The heat has been unrelenting, but hard workout conditions make you tough. CTC is proving that by putting out some amazing performances all over the country (and Canada too). 

This year saw CTC return to the 20th anniversary edition of the Granite Bay Triathlon. CTC didn’t win the team championship, but with only 5 athletes racing we managed third place in the team competition. CTC athletes also captured 4 podiums spots including the overall win. Race results for this and other August races should be posted soon.

Shasta Tinman is coming up this weekend. The Watkins will be hosting a pre-race dinner at their place in Mt. Shasta. Evites have gone out, if you didn’t get one, contact Greg. If you are camping at the Resort, CTC headquarters is cabin L-13. Stop by and say hi.

Training:

It’s hot out there. Stay hydrated! Don’t over do it.

Swim at One Mile:

The swim at One Mile officially ends this Friday! Arrive between 6:30 and 7:00 AM to swim some laps in the Sycamore pool. This is a great intro to open water. The water is warm, so wetsuits are optional.

The River Road TTs:  September 7 is the next time trial date. The Time Trials are held the first Thursday of the month. First rider goes at 6:01PM. The starting line is where W. 5th Ave turns into River Road (Near the corner of Miller Ave).

Wednesday Night “50” Rides:

Fun 50- Meet at 5:30PM- Casual group ride, no drop, good for beginners, NO SPRINTING, no Troxel loop, 15-18mph avg, can have stretches over 20mph

Friendly 50- 5:30PM- Intermediate group ride for experienced riders, 18-20 mph avg, can have stretches in upper 20s

Fit 50- 5:30PM- Strong/faster group ride, can have sprint points, 21-23mph avg, can have stretches near 27-30mph

FAST 50- 6:00PM- Weekly World Championships, fast race ride (Cat 3 level race), several sprint points, 23-26mph avg, can have stretches over 30mph at times

All rides meet at Rosedale School in the front or side parking lots. Finish is on West Sacramento Ave or 5th near the TT start.

Decide and Ride:

Sundays, 9am

The Friday Rides: The rides will resume in the Spring of 2017. This a week-by-week invite ride. If you do not RSVP the ride will be cancelled. Contact Shawn Hughes at amigohughes@ gmail . com if you are interested in the ride.

Runs:Tony English, is leading a LSD run on Sundays from the bathrooms at 5 mile at 8:00 AM. This is an easy pace 60 min. run. Time may move up depending on weather. Keep an eye on the facebook group for updates.

There is also a LSD run on Saturdays meeting at the 5 mile bathrooms at 8:00 AM.

CTC Track Workout: The track workouts have been at Chico State, but they have rotated to Durham and Paradise. Every Thursday (except the first Thursday, see TT above) meet at 5:45 PM. Check the Facebook group for updates

Race Results:

This is a shout out to anybody who has participated in a recent race. We would love to hear from you.

Multi-sport event results for CTC members are posted on the Results page of the website. Contact webmaster@chicotriathlonclub.com with any errors or omissions. Please send any information on a race you have participated in. This could be as simple as your name and the name of the event, your results or a race report outlining your personal experience.

Athlete of the month:

The Athlete of the Month for August is Caroline Masi. Caroline recently competed in her first multi-sport race. She has also been coming out to CTC workouts was out with the team at the Black Butte Practice Tri.   Congratulations Caroline!

Please take the time to help us pick the next Athlete of the month. Just send an email to president@chicotriathlonclub.com listing your nomination.

Club Races for 2017

The Official CTC Club Races for 2017 will be:

TBF Tri for Fun    June 10th        Rancho Seco    (Sprint)

Tinman        September 3rd    Lake Siskiyou    (Sprint)  

Tinman will be eligible for the CTC race reimbursement program. The first 30 members to sign up will be reimbursed up to the $60 early bird registration price. Sign up at shastatinman.com

Other upcoming races that CTC will be supporting:

TBF Golden State Tri, October 8th    Sacramento        (Sprint)

Remember: TBF is giving CTC members a 15% discount on all triathlons in the 2017 season. The code is CTC15.

Volunteer opportunities for 2017:

CTC has one volunteer event remaining for 2017:

Shasta Tinman - Sept 3

Almond Bowl-Nov 5

Ironman Tri Club Benefits:

Ironman branded races are offering new benefits for triathlon club members. Some of these benefits include early entry, priority tiered pricing, and payment plans. Visit http://www.ironman.com/triathlon/forms/single-sign-up.aspx to sign up and get more information. Make sure to update your profile with your tri club affiliation. Make sure you sign up as a club member prior to September 4th to get in on the next batch of early entry invites including 70.3 Santa Rosa and IM Arizona.

