Fall Classic Race Series BEGINS! - Aquathon Tomorrow!

THE FALL CLASSIC RACE SERIES ... IS HERE.

Bring your friends, bring your runners, pack your swim caps, you can even bring your mom, and get ready to RACE!

As a recap - last springs winners were Nathaniel Janzen and Jen Bhatla...

BUT WHO WILL WIN THIS YEAR! 

This year the heat is on.

Will Jen reclaim the crown? 

Will there be a brother sister throw-down between Chris Bhatla and Jen Bhatla?

I heard them smack-talking each other in the swim lane the other day and I would not want to be caught in the middle of that epic feud.

 Here's a quick recap from the race series event so far - the uphill run and bike!

For the Men of the Tri club: Eddy took the lead on the uphill bike, and Mike took the lead on the uphill run last week.

Sebastian and Tom tied the uphill bike, but I've also heard word that they may have just been riding a 2-man bike http://3219a2.medialib.glogster.com/media/38/3825d27166a475846b8b391da4131a7397e114bb8edd5d75ec6b352413ab4998/two-person-bike.jpg

There was also a tight race betwen Seth and Ryan on the uphill run.

Ryan dominated by one second - stealing the lead like a hamburgler. However, Seth claims to have been working on his training on summer and is ready to throw down on the aquathon on Sunday. Ryan also feels ready to bring DA HEAT. What's got Ryan's confidence up you might ask? He's been eating loads of granola bars and other goods which he's gotten recipes for from the nutrition blog. Little does he know, Seth edited ALL the nutriton blog posts to double the sugar quantities in all recipes as part of a secret plot to weigh (pun!) Ryan down in the races.

For the Women of the Tri club: Lindsay took first place in the uphill bike, but Tiffany took the first place for the uphill run. Looks these two will be fighting an uphill battle between each other. And it looks like my commentary just got cornier than ever. 

Other competitors to look out for?

I've heard newcomer Monica is looking for a new trophy for her mantle...but so is Jen Moroz..AND Tiffany.

Watch out for a feud between Tiffany Bilodeau and Jen Moroz. These two may seem like the nicest people you've ever met but they both want that Vince Lavallee cup (he's a legend you know). Will Tiffany's flexible ballet ankles for flipper feet in the pool be enough to match Jen's speed on the run?

WHO KNOWS!?... But stay tuned to find out after Saturday's Aquathon race.. Be thurr or be square!

Or... Will this be the year of Winstorm taking the cup home?

There's been talk of an epic matchup going down this term between Dylan Stephanian and Chris Bhatla... 

I put together a research team to run some stats on these two for you all.

Chris Bhatla:

-smart

-good at chemistry labs

-did "kids of steel" triathlon training

-only eats a strict diet of cliff bars and vegetables

Dylan Stephanian

-has been around the club way longer than Chris

-once killed a bear with nothing but a bike seat

-only eats a strict diet of Chris Bhatla's

-has been getting secret tips from Brendan

-goes to stretchy time more often than Chris

Bear in mind (pun intended), this epic duo will face-off in the gear of warriors. Well, not like armour like gladiators - but they will be decked out in spandex, gels, and quick tie laces

Getting back to the big picture. Who will take home the Fall Race Series Vince Lavallee (He must be a legend) cup this term?

I guess we'll just have to wait and see! ;)

See you at the Aquathon tomorrow!

There isn't anything like running around campus in a speedo in the fall!

Swim Goal Setting Sheets!

The term has begun and it's a great time to start making some training goals!!!!

Below I've attached Tia's Swim Goal Setting sheets. These are to be printed and brought to her (hard copies only) at any Tuesday or Thursday swim. This is to give yourself something to improve on and give Tia an idea of how to get you there.

Feel free to come up with some goals for running or biking too!

We're having some big crowds out for workouts lately - which is obviously...SUPER AWESOME!

For runs it's still light out - AND BEAUTIFUL... but... later into the term it is advised to start bringing headlamps to runs.

Also, don't miss out on the Club's Annual Welcome Back BBQ happening this Saturday after the bike ride at 11:30am.

Even if you're not coming for the ride feel free to come by for some burgers n salad and a bike maintenance workshop after!

Stay tuned for new club spin sessions TBA.

Cheers!




GOAL SETTING SHEETS
(Fill out the following and print please)

"Name:

Swimming Goal Setting: Fall 2013

Swim Technique/Stroke Goals:

1.

2.

3.

Swim Time/Speed Goals:

1.

2.

3.

Swim Workout Attendance Goals:

1.

2.

My Weekly Swimming Goals:

1.

2.

