Pikes Peak Triathlon Club

2010 Wrap-up and Awards Banquet

2011-01-20T21:47:00.001-07:00

Tonight was our annual banquet and awards ceremony at the Village at Springs Ranch clubhouse. We had a wonderful time together, reminiscing on the great times we had the previous season and start to think about the fantastic times that we will have in the upcoming year. Thanks to our local sponsors, Bicycle Village, Boulder Running Company, and Colorado Running Company, who helped us during the year and provided some great raffle prizes tonight! We also presented awards to very deserving athletes.

The 2010 Pikes Peak Triathlon Club award winners are...
Female Rookie of the Year: Kelly Ping
Male Rookie of the Year: Dan Leclerc
Female Triathlete of the Year: Nicole Drummer
Male Triathlete of the Year: Neal Oseland
Female Master's Triathlete of the Year: Carol Lyndell
Male Master's Triathlete of the Year: Steve Vaughan
Youth Triathlete of the Year: Nathan Ley
Special Recognition: Eric Miller

triathletes know how to dig into a buffet!

Triathletes also know how to socialize (and eat at the same time!)

The 2011 board was also announced tonight.

President: Rich Kiser

Vice President: Nicole Drummer

Secretary: Steve Vaughan

Treasurer: Neal Oseland

Webmaster: Craine Runton

At-large: Kevin Dessart

At-large: Dan Boucher

If you are in the Pikes Peak region and are interested in triathlon (beginner, experienced, or just enjoy the sport,) click the 'Join Us' button on the sidebar of this blog! You won't regret it!

Here are a couple reminders of our upcoming events:

Jan 22, 2pm, Offseason Triathlon Clinic at Bicycle Village with Steve Vaughan

Feb 1, 6:30am - 7:30pm, Indoor Tri Series #3 at the Colorado Springs Rec Center (race anytime during the day, or come to volunteer!)

Wildlife watching

2011-01-14T11:51:00.001-07:00

After work on Thursday, I decided to do my trail run at Lake Pueblo. I knew there would be snow on the ground still and was hoping the mud wouldn't be too bad. Well, there was plenty of snow and my shoes are covered in soft, gooey clay. I think coming down South Shore, I added a few extra pounds of mud to my shoes. It was a good run, but I think riding down there is not worth the trouble for a few more days. My bike is clean and I want to keep it that way...

The fun part of the run was the wildlife. I couldn't tell who was doing more watching, me or the wildlife! I saw a large red tailed hawk enjoying dinner. I think it was a rabbit, it was large enought. I also saw two coyetes meandering around the rocks. They paused and watched me for a while, making me wonder where the rest of the pack was. Then they bounded off, like the lions of Tsavo. Reading books about wildlife and man eaters is not the best idea before going for a twilight trail run alone! I ran a little faster after that thought crossed my mind. Esecially since there was no one else on the trails...

National Challenge Competition -Swim Session Results

2011-01-11T20:44:00.000-07:00

Here's the update on how the Pikes Peak Tri Club is doing in USAT's National Challenge Competition. We add up our swim, bike, and run miles and compete with triathlon lubs of similar size across the country.

December had a swim focus and here's how we did....6th overall in Division 2. Notice our in-state rivals are a few miles ahead of us. I should point out that in order to make the sports "more equivalent" with regards to time spent doing them, the swim mileage is actually multiplied by 10 for the competition. This is a change from last year where the actual miles were used. Bike miles are actual miles and run miles are multiplied by 5. Click on the images to bring up the full graphic.

We did a little better in the overall miles and were in 5th place. I will also point out that we have about 25 people counting miles, and some of the teams above us have closer to the 75 person team limit. So not too shabby for a smaller group! Go PPTC!

Here is the current Overall Standings (all clubs, total miles) as of Jan 11, 2011.We have a little over 13,500 miles and are 16th overall.

January is Bike Month! There will be special prizes for those who have the highest bike miles this months. Here's where we stand in our Division... We're in 7th place and not too far behind the Boulder Tri Club!

Cheer on your P2 Teammates and help get them on the trainer, treadmill, trails, or pool!

2010 Night at the Races

2010-12-15T20:15:00.002-07:00

PPTC member Carol Lyndell competed in the the CTS Night at the Races computrainer series and had this to say about "going nowhere fast."

Wintertime and it’s time to go nowhere fast on that confounded indoor trainer – ugh!

Over four Friday evenings in November and December I broke out of my indoor rut and joined other cyclists at Carmichael Training Systems for their night at the races. Each week the theme of the races changed, from time trial to criterium to road race. The last week was a bit of all three. I missed the first week, but I was there every other Friday evening.

With bike tightly clamped into the brackets of the computrainer, I set out to tackle some challenging rides. These rides tested my training. The races were short, usually three to five miles (as measured by the computer program we were riding). But short doesn’t mean easy. I tackled the criterium course that Colorado College used this past summer. It was a short loop repeated about 12 times. I came to hate that hill with its 13% grade. I was hurting as I “rode” up it that final time. Riders who had already finished cheered on the slower riders, and as in a real race, those cheers propelled me onward.

Progress was charted on the overhead screen. I was that little blue bike inching its way across the monitor. I received feedback on my mph, watts, miles covered, race position, and time. Sometimes there would be a battle as riders passed and repassed each other as shown by those little bikes moving on the screen. If there was any more to give, the passee would up his/her speed and try to pull out of harm’s way. Those bikes were our alter egos and it was a great way to get a good workout in with friends

Tuesday Night Tri Series!

2010-12-01T08:25:00.002-07:00

Looking for that fun and exciting workout to help you keep your edge during the cold winter months? Look no further then Indoor Tuesday Night Tri Series, every other Tuesday night starting in January! Join local athletes for this innovative, motivating race series at the Colorado Springs Recreation Center. The Tuesday Night Tri Series is designed to provide fun, affordable, training “races” for local triathletes to help maintain or improve your overall fitness levels during the first winter.

Athletes will have the option of the order of the three events and will utilize the Rec Center's pool, treadmill and spin bikes for the event. The event will take place entirely inside the Rec Center. There will be no timed transitions but athletes are encouraged to move from event to event in a timely manner.

Dates: Jan 4 & 18, Feb 1 & 15

Time: All races start at 6:00pm

Distances:
Adult Race: Swim - 300, Bike 8 miles, Run 2 miles
Youth Race: Swim 100, Bike 4 miles, Run 1 mile

Location: Colorado Springs Recreation Center

Cost: Free to Rec Center Members!
Adults $8 per race ($28 to reg for all races)
Youth $6 per race ($20 to reg for all races)

Age Groups: Youth 6-8, 9-12 & 13-16
Adult Male and Female, 17-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60+

Awards: Awards will be given to the first place male and female with the lowest combined time from all races, in each age category. Athletes must compete all four races to be eligible for Awards

Registration: You can register via our online form, mail in your form to the address below, or drop off your registration at the Colorado Springs Recreation Center. There will be race day registration at the front desk of the rec center but early registration is encouraged.

Tues Night Tri Series
Colorado Springs Recreation Center
280 S. Union Blvd.
Colorado Springs, CO 80910

Questions? Contact Kevin Dessart @ kdessart@csswimschool or 719-385-5984

Progressive training at Bicycle Village

2010-11-29T17:15:00.000-07:00

Bicycle Village will again be offering the 12 week progressive training program.It is based on the program we offered the last few years with great success.This 12 week focused program is cadenced-based and designed to leave you with a foundation that will enable you to make the most of your 2011 season. Emphasis on pedal technique and leg speed during the first four weeks will set up the following months providing increased fitness and speed. The cost of the class is $150 and will include power threshold testing.

This class will run January 3rd – March 23 in the Spin Room at Bicycle
Village.

