Las Vegas Triathlon Club February News and Events

LVTC Happenings!

A monthly report of events and resources for our passionate, growing local multisport community.

March Membership Madness

By the time you go through our February newsletter, it will be time for March Membership Madness!

This is the time of year to join or renew your Las Vegas Triathlon Club Annual Membership.

- Single Membership: $65

- Family Membership: $85

- Student Membership: $40

You can read more about the memberships at this link: https://lvtriclub.com/memberships/

We know that not every member will be able to do the events – but we very much appreciate the support of your membership if you enjoy our Las Vegas Triathlon Facebook page, clinics, podcasts, or other get togethers. Every membership is important to help the club operate and cover the cost of permit fees, storage, event insurance, trailer insurance, etc.

As a non-profit 501c(3) organization, we work to keep our membership fees as low as possible. we need your continued support of the club even if you cannot participate in the events. Please consider renewing/joining to support our wonderful Las Vegas endurance community.

A key feature of membership is free entry to our four club events – but please know that each event is limited to 50 people at this time:

4/15/23: Saturday Triathlon

6/18/23: Sunday Triathlon

7/8/23: Saturday Aquabike

8/13/23: Sunday Triathlon

The Las Vegas Triathlon Club Legacy Scholarship

On 12/10/20, five Las Vegas athletes were killed when an impaired driver ran into a group of cyclists. The athletes were Tom Trauger, Erin Ray, Aksoy Ahmet, Michael Murray, and Gerrard Nieva. These five athletes are endearingly referred to as TEAMG (Tom, Erin, Aksoy, Michael, and Gerrard).

Following their deaths, there has been a upswell of community support for the families and survivors directly affected. There has also been a renewed call for action to create a safer environment for our athletes to train here in the Greater Las Vegas Valley.

The purpose of the Las Vegas Triathlon Club Legacy Scholarship is to honor the legacy of TEAMG as well as any local triathlete who have been killed or injured as result of distracted driving. The Legacy Scholarship is designed to encourage involvement in triathlon by new athletes, youth athletes, and/or continuing athletes in special need.

More information about the scholarship can be found at this page:

https://lvtriclub.com/the-las-vegas-triathlon-club-legacy-scholarship/

The list of our 2022 Scholarship Awardees can be found at this page:

https://lvtriclub.com/2022-legacy-scholarship-awardees/

Finally, this scholarship continues thanks to a generous donation by Alsco Uniforms as well as an anonymous donor.

Socials/Training Events/Education

Here are the tentative dates for our 2023 events (we are submitting permit requests for these dates):

4/15/23: Saturday - Triathlon
Registration opens March 1st
6/18/23: Sunday - Triathlon
Registration opens May 1st
7/8/23: Saturday - Aquabike
Registration opens June 1st
8/13/23: Sunday - Triathlon
Registration opens July 1st

Pencil these dates into your calendar!

Also ... remember, membership opens in March 2023 (and runs to March 2024). More information on this will be posted as we get closer to that date.

Thanks everyone!

Check our Facebook Group for locals who are training in town or down at Lake Mead. Post your workouts!

The New Triathlete

We’re starting a new series for the Club Newsletter – Triathlon Fundamentals for Beginner Triathletes. We’ve created a web page that will contain Evidence Based Triathlete podcasts related to Triathlon fundamentals and other brief articles that will address Swim, Bike, Run, Transition, and Nutrition tips and fundamentals, and we’ll add a new one each month.

To kick this off, below is a link to “Tips for Your First Triathlon,” as well as links to two “Beginner Triathlete” EBT podcasts. The “Tips” article is an overview of basic concepts and tactics for your first Sprint triathlon. We’ll explore each discipline in greater detail in future newsletters and articles, but this will get you started. Please provide us with feedback and questions you may have that we can address in future EBT podcasts and newsletter articles.

Tips for your first triathlon https://lvtriclub.com/starting-out/
Beginning triathlon tips #1 https://youtu.be/jb5hb6FrAAg
Beginning triathlon tips #2 https://youtu.be/7iPNUIt1SZA

~ Bob Gamble

Past President

Celebrate the Wins!

In a sport where we are constantly evolving, pushing our performance to the limits, this is your reminder to celebrate the wins. No matter the size, celebrate the wins.

Sometimes we have to step away from the critical lens and look at what we did right today, rather than what we could have done better.

You might be thinking to yourself, “Shawna, why are you telling me this right now? The season is just starting.” Well yeah, but I want you to remember it throughout the season.

That means once a day, once a week, and/or once a month, you be kind to yourself and find a win. Did you show up for a workout that you really didn’t want to go to? Good for you! Did you keep your cadence up on your bike during a segment of your bike workout? Fantastic! Did you nail your workout goals at least 4 times this week? Celebrate it!

Celebrating doesn’t mean doing something counter productive like taking a day off or consuming a 1,500 calorie piece of cake. It means you give yourself some credit, give yourself a chance to feel good about your accomplishment. It goes a long way toward keeping your motivation up for the long months ahead.

What we should be doing is training with people who are better than us. That’s how we grow, mature, and aspire to be greater. If we don’t celebrate our wins, it is easy to get lost in that person’s shadow. For example, I used to do track workouts with runners who would run my fastest pace to warm up. I stayed on their heels as long as I could and did my best. I started get discouraged, because compared to them, I was weak and slow. That’s when I decided to focus on me and my wins. I realized I was taking :20 seconds off of my laps. I did that! That was nothing to be discouraged about!

Celebrate the wins!

~Shawna Glasser

Prez Corner:

A New Season

The 2023 Triathlon season is almost here! What are you going to do to #thrive this season?

Your triathlon journey is unique. Furthermore, you have chosen this journey for some reason … maybe it was to physically challenge yourself to see how fast you can go; maybe it is to complete your first triathlon; maybe you are trying to improve your health. Whatever the reason – your triathlon journey is yours.

The season can be long … many of you will do your first race in April and your last race in December. To be successful over the long-term, it is helpful to think about what you are looking to accomplish. Yes … goals. A target. Something to keep you motivated to train consistently.

When setting triathlon goals, it is best to set goals that are within your control. That is, you can control your race effort. You can’t control what any other athlete does … so avoid setting goals based upon finishing place or position in a race. Maybe set a goal in terms of how many training sessions, yards swam, miles biked, or run miles ran per week … something you can control and work towards.

Try to avoid comparing yourself to others … your goals are yours. Maybe set a goal of trying to improve your 100 yard swim time, or 5 km run, or time to complete a particular bike route. Your goals. Your achievements.

Think of goals in terms of short gains as well as long-term gains. What can you accomplish this week? Or in a month? Set your goals to be realistic – but still challenging. If you are running 15 miles per week, maybe shoot for 18 miles the next week.

Remember your support system … build your community of like-minded people. Be purposeful to spend more time with your family and friends than you do on your own training. Thrive by building relationships.

Enjoy … enjoy … enjoy. This is supposed to be fun. You should enjoy that swim workout, biking hills, that morning run. You will give yourself the best chance to #thrive by having fun.

Let’s Thrive in 2023!

#thatsthevegasway

#enjoythejourney

#thrive

#timetothrive

#LVtrifamily

~John Mercer