Have a great time running, swimming and riding this month.

Thank you,

Tony English

CTC President

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Some days you just have to do epic stuff, or so the sign told me somewhere on the course!  So having said that, Santa Rosa IM was my epic day!  While I definitely did not set any speed records, I did execute and achieve what I set out to do.  It helped that as long as I finished, I was going to PR!  I had a couple of goals:  (1), minimize the suffering as much as possible, (2), preferably not injure myself in any sort of major physical or mental way, (3), enjoy the day, and (4), finish with Mike Reilly telling the world that I am an Ironman!

Backing up to the journey to get through this, as many of you may recall from my last race report, I PR’d at this year’s 70.3 Santa Rosa.  Since then I stuck to my training plan as much as possible, although some physical setbacks left me missing a couple of my really long planned bricks.  So, I entered the race knowing that my fitness was there from the standpoint of each individual distance, but the last build before the final taper came in really light on the brick days.  Once I hit my taper time, I tapered, rather than try to make up for lost time which was my initial reaction.  I have come to realize that nothing ever goes quite to plan, but I will admit it was in my head a bit for the last month knowing I would arrive at the start line with a couple of nagging physical issues and having missed a couple key workouts.  Oh well.

Just like the 70.3, the recommendation was to catch the shuttle bus on race morning  to Lake Sonoma from the T2/Finish Area in Santa Rosa.  I had staged the bike at Lake Sonoma and run gear in downtown Santa Rosa on Friday.  I beat my alarm up and by 4:40 am race morning I dropped my run and bike special needs bags and caught the shuttle bus to Lake Sonoma.  I must say the shuttle process worked out great again and this time I did not end up on a bus that broke down!  The bus ride was much more subdued possibly because folks were mentally preparing or that everyone was already tired and had not even yet started the day.

As a side note, this was my first time figuring out what should go in special needs bags, and I will say that I way overpacked them.  The nutrition replenishment was needed, but thankfully, I did not need the Tylenol, Vaseline, body glide, tums, moleskin, etc.  that I put into each of the bike and run bags.  I will also say that the baby wipes and the “secret weapon” came in handy on the run, but more on that later!

During the week, it was unclear if the swim would be wetsuit legal.  Even at the athlete briefing on Friday the race director was indicating it probably would be warmer than the 76.1 degree F that was the cutoff wetsuit temp.  At 4:45 am on Saturday, they announced it was 76.1, so it was going to be a wetsuit legal swim.  For the swim, it again was a rolling start where you self-seeded based on your estimated finish.  I seeded with the 1:20-1:30 group as I was just planning on cruising the swim .  The swim was two 1.2 mile loops where you had to get out and cross a timing mat and re-enter for the second loop.  The swim went well although there seemed to be a bit more body contact than during the ½ iron race.  I finished the swim in 1:28:22, and I took my time on the ¼ mile run up the boat ramp into T1.  This was my first race with wetsuit strippers and I am a fan!  It sure helped get the suit off quick.  I took the opportunity to change into a dry kit as it was recommended by some experienced IM folks. This was also my first “clean transition” where everything except bike mounted hydration and nutrition had to be with me in the changing tent.  My T1 time was just over 12 minutes, which given the crowd in the changing tent and the run up the hill, was pretty good.

The bike course was pretty much the same on the north end of the bike leg for the full as it had been on the ½.  It started with a non-aero bar high speed decent and then you just get to grinding through the rollers.  The south end is pretty flat.  Overall, the course is really pretty and the ride went great.  I really focused on lower end aerobic heart rates for me and that paid off through minimizing the suffer later on. The biggest challenge was that somewhere on the early part of the ride I lost some of my nutrition.  My biggest complaint about the CS CTC Tri tops is the pockets are not deep enough.  Not a great way to start the day, but it meant I took banana handups at all of the early bike aid stations.  It may have actually worked out better.  Like the 70.3, my plan again was to alternate some Simple Fruit gels, Honey Stinger gels, and Cliff Bars trying to get about 250 calories an hour in on the bike.   Losing two cliff bars early changed the plan to bananas as mentioned.  Again, I stuck to water as my hydration plan with some Salt stick capsules to keep my electrolytes managed.  Once I got to the bike special needs, I learned from the earlier loss, and tucked my replenished nutrition into the legs of my shorts rather than use the pockets.  The bike route did two loops on the southern end of the course in the Santa Rosa area giving riders a chance to see their support teams as they came through town.  I really liked the layout as it may have been the most spectator friendly course I have raced.  My bike time for the 112 miles ended up at 6:30:20 and averaged just over 17 miles an hour and felt great coming off the bike!