Classes will meet every Monday and Wednesday from 6 to 7pm.
Power threshold testing will be done twice during the class by
appointment.
Please bring: bike, towel, water bottle and cycling cloths.
Recommended but not mandatory: cadence computer and heart rate monitor.
Class is limited to the first 16 (sign up at Bicycle Village).

Itinerary sample:

January Pedal Technique and Leg Speed

During these workouts the emphasis will be on pedal technique and leg speed. Classes will start with cadence spin ups ranging from 60rpms to 140 rpms and move to one legged drills. The focus during these classes will be increasing leg speed and smoothing out ones pedal stroke at varying cadences to increase sustainable power at a given heart rate.

February CP Sprints – Maximum Cadence Efforts

During this workout the concentration is on achieving and maintaining maximum RPM’s while remaining smooth at the top end acceleration. The focus during recovery is relaxing the body to aid in lowering the heart rate (HR) through bio-feedback. Developing the Adenosine Triphosphste-Creatine Phosphate (ATP-CP) energy system will help open up your VO2 max capacity. While CP Sprints are not maximum HR efforts they do tax the ATP_CP energy system making it more efficient. Inserting CP Sprints 3 to 5 weeks prior to the beginning of intense anaerobic threshold training will help increase your ability to work at a higher percentage of your maximum HR while remaining aerobic.

March Anaerobic Interval Training – Super Maximum Sustainable Power Efforts
These workouts will help increase your maximum sustainable power output and work at a non-sustainable work rate. These intervals are hard to endure, however they are the most important workouts in a race training program because they improve lactate tolerance by increasing capillary density, blood volume and red blood cells.

Note: If interested please prepay and sign up at the front counter at Bicycle Village, we are allowing only 16 participants

2010 Club Challenge

2010-11-27T12:50:00.002-07:00

Once again we will be participating in the USAT Club Challenge. We need all PPTC members to join in and help us defend our title from last year! December is the swim focus month, January is the ride focus month and February is the run focus month. All miles count and it's a great way to keep motivated through winter. Email Nicole at nicole_e_drummer@yahoo.com
to learn more and to sign up. We need to have the roster set by December 1st, because that's when we start counting miles!

IM Hawaii viewing party

2010-11-27T12:31:00.001-07:00

The Colorado Springs Swim School would like to invite you all to our IM viewing event on Dec. 18th at the CS Recreation Center between 2-5pm. This will be a unique active event as everyone attending will be encouraged to ride, run, etc on our spin bikes (Look and SPD compatible pedals), treadmills, ellipticals or with their own bikes on our trainers. Following the airing we will have a panel discussion with three local AG triathletes who have all raced multiple Ironman races, including Hawaii. They will be available to discuss their successes and failures and how they are able to prepare for an Ironman with multiple other responsibilities in their lives. This will be an ideal time for aspiring IM athletes, and those who have done an IM, to gain knowledge from others who can share insight on what it takes and what they did to become Ironman athletes.

Admission is free to Rec Center members, and non-members admission will be either a food item to share during the panel discussion or $6 which will go directly to the CS Swim School scholarship fund which provides free and reduced-cost lessons to those who can not afford them.

The panel will include:

Eric Peterson - Full time employee for CSU, multiple IM finisher and AG winner. Numerous IM Hawaii finishes

Chrissy Steigerwald - Mother of three and multiple IM finisher who has been on the podium in Hawaii

Neal Oseland - Full time job, father of two with multiple IM finishes including two IM Hawaii

We encourage all of you to take advantage of this opportunity to gather some motivation, gain some knowledge and have some fun!

Please RSVP to kdessart@csswimschool.com if you plan on attending so we can plan accordingly.

Steve V's IM Arizona Race Report

2010-11-27T12:30:00.002-07:00

Saturday morning checked in bike and transition gear bags. Since the weather was questionable in the bike bag I packed my helmet, bike shoes, arm warmers,
gloves, socks, bike shorts, a sleeved jersey and a tri jersey. In my run bag I packed running shorts, running shirt, compression socks, and running shoes. I don’t use the special needs bags. Realized Friday night that I had forgot my swim suit and had to fight the crowds at the Ironman store. I bought some CEP tri shorts to wear as a suit. Woke up 4AM ate an apple and bagel with almond butter and honey. Drove down to the course at 4:30 got my nutrition stuff on the bike and chilled out in the car for an hour.

The water temp was 61 degrees the coldest I have ever raced in. I wore the tri short but no top because of the cool weather. I thought a dry top would be better for the bike. Fortunately I brought a neoprene cap to wear under the race cap. I wanted to get in the water early to get towards the front so I hopped in and holy crap it was freezing! By the time I got to the start line I was shivering. So I headed to the wall on the right side and sat up on the wall to try and warm up. I sat there shivering and looking at all the floating trash until the start. When the gun went off it was a washing machine as usual which lasted about 5 minutes. At that point I found some open water and focused on getting into a rhythm and avoid drinking the water. Staying on the right side is a longer swim but allowed me to sight on the wall for about ¼ mile before moving to the center of the lake. The overcast made it easy to sight the buoys. The swim is an out and back with an exit on steps. Fortunately there was a hand rail and volunteers to keep me from falling over from the head rush. My swim time 1:04.23 (1:31/100yds) 3rd out of 84 in my age group. I was pleased with the swim since I hadn’t had much swimming in in the last month due to my 2 cracked ribs.

The wetsuit stripper was great and I was off to T1. During the swim the clouds broke so I decided to go with the tri top and stay with the tri shorts to save time in transition. I decided against the gloves and arm warmers. T1 time 6:00.

The air was cool but not cold heading out of town. Once out of town the winds picked up to about 20 mph. It was a diagonal cross wind that seemed to be from the front so I figured it would be better on the way back. Wrong! It was worse coming back. The first loop was bad the second loop was worse. The third loop the wind seemed to let up some but not much, probably a change in direction. For nutrition I took a GU Roctane every 45 minutes, one Salt Stick tab and one Sport Legs tab every hour. For hydration I stuck with the Power Bar Perform drink supplied on the course. I also ate an almond butter and honey sandwich on white bread at 3 and 5 hours. I felt good on the bike for the whole 112 miles. My bike time was 6:04.55 (18.4mph) 21st out of 84 in my age group. The time was much slower than I wanted but I am satisfied considering the winds.

I decided to keep my tri top and shorts on for the run to save some time in T2. The only problem was I struggled to get my compression socks on so T2 was 5:23.

On to the run. The first 3 miles were on pace with 8:00/mi. Then the hammer fell
and I was running from an 8:30 to 8:45 to mile 16. The last 10 miles were between 9:11 and 9:59. I managed an 8:20 for the last mile. For nutrition I took a GU Roctane, one Salt Stick tab and one Sport Legs tab every hour. For hydration I stuck with the Power Bar Perform drink supplied on the course. My run time was 3:53.18 (8:55/mi) 1st out of 84 in my age group. I guess I wasn’t the only one hurting out there.

My finish time was 11:13:57 5th out of 84 in my age group. 359th overall out of
about 2360 finishers. Overall I am quite pleased. I missed Kona by 2 slots but that means I will need to work harder next time. I wish someone would have told me that 1 week between Clearwater and Arizona wasn’t enough time to recover. Oh, that’s right everyone told me that.

Ironman World Championship 2010

2010-10-26T08:17:00.002-06:00

What a fun day! I had a goal of racing sub 10 hours regardless of conditions. I was so close last year finishing in 10:03+ so I thought this was quite doable with the experience I gained from 2009. Read below to see how the day went.

Pre-Race

I woke up my usual 3 hrs early to get some food in the system. I took a shower. I know it seems strange that I'd take one knowing I'm going to sweat all day but it refreshes me and helps me get going. Not being a coffee drinker, this gets me going. I went down to the race area and got marked. I went into the hotels internet cafe and just relaxed in there for a while. I was trying to stay off my feet as much as possible. Around 6:30, I went down to the transition area and sat there until 6:50 before heading to the beach. I went in, looked around to truly appreciate the crowds and competitors and then swam out to the race start.