Other goals I have for this term in my training/racing:

1.

2.

3.

I am part of the UBC Tri club because (use back if necessary):

Goal setting is a huge part of achievement and success. I have to know what you are striving for so I can help you get there. Please think this over and bring it with you to your first practice back to give to Tia. New members have until the end of September!"

Back to School - Back to Training!

WELCOME BACK!!!!!!!

So Tri Club is back in action! And I hope everyone in the club is ready for another awesome year.
In case you missed our awesome booth at Imagine Day - here are some photos of SOME of the crew who came out to help out! Unfortunately we didn't manage to get a photo of everyone - but it was amazing to see so many faces from the club excited to recruit new members for the fall term. Thanks for all your help guys!
This year we had 376 new sign ups!!!! To put this into perspective - last year we only had about 100 sign ups.. that's like a 3.76X IMPROVEMENT! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vdqc2veHDg
...Or an even better video to show my excitement over this. It's OVER 300! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiMHTK15Pik



Left to right: Jenn (VP Internal), Tiffany (VP External), some weird looking dude

 

 From left to right: Some weird looking dude, Chris (one of your VP Athletics), Ryan Hirakida (VP Social)

If you missed us - come check us out on Clubs days!!!! - We can also accept club membership fees on club days as well (or before any of the workouts).

 So what does this mean now that we have so many new members who are gonna be around?
Well, it means a few things...
a) BIKES: We're gonna start having an A group and B group both meeting at the same time and location but for different levels of challenge for the Saturday 9am rides lead by Eddy (Cycling Coach).
 b) RUNS: We had a HUGE turn out on Monday and Wednesday (5:30pm runs)- and also over 10 people doing Ab ripper. With such a big crowd its a lot easier to find others your own speed and meet new people. I can't wait to see how many people come out next week!
c) SWIMS: Also a great turn out - and a number of people all at different skill levels! Tia given some game talk of doing technical workouts now earlier in the season and working more on endurance as we get closer to race season (spring)- then moving into tactical skills (e.g. drafting) as we get closer to the summer (and the races associated with em').
She's also given out goal setting sheets which I'll try to get up on this blog as well.
d) STRETCHY TIME: - this will be resuming next Friday at 6:30pm (and continuing every week after at a similar time for the rest of the term - if there are timing alterations these will be posted on the club facebook group). This is sort of a cross between stretching, pilates, yoga, and pirates - except without the pirates. Come try it out - there's always a big crowd (Bring your own yoga mat if you have one - if not we have a few spares kicking around the club office!).

 Come on out to a workout if you haven't yet!
Look forward to seeing you all around!

 Cheers,
UBC Tri Exec!

Battle of the Ex-Presidents

Over the next few days former UBC tri club presidents Matt Reeve and Nathaniel Janzen will square off at the ITU AG Wold Championships (along with Kevin Chariot).

The lack of trash talk surrounding the event is more a result of Vince's absence rather than an indication that this showdown will be anything less than the most intense encounter these two have experienced (and they've faced one another several times). This is no Kendra vs Vince Beer Mile challenge. Nor is it some silly intermural with an ugly t-shirt for 1st place. The winner will bask in the glory of all that is triathlon and will hold his head high for the rest of his life. The loser will become portly and feel the need to prove himself by finishing multiple Ironmans late into his thirties.

To whom the Victory? Let's look at the stats:

UBCTC Race series:
Nathaniel: 3 Race series wins
Matt: 3 Race series wins

Storm the Wall:
Nathaniel - Two individual wins
Twice Ironman Champion (narrowly beating out Matt the first time, beating the second place finisher by a mile the second time).
Matt - Two individual wins
Once Ironman Champion (beating the second place finisher relatively comfortably) and Once SUPER IRONMAN Champion.

Triathlons:
Their individual race results don't really help to determine who might come out on top in London. Although the'll be racing short course, the only thing that can be said about their triathlon history is that only Matt has come close to racing a REAL triathlon by completing a half-Ironman.

Personal Characteristics:
Nathaniel - a.k.a. Flipper (friends), Nacho (family), Pumpkin (Sophie)

Strengths: Nathaniel is an ex-varsity swimmer and ran track in high school. He's recently come close to the Club record for the Mile and has been banking some serious pool time. He also received not-so-secret coaching from Vince over the winter resulting in more power on the bike (although it's believed that his improvement on the bike is due more to being in the presence of Vince's mustache rather than any direct coaching).

Weakness: Untouchable at shorter distances, how will Nathaniel fare in the latter parts of the race?

