Forum Young Guns

Triathlon Forum
1

As far as I can tell, there are several members of the forum that are fairly young and trying/hoping to make it in the professional ranks. My list thus far includes

Me
aus_tri
Rappstar
Tri-Yoda
d.w. weston

I know there must be many others. I thought it could be good to start a thread where we could trade stories and advice about what does and does not work, and about how “the life” is treating us.

I’ll start. I’m 28 and finishing my PhD. Grad school life has provided a lot of training time. My best results last season were a win at a local 1/2IM in horrid conditions, and a 10:52 at IMFL after fighting cramps for most of the run. Right now I’m getting ready for Ralph’s, where I will hopefully grab a slot for IMAZ and maybe IMC. I think 2006 is going to be a breakout year for me.

Who else?

-Colin

2

What does “let G be a group” mean?

3

Sergio is doing well as a young pro.
:slight_smile:

Herbert

4

Are you already pro? I am assuming not since you are trying to get a slot to IMAZ at Ralphs. Pro’s can enter races that are full to the general public. Good luck with your pursuit to be a pro.

5

You won’t get an answer on that one Niles. I haven’t, after asking numerous times.

6

i’m young, nut i’m not aspiring to be a pro. i’m 21, just finished college and training for my first im. like you , going to ralphs to get a spot at a IMNA event later this summer. if not that, then vineman.

7

Sergio is doing well as a young pro.
:slight_smile:

Herbert

Quite certainly. I didn’t inculde him because he is definitely not “trying to make it”. He’s already made it. And he’s younger than me. Damn.

-C

8

Are you already pro? I am assuming not since you are trying to get a slot to IMAZ at Ralphs. Pro’s can enter races that are full to the general public. Good luck with your pursuit to be a pro.

No no no, certainly not a pro yet. I’m trying to give myself every opportunity to get there.

-C

9

You won’t get an answer on that one Niles. I haven’t, after asking numerous times.

What? You’ve asked numerous times and I haven’t answered? I don’t recall that. Maybe I’m going daft.

I’m a mathematician by trade, and the field of mathematics I work in is called group theory. A group is a mathematical object with certain properties. When we deal with abstract groups, we just give them a generic name, such as ‘G’. So when I write a proof or a paper, it will often begin with the phrase, “Let G be a group…” Then I will list the special properties that G has, and then proceed to prove something about it. For example (straight from my thesis),

Theorem: Let G be a group with the maximal property on infinite subnormal subgroups. Then G also satisfies the maximal property on infinite normal subgroups.

So I have it as my sig line because it’s a phrase I write a lot.

-C

10

Let G be a group, and H a subgroup. We shall see that, in a sense, H splits G up into various sets, no two of which intersect.

Definition
Let G be a group and H be a subgroup of G. For any two elements x, y Î G, we define the binary relation x ~ y if x-1y Î H.

We claim that ~ as defined above is an equivalence relation. Here is the proof. Thus, the relation ~ divides the whole group G into disjoint equivalence classes.

Now we define what a coset is :

Definition 1
Let G be a group and H be a subgroup of G. For any element x Î G, define xH = {xh | h Î H}. Then xH is said to be a left coset of H in G.

The coset satisfies the following property :

For any two x, y Î G, if x ~ y, then xH = yH. otherwise, xH and yH are disjoint.

The proof for this result is here.

In addition, any two cosets have the same cardinality, i.e. they are of the same size. Here is the proof.

Definition
Let G be a group and H be a subgroup of G. Let G : H = {gH | g Î G} be the set of left cosets of H in G.

Theorem 1
If H < G, then we have |G| = |G : H| x |H|.

Proof.

When |G| is finite, we have Lagrange’s Theorem as a corollary: if H < G, then |H| | |G|.
In addition, we also have the following corollary :

Corollary
If K < H < G, then we have |G : K| = |G : H| |H : K|.