The Swim

This years rules changed so that we couldn't wear a speedsuit. I had no idea how this would affect me but guessed it should be the same for everyone. I just wore my tri-shorts with no top and was ready to roll! Unlike last year, I started well to the left of the pier. I had been bruised and battered during the early part of the swim in 2009 and was looking to avoid that this time around. The gun went off and I was surprised by how much clean water I had in front of me. I was drafting others and not getting beat up. I was feeling great! About 10 minutes into the swim, a huge group all got together. We beat the heck out of each other for about 20 minutes plus. It was slow going but I stayed focused and just took the beating while moving forward. At the turnaround, things started to spread out. I tried my best to draft but wasn't doing so well with it. I swam solo most the way back and unfortunately, there was a current we were swimming directly into. While it's the same for everyone, it's still hard. Unlike last year, I came out of the water feeling GREAT and I was about 2 minutes faster than last year in 1:13:12. I was in 1017th place after the swim. I am a TERRIBLE swimmer!!

I had practiced this a little because I knew I'd have to put a dry jersey on a wet body. I'd never done this before because I've always worn my full triathlon kit under my wetsuit or speedsuit. Everything went as planned and I got out of transition in 3:07.

The Bike

I jumped on the bike and felt pretty good right away. Rather than hammer away right out of the gate, I went into an easy ring. I did this for the first few minutes to make sure I was settled before the short climb up Kuakini Hwy. Once on Kuakini, I put it in a gear that was not giving away any speed but not beating my legs. After the turnaround on Kuakini, I was flying. I was also incredibly relaxed. I was more relaxed for this race than I have been at any of the 6 previous Ironman distance races I've been in. It felt kind of weird not being all worked up. There was a slight tailwind with the downhill from Kuakini.. Everyone was motoring so my concern was to not get caught up in someones poor bike handling skills that could take me out early. The bike was really uneventful for the first 30 miles. I was taking in my nutrition at regular intervals with no issues. About that time, I was coming up on a small group of riders. There were 6-8 of them riding legally and I figured I would pass them over the course of the next mile. Right as I came up on the guy in the back, a group of 10-15 guys who were not riding very legal boxed me in. At this point, I was full on drafting the three guys riding three abreast at the front of the group so I immediately hit the brakes. Doing so had all those other guys spring past me. I was trying to stay legal and doing a good job of it but was now going pretty slow. The group ahead were jockeying back and forth, out of the saddle....just hammering. I knew I needed to get past them but these guys weren't the type to let someone pass easily. I saw an opening that was created when the original group of 6-8 guys got passed by the group of 10-15. I hammered past them and tucked in to a legal position between the two groups. I gave myself a couple of minutes to get my heart rate where it needed to be then hit the gas to get past them. I got past all but 3 of them. Those last 3 were not going to let me go. 2 of those 3 guys got penalties over the next 3 miles. I have to say, one of them was a tough call because he was trying to pass someone then got blocked. The guy blocking got no penalty but the guy who didn't (couldn't) pass got nailed. I was now past this big group and only focused on passing individual riders and small groups ahead. As I made the turn to climb to Hawi around mile 41, I was feeling good. There was no wind and no whitecaps on the water so I was thinking this could be an easy climb. I made sure I was up on nutrition after riding harder than I wanted to get past that earlier group. Everything changed 2 miles later. There weren't whitecaps in the water. It was more like waves. I had my bike completely leaning toward the water to stay upright. The wind was relentless. I was in the small ring on the front and needing all of my gears on the back to keep moving forward. There wasn't a whole lot of passing now. I was just trying to keep my HR at a reasonable level until the turnaround. About 2 miles before the turnaround at Hawi, the wind eased. It did pick right back up on the descent but I did much better with it than on the trip up. I ended up getting past a lot of people who were upright and nervous. Once at the bottom of the climb, I was feeling really fresh. I didn't go hard but went at a pace to keep my speed up but not pushing hard enough to damage the legs for the run. There was a head wind the final 30 miles but nothing too bad. Living in Colorado has made that type of wind the norm so I just focused on getting calories in for the upcoming run. There were no issues the rest of the ride and I made it back to T2 with a bike time of 5:12:39. The ride was pretty drama free except for that short section where I was trying to avoid drafting. My time was slightly faster than last year and I passed 437 people during those 112 miles. I was now in 580th place..

I came into transition and just let my bike fly off to a volunteer as I was trying to save every second possible. I had a little issue with the tongue of my shoe but got through that and headed out to the run feeling AMAZING. My T2 time was 2:49.

The Run

The run was where I hoped to pull back the majority of those 3+ minutes from last year to break 10 hours. I had never felt so good starting an Ironman run as I did on this day. While not 100% fresh, my legs were completely underneath me. No Ironman shuffle or anything like that. I was able to immediately start running like I would on any other day. I was running most of my miles in the low 7 minute range (don't pay attention to those run splits or Ironmanlive...they were quite inaccurate). I was really focused on a solid first 10 miles. This is by far the fastest section of the run. It is completely flat and there is a good breeze off the ocean before you head out to the Queen K Highway. It really helps keep the core temperature down. I hit the 10 mile mark feeling pretty good. I was determined to run out of town better than I did in 2009. This happens just after the 10 mile mark. I took me over 11 minutes for that particular mile last year. Not only did I run it that slow, I was beat down and it took a couple of miles to get back into a good rhythm. Not this year. I ran up the hills well focusing on my cadence. While climbing Palani was tough, I managed to run that same tough mile in 8:24 this time. It was way slower than any mile I had run so far, but a lot faster than 2009 and I still felt pretty good. This was very encouraging. I continued to keep checking my internal systems to make sure I wasn't losing cadence and keeping fueled. I would count my cadence at least once per mile for a minute and I was holding the same turnover. The conditions were pretty good. While still hot, there was this cloud cover that would come and go throughout the run. I tend to do well in the heat so when we'd have longer stretches of direct sun, I'd end up passing a lot of people. When the clouds would come out, I'd just kind of hold my position. I started to feel the effects of the day around the 13 mile mark. Nothing drastic. Just some fatigue in my hamstrings. It was a reminder that this was not easy! My cadence was still the same but the push off wasn't quite as strong. I had no issues for the remaining miles into the Natural Energy Lab. It was pretty hot down there and I passed a lot of people even though I was slowing down. After the climb out of there, I was feeling good but ready to be done. The legs were achy and wanting to stop but I never did. I'm proud to say I never stopped the entire marathon...not even to walk an aid station. I was taking in all the volunteers energy and hopefully giving back some of my own with high fives and hang loose signs. They were fantastic the entire day. I hit mile 24 and all of a sudden, things weren't feeling so good. The left hamstring was really tight. This went on for the next 15 minutes or so but eased up to the point where I was loose and running well. That was the only excitement of the entire run. Here are my run splits. Miles 1 and 2 are combined because I forgot to hit the lap button out of transition.
1.14:40          8.   7:13         15. 7:50       22. 7:59
2.           9.   7:22         16. 6:35       23. 7:53

3. 7:11          10. 7:28         17. 7:43       24. 8:39

4. 6:59          11. 8:24         18. 7:32       25. 8:38

5. 7:00          12. 6:51         19. 7:48       26. 6:59

6. 7:11          13. 7:20         20. 7:59       .2    1.22

7. 7:11          14. 7:39         21. 7:45

Signaling to my family watching me back home

I ended up running the marathon in 3:17:55 passing another 256 people in the process. This had me finish in 9:49:42, 13:44 faster than 2009! Overall, I had a good but not great day. I do consider my run to be great for my standards. This was a run PR in an Ironman by almost 8 minutes. I'm feeling pretty good about it.

