Triathlon
A number of club members have expressed an interest in starting a section of the club especially for triathlons. A small group recently met to discuss the establishment of this section, and the minutes of this meeting are below, along with a number of links to a number of triathlon websites. There will also be a triathlon section on the Club Message Board. More information will be posted on the site as the sections starts to develop.
If you want any further information please feel free to e-mail us - maidstoneharrierstriathlon@hotmail.co.uk
Update - January 2012
Latest Tri Club meeting minutes:
Hi all,
We had a very successful meeting last night, thanks to those who came along to share their thoughts.
Here's a summary of the discussion:
1) British Triathlon Federation membership: We had approval from the club at last years AGM to join the BTF but as their year runs from Jan-Dec we put this off until the new Year.
I am pleased to say that we are now officially affiliated with the BTF. This costs the club £105 which include public liability insurance for the club.
Another benefit of this is that individual members get a reduction in membership fees from £51 down to £40.
Benefits of becoming an individual member are:
- Reduction in race entry fees (no day membership - usually £3 - £5 per race) (you will get a membership number immediately and a card with your pack in the post)
- Subscription to Tri news
- British Triathlon Annual handbook
- Worldwide personal accident cover
- Public liability cover
- Free legal claims service
I have joined myself now.
Simply go to http://www.triathlonengland.org/ to join and select our club to receive the discount fee.
Our club name is "Maidstone Harriers Tri Club"
2) Club Logo: We had a look at some ideas for a logo based around our Harrier logo. One of or newer members, Rick Monk, has agreed to follow up with this and put together some ideas.
3) Club Kit: Most of us like the idea of having our own Tri kit and Mark Rawson has agreed to look into this.
4) Bike Maintenance: Quite a bit of interest in this. Nicky Thomas has recently passed his Bike Mechanic exams and is willing to share some of his knowledge.
I hope to be able to put some training sessions together with him to suit everyone's needs.
5) Cycle Training: Many are keen to have some club rides at the weekend so we will sort something out on this soon, almost certainly early Sat/Sun morning.
If someone would like to volunteer to come up with some good route plans starting at the club that would be beneficial.
6) Swimming: Many of us are taking part in swim drills at David Lloyd, Maidstone on Saturday afternoons at 4:30. This is really good value and a great hard working session. Weekend membership is £15/month or you can pay a day membership of £5 on the day. If anyone wants more of a one-to-one swimming instruction, several members have done this and can recommend some instructors.
7) Events: It is useful for members to know what events others are doing to help decide what you want to do. It's great being able to take part in an event with friends and it really makes it special.
If anyone would like to email me with their Triathlon diary I will keep a list that can be circulated. We can give this a go and see if it is useful.
At the moment I have booked or plan to do the following and others in the club plan to also.
April 29 : Sevenoaks Sprint Tri (entries closed)
May 13 : East Grinstead Sprint Tri (http://egtri.com/jotunheim/)
June 24 : Maidstone Sprint Tri (http://www.maidstonetriathlon.com/)
July 8 : Cowman Half Ironman (http://www.big-cow.com/public/race.aspx?id=1978)
July 31 : Medway Sprint Tri (http://www.velocity-events.co.uk/medway-sprint-tri/)
I'm also thinking about these:
June 3 : Cranbrook Sprint Tri (http://www.velocity-events.co.uk/cranbrook-sprint-tri/)
Sept 30 : Hever Castle Olympic (http://www.castletriathlonseries.co.uk/en/hever-castle-race/)
I think that about covers it. Let me know if I have missed anything or you want something added.
Cheers,
Mike.
Update - August 2011
We now have a date for further Open Water Assessment at Leybourne.
There are several people interested in doing this who missed the last one, which was very successful and some of us have continued to swim at Leybourne in preperation for open water Tri's.
Practise of this kind is essential before taking part in an open water Tru such as at Hever Castle in September as some people are planning/hoping to do.
The Date is Saturday 6th August at 11:00.
I currently have Sarah Brenton and James Dodd and I know several others are interested and hopefully can make this date.
Please let me know if you would like to be included.
Basically they do assessment every weekend at 11:00am on both Saturday and Sunday and can take up to 24 people in one go but need to know in advance to make sure they have enough lifeguards and safety boat crew etc.
The cost is £35 on the day (cash only). (After this, use of the lake is £5 a day)
Wetsuits and swim caps are available on loan for free for the assessment if you don't have one. Flip-flops or something on your feet also recommended.
A passport type photo is required on the day.
Full details on the assessment web page as follows:
https://sites.google.com/site/teamoutrageous1/open-water-swimming/1st-visit
Update - May 2011
If you are interested in receiving news and information regarding the Tri section of the club please email MaidstoneHarriersTriathlon@ hotmail.co.uk to be added to the distribution list.
You can also email any ideas or suggestions as to what you would like to do regarding training sessions etc and we will try to accommodate.
This coming Tuesday (3rd May) we will be holding a session on Bike Maintenance at the Hockey Club @7:30pm. Our first of many I'm sure.
This session we will be primarily looking at Puncture repair and depending on time (and how many turn up) we can talk about anything you like such as Kit and Transition etc.
This will be hands-on session starting with a demo/instruction and then lots of practise of taking wheels and tyres off and putting them on again.
You will need your bike and any puncture repair kit that you have i.e. pump/patches/tyre levers.
I know there are some who are interested but can't make this Tuesday session. Let me know and we will sort another session out.
I hope these sessions will be useful and also fun for those interested in Triathlon to get together and chat and plan further training sessions.
Mike.
Maidstone Harriers Triathlon Section – Meeting Notes Wed 26th Jan 2011
The meeting was very successful with a lot of interest and I hope a good start to something great within the club. Here are a few notes on ideas generated.
Training / Instruction sessions
Specific sessions will be set up occasionally to start with and hopefully expand to fill demand, such as:
- Kit advice
- Skills / techniques / transition
- Race tips
- Bike maintenance
- Pool swimming sessions / coaching
- Open water swimming (April onwards – Leybourne lakes)
- Club rides / run/bike/run sessions
As you know we are lucky enough to have Kevin Holt on-board who is very keen to help us with coaching sessions and advice. Kevin is an experienced triathlete and coach with a wealth of knowledge that I am sure we can benefit hugely from. Many of you already know Ian Forrest, another extremely experienced triathlete, who will also be available as a great resource within the club.
We are looking into affiliation to the BTF (British Triathlon Federation) benefits of which include public liability insurance and reduced individual membership fees.
More info on this later.
Club Developments
To better assist with communication I would like to get a section setup on our website and something within the message board. Kevin and Ian are willing to monitor and respond to a Q&A section on the message board with tips and advice etc.
I also plan to set up a club email account which I will monitor and have this posted on our website for people to contact us.
I would also like to take a register of people within the club interested in Triathlon and be able to email them directly on relevant matters etc.
Tri suits: Ian has found the following website which have good deals at the moment:
http://www.activinstinct.com/ sale/triathlon-sale/
That's all for now. More soon.
Mike
Triathlon Links
A few here to be starting with, you'll find plenty more links from these sites as well.