Also on recommendation for T2, I changed from my cycling kit into a running singlet and running shorts.  After 6.5 hours, it felt great to get out of the cycling shorts! My T2 was 11:51. Looking back, I could have done a better job with the sunscreen, but I was onto the run course.

Again, I really focused on specific heart rate work.  The first 6 miles went easy and I averaged just under 12 min/mile.  Again not fast, but perfect for my goals.  Somewhere between 6-8 miles in my heart rate started climbing, so each time I got up close to my threshold I slowed and walked for a minute or two and dropped back to a sustainable level.  For the balance of the race, I would run until my heart rate got to a point where I know my threshold to be and then walk for a bit.  I ended up averaging 13:37 min/mile for the marathon.  It was slow and steady and I was ok with that.  Much of the course is shaded and is a mixture of hard compact gravel/dirt and asphalt trail.  It was three loops and the spectators lined the course.  It was great to have folks cheering and encouraging!  I stuck with water and ice from every other aid station in the beginning but it turned out to be every aid station toward the end.  I could not stomach anymore gels so pretzels, frozen grapes, and orange slices from the aid stations fueled me. The course also passed the special need drop three times.  I only ended up hitting it at the third pass by, but I appreciated the opportunity if the need would have arisen.  I again had overpacked my run special needs, but two things were definitely needed.  Let’s just say the porta jon just past the special need station was a bit light on TP by the time I hit it on my third loop.  I was glad my gut had given me a heads up that I was going to have pay a visit so I grabbed the baby wipes.   The “secret weapon” for the last lap was a king size two piece Snickers Bar.  I am not a huge candy guy, but I will say that in the moment it may have been the most amazing thing that I had ever tasted.  I ate the first half almost immediately and ran to mile 22 for the second half of the Snickers.  Along the way, I was carrying it in my hand and had another athlete offer me $500 bucks for the second half.  At that moment, it was NOT worth it!

The run finishing shoot was awesome!  The crowd was cheering.  I think I now might know how it feels to be on the field at one of the big sports stadiums.  It didn’t matter that no one except my family knew who I was, but it felt like everyone was cheering for me and for all of us.  It was an experience that I am not sure could be replicated without doing this again. Mike Reilly, the voice of Ironman was announcing names, and I will say it was something truly magical to hear “Daren Otten, you are an Ironman”.

The final race time was 14 hours, 20 minutes, and 17 seconds.  Not getting me to Kona, but it got it done!  The first 120 miles were really not bad, the last 20 are a bit tougher.  In the end, I only ended up with a little chaffing and a bit of a sunburn.  Not too bad in my book!

I must thank my family and friends who have supported me as I have trained and raced this event. Once again, I have to thank Chico Tri Club for convincing me that this was a possibility.  I finished this race because people like Greg and Tammie Watkins, Joanne Gilchrist, Shawn Hughes, Margaret Boomberg, Sean Molina, Jason Berry, Manny Mejia, Laura Van Dervoort, Amy Bromelow, Tony English, Mitch Harrell, Eric and Kristie Ayers, just to name a few who have inspired me that anything is truly possible!  

Swim, Bike, Run & Smile

It’s been a long hot summer. Our team has been out racing and volunteering at events all over the country. Throughout this record heat wave you have been out there staying active. August is the month when many of us are in peak form and there are tons of races coming up. Below are a couple I’d really like to highlight:

This year is the 20th anniversary of the Granite Bay Triathlon. It will be held on August 26th. The Top Three Teams will receive TRI Club Champion Trophies, prize packages from Rocklin Endurance Sports, and five FREE entries to the Golden State Triathlon on October 8th at Discovery Park in Sacramento. In addition, TBF are asking each TRI Club to put together a “Club Prize” from their own local area (perhaps a case of beer from a local brewery, or bottles of locally grown wine) in addition as a part of a “Winner Take All” prize bounty presented to the winning team. Let me know if you’re interested in doing this race, and I’ll get the club registered.

Shasta Tinman is coming up fast and there are still a couple of spots left in the race reimbursement program (see the club race section below for details). If you aren’t racing, come out and volunteer. This is a fun race with a great family atmosphere. Many of our members will be camping at the Lake Siskiyou Resort and we will have some group activities (like s’mores) at my campsite.

