Here’s the April meeting recap. There’s a bunch of timely announcements and/or reminders so we’ll lead off with those and the rest of the recap will follow after that.
St. Louis Triathlon
Race director and club member, Rich Adams, was on hand to show club members a sneak preview of the finisher medal. It looks very cool! The race is capped at 900 entries and registration will close on May 8th whether or not the cap is reached to allow for race staff to make arrangements for race day preparations (rack space, etc.)
Reminder for club members that there will be a club competition versus Swim Bike Run so don’t forget to get registered to race. The club will provide post race food/beverages. You can find the details of the club discount for here.
Rookies and Rockstars
Club member Matt McCall was on hand to tell us about the race formerly known as the Rec-Plex spring tri. New for 2016 – chip timing! and swim seeding will be determined by estimated 400m swim time not order of registration. There’s plenty of room left for any last-minute decision racers. Approx. 170 racers signed up so far means opportunities to podium! Rookies and Rockstars also kicks off the 2016 MuniTri series – an eight race series of local races put on by seven different local municipalities. Rookies and Rockstars as well as the above mentioned St. Louis Triathlon are both part of the club’s intra-club challenge. Two other MuniTri races, Lake Saint Louis and Godfrey, are new additions to the Club Challenge
Priority Entry for select 2017 Ironman, Ironman 70.3 races
The club has a select number of priority race entries available for the following 2017 races:
- Ironman Arizona
- Ironman 70.3 Chattanooga
- Ironman 70.3 Ohio
Priority race entries allow the entrant to sign up for the race before it opens registration to the general public. These entries are made available to the club through the Ironman TriClub program. The club only has a limited number of entries for each of the above races, so we are asking any interested members to request only 1 of the 3 available races. Remember that these are for 2017 races so final race dates are not yet announced, but plan on roughly the same weekend in 2017 as in 2016. All of the races above were sell-outs in 2016. To request an available race entry, please send an email to club member, Tim Fowler, at triclub@roobixx.com with your name and the race you are interested in. If there are more requests than available entries, the names will be drawn in a lottery to determine who receives the entries. Send in your requests soon, deadlines vary depending on the race with Chattanooga the first to open for 2017 registration after the 2016 race concludes in May.
Mentoring
Thursday night rides are underway starting at 6pm out of Forest Park. Meet in the visitor center parking lot. The mentoring crew leads a no-drop ride and there will other groups if you’re looking for a longer or faster paced ride. Cancellations due to weather will be posted in our Facebook group.
Big Shark’s New Town open water swims begin next Saturday, 4/30, and the mentoring crew will be on hand to help with wetsuits. What to choose, how to put one on, how to take one off, etc. The mentoring crew will be on hand at the first 4 Saturday swims to help out with any wetsuit or open water swimming questions. Future in-water mentoring sessions may also be organized. Post-swim no-drop rides are also available for those looking for a slower paced ride or for those still learning to get comfortable on the bike.
Two more bike maintenance classes are available at Big Shark’s new flagship location on Big Bend, scheduled for 5/1 and 5/29. Cost is $15, please RSVP your attendance so we can keep track of the numbers per class. It’s a great way to get hands on instruction with your own bike. Capacity is limited for each class, minimum of 6 attendees to a maximum of 10.
Two transition clinics are also planned. The first will be in conjunction with the Thursday night ride on 5/12 at Forest Park to get you ready for St. Louis Triathlon. The second will be sometime in June out at New Town to get you ready for New Town Triathlon.
Volunteer
Chain of Rocks Duathlon, this Sunday 4/24, is the next event up on the volunteer series. Volunteers are still needed. Email Big Shark’s Tim Coover at timc@bigshark.com if you are available and can help. You will earn 2 series points for Chain of Rocks.
The club’s water station at miles 16 and 23 of the GO! St. Louis marathon was a success. Thanks to everyone who came out to cheer and hydrate the runners!
Clothing
Louis Garneau and Triflare kits are in! If you didn’t get a chance to pick yours up at the April meeting, please contact the clothing coordinators if you need your kits for any upcoming races. Email the clothing coordinators at clothing@stlouistriclub.com or use the website Contact Us form. There were a few extra LG pieces ordered so if you missed out on the order window but are interested in a club kit, contact the clothing coordinators to check on size availability. A second order window may be organized if there is enough interest and demand and will be timed for later in the summer.
April’s Featured Speaker – Samantha Murphy, Evolve Coaching Systems
Sam presented on the essentials to running well off the bike. While the presentation primarily focused on long course racing, the same principles applied to short course racing albeit with modifications to the nutrition required in long course.
Her main points were:
- Within your training plan – Run fitness starts on the bike, running well means running often off the bike. Don’t skip other workouts to compensate or fit in extra runs. Skipping a swim or bike will hurt your run fitness in the long term. Pay attention to the weather conditions and course terrain of your race. Know what those conditions and that terrain feels like. Be consistent in your training.
- Don’t neglect recovery – Sleep! Naps too. Pay attention to your day to day nutrition. Be proactive on massage, soft tissue work (don’t wait until you get injured!). Make sure your easy days are indeed easy.
- Pacing during the race – On the bike – try to maintain a steady pace throughout or even a slight increase in the last quarter of an Ironman bike ride. Hammer too soon and too hard and you’ll pay for it on the run. On the run – planned walk breaks are fine, but plan for it before the race and stick to the plan during.
- Race nutrition – Everyone’s GI system is uniquely their own. Figure out what works for you during training. Record keep so you know what you ate, how much, what the weather conditions were like during, etc. If you can’t seem to figure it out, don’t be afraid to hire a professional nutritionist or dietitian to help you out. Remember that solids take longer to digest
- Mental Toughness – Resist the siren song to walk. It can be loud and can seem so desirable at certain times. Stay focused on your race, it’s easy to get distracted.
Thanks to Sam for the insightful presentation!
Quick Coordinator Updates
Group Training
Wednesday night rides roll out of Kirkwood Park at 6pm, weather permitting. Rides are no-drop and ride leader Bob Grone will ride back with you if you need to cut the course short. Saturday morning New Town rides start at 9am. During open water swim weeks, rides will begin around 9:45-10am to give everyone time to swim and be ready to ride afterward. Select group training opportunities will be organized around where our club members are clustered within the Metro area based on a heatmap study.
Social
Plan is to have a social event in May. More details to come.
Icy Iron
Please see/contact coordinator Dianna Shank for any unclaimed session 1 or session 2 water bottles, ice scrapers, or other awards.
Membership
We’re up to 420 members and growing! New members, please come by a meeting to pick up your club shirts, water bottles, and new member packets.
Sponsorship
Quick reminder to patronize our sponsors. Recommend them to your friends and family if you received good service. Also, welcome to our newest sponsor, Hogan Transportation!
Featured Member and Sponsor
Read all about our featured member, Sharon Silverman. Thanks to Jim Wagner of Prudential for supporting our club! Have a financial challenge, contact Jim to see if he can help.
Next (and future) Meeting(s)
We’re pleased to announce that pro triathlete and hometown favorite, Sarah Haskins-Kortuem, will be our featured speaker for our next monthly meeting on May 18th. Please RSVP so we have an idea of how many to expect.
Looking ahead, author and coach, Matt Fitzgerald will be coming to speak for our September meeting. More details on that to come.
Our October meeting will be a coaching panel featuring our three sponsor coaches, Paul Schon of IronBrick Training, Jennifer Meyer of TriSmart Training Systems, and Samantha Murphy of Evolve Coaching Systems.
