am 39 and an interventional radiologist practicing in New Jersey.  Much of my life the past 2 years has been inspired by the Ironman® novel Know Regrets by Tim Durant; in fact, I feel I have a lot in common with the main character Trip except I am a much, much slower triathlete 🙂  I am recently separated since my first Ironman® in Lake Placid this past July.  I have two great boys Alex 8 and Zach 5.5.  I am described by people close to me as “intense”.  For me it’s been the only way to fly, as there are no words to describe the adversity I’ve had to overcome this past year and half.  I have learned to let this adversity make me stronger, faster, and most importantly wiser.  Ironman® in general and Endurance Nation literally saved my life, and it’s important for me not to hide that fact but to show other people that they too can turn their lives around as long as they BELIEVE.  Hawaii represents the pinnacle, the Holy Grail, and brings out the most raw and extreme emotions from me.  Like Trip, I was picked by lottery for this incredible opportunity, and I now truly believe and understand I was destined for a date with this island.  The Race aside, it has been the journey here for which I am most grateful, as it has brought me together with folks who have become some of the most important people in my life.  Although admittedly I have turned into a power/pace/gear geek or “Irondork” as my good friend calls me, my Kona race plan is simple:  leave it all out there and see what I can do.  Or as Tim Durant said it best: “Know Regrets for no regrets.”

Thanks for reading.

Cynthia Snyder

Well, 2011 has been a good year – had a great race in May at St. George IM and qualified for Kona. In June I wed Mike Nelson…after 25 years together it was time! We had a wonderful wedding on the rim of the Grand Canyon. This will be my third trip to the World Championship IM Race.  I have followed the EN training plan to a “T,” and for the most part really enjoyed the work outs. I’m a big believer in quality over quantity and feel that is what the plan brought me. I would love a top 5 AG finish, but I would also love to finish. I look forward to meeting the other EN athletes and will enjoy cheering them as we pass one another along the course.  Aloha!

Joe Matchette

I currently live in Warner Robins, GA with my wife, Gen, two daughters (11 and 6) and my son (9).  I have been an F-16 pilot for over 20 years now and am still serving in the Air Force Reserves.  We are a triathlon family — even the kids have all done two races.  We became a tri-family when my wife started it all in the Spring of 2007.  I deployed to Iraq that summer and started training for my first sprint in the fall of 2007.  I got the bug and did my first IM in November 2009.  IMKona will be my 4th IM, and second this year.  This past year has been full of triathlon training and Breast Cancer.  My wife was diagnosed last year 3 days before I competed in Ironman® Wisconsin (BAD NEWS!).  I found out in April that I had received a lottery slot for this race (GOOD NEWS!).  As BC is now such a big part of our lives, I am dedicating my Ironman® races this year to raising money for a local support charity.  Any help will be appreciated:  http://www.yourcause.com/joematchette.

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