Practice Triathlon at Black Butte Lake:

The annual CTC Practice Tri will be held August 20th at Black Butte Lake at the Buckhorn Recreation Area. We will have kayak support for the swim and a pot luck BBQ afterward. Please bring a side or dessert. The fun starts at 10 AM.

Training:

It’s hot out there. Stay hydrated! Don’t over do it.

Swim at One Mile:

The swim at One Mile starts this Friday! Arrive between 6:30 and 7:00 AM to swim some laps in the Sycamore pool. This is a great intro to open water. The water has been pretty, so wetsuits are optional.

The River Road TTs:  August 3 is the next time trial date. The Time Trials are held the first Thursday of the month. First rider goes at 6:01PM. The starting line is where W. 5th Ave turns into River Road (Near the corner of Miller Ave).

Wednesday Night “50” Rides:

The ‘50’ rides have begun for the year!

Fun 50- Meet at 5:30PM- Casual group ride, no drop, good for beginners, NO SPRINTING, no Troxel loop, 15-18mph avg, can have stretches over 20mph

Friendly 50- 5:30PM- Intermediate group ride for experienced riders, 18-20 mph avg, can have stretches in upper 20s

Fit 50- 5:30PM- Strong/faster group ride, can have sprint points, 21-23mph avg, can have stretches near 27-30mph

FAST 50- 6:00PM- Weekly World Championships, fast race ride (Cat 3 level race), several sprint points, 23-26mph avg, can have stretches over 30mph at times

All rides meet at Rosedale School in the front or side parking lots. Finish is on West Sacramento Ave or 5th near the TT start.

Decide and Ride:

Sundays, 8am, Decide and Ride monument at One-Mile, Chico CA North side of Sycamore Pool.

The Friday Rides: The rides will resume in the Spring of 2017. This a week-by-week invite ride. If you do not RSVP the ride will be cancelled. Contact Shawn Hughes at amigohughes@ gmail . com if you are interested in the ride.

Runs:Tony English, is leading a LSD run on Sundays from the bathrooms at 5 mile at 8:00 AM. This is an easy pace 60 min. run. Time may move up depending on weather. Keep an eye on the facebook group for updates.

There is also a LSD run on Saturdays meeting at the 5 mile bathrooms at 8:00 AM.

CTC Track Workout: The track workouts have been at Chico State, but they have rotated to Durham and Paradise. Every Thursday (except the first Thursday, see TT above) meet at 5:45 PM. Check the Facebook group for updates

Race Results:

This is a shout out to anybody who has participated in a recent race. We would love to hear from you.

The race results have not been aggregated yet for July (we’ve been busy training and racing). Look for a supplement soon.

Multi-sport event results for CTC members are posted on the Results page of the website. Contact webmaster@chicotriathlonclub.com with any errors or omissions. Please send any information on a race you have participated in. This could be as simple as your name and the name of the event, your results or a race report outlining your personal experience.

Athlete of the month:

The Athlete of the Month for July is Al Masterson. Al recently raced at Pac Crest in Oregon. He is always very supportive of his teammates and is so much fun to race with.  Congratulations Al!

Please take the time to help us pick the next Athlete of the month. Just send an email to president@chicotriathlonclub.com listing your nomination.

Club Races for 2017

The Official CTC Club Races for 2017 will be:

TBF Tri for Fun    June 10th        Rancho Seco    (Sprint)

Tinman        September 3rd    Lake Siskiyou    (Sprint)  

Tinman will be eligible for the CTC race reimbursement program. The first 30 members to sign up will be reimbursed up to the $60 early bird registration price. Sign up at shastatinman.com

Other races that CTC will be supporting:

TBF Tri for REAL    July 15th        Rancho Seco    (Olympic)

Solar Duathlon    August 20th        Madras, OR        (16mi MTB, 8mi run)

TBF Granite Bay Tri, August 26th        Granite Beach    (Sprint)

TBF Golden State Tri, October 8th    Sacramento        (Sprint)

Remember: TBF is giving CTC members a 15% discount on all triathlons in the 2017 season. The code is CTC15.

Volunteer opportunities for 2017:

CTC has two volunteer events remaining for 2017:

Shasta Tinman - Sept 3

Almond Bowl-Nov 5

Ironman Tri Club Benefits:

Ironman branded races are offering new benefits for triathlon club members. Some of these benefits include early entry, priority tiered pricing, and payment plans. Visit http://www.ironman.com/triathlon/forms/single-sign-up.aspx to sign up and get more information. Make sure to update your profile with your tri club affiliation.

Have a great time running, swimming and riding this month.

Thank you,

Tony English

CTC President

Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/chicotriclub

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