Happy training for the week of 5/6.

Open Water Swim Workshop: CTC hosted its first open water swim workshop Saturday at Black Butte Lake.  It was a great learning experience for all participants, with good conversations, Q&A, tips, tricks, and open water drills.  A specific focus was on minimizing the impact of open water anxiety including body contact simulations.  Plans are in the works to have another workshop, possibly at the Forebay in Oroville.  Please contact Justin Waller (jcwaller900 at yahoo dot com) if you are interested in attending a future workshop.

Early Season Races, Part I:  Jennifer Moore and Jay Pothier both competed in Sunday's Wildflower Olympic distance triathlon.  In addition, Jeriamee Leeman raced the Napa Valley Sprint Triathlon, also on Sunday.  Their results have been posted to the Results page of the website.  Finally, congratulations to Eric Ayars for posting a Boston qualifying time at Sunday's Avenue of the Giants Marathon.

Early Season Races, Part II:  For those looking for an early season Olympic distance race, several CTC members will be competing this Saturday at the USAT Folsom Lake International Triathlon at Granite Beach.  Registration is still open, and you can view a video from last year's race here (check out the CTC racers at 2:08, 3:04, and 4:10).

Open Water Swim Workouts at In Motion:  Open water specific masters swim workouts are now taking place Mondays and Wednesdays at Noon and at 7:00 PM at In Motion fitness.  We are working on setting up a "punch card" system that will allow people who are not In Motion members to attend the workouts.  Details will be provided as soon as they become available.

Open Water Swim Workshop: CTC will be hosting an open water swim workshop this Saturday May 5th (please note corrected date) at 2:00 PM at Black Butte Lake.  The club is partnering with Chico Masters Swimming to put on the event.  We will go over some tips and warm-up on dry land, some great open water drills and then some actual open water distance swimming.  Please plan for about 2 hours.   In order to participate, you must be able to swim 800 yards continuously and must be able to tread water for 60 seconds.  You will need to be added to the participant list by either contacting Justin Waller (jcwaller900 at yahoo dot com) or by verifying your swimming ability at the In Motion pool Monday or Wednesday at Noon or 7:00 PM (these are the "open water" swim practices for the masters group); please ask for Wendy.  There is no cost for this session, but there are fees to get into the park, so consider carpooling or riding out to the lake.  There will be two masters coaches swimming with us and helping out with techniques, tips and tricks for open water swimming.  Please contact Justin if you would like to participate or have any questions.

Track Workout Update: The Thursday night track workouts (5:45 PM at the PV High School Track) have been a great success so far this year, with lots of runners of all abilities out there improving their running.  David Bruhn (a.k.a. the Track Guru) has brought some interesting warm-up exercises using techniques from Yoga and Pilates.  Since there have been requests for copies of his instructions, they've now been posted to the Training page of the website.  Feel free to contact David (trackcoach@chicotriathlonclub.com) if you have any questions about the exercises or about running in general.

Time Trial This Thursday:  Unfortunately, you'll have to wait a week to practice the Yoga and Pilates warm-up exercises with David.  Since this Thursday is the first of the month, it's CTC night at the River Road Time Trial.  The course is five miles out and back, starting where W. 5th Street turns into River Road southwest of downtown.  Registration begins at 5:30pm with the first rider going off at 6:01pm.  All levels are welcome for this individual race against the clock.  So wear your CTC colors and come out for this free event put on by R.A.C.E.  Please note, while all R.A.C.E. events are free, the Chico Tri Club recommends that members who participate in R.A.C.E. events make a donation to the jar on the registration table.  Additional details about the Time Trial can be found here.

Uniforms: This year’s uniform order should arrive in the next few weeks.  If you missed the window on this year’s order and are interested in a tri suit or cycling kit, please contact Sean Molina (training@chicotriathlonclub.com) and let him know.  Reorders can be made for as few as five pieces, so once there’s enough interest, we can open another order window.

Chico Stage Race Pictures: Pictures from the Chico Stage Race have been added to the Gallery page of the website.  Thanks once again to Laura for taking them.

Happy training for the week of 4/22.

Wildflower Century this Sunday: The Chico Velo Cycling Club is holding its annual Wildflower Century this Sunday with ride options ranging from 12 to 125 miles.  The organizers are in need of volunteers and have asked CTC to help out, particularly on Sunday from 4:00 to 7:00 PM at the Fairgrounds after the ride.  Volunteers will receive a T-Shirt, food, and an invitation to the post-ride Volunteer Appreciation Party (date and location TBD).  Those interested in volunteering should contact the event coordinator, Stacy Canada, at volunteering@chicovelo.org for more information.  Please let her know you are a member of the Chico Tri Club.

Black Butte Practice Triathlon:  CTC will once again stage a Practice Triathlon at Black Butte Lake a week before the scheduled races.  This year's event will take place on Sunday morning June 2.  Details are still being worked out, but preliminary plans include covering the basics of setting up a transition, a kayak-assisted open water swim, an easy paced group ride on a portion of the bike courses (road or mountain), and an option to run a portion of the run course.  Details will be provided as the date approaches, but go ahead and mark your calendars now.  Questions about the event can be directed to training@chicotriathlonclub.com.

Silicon Valley Sprint Triathlon: Joshua Diaz represented CTC at this past weekend's Silicon Valley Sprint Triathlon in Morgan Hill.  Josh's result has been posted to the Results page of the website.