Wrap Up

I look at this race as real boring as far as things happening out of the ordinary during the race. There was no spot where I was in a real bad place that I had to pull myself from. That doesn't mean it wasn't very hard. It was and I had to dig deep at various parts of the race. That's expected and had been planned for so it was very normal in that sense. I enjoyed race day much more than last year. Having done it before, I knew a lot of what to expect. I was able to enjoy the crazy groups of spectators, the energetic volunteers, men hammering so a woman wouldn't pass them, and most importantly the amazing group of athletes that I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to race against. This is a race I would love to be able to do every year. I had to go without my family so I had an empty feeling the entire week as well as post race. They are such a big part of this journey and to not have them there took a lot away from it. For that reason, I am done racing Ironman as far as I can tell. Unless we come into a bunch of money to bring the entire family over, I'm going to go for some different things here in Colorado. It's been a great ride. I raced my first Ironman at Ironman Coeur d'Alene in 2005 in 11:52+. Since then, I've been able to take over 2 hours off that time at the World Championship. With the help of a great group of friends and an incredibly supportive family, I've been able to race in the pinnacle event of our sport in Hawaii twice. Hopefully I'll be back some day but if not, I have no regrets.

Busy Summer

2010-08-31T18:22:00.002-06:00

It's been a busy summer for the Pikes Peak Triathlon Club. From Boulder Peak to the Boulder 70.3 and other road triathlons, the Xterra Mountain Championships, Indian Peaks and Xterra Lory, to a wide variety of road races, cycling events, mountain bike events and social gatherings, the club has been very busy! Unfortunatly posts and race reports from all the events have been slim.

There was a large contingent of PPTC members at the Xterra Lory on August 29 and there were plenty of appearences on the podium. Bruce Wacker and Carol Lyndell made the podium in the 60-65 age group, Nicole Rosa in the 50-54, Michael Orendorf in the 55-59, Kim Baugh in the 30-35 age group and Tracy Thelen winning the women's race overall. Tracy has her race report posted on her blog http://tracythelen.blogspot.com/2010/08/xterra-lory-race-report.html

Race Report from Kansas and Xterra

2010-06-21T20:32:00.004-06:00

A whole group of PPTCer took the I-70 tour through Kansas for the Ironman Kansas 70.3. President Nicole D, Jessica B and Steve V (and a few others) all faced up to the rolling hills, wind and heat and humdity of Lawrence to finish the challenging 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike and 13.1 mile run. Nicole wrote a race report about her travel and race - part 1 and part 2

Tracy Thelen made the trek out to Birmingham, AL and Oak Mountain State Park on June 13th to tackle the course, the conditions and the competition at the Xterra South East Championships. While the competion was stiff and the conditions brutal for racing, she handled the course well! Her race report is up on her blog.

open water swims

2010-05-31T17:11:00.003-06:00

Hey Gang
I think there have been emails about this, but if not I saw that without limits productions is doing a series of open water swims in Denver. Web site is www.withoutlimits.com for more information.

Good luck to everyone racing Kansas 70.3 this next weekend.

Happy Memorial Day

Rich Kiser

Weekend of Triathlons!

2010-05-25T21:42:00.004-06:00

This past weekend was a busy one with an XTERRA down in Waco, TX and the Summer Open Sprint in Longmont.
Results from Waco:
Pros:
Braden Rakita took 6th Men's Pro, but was actually first out of the water with the fastest overall swim!
Tracy Thelan was 8th Womens Pro (her race report)

Age Group:

Michael Orendorff got 2nd in 55-59

"The old man" Bruce Wacker 60-65 won his age group, apparently after losing a cleat on the bike early on.

Results link: http://jtltiming.com/results/x-wac.html#M

Congrats to everyone - I hear it was some stiff competition!!! If you were there and we missed you, let us know!

Summer Open Sprint Tri Participants:

Jessica Bell

Craine Runton

Nicole Drummer (race report here)

Dennis Watts

Terri Walters (1st 44-49 age group)

Karen Fady (1st 65-69 age group)

Results link: http://www.myentryfee.com/results/RaceList.aspx

Another round of applause!!!
(Did I miss anyone??)

Terri and Karen showing off their awards (the mugs and the shades!)

Jessica, Nicole, Terri and Karen.

New Orleans 70.3 Race Report - Alan Sage

2010-05-13T13:00:00.003-06:00

PPTC Member Alan Sage raced New Orleans 70.3 last month...keep reading to learn about a great race in the Big Easy...

Ironman New Orleans 70.3 was both fun and challenging for me. It was my first race longer than an Olympic distance so I was anxious to see what this was all about. A couple days prior, I mentioned to my sister and brother in law that I thought I was pretty sure I could complete a full Ironman but I wasn’t sure about how fast I could do it. Let’s just say that I took that statement back about 3 minutes after crossing the finish line.
Deciding to drive to New Orleans was a decision I made because I like to have my own car during packet pick-up and race day morning. I also didn’t want to bother taking my bike apart and putting it back together. My journey started April 15th from the Springs and I arrived in New Orleans Friday night(16th). I enjoyed seeing family and friends leading up to race day. The finest part about racing in New Orleans is the food. I have never had any real nutrition issues prior to this race so I decided that I was going to enjoy my short time there and eat po-boys(shrimp, oyster, catfish) for breakfast, lunch and dinner. This leads us to race morning.

Pre race: Our swim wave (25-29M) was the last to start so there was no rush but I’ve always been the type to wake up early race morning and be one of the first at the transition area. Whole grain Cheerios and Vanilla Soy Milk is my race day breakfast of choice. I also made sure to take my vitamins and an XS energy drink. My bags were already packed so I took off pretty early. Everything was running smooth in the morning as far as getting body marked and getting transition area set up. I always bring a ton of liquids and extras just in case but in the end my transition area is very simple and easy to work with. Out of the 2500 or so bikes, mine was the closest to the run out. I was pretty excited about that……At that time. We had about a 2 hour wait so, being the extrovert that I am, I decided to make friends with fellow triathletes.

Swim: Well, well, well. I’ll start by saying that swimming once every 2 months is not a great game plan for a successful swim. It was a running start into the water so the start was more spread out than I was used to. My goal was to finish the swim in 35 minutes but I had to adjust 30 seconds into the start. There were some decent swells in the lake and there was an art swimming through them that I didn’t quite figure out. To make a long story short, I finally got into a groove. Although sunny on the way back to the transition area, I managed to stay comfortable and save some for the bike. I finished the swim in 48 minutes, which was obviously way off my goal.

Bike: I have never been one to take forever in transition so I was on the bike and ready for 56 miles in about 2 minutes. The bike portion is normally my weakest part, although the swim and bike were my weakest this particular day. I felt great the first 30 miles then fatigue started to set in. I learned that it is ok to pee on the bike, but not until after the race. I stopped 3 times to use the bathroom and was part of the reason it took me 3:19 on the bike. Oh well, lesson learned. I normally drink a sugarless sports drink which lasted me a good portion, but had to revert to orange flavored powerade, which started to give me some stomach issues. In any way, I finished the bike with an easy last mile of spinning and stretching to prepare for the run.

T2 was interesting in that I always take my feet out and pedal on top of my shoes right before dismounting and didn’t realize that there were a plethora of “stickies” that were going to stay on my socks. I took about 30 seconds trying to get them all off of my socks but in the end, I believe it would have taken me 5 minutes to get them all off. I put my shoes on and took off. (T2 was about 90 seconds). I only felt the “stickies” for about ½ mile.

