Running Away from Weight Gain and into an Active, Healthy Life: Bryan Sloan, TrainingPeaks Member

On the day he signed up for his first half marathon just over a year ago, Bryan Sloan escaped from his slide into the "inevitable middle age weight gain" and began a new commitment to living an active, healthy and fulfilling life. "Feb 16th, 2009.  I remember this day well.  It was the day when I signed the dotted line for the Oklahoma City Memorial half marathon.  Little did I know then, but I was signing myself up for something much bigger.  It was the beginning of my love affair with running.  It was the launching pad for my new-found love for endurance sports.  It was the beginning of what I hope to be the most active, productive, and fruitful years of my life."

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TrainingPeaks Member Profile: Kelly Covert, Triathlete and Working Mother

After first getting into sprint triathlons in an effort to work off a little baby weight, Kelly Covert now trains over 10 hours a week and works with her coach Mary Eggers to prepare for half-Ironman distance races.

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TrainingPeaks Member Profile: Claire Oliver, Triathlete for Charity

In the same year that Jon Blaze competed in the Ironman World Championships, he was diagnosed with ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease. Also that same year, Claire Oliver's grandfather died of the same disease. This year, Claire is fundraising for the Blazeman Foundation to fight the disease by racing for charity in Ironman Arizona. With the help of TrainingPeaks and her coach, she is preparing to cross the finish line an hour faster than she ever has before, and continue with her long tradition of racing for charity.

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From Juvenile Diabetes to Ironman: Ed Liebowitz, TrainingPeaks Member

When Ed Liebowitz found out he had juvenile diabetes, he decided to do something about it. In the process, he fell in love with a sport that he has stuck with ever since: triathlon. "On April 2nd, 2007, two weeks before my 28th birthday I was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes.  To cope with my diagnosis I needed to find a sport that allowed me to take on a challenge to prove to myself I was still the same athlete I always had been.  I also wanted to inspire others with chronic illness to chase their dreams.  Triathlon offered the perfect platform for me to achieve both goals: shortly after my diagnosis I signed up for the 2008 Ironman Lake Placid, having never done a tri before.  The mental journey, people I met and life lessons learned training for that race helped me fall in love with the sport and has kept me in it ever since."

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TrainingPeaks member profile: Brigg Thorp, marathon runner

I never considered running a marathon in my life. I grew up playing soccer and continued all through high school. I was a decent soccer player, but never professional material. I enjoyed it and it kept me active, although in try outs, I would groan when I had to run a timed mile.

After high school, I joined the military, which required me to run greater distances (up to about six miles). I began to get used to these longer distances. As I got older, I relished the thought of going out for a run to clear my head. Running became less of a chore and more of a requirement. Four to six miles was all I needed.

Something happened when I reached my 40's. Call it a mid-life crisis or temporary insanity. It could also be that I work with professional athletes and I saw an ability in myself that I never knew existed. It could also be peer pressure - a few of my lunch time running partners were doing the NYC marathon, and I felt if they could do it, then so could I. So I signed up and had no idea what to expect.

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