Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Times

Group Ride at Polk City Van Fleet Trail - be ready to go at 7am
Group Long Run at Lake Hollingsworth - be ready to run at 6am
Group Hills Run - we will post the time and route prior to the first run
Group Meeting at the YMCA will be 7pm
Social - meet at Fort Fraser and be ready to ride at 6:15pm
Social at Beef O Brady's you can follow us from the trail after we are done at 7pm or go directly to Beef's

I think that should cover all the times.

~Dawn

Sunday, July 13, 2008

IMPORTANT INFORMATION!!

Greetings!
Rebecca, Tom, Linda and I met last Thursday and got through a lengthy list of "To Do's". I apologize in advance, this will probably be long.

First, the list of upcoming events:
Our first "social" will be Thursday July 24th at Beef O Brady's in Bartow at 7:30pm. We will meet beforehand for a short group ride at the Fort Fraser Trail in Bartow behind PCC (in the parking lot next to the sheriff's office). If you would like to go we will start the ride at 6:15pm and ride till around 7p. If you get there late no worries this is a trail so just follow it out and back. If you want to go directly to Beef O Brady's Rebecca will be there early.

**Directions to Fort Fraser trail and Beef's**
Take the Polk Parkway to 98 and go south. Turn left at the PCC sign, an immediate left at the first street and another left into the parking lot next to the sheriff station.
If you are going directly to Beef O Brady's continue south on 98 approx 8 miles. Beef O Brady's is in a shopping plaza along with Crispers. It is on the inside portion of the strip mall so it will be hard to see from the road but you will see the sign. If you get to 60 you have gone too far.

Group Runs
Thursdays (starting July 31st) HILLS!!
We will post the route soon but this is the same hill workout that the runners club does every week.

Saturdays (starting August 2nd) LONG RUN
We will meet at Lake Hollingsworth at 6am for a long run ranging from 8-14 miles. We will provide a map with drop off points. Basically this way you can run with the group as far as you need to if you are still building your mileage. If you are just starting out and want to meet to do laps around the lake that works too! Each month we will have a different route so you don't get bored running the same route over and over.

Group Rides
Sundays (starting August 3rd) group ride
We will start our group rides fairly low key with a trail ride. We will do our first ride at Van Fleet Trail out of Polk City. You can ride 20, 40 or the full 60. The trail is flat out and back so we will not have an A,B,C group. The trail does not have any water and only 2 rest stops, one at the 10mile point and one at the 30. Otherwise please be prepared with water and spare tubes etc.

**Directions** The trail is off I-4 and 33 when you get off 33 you will go north about 3 miles. Once you go over the bridge you will take an immediate left. The trail will be an open field on your right. The trail is about a 20 minute drive from Lakeland so carpooling may be a good idea. I will start a thread in the forum for carpooling to rides/runs.

We can experiment with different trails and routes. For those that feel more comfortable on trails we can keep a group that stays to the trails. For those that are comfortable on open roads we can do different routes around Polk County and eventually venture out to Clermont or Dade City for some hills.

Group Races
Since we are so late in the season the only race we will be designating a Land Shark race is the Publix Family Fitness Sprint at Cypress Gardens October 11-12
http://www.familyfitnessweekend.com/?q=node/135 I am working on getting us a group discount for this race. If you would like to sign up please email me first because you will probably need to sign up through the group. If you have already signed up we can't get any type of refund - sorry. I should have the group rate by the end of this week.

Another race that is not necessarily a group race but we do have a group rate on is an International Distance race at EG Simmons Park in Tampa Florida Saturday July 26th.
http://www.endurancenation.com/index.php?pg=ev3
If you would like to sign up please email me
trilandsharks@gmail.com
Exclusive Sports is giving us $10 off registration.
**Even if it is not a designated group race i will work hard with event organizer to get a group rate. It is important you keep your race schedule up to date on the forum so that i know what races have a large number of attendees from the group.

Meetings
Our first group meeting will be Thursday August 21st. We will hold our meetings the 3rd Thursday of every month as not to conflict with the Runners Club meetings. We will have our meeting at the YMCA in the education building. When you turn into the road prior to turning left into the YMCA stay straight and turn at your next left. The building is all the way back on your left (we will put up signs as well). We will have a speaker at all our meetings unless there is other business that takes precedence. We will announce the first speaker soon!


Miscellaneous
Membership Fee's - We are still investigating the cost per person for membership. The costs involved are registration and insurance through USA Triathlon plus general membership cost. As soon as we figure it out we will send out an email. We want to make sure it is fair but we also need to project cost for the year. Once we set the fee you will need to pay and stay current to get discounts to races.


Shirts and Tri Tops - We plan on ordering shirts and tri tops but first WE NEED A LOGO!!! If you are artistically gifted and want to take a stab at a Land Shark Logo GO FOR IT. We can review it at our next officers meeting, narrow it down and put it to a group vote.


phew!! my fingers hurt from typing!! I hope everyone is happy with what we have come up with so far. If you have any good idea's or suggestions for the officers or the group please feel free to email us at trilandsharks@gmail.com If you haven't signed up for the forum....what are you waiting for? It's a great place to share idea's, ask questions or find a training buddy. Whether you are new to the sport or a seasoned veteran there is always something to learn.

One other quick thought..when I first started training for triathlons I was always so intimidated to go on group rides and runs. Now that I have been racing a few years I wish I would have taken advantage of those opportunities. Group rides and runs can only help you and make you faster! If you are worried you aren't fast enough or won't be able to ride or run as far we aren't a group for one type of athlete. So come out give it a try! You will be surprised how fun it can be with the right group of people.

OK, that's all for now!

Have fun and train safe
Dawn

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Stay Tuned

Greetings!!

I hope everyone is having a safe and FUN triathlon season! I just returned from IM CDA and myself and the officers will be meeting shortly to get things into full swing. Make sure you check back frequently for updates etc. I have sent out a few emails but some got returned. If you havent gotten an email from me will you please just send me a quick "hello" and I will add you to the distribution list. The group email is trilandsharks@gmail.com
I just posted a lengthy race report for CDA if you want to check it out. If not my feelings wont be hurt :)

One other quick note that was in my race report but I wanted to make sure everyone saw it. My friend that helped me train for IM led a blind athlete in the race. A link to their story is below. If you arent inspired by this I don't know what will!


http://www.kxly.com/Global/story.asp?S=8544198


Happy and Safe Training to everyone
Dawn