Run: Feeling good is an understatement when describing how I felt on the run. I felt wonderful but also thought about how this was my first ½ Ironman and didn’t want to push it too early. Weather was a little toasty compared to Colorado (85 and humid) but had no leg cramps or stomach issues through the first 11.5 miles. I was feeling really great and heard a second line band with 1.5 miles to go so I decided to put the legs into another gear. For those that don’t know what a second line band is……..Imagine a brass band (trumpet, trombone, sax, snare drum, tuba, etc. ) marching down the street with about 100 others marching/partying behind them (One of the things I love about my hometown). That was enough to pull me through the end of W Esplanade Ave. I started to feel a small cramp come on in both of my legs so I started to run a little funny but who cares. I was thinking about beignets and crawfish after the race. I turned the corner to head towards Café du Monde and Jackson Square only to find a huge crowd and many high fives waiting. I finished the run in 2:01 and that put me at 6:13 for total time. It was a great experience and look forward to racing many more 70.3’s.

Colorado Marathon Race Report - Don Byers

2010-05-11T07:35:00.005-06:00

Several PPTC members ran the Colorado Marathon & Half Marathon last weekend. Here's Don Byers' account of the full! Congrats to Don and eveyone out there!

2010 Colorado Marathon
Sunday, May 9, 2010 – Fort Collins, CO

Short version
3:32:59 – 8:07 pace, 7/47 AG, 136/975 OA – BQ!

Long version

I had done this race twice before. My last race here was my marathon PR – 3:26:20 - and my first time qualifying for Boston. After my unsatisfactory race in Boston last year I wanted to qualify again and maybe go back to Boston to see what I'm capable of when fully healthy.

I started training for this race way back in September. My focus was to build up substantial volume and hold it for several months, then work on speed and long runs in the month or so preceding the race. During the eight months leading up to the race I ran over 2300 miles, with a peak week of slightly over 100 miles. As is my norm, I also raced frequently and set several new PRs along the way. In other races I set new personal course bests in almost every race. Despite the generally lousy weather I managed to have decent long runs with closing miles at or near race pace. My speedwork went well. Based on all this, I was fully expecting to set a new PR. I was thinking somewhere between 3:15-3:20.

On Saturday, I met Buzz Borries, Dan Boucher, and Dawn Barker for supper. They were all running the half marathon. They all ended up having decent races and Dan set a new PR, while Dawn finished her first half marathon nicely.

Race morning seemed OK. The weather was just about perfect, around 40 at the start and warming to the mid 50s as the race progressed, sunny and almost no wind. However, the bus got to the starting area a bit later than I was wanting, and by the time I got through the potty line and completed some basic routine prerace items I didn't have much time to get in a decent warmup. I did what I could and got in the line for the start. I figured I would ease into the first mile to loosen up, then pick up the pace to what I felt would be sustainable based on my previous recent longer races. This worked well as the first mile was 7:45, then I dropped to the 7:20 range. I was cruising along and not really feeling like I was running hard. I went through 6 miles at just about 45 minutes, a 7:30 pace, right on target and feeling good. At 8 miles I was just over an hour, still on target and feeling good. Shortly after that I could feel my calves starting to tighten up. It seemed very early for that and I had run a 10 mile race a couple months ago at a much faster pace with no issues at all. I felt like I was keeping the same effort, but in the next few miles people started passing me and I knew I was slowing down. Somewhere in those miles I knew this wasn't going to be the race I wanted and I backed off some thinking I could still salvage a PR. I went through the half at 1:40:34, about a minute and a half slower than my last race here. I thought maybe by backing off I could run the second half better than the last race and get that PR. But it just wasn't happening. As I could see the possibility of a PR slipping away, the goal now turned to maybe breaking 3:30. That still seemed possible even as I went through 20 miles. Then I seemed to slow a bit more and the focus was to just get the BQ. I had to really force myself to keep going because by then my legs were getting really tight. I shortened up my stride and increased the cadence to allow myself to keep moving forward at a decent pace. I recall passing the 25 mile mark in the last race with over 18 minutes to finish thinking I could walk it in if I had to. This time when I passed 25 I only had 13 minutes and I knew I had to keep up the effort in that final 1.2 miles. Mile 26 was my slowest mile of the race as the course was getting crowded with people from the half marathon and marathoners trying to finish in good form. When I finally made the last turn and could see the finish line I was able to muster up a final bit of energy and run the last .2 at a slightly stronger pace. I crossed the line in 3:32:59. Only 3 minutes under the BQ time, but nonetheless I had made it.

I met up with Buzz, Dan, and Dawn after the race and we went to the beer garden.

I'm not overly disappointed. It wasn't like the race was a complete failure. I'm just chalking it up to being an incidence of everything just not coming together on race day. I did make the real goal of qualifying for Boston again. Now I have several months to decide if I'm actually going to Boston again. The race itself is an amazing experience, but the associated costs of travel and accommodations are quite an expense.

After I recover I've got a bunch of other races to train for this summer including my first attempt at the Pikes Peak Ascent.

Xterra West Championships - 2010

2010-04-29T10:31:00.002-06:00

Two of the Pikes Peak Triathlon Club Pros headed out to Lake Las Vegas/Henderson NV for the Xterra West Championships on April 25th. Branden Rakita battled through a tough field and challenging course to finish a respectable 10th among the pro men. Mechanicals and flats proved to be the theme of the day among the pro men, with Branden, Josiah Middaugh and others all having issues on the bike. For the women, staying upright seemed to be the challenge as the techical course claimed several victims, including Sara Tarkington and Daz Parker. Tracy Thelen finished 9th in the pro women and has her race report posted on her blog http://tracythelen.blogspot.com/2010/04/xterra-west-championships-2010-race.html

10th Anniversary Celebration Recap

2010-04-19T21:02:00.001-06:00

On Thursday, April 15th, the Pikes Peak Triathlon Club met at Trinity Brewing Co to celebrate 10 years of the PPTC! Yes, the club has been around for 10 years! This celebration was also our monthly membership social (always the 3rd Thursday of the month) so new and current members got to talk about what's going on the in their triathlon world.
Several of the Past Presidents were in attendance and told stories about what it was like when they were in charge. Dana Duthie, the founder of the club, gave a nice history of how the club came to be.

After the stories and some club announcements, we we left to enjoy the food, drink and each other's company.

Happy 10th Anniversary Pikes Peak Tri Club! We wish the next 10 years are as good or even better than the last!

Photos courtesy of Brian McCarrie.

Find more photos like this on Pikes Peak Sports

Transition Clinic a Success!

2010-04-12T15:31:00.000-06:00

Saturday afternoon we met at Memorial Park for a great transition clinic hosted by a couple of our local pros Branden Rakita and Haven Barnes. Thanks for everyone who came out! I took some video and will try to get some footage up as soon as possible. For a great recap of the event, check out PPTC member Scott Carmack's blog post.

Don't Miss our 10th Anniversary Celebration!

2010-04-06T12:51:00.000-06:00

It's an event you don't want to miss!

I'd like to invite you to join the Pikes Peak Triathlon Club as it celebrates its 10th Anniversary! Come celebrate this wonderful milestone with your new and old triathlon friends at our April Membership Meeting/Social. Been around the club for a while? Come share your stories! New to the club? Let's make new memories! PPTC will provide the food, and you'll be able to purchase the beverage of your choice.
Date: Thurs, April 15th
Time: 6-8pm
Place: Trinity Brewing Co, 1466 Garden of the Gods Rd

We'll need a headcount for this event so please RSVP to nicole@pikespeaktriathlonclub.com no later than Friday, April 9th.

If you have any PPTC nostalgia/photos/ stories, we'd love for you to share them! Thanks and I look forward to seeing you there!

