Desert Classic Duathlon: by Victor R

Hello everyone:
It's that time of the year once again, dust off the ol' equipment, time to get in the pool, hit the road on wheels and sneakers and get ready for the upcoming triathlon season. I hope you all had a good recovery winter, well deserved after a grueling end of the year which culminated, for most of us, with the Silverman full and half. Now it's time to get back to biz, get serious about our training and set a few goals for the '09 year.

It was a pleasure seeing everyone at the club social held on Jan 24 at O'Aces Bar and Grill, I personally had a great time chatting with all of the club members and had the pleasure of meeting several new ones. I'd like to thank our main sponsor, Dr. Lobato for providing us with the finest tri club around. Also many thanks to our club president, Dave Carlson for all of his dedicated time and effort, Dave Reichert for his unselfish dedication to succeed, Nich Gallagher, Curtis Chin, Dave and Julie Hosea and the many others who make it possible to operate such a great organization....................

The Desert Classic Duathlon took place on Sunday, Feb 22 in Fountain Hills, AZ. Fountain Hills is a community located about an hour northeast of Phoenix in the beautiful Sonoran desert. The event consisted of a 3.5 mile run, a 21 mile bike, and capping it off with a 2.7 mile run. The initial trail run took the athletes through a gorgeous, smooth trail snaking its way around the saguaros, the bike course headed out of the McDowell Mtn Park into the highway, pretty hilly to say the least, and the final run caught everyone by surprise, a rocky trail, deep sand, a pretty steep hill and gnarly descent, ruts included.

Overall, it was a great event, perfect to start the season. The organizers did a superb job to provide the entrants with the best, safest possible venue. Plenty of food and drink awaited the weary racers, the volunteers were exceptional and the weather was ideal, low 50's in the morning and by noon, LOW 80's!!!..........Club members making the trip were, Jeremy Wallace, Annette Powell, Chris Matlock, Reenie Griffin and myself, plus a few others. For results please go to: www.desertclassicduathlon.com, and for event photos go to: www.fotojack.com.

There are a few events coming up both locally and out of town. March 21, Lake Havasu tri, March 28, Showdown at Sundown (Lake Las Vegas), April 18, Rage in the Sage, April 19, Newport Beach tri, May 2, X-Terra West Championsips, (Lake Las Vegas), May 9, St. George tri, Big Rock tri, Perris, CA, Iron Girl (Lake Las Vegas), May 17, Tempe tri, Tempe, AZ, May 30, 31, Dueces Wild, Show Low, AZ, June 13, Utah Summer Games tri, June 21, Ford Ironman Coeur d'Alene. For more information on upcoming triathlon events please go to: www.trifind.com............

Oh, by the way, our next club social will take place on Saturday, March 7 at the Fireside Inn, corner of St. Rose and Spencer on the east side of town, hope to see everyone there for a great time!!!...........For more info go to: www.lvtriclub.com.......

It's been nice getting in touch with everyone once again, keep an eye on the 'blog' as I will bring you the latest on upcoming events, results, and a few anecdotes about members and their experiences............Take care.........Victor.........

How to Get the most out of your Membership

We have a lot of new members to the club this year – welcome. The Board is working to provide club benefits and events that are fun and beneficial to the members. Here are a few things to consider helping you get the most out of the club.

You already know about the website http://www.lvtriclub.com/ is where you can get a lot of information about events, training, advice, and member achievements. Be sure to check out the message board.

Training groups – we don’t have any formal training groups or times yet this year. If you want company on your swim, ride or run, post your plans on the message board. If you’re looking for a group ride, look on the message board.

Attend Club races – these are great warm-ups for other races, and are perfect opportunities to get some race experience and meet club members. These races are put on for LV Tri Club members only and are free.

Attend Club socials – Drink, food, and fun, what else is there? Come meet your fellow triathletes in a social environment without the sunglasses, helmets, and Lycra (we hope).

Wear Club gear –when you are out training so members can recognize other members.
Races – The Club would like to have a presence at all of the local triathlons, and have picked the following events to focus on for Club participation.

• Rage – Saturday, April18th
• Iron girl – Saturday, May 9th
• San Diego International Triathlon – Sunday, June 28th
• Las Vegas Triathlon – Sunday, September 27th
• Pumpkinman – Saturday, October 18th

2009 race kits and training gear We are finalizing our order and will be getting a limited number of tri tops, tri bottoms and road jerseys. Place your order now to ensure we have your size. Complete the attached order form (along with payment) and mail to the address on the form or you can email it to LVTriMembership@embarqmail.com.

Training Opportunities for beginners/intermediates

Hi Everyone -Your president here - the new season is upon us. Some of you have been making plans to do your first offical tri and other are moving up to the olympic distance. Many of you have reservations about making those commitments - what if I fail? my swim really sucks, my bike is ok, I think I can get through the run but I am just not sure about it all. Well my friends we have all been there. Each person has their own way of dealing with challenges and the unknown but most people get through these things with practice and coaching.

This is going to sound like an ad - it is not - it is my personal opinion. We have a couple of coaches that are offering programs during this pre-season - early season, Jackie Arcana and Kara Robertson/Paul Fritz. Jackie has put it all together in a series of coached work outs covering swimming, running and biking - basically $10 per sesion. Kara and Paul just got done with a stroke clinic about $12 per session. I took part in the stroke clinic - my understanding of how to swim freestyle increased significantly over 4 sessions.

The club supports what these people are doing because they are dedicated to helping us - these prices are extremely reasonable. If you need advice, technique improvement, confidence and encouragement please do yourself a favor and contact these people. Jackie's training has begun but maybe you can work something out 376-0437. Kara is putting together another clinic I believe 498-2316.

2009 kick-off party photos

There were about 100 members at the 2009 kick-off party.

The 2009 Season Outlook

Hello Tri Club,

We had an outstanding turnout for the season opener party there were about 100 that crowed the O-Aces that night.

Your board is meeting twice this week to map out the seasons activities.

Our next social will be somewhere in the Henderson area on March 7. We are planning several more including a post event barbeque after the duathon on March 21st.

We have 4 events planned as of today March 21- duathlon, May 2 -sprint tri, July 11-sprint tri, and October 11-sprint tri. I am going to see if we can add an olympic distance on May 2, it depends somewhat on whether we can get another 4-6 volunteers. Can you or a family member help?

We will be putting on several supported training rides to help people get ready for some of our early season races, concentrating on the sprint and olympic distances. We are working on the details and should have the schedule posted within 2 weeks.

We would like you to consider volunteering for athlete support at our events if you are not racing. It is fun cheering on others and getting into the action from the other side. If you are racing - bring the wife/husband - kids and have them be volunteers as well. After every race we hang out and have a picnic of some kind so everyone can meet each other.

See you at the races - Dave