Matt - a.k.a....Matt

Strengths: Matt is the consummate all-rounder. Not only is he consistently fast in the water, on the bike and on the run, one discipline doesn't impact the other. He's been lightning fast in both the club bricks and aquathons. He's a handsome Ginger that doesn't have the word quit in his vocabulary. The guy has biked across CANADA people! Even crazier, he spent an entire winter in Kitimat! Most of all though, he's hungry for revenge from Nathaniel's Storm the Wall victory.

Weakness: Has a year away from UBC tri club rendered him soft and chubby?

Joker - As with any great duel, this one's got a wild card: Matt's impressive ability to get it done, no matter what it takes. 

During his failed attempt to take the Race Series lead from the Club's funniest and kindest member, Matt convinced both Brendan and Kevin to get hammered with him on St-Patrick's Day, the eve of the aquathon. Kevin obliged (very happily) and Brendan did his share by downing a Merlot in one swoop. Matt drank water. The moral of the story? Matt's ruthlessly competitive so never, ever, ever count him out - it can come back to bite you (perhaps literally).

With the above information, it's up to you to decide - seems pretty close to call.  

Why join the UBC Triathlon Club?

1) To gain lots of awesome new friends and training buds!

2) To get in ridiculously good shape! (and look good in spandex)

3) To partake in awesome group bikes, swims, and/or runs!

4) Storm the Wall domination!

So, what are you waiting for?

It costs significantly less than a gym pass to join our club, and we are well sponsored which helps fund club expenses.

“The best part is the people who are fun, welcoming, and extremely friendly!”

-Seth Bluman, Club Member

Something to keep in mind: All workouts are optional.

We understand that school and work don’t always create an optimal time frame, so come as often or as little as you’d like. As well don’t worry if you aren’t experienced!! A lot of us started in the tri club with no background experience in the sport whatsoever. How hard you choose to push yourself to become a better triathlete (or athlete in general) is up to you. Beginners and experts train side by side in this club so there is always someone to learn from!

Still not sure if you should join?

Other awesome shtuff about our club:

Running (Mon+Wed @5:30)

-If you’re new to the campus or want to discover the area nearby better, our biweekly group runs can show you all the best spots to go for runs near campus!

*Typically we do a long run on Mondays and intervals on Wednesdays

Biking (Sat @9am)

-Coached group bike rides - we'll make you a pro in no time! No special road bike needed for first timers - but make sure you have fenders.

-We'll show you the best spots around UBC to cycle

-You’ll have Coach Eddy teach you everything you need to know to be the best cyclist possible!

-Bike trainers (that is, a device that attaches to your bike for indoor group cycling, will be provided by the club for indoor training this year. More info on this is TBA. *Bike trainers are new for fall 2013!!

Swimming (Tues 7-8pm & Thurs 8-9pm)

-We do group swims in the UBC outdoor pool with coach Tia! She has a lot of experience coaching a range of skill levels and will make you become a better swimmer. Don't worry if your a terrible swimmer! Tia is incredible for coaching beginners and experts! So regardless of your previous swim experience come try out our swims!

Yoga/Pilates (aka Stretchy Time) (Friday @6pm)

-Limber up with your best friends from the tri club! If you've never done yoga before this is a great place to start. And if you have done yoga before this is also a great place to continue on with it. P.s. Our instructor Tiffany is the best UBC has to offer!

Other fun facts about us:

*During workouts, you can store your stuff in our extremely accessible club office located beside the UBC SUB (just ask a club exec member about where to leave your stuff for a workout)

*We are the best looking club on campus!

*Sponsorship

·      We are sponsored by Cliff - which means we have plenty of tasty post-workout snacks available to you

·      We are sponsored by West Point Multi Sport - which means you can get plenty of discounted Tri gear just down the road from UBC campus!

·      We also provide personalized speaker series on topics such a race nutrition, physiotherapy (brought to us by our sponsor Dunbar Physio), biomechanics and technical sessions specifically tailored to local triathlons

*Simon Whitfiield will hopefully be stopping by for a workout later this fall. He is a renowned team Canada triathlete and Olympic gold medalist. Fun fact: he has trained in the past with the UBC Tri club!

Our first run of the year will be September 4th at 5:30pm at the club office. Please come 15-30 minutes early so you can sign a waiver (or sign it at Imagine Day), and pay your membership fees. September 10th is a Tuesday, which is when swim practices start.

Take the jump and challenge yourself by joining the UBC Triathlon Club!

And hey, it's an awesome way to make some great new friends on campus.

We're excited that you're interested in joining and look forward to an awesome semester with you!