Women of Dirt

2010-03-31T08:17:00.000-06:00

April 10th is shaping up to be a busy day! After the transition clinic, make plans to head downtown to McCabe's Tavern. The Women's Mountain Biking Association of Colorado Springs (WOMBA) will hosting the movie "Women of Dirt" as part of their annual fundraising event. "Women of Dirt" showcases some of the top talent in women's downhill and freeride mountain biking. An area of mountain biking that was once dominated by men, these women are showing that anything is possible on two wheels. There will also be a silent auction for gift baskets and other goodies donated by local businesses. There is a suggested donation at the door for the movie, but don't let that stop you!! Come on down and have a good time with the Ladies of WOMBA!

Transition Clinic - 2pm, Saturday, April 10th at Memorial Park

2010-03-23T13:06:00.001-06:00

Well, PPTCers, race season is about to begin. (...insert plug for the Falcon Groundspeed Tri on May 1 at the Air Force Academy...) And with racing comes training for our "fourth sport." No, not post-race beer drinking...

Transitions! Heck - even our own Gazette reported on the importance of triathlon transitions last year. (and I'm a little biased since that's me in the photo). :-) And here, Tracy Thelen enters T2 at the 2009 5430 Long Course - note the shoes still on her bike (although she hasn't given up socks yet!!)

Our own local pros, Branden Rakita and Haven Barnes, will teach us all how to:

Set up so you can flow through transition easier
Making going from the swim to the bike easier
Ease going from the bike to the run.
Flying Mounts and Dismounts from your bike.
Tricks and samples of lubricants and powders to use so you don't get blisters.

Even the experienced triathlete can benefit from transition practice!
So come to the Pikes Peak Triathlon Club Transition Clinic
Crit Course at Memorial Park on
Saturday, April 10th at 2pm

We look forward to seeing you there!

RESULTS - National Challenge Competition

2010-03-12T20:36:00.005-07:00

Well, folks, we did it! The Pikes Peak Tri Club rocked USAT's National Challenge Competition and WON OUR DIVISION!
Before I go into those details, here's a wrap up of February's Run Session, which was our best session. We came in 10th overall and on top of our division.

Club Standings by Run Mileage

	Club	Location	Run
1.	Hammerhead Triathlon Club	Jacksonville FL	4929.08
2.	Triathlon Club of San Diego T1	San Diego CA	4856.03
3.	Buffalo Triathlon Club	Amherst NY	4580.12
4.	Tri Fury	Andover MA	3568.6
5.	Team Fraser Multisport	Fraser MI	3409.82
6.	Silicon Valley Tri Club	Cupertino CA	3182.68
7.	DC Triathlon Club	Washington DC	3177.76
8.	Boulder Triathlon Club	Boulder CO	2538.1
9.	Alaska Tri Club White Wabid Wabbits	Anchorage AK	2468.64
10.	Pikes Peak Triathlon Club	Colorado Springs CO	2349.01

We also had two team member place in the top 10 overall! Don Byers came in 3rd overall with 320 miles (yeah, I entered his name in the system backwards. Oops.) And Ken Kline came in 8th with 277 miles!


	Name (Club)	Run
1.	Hunter MacLean (Jet City Tri)	349.94
2.	Geof Newton (Cape Cod Athletic Club - Cape Cod Triathlon Team)	339.5
3.	Byers Don (Pikes Peak Triathlon Club)	320.28
4.	Bert Jacoby (Fredericksburg Triathlon Club)	311
5.	Matt Chojnacki (Team Fraser Multisport)	309.5
6.	Alan McMillion (Hammerhead Triathlon Club)	301.4
7.	Hendrik (Dirk) de Heer (DC Triathlon Club)	298.1
8.	Ken Kline (Pikes Peak Triathlon Club)	277.2

We averaged a whopping 73.41 miles per runner, the second highest! Guess we have a lot of folks who like to run! Our top club runners in February were...
Male:

Don Byers 320.28 miles
Ken Kline 277.2 miles
Neal Oseland 171.4

Female:

Carol Lyndell 222 miles
Tracy Thelen 148 miles
Terri Lang 96 miles

Now for the overall results

2010 Overall Session Award Winners

Club: Triathlon Club of San Diego T1

Division I Club: Triathlon Club of San Diego T1

Division II Club: Pikes Peak Triathlon Club

Division III Club: Boulder Triathlon Club

Division IV Club: Tri-ATX

Division V Club: Team Fraser Multisport

Individual Female: Pam Gudenau (Team Fraser Multisport)

Individual Male: George Marck (Tri ATX)

Woohoo! I think there might be some sort of prize for the club, but that wasn't specified in any of the emails from the contest. I'll keep everyone posted.

Top mileage winners for our club (swim + bike + run) for 3 months...

Male:

Ken Kline: 3441.7
Neal Oseland: 2316.24
Branden Rakita: 1729

Female:

Carol Lyndell: 2012.78
Tracy Thelen: 1941.87
Terri Walters: 1256.73

CONGRATULATIONS to everyone!!!

Awards will be given to to top mileage winner for each session and to the overall mileage winner (both male and female) at our Membership Meeting this next Thursday, March 18th at Bicycle Village (6-8pm). Hope to see you there and thanks for having fun with the National Club Challenge!
(For all national results, visit the NCC website.)

Thanks, Road ID

2010-02-27T09:40:00.003-07:00

Road ID, makers of durable, comfortable identification products for athletes of all kinds, has agreed to sponsor the Pikes Peak Triathlon Club for the National Club Challenge. It's getting down to the wire with the swimming, cycling and running (espcially running!). The Pikes Peak Triathlon Club is holding it's own against some stiff competition. Now we have gift certificates from Road ID for awards, in addition to swag from the rest of our great sponsors.

Having identification is important both for club members and their familes. We are out on the roads, the trails and lakes during both training and racing. We all hope that nothing will happen, but if it does... Identification is key to rapid response and contacting of emergency contacts. With the variety of styles from Road ID, there is no excuse to step out the door without proper identification!

Watch out for the squirrels

2010-02-25T10:13:00.000-07:00

My first week back to the Wendesday Lunch Workout and we had a couple of furry companions interested in the workout. The cool clouds kept the Santa Fe quiet and we also had a smaller group. Of course, the sun made an apperance after the workout was finished! We decided to mix things up a little this time, running 2x mile, half mile. This proved to be fairly challengeing for pacing.

Next week, we might have to bring some squirrel repellent. There were two squirrels that took a closer then normal interest in what we were doing. They seemed to think that we had something to give them! Even throwing snowballs at the little critters didn't disuade thier advances. We got quite the lecture from one of them after that. He retreated to the tree next to the trail and chattered at us for some time.

See you all next week

Swim workouts at Gold Gym

2010-02-24T14:54:00.002-07:00

One of the club members, Scott W. passed along this information regarding swimming at Gold Gym. On Thursdays, there is a Noon swim workout. On Mondays and Wednesdays, there is a coach led swim workout at 7:30 AM. The coach led workout cost $5 to attend. Please also be aware that there is a $10 day use fee if you are not a member of the facility.

For more information call Terre Christensen at Gold's Gym -719-548-8400

7655 North Union Boulevard Colorado Springs, CO 80920

24 Hours of Old Pueblo 2010

2010-02-24T14:48:00.002-07:00

Tracy Thelen, one of the Xterra athletes and mountain bike contingent in the club, headed south to Tucson, AZ a few weekends ago for the 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo mountain bike race. She raced in the Co-Ed Duo class with her husband Nick. Here's a link to her (long) race report and some pictures from the trip. The sunshine looks nice after all the cold and icy weather we've had up here!

Race Report
http://tracythelen.blogspot.com/2010/02/2010-24-hours-in-old-pueblo.html

Photos
http://picasaweb.google.com/TracyThelen.triathlete/24HoursOfOldPueblo2010RacePhotos#
http://picasaweb.google.com/TracyThelen.triathlete/24HoursOfOldPueblo2010TripPhotos#

February Membership Meeting (Social)

2010-02-20T15:16:00.002-07:00

On Thursday, February 18th, about 15 existing and prospective tri club members met for the first of many to come monthly membership meetings. The purpose of these meetings are to get to know our club members in a social setting. They will take place the 3rd Thursday of each month and be at various locations. Check the Club Calendar to keep up on the latest club happenings!

