Sunday, December 27, 2009

National Challenge Competition

This December, the Pikes Peak Tri Club joined in on a three-month challenge to "compete" against other tri clubs across the nation. Sponsored by USA Triathlon, the National Challenge Competition lets USAT sanctioned tri clubs total up their training miles to see who can log the most miles over the winter. As December through February can be snowy and cold (certainly here in Colorado, and also across a good portion of the nation) motivation to maintain previously attained fitness levels can be seriously lacking.

Some details of the competition:
  • Clubs compete against each other in divisions based on total club size (not number of members competing. The PPTC has 32 members signed up out of 156 total active members. We are in Division II (130-249 total members)
  • December is a swim focus, meaning there will be special prizes to those with the most swim miles during the month of December. January has a bike focus, and February has a run focus.
  • Total miles across all three sports are also counted.
As of 4:30pm on 12/27, the PPTC is in
  • 13th place overall (vs all clubs, not division specific) in total Swim Mileage.
  • 10th place overall in Total Mileage.
So a big shout out to the PPTC NCC Team members and let's keep up the great work! And don't forget to Swim, Bike, and Run!

For more details on the NCC, visit the website at http://www.race-tracker.net/usat.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Lunchtime Running Workout

The PPTC going to start a lunchtime run workout session. It will be either be 3-4 mile repeats or a 5k race simulation in Monument Valley Park. We'll meet every week, either on Wed or Thursday, at 11:15. I'll post the days as soon as we figure it out in the Calender. The total distance for the run will be about six miles. This will be a great way to maintain some high quality training and develop some speed for next year's triathlon season. All club memebers are welcome and encouraged to participate. The warmup and cool down will be done as a group.

Saturday, December 19, 2009

CTS Night at the Races Finale

The CTS Night at the Races indoor computrainer race series finished up last night with a three race omminum. The PPTC was well represented, with at least four members attending. The omminum consisted of a team time trail, a curcit race and a short road race. The team time trial pitted front row against back row, with last person across the line stopping the clock. After the TTT, it was an individual criterimun in the Garden of the Gods. Why is it that the hills don't seem that bad on the open road? The last race of the night was a flatter road race in Central Park, NY. The beauty of the computrainer system - from Colorado to New York in 5 minutes!

Overall, the race series was tons of fun and the perfect diversion from the cold winter nights. Our bikes might not have been moving, but the racing was real! Hopefully, we'll get more PPTC members at the next race series in January.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Ironman Hawaii Broadcast

The Ironman World Championships in Kilua-Kona will be broadcast on NBC at 2:30 this Saturday. There were three club members that made the trek to the big island and all three had successful races. The broadcast captures the emotion of the day and features head-to-head competition among the top men and woman professional triathletes, including Craig Alexander's second consecutive Ironman World Championship  and ChrissieWellington breaking the women's course record enroute to winning her third Ironman title. The program also highlights the 17-hour challenges of several unique professional and age group athletes who define the meaning of inspiration and bring to life the “Anything is Possible” mentality.

Club Banquet

The annual Club Banquet will be held January 14th at 6:30pm at Giuseppe's Depot Restaurant in downtown Colorado Springs. This is the year end get-together, where we have the our annual club awards presentation for triathlete of the year, Ironman of the year, and rookie of the year. This is a great chance to meet all your triathlete friends and make new friends.

Make plans to come - RSVP to Terri to reserve your seat.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Ironman Cozumel Report by Rich Kiser

Rich Kiser wrote his race report on Ironman Cozumel and it sounds like he had a great time at this first year event. The race was held on Sunday, November 28th.

We got to Cozumel on Tuesday 11/24. I wanted to get to the island a bit early to try to acclimate to the heat. It was pretty warm and humid. It was 75 and 80 + humidity so it was nice to get some time to acclimate. It was pretty nice as there was usually a breeze and it never seemed too hot. It was very buggy and the mosquitos were really bad especially at night. The locals said there had been a storm a couple of days before we got there and the storm blew them in.

