2010 Wrap-up and Awards Banquet

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

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

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!