The evening started at 6pm with a few "brave souls" who went for a nice 30 minute run in the light snow along the Santa Fe trail.

From Feb 2010 Membership Meeting

When they returned, we gathered for a few announcements and then hung out with food and drink until about 8:00pm. Many thanks to John at Colorado Running Co for the frosty beverages and old triathlon footage. We took a step back into triathlon history watching the 1986 President's Triathlon and Kona footage from the same year.

From Feb 2010 Membership Meeting

The next PPTC membership meeting will be held Thursday, March 18th at Bicycle Village. Plan to attend to get to know your fellow triathletes and bring a friend who might want to join the club!

From Feb 2010 Membership Meeting

National Club Challenge Update - Bike Wrap-up

2010-02-15T12:37:00.001-07:00

For the NCCers, January was Bike Month. We had some serious pedaling going on in the club. The following athletes were the club's top cyclists:
The top males were...

Ken Kline (1154.2 miles) ---> Ken took 3rd overall in the bike mileage competition!
Neal Oseland (764.6 miles)
Branden Rakita (431 miles)

The top females were...

Carol Lyndell (494 miles)
Tracy Thelen (486 miles)
Terri Walters (354 miles)

Great job! Overall we finished 15th and only a couple places behind our closest division competition (FAST). I'd like to add that FAST has 59 participants and we have 32...
13. F.A.S.T. (Ford Athletic Swim & Triathlon Club) Northville MI 8203.6
14. Boulder Triathlon Club Boulder CO 8023.61
15. Pikes Peak Triathlon Club Colorado Springs CO 7332.26
16. HEAT - Hartford Extended Area Triathletes Hartford CT 7248.18
17. Tri ATX Amarillo TX 6791.23
18. Tri Fury Andover MA 6518.02
19. Tri-OKC (The Triathlon Club of Oklahoma City) Oklahoma City OK 6517.99
20. Midwest Xtreme Cedar Rapids IA 6457.5

Run Session Update:
As of approximately noon on 2/15, we are in 4th place overall for the run session with 945 miles logged so far. 2nd place has 969 miles...we're not too far behind and I still don't have week 2 results from about a third of our team!

Thanks PPTC-NCCers! Let's RUN, BABY, RUN!!!!

Good workout over lunch

2010-02-03T21:03:00.000-07:00

We had another good turnout for the WLW on the Santa Fe Trail. A few new faces joined us for the warm-up and the pre-workout gossip. It was nice seeing Bruce and Steve and hope they can come out and join us again.

Thanks to the good weather and dry trail, we decided to run a different mile repeat loop. Instead of the out and back to the south, we did the second mile of the Neilson to north. The popular vote was to run clockwise and have the benefit of the nice down hill on the last half. Consenus was that this was a better mile - more interesting then the out and back mile.

We will still have the WLW next week, same time, same place. One of the other regulars will organize the run, as I will be out of town for 24 hours of Old Pueblo

First Saturday!

2010-02-02T15:32:00.003-07:00

Colorado Running Company, one of the club's sponsors is hosting the monthly First Saturday! event at the store this Saturday. There is a run/walk from the store starting at 7:30 (dress warm!), followed by a social time with breakfast. There will also be one-day only sales and specials to take advantage of until 11:00. It's a great time to meet some other athletes and area runners.

For information visit http://corunco.com/firstsaturday.html

Dan's Marathon Race Report

2010-01-29T17:38:00.003-07:00

(Dan Boucher wrote this race report for us after finishing his first marathon. That's quite the acomplisment and all of the Pikes Peak Triathlon Club is proud of him for hanging tough when things got ugly!)

Dan’s first marathon, January 17, 2010; PF Changs Phoenix AZ.

It started in Sept 2009, when I decided to do my first IM in 2010. Thus I thought I should train hard for an entire year, and train for a marathon during the winter months to get into shape. Found a nice flat course in AZ, signed up, and decided to get some professional assistance. Found and excellent coach, Cami Stock. After three months of some excellent instructions of weight training, swimming, and of course running; I felt ready and anxious to "ROCK AZ". The motto of the marathon. Tired of the long runs in bitter cold temps, I was ready for warmer weather. If you never heard of the Rock N Roll series, its a bunch of running races with bands along the course. Usually every mile a band with aid stations. Kinda cool.

I traveled down Phoenix with my girlfriend, Dawn. Only a 3.5 hr delay from DIA, but it sure beats driving 12+ hours! Nice early morning prerace run, and then Saturdays expo was HUGE! 30K halfers, almost 8K marathoners, and 150 Ultra! We grabbed some samples and then some pasta at Oregano's! Very yummy. A good nights sleep in a hole of a hotel,, it was cheap! Up early, as usual, all race prep's worked and I felt wicked excited and READY. Wore my throw away sweats, but didn’t need them; It was 48 degrees at 630am. A goodbye kiss to Dawn and I off I went. Actually saw McCain at the starting line.

My goal was sub 4hr. I was determined and on pace the first 14 miles. Legs where strong and a ton of oxygen filled my lungs. Meet some ladies from phoenix, Nebraska, a group of ultra's from KC. Dawn meet me at mile 12 for some gatorade bottle swaps. I couldn’t believe how many people relied on the water stations for EVERYTHING! I was happy I carried two bottles. They served CytoMax on course, which I saw many people puke up later! Tons of support from a ton of people watching us.

My story then turns tragic. Mile 18, yes the wall. Lower back cramps, right forearm numb, hip flexor shooting pains down my leg, ARGH I was hurting. Later on, I found out I went out to fast. Disappointed and dejected I walked run walk run for the last 10K. The longest 10K of my life!!! Watching the pacers go by was the hard part. I guess I was lucky, I did witness allot of major cramping, sickness, and hurt issues. Slowest 8 miles EVER!!! I crossed the line at 4:38. NO i didn’t beat Oprah's time!!!!

For my first marathon, my PR isn’t too high! I had the perfect settings, weather, training lack of experience got me YET again. Another lesson learned for my highly anticipated Ironman. IMFL Nov 7th 2010, Panama City FL.

Thanks to my super awesome coach Cami, Buzz, and Saturday morning group at Woodman/I25. AND thanks to my wicked great girlfriend, DAWN, for all her support too. I also appreciate the encouraging words prior and post race from all in the PPTC! I will definitely do it again, and faster next time!!

Time to setup the swim and bike training!

~Dan Boucher, marathoner!

National Club Challenge Update

2010-01-27T13:06:00.000-07:00

Well, folks, we're over half way through the National Club Challenge so I wanted to give you an update on our standings. We are in Division II, which consists of clubs with 130-249 members. Our competitors are:

HEAT (149)
Pikes Peak TC (156)
Midwest Xtreme (173)
FAST (217)
St. Louis TC (219)
Bay State TC (137)

We are now about 75% through the Bike Session. As of today, we are slightly behind some of our competition:
12. F.A.S.T. (Ford Athletic Swim & Triathlon Club) Northville MI: 5362.68 (total bike miles in Jan)
13. Midwest Xtreme Cedar Rapids IA: 5256.5
14. Pikes Peak Triathlon Club Colorado Springs CO 5134.66

So if you're on the Team or know a PPTC-er who is, play this song for them!!!

To recap December (Swim Session), we ended up ranked 14th out of all clubs with 394.19 miles. Our division competitor, FAST (which is also a swim club) came in 2nd overall with 818.71 miles in the pool in December! Full swim session results: http://www.race-tracker.net/usat/standings_swimsession.cfm

Our top swimmers in December were....