Getting to the hotel was pretty uneventful, we had transportation set up so we were able to bypass the gauntlet of people vuying for your dollar. Tues was pretty uneventful, we got to the hotel and settleded in. On Wed we went into town and got caught in a major rain. It rained very hard for 90 minutes or so. The water in the streets was up to the doors of most cars. After the rain it cooled off a bit and it brought some strong winds with it.

They had a pre-race swim set up for Thursday and Friday. The course they set was 1500 meters so you could get a feel for the water, but they didnt have to set the whole course. It made it nice there was some order to the swim unlike IM Arizona. Thursday I got to the swim and planned on swimming 30 min which I figured would be prefect for the distance they set. I didn't know how bad the current was. On the practice swim I had not even made it to the bouy at 750 yards by 30 minutes. I was hoping it wouldnt be this way for race day ! Took 45 min for the swim. Friday the wind was so bad they canceled the swim. The locals said this wasnt typical and it would be nice by race day.

Saturday was bike check in. It was interesting as the race had set up transportation from the host hotels to the race start. It was also a 2 transition race so you had to check in you bike, bike gear and run gear. You could get to your bike stuff race morning, but you couldnt get to the run stuff until getting to T2, as T2 was 6 miles from T1.

Sunday we had transportation to the race start. There was no warmup allowed, so everyone had to stretch on shore and we would get into the water 10 minutes before the start. The seas were very calm. they played the Mexican national anthem then the pros started. Then they got the AG into the water. I got into the 3rd start row with a good line to the first bouy. The swim was very FAST race day and I came out at 58 minutes which was my best time by 7 minutes.

Into T1 pretty small changing tent, no chairs so I just threw on my bike shoes, ran to my bike and onto the couse. The course was very flat with just a few slight raises. There was a pretty good cross wind especially when you got south and were right on the water with nothing to slow down the wind. Things bunched up quite a bit in the section and there were a lot of packs forming which sucks as this is supposed to be an individual sport ! I got caught in 1 pack as I had people pass on the left and on the right then slow down and box me in. At one point an official came by and gave out a bunch of time violations and a number of the riders were complaing to me and said to watch out. I told them it served them right as they were cheating.
Finished the bike at 5:50, a bit slower then I wanted but the wind took a lot out of me. Also on the first lap the road was very rough through downtown and I lost my computer, so I had no speed info for the second 2 laps.

Getting to the run it was a little over 8 mile out and back which means it was the same 4 plus miles back and forth for 3 laps which ment you say the same section of road 6 times. The last 2 miles or so near the start turnaround and finish were amazing the crowd was awesome ! The run was tough as it was hot and very wet from all the racers in the small course. They had aid every km so there were cups a long nearly the whole course. I got some bad blisters at mile 13 and tried to fight through them. I felt pretty good, but cramped a bit the last couple of miles, I missed my electolytes by a little bit.

Finish was incredible the energy of the crowd awesome. The whole island pretty much shut down and all the residents were there lining the streets. Overall pretty good race. 10:57. 12 in Age group and 131 overall.
Nice race, they have some problems as a first year race. The biggest problem was the finish line was a mess and I would say 1 in 4 ended up in the med tent as it was pretty hot and humid, which overwhelmed the medical staff a bit. I think this could be a great event with a little work and some minor adjustments.

Thanks for reading
Rich Kiser

Welcome to the Pikes Peak Triathlon Club!

Formed in April of 2000, The Pikes Peak Triathlon Club is centered in Colorado Springs, CO. Our membership spans the entire Front Range, including Boulder, Pueblo, and the Denver area. The club welcomes people of all ability levels, from those who have never done a triathlon to professionals and Ironman veterans.The Pikes Peak Triathlon Club is dedicated to helping multi-sport athletes reach their goals by providing training partners, sponsorship benefits, and education through a fun and supportive environment. We hold meetings with opportunities to interact with excellent educational speakers on topics including nutrition, equipment, training and more. On weekends, members participate in club events, such as post-race socializing, club sponsored races, and fun runs. Members also have access to the club's exclusive email list, where they can keep up on club news, swap equipment, and share their knowledge with each other. We appreciate hearing new and creative ideas from our members too!

This blog will highlight local club race reports, club results, photos from club events and other information regarding the triathlon community in Colorado Springs. There will be many members of the club posting to this blog, so enjoy!