*Club Fees

Membership:

Student                                  $50

Community Member          $75

Swims: 

Once a week                         $80

Twice a week                        $110

Sincerely,

UBC Tri Club Execs

Saunders Subaru Victoria Triathlon- June 16th 2013

Well, what can I say, another fun weekend filled with many accomplishments from a fleet of UBC tri clubbers! Twenty members made it over to the island to participate in the 2nd race of the Subaru series in beautiful Victoria, BC.

Semi-team photo post race

Sprint:

In the sprint we had Sean complete his first triathlon! I guess after living with legend Vincent Lavallee and superstars Jorg Winter and Victoria Gilbert it was time to take the plunge. Rumor has it he’s going to skip the Olympic distance and tackle the half in Vancouver.  

Sean Conner: 1:15:39; 10^th in age group

Olympic:

In the Olympic we had Kevin, Dylan, Derrick, Lindsey and Stephanie as well as a relay team consisting of Karin, Eddy and Drew.  This was Lindsey’s first Olympic distance and she rocked it out in a time of 2:48:52 placing 4^th in her age group! She must have been hunting Derrick down who finished just ahead in 2:48:31. Big shot Kevin Chiarot was seen rolling around his Cervélo in suit and tie intimidating his competitors the day before the race. It seemed to work as he pulled off a 2:32:17 race, 6 minutes faster than last year and a 3^rd place finish in his age group! Dylan and Stephanie also raced well and represented the club on the podium both in 3^rd place as well!

Kevin Chiarot: 2:32:17; 3^rd in age group

Dylan Stephanian: 2:34:08; 3^rd in age group

Derrick Lee: 2:48:31; 17^th in age group

Lindsey Von Bloedau: 2:48:52; 4^th in age group

Stephanie Flynn: 2:53:55; 3^rd in age group

In his own words, "they see me rollin'...they hatin'"

The UBCTC SLRT also had an amazing race and topped the podium in a time of 2:27:04. What is the UBCTC SLRT might you ask? Well, it’s the UBC Tri Club Super Lightening Relay Team- a name made up by Eddy after he admitted to coming up with ‘SLRT’ from picking a bunch of letter combinations common in fast products... Well either could work because they were super lightening fast with Karin pulling off a 3^rd place swim and 1^st place T1, Eddy with a 3^rd place bike time and 2^nd place T2 and Drew bringing it home with a 1^st place run. Congrats team!

SLRT rocking the podium. 1st place!

Half:

I think this was the first time the club has had most of it’s participants in the half ironman distance, with 10 UBCTC athletes in the mix.  Both Brendan and Victoria placed 7^th OVERALL, doing the club proud as always! Brendan was 3 minutes faster than last year and Victoria a whopping 11 minutes faster!  Brendan continued his race by making a run for the ferry back to Van and then hopping onto a flight to Europe. We hope he left his compression tights on for the duration of the flight…

UBCTC spectators couldn’t believe their eyes when Winston and Victoria entered T2 at the same time and proceeded to run the first lap of the run course together. But who would make it ahead this year? Winston had 4 seconds on Victoria in 2012 but Victoria’s early morning long runs this year enabled her to pull ahead and finish just under 2 minutes ahead, maintaining perfect form as observed by Winston. These two will go up against each other again in Vancouver. The legend lives on. 

Victoria vs Winston

We also had Nick, Jorg and James in a neck-to-neck race; the three finished within a minute of each other! Nick and James placed 2^nd and 3^rd in their age group and Jorg who was registered as a relay team with Vince still managed to take 2^nd place in the relay division despite doing the entire race himself! 

Lise and Theresa both completed their first half distance! It is rumored that Lise peer pressured Theresa into doing the race, and while both didn’t feel ready to take on the new distance both achieved their goals of completing the race and doing it under 5:30!

Naiely giving the first timers some positive vibes.

Naiely and Mike both veterans in the field pulled off amazing times as well with claimed little to no training! Mike even had enough energy at the end of the race to pull of a celebratory summersault.

Brendan Naef: 4:17:37; 7^th place overall

Nick Sunderland: 4:39:19; 2^nd in age group

Jorg Winter: 4:39:40; 2^nd place in relay

James Montgomery: 4:40:42; 3^rd in age group

Victoria Gilbert: 4:52:02; 2^nd in age group

Winston Guo: 4:53:54; 7^th in age group

Theresa Price: 5:22:55; 1^st in age group

Lise Munsie: 5:29:45; 4^th in age group

Naiely Cabrera: 5:32:45; 5^th in age group

Mike Duncan: 5:40:31; 12^th in age group

Congrats everyone!! Keep up the training, Saskatoon is 10 days away and Vancouver is in less than a month!