Male:

Adrian de Klerk : 37.51mi
Neal Oseland: 34.9mi
Branden Rakita: 34.11mi
Tommy Schwab: 33.47mi

Female:

Tracy Thelen: 26.02mi
Terri Walters: 25.26mi
Carol Lyndell: 21.86mi

That's a lot of swimmin'! Fantastic job!
One last reminder before I sign off....let's get in some bike miles before the end of January!

Another great WLW

2010-01-22T18:58:00.000-07:00

We had a slightly larger crowd for the second WLW. Tracy H, Kim, Molly, Jack, Scott and I all braved the slightly chilly weather for a set of three mile repeats along the Santa Fe Trail. Both Kim and Scott noted that this second week of speed work was a little easier then last week, despite the headwind in the first half mile.

Next week - same time, same place. Hope to see more PPTC members show up for a social run and a challenging workout.

Annual Banquet @ Giuseppe's Depot

2010-01-16T16:29:00.004-07:00

On Thursday, Jan 14th, the PPTC held it's annual banquet at Giuseppe's Depot Restaurant. A fantastic evening of food and camaraderie was highlighted with several awards going to amazing people.

We started with some social time. Those who arrived before 6:30 got to take advantage of happy hour prices at the bar, which is never a bad thing.

From Annual banquet Jan '10

Once everyone arrived (almost 50 of our club members!) we attacked the wonderful buffet of caesar salad, fresh fruit, roast beef, mashed potatoes, lasagna, marinated veggies, rice pilaf, and an assortment of pizzas. If anyone had a big training day coming up, they certainly got enough carbs!

From Annual banquet Jan '10

After dinner, Jeff Lang (2009 Pres) reviewed the activities of the year, acknowledged the 2009 board and our wonderful sponsors. We have some accomplished triathletes in our club - Branden Rakita came in 21st in the Xterra World Championships, and Tracy Thelen, another pro who was the overall female pro at the Silverman Triathlon. The club had 3 Ironman World Championship finishers (can you say Kona!?!) - Joe Turcotte, Neal Oseland and Rob Ladewig. Wow.

The annual awards were then given out.

The winners were:

Male Triathlete of the Year: Joe Turcotte

Female Triathlete of the Year: Terri Lang

Male Rookie of the Year: Craine Runton

Female Rookie of the Year: Sarah Ackor

Congratulations to all the great folks! After the awards, Jeff handed the torch over to the new president, Nicole Drummer. Nicole announced the new board and then mentioned some of the exciting things we will be planning for 2010.

Then it was time for the raffle! We had lots of Gu (endurance athletes need something to sustain them!) and some other great gifts like beanies, bags, hats from Colorado Running Company, and $25 gift certificates from two of our sponsors, Colorado Running Co., and Bicycle Village.

From Annual banquet Jan '10

It was a great evening. If you didn't attend this year, we hope to see you there next year!

Club Photo Albums

2010-01-15T06:19:00.002-07:00

The Pikes Peak Triathlon Club now has an online photo album to share photos of club events, races and all the fun activites we do. Right now, we have a few photos from races last year, but we'll be getting more uploaded soon.

Here is a link to the home page http://picasaweb.google.com/pikespeaktriathlonclub click on the albums to look at the different photos. There is also a link on the sidebar of the blog - PPTC photo albums.

Great workout today

2010-01-13T18:01:00.000-07:00

The first official Wednesday Lunch Workout kicked off today with a set of three 1 mile repeats along the Santa Fe Trail. Four club members showed up and enjoyed the fabulous January weather. The workout was fun (?) and everyone agreed that it's easier to run harder in a group then alone. All club members are welcome - we'll be running at 11:30 every Wednesday, regardless of weather.

Wednesdays Lunch Workouts

2010-01-12T20:10:00.000-07:00

The Wednesdays Lunch Workouts will offically kick off on January 13th at 11:30. We'll meet at the Mesa Ave Bridge on the Santa Fe Trail and head north to Monument Valley park. After an easy warm up, we'll pick a workout and have some fun! Hope to have a good group show up. The weather looks promising, with highs in the mid 50s tommorow.

Group workouts

2010-01-06T12:19:00.000-07:00

Now that the new year is here, it's time to starting thinking about the upcoming season. In the middle of winter, with snow, ice and freezing tempuratures, it can be hard to get out the door and train. The best advice is to find a group to train with - that makes it harder to beg out and sleep in. Luckly, several of our great sponsors have group training opportunites that we can take advantage of.

There is a masters swim program at CC, Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday mornings. Monday is IM focus, so time to work at that butterfly, Wednesday is distance sets, Friday is sprint sets and Saturday is mixed "coach's choice." They meet 530-700am m/w/f and 6-830am s. The cost is nominal and the group is a lot of fun.

Bicycle Village offers trainer classes Tuesdays and Thursdays at 600am. Bring your bike, set it up on one of the trainers and enjoy a results oriented spin class instead of the standard suffer fest at the gym.

Colorado Running Company has social runs Wednesday evenings at 6:00, Friday mornings at 7:00 and Saturday mornings at 7:30. All paces are welcome to join and they run regardless of the weather. Pikes Peak Triathlon Club will also be starting our own Wednesday Lunchtime Workout at 11:30, for a weekly speed workout of mile repeats, two mile repeats or 5k race simulation.

Check out our sponsor's links to learn more about their classess events. Hope to see you there!

NCC Swim Session Results!

2010-01-03T12:35:00.000-07:00

December is over, which also means that the Swim Session of the National Club Challenge is over. Here is how the Pikes Peak Tri Club fared.

With 32 members on our team, we logged just over 394 miles swimming. This put us in 14th place for the swim out of 66 teams that logged miles. In our division, our competition is FAST (Ford Athletic Swim and Triathlon Club) from MI, Midwest Xtreme from IA, and HEAT (Hartford Extended Area Triathletes) from CT. FAST placed 2nd overall with 818 miles! But we were well ahead of HEAT (214 miles) and Midwest Xtreme (85 miles).

January is the bike session. A lot of those miles are going to be trainer miles so maybe it's a good time to update your Netflix queue? Let's rock them! As I write this, the PPTC is in 12th place overall for total miles, so Team members, hope on those bikes and get us in the top 10! Don't forget that swim and run miles still count, too!
Happy Training!

Welcoming 2010 at the Rescue Run

2010-01-03T10:19:00.003-07:00

Several members of the Pikes Peak Tri Club welcomed the New Year in style at the 32nd annual Rescue Run, benefiting the El Paso County Search and Rescue. This is a great, well trained group of people that we all hope that we'll never need on any of our adventures and the Rescue Run is the primary fundraiser for the SAR. The weather was great - brisk but sunny and a few brave souls donned shorts for the race. Despite all the snow we've had recently, the only tricky section was the Yucca Flats double track on the 10k course. Other then a few patches of ice, the rest of the roads were clear. It was a great day and a fabulous way to start the new year.
Running the 5k:
Diane Murray - 30:09
Sam Putnel-Rowan - 40:18
Bruce Wacker - 41:23
Dana Duthie - 42:06

Running the 10k:
Tracy Thelen - 43:40
Don Byers - 46:08
Kent Murray - 46:39
Rob Ladewig - 52:01
Carol Lyndel - 57:35
Stephen Tolle - 58:53
Jim the Grouch
(my appologies if I missed anyone)

National Challenge Competition

2009-12-27T16:39:00.003-07:00

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.

Lunchtime Running Workout

2009-12-20T18:33:00.001-07:00

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.

CTS Night at the Races Finale

2009-12-19T20:21:00.000-07:00

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.

Ironman Hawaii Broadcast

2009-12-17T14:31:00.000-07:00

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

2009-12-17T09:29:00.000-07:00

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.

Ironman Cozumel Report by Rich Kiser

2009-12-16T14:56:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-12-16T14:32:00.000-07:00

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!