Just that simple :wink:

11

Well, I don’t quite think I’m in your group but I’m 26 and debating trying to get a pro card next year. Problem is then I’d be one of those mid to back of the pack pros that I now love to chase down=) I guess I’m also curious about the idea of writing off race, gear, and travel fees. Do I actually need to win money or can I use the fact that I have sponsors who pay my entries, give goodies, etc based on my performance? Need to check into that. I stick to shorter distances and probably have to get a bit faster, or at least get a little more consistant to justify any kind of move now. I honestly don’t see any major advantage to going pro besides the ease of race entry…

12

well i probably will never be a pro, but my big goal is to go sub9 in roth and/or maybe in almere this year. But i have to get the nutrition right. I’m 24 and this will be my 3rd year as an athlete,second as triathlete (couch potato before that). did 1 IM distance race and that didn’t go to well, due to stomach issues. Did learn a lot from it, that’s why i think i can go sub9.

13

Well, I don’t quite think I’m in your group but I’m 26 and debating trying to get a pro card next year.

That sounds EXACTLY like this group. You’re ahead of me, I’m not thinking about a pro card for a few years yet!

-C

14

Sub 9?! Damn, that’s awesome! Keep us apraised of your progress!!

-C

15

Yeah, simple, just like I said. :slight_smile:

Thanks for the offer of the fixie, but I think I need time in my tri saddle right now. Enjoy Hawaii!!

-C

16

does “pro” mean you have a card that says you race as pro, or does it mean you are supporting yourself through your sport? both? something else as well?

17

A bunch of my training buddies turned pro this year, four of them actually, three guys between 23 and 28 and a female friend who’s early 30s. Some of them do pretty well, 11th Wildflower, top 25 Xterra Worlds and Nationals, Top 10 Xterra Worlds, etc. Turning Pro doesn’t realistically mean much though unless you are winning money in some races such as Ironman or Xterra where you need to be a pro to cash out. Plus I think it’s even more fun beating up on your pro friends when they have pro cards and you don’t;) It’s a neat thing to shoot for though, and good luck on it. I really don’t think it should be a major goal for anyone though as it really doesn’t mean all that much, definetely less than your race results mean. The only time I get bummed is when entering races with a pro wave that you can’t get into as a regular age grouper, although at some races that’s a good thing as the pro wave starts are vicious! It is often a bummer in Xterra races trying to pass the pro women on the bike who started ahead of you, but I guess that’s the privilidge that they’ve earned with the pro card.

18

As far as I can tell, there are several members of the forum that are fairly young and trying/hoping to make it in the professional ranks. My list thus far includes

Me
aus_tri
Rappstar
Tri-Yoda
d.w. weston

I know there must be many others. I thought it could be good to start a thread where we could trade stories and advice about what does and does not work, and about how “the life” is treating us.

Or at least trade email addressess should we decide to go so far as sans our jobs and lead the nomads life (thinking about this very much lately… JD… you torture me!!!). :slight_smile:

**As for me 25 and 5 yrs removed from elite level swimming (US nationals/world rankings) in that time though i have stayed active and began riding a bike about 3 years ago (still wondering if running will ever happen). I have had some nice accomplishments in the few races that I have done (when not injured) but have yet to devote myself to this sport as i did when I swam. That changed when I was watching IM on Oct. 15th… something came over me that I really cant explain but what it did was reawaken the athletic beast within me… the kind of love and passion and ambition for sport that has been missing for nearly 6 years. No more living off of talent and dorking about. If I can apply myself as I did as a swimmer… I dream of where this can go. Currently the bill paying machine is as a Financial and Metrics Integration analyst with an interactive advertising agency. I love my job but when the training gets tough i realize that this is where having more recovery time would really really come in handy. **

Who else?
Not sure but seeing as Jordan pulled the card i think he is off the list. I was going to say Sergio too but I guess you are right… he’s already there. Kudos to him :slight_smile:

**BTW… loved the explanation of your sig line. **

19

Almere will be 4/120/30 this year…European LD champs
.

20

Let G be the group formed by wannabe pros. That group has an infinit size. Now let H be a sub group of G that is formed by the ones that have IM times over 10:30 and 1/2IM times of over 4:30. Finally let’s define the group of real pros, P, composed of those athletes that can go under 9:00 for IM and 4:15 for 1/2IM. I postulate that H does not converge to P, therefore never intersecting. The limit of H to P is zero.

:wink: