National Challenge Competition -Swim Session Results

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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.