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ontri.com Newsletter - Volume
5 - May 16, 2005
Welcome to the May 2005 edition
of the www.ontri.com newsletter
and Happy Birthday ontri! We launched the site in May of 2004 for
triathletes of all levels to access training programs, log their
workouts, share knowledge, connect with one another and just add
some fun to triathlon training. It has been a remarkable year for
www.ontri.com thanks to all of
you. On our one year anniversary we are getting close to 10,000
members across over 50 clubs and teams and have together logged over
a quarter of a million swimming, cycling and running miles. As a
community we biked approximately 175,000 miles, ran almost 75,000
miles and swam over 6,500 miles. We burned over 15 million calories
during 1.5 million minutes of exercise with an average pace of 16.5
miles per hour on the bike, a run pace of 9:20 minutes per mile and
it took us an average of 37 minutes to swim each of those 6,500
miles. Our collective efforts are impressive and I look forward to
seeing how we top that in the next twelve months. Most importantly
we posted and answered hundreds of questions and helped thousands of
triathletes prepare for their first race. It is great to get emails
and see water cooler postings from members discussing the excitement
of their first event and then immediately signing up for more! For
those looking for their next race, you can now access the combined
ontri.com and trifind.com race database from the events tab when you
log in to your club. There are hundreds of races listed and are
searchable by location, date and race type. You can also add a race
if your favorite is not listed so please help us grow the list.
A note to first timers…
Many ontri members are gearing up for their first race this summer.
I remember my first race in June 2001 like it was yesterday, staring
out at the water nervously before the event, that great moment when
I put my feet down in the sand at the end of the swim and of course
the moment of crossing the finish line. I signed up for another the
next day and have been hooked since. I hope you enjoy your first
race as much as I did but in case you are as nervous as I was I
thought I would share a few things I recall from my first race.
Thing 1…I found swimming in the ocean with several hundred other
people to be much different than swimming in a pool. I really wish I
had swum outside at least once before my first race. It would have
been easy for me to drive to the site of the race and swim the
course ahead of time and that would have helped me a lot.
Thing 2…I wish I had my tri wetsuit that day. It has made the swim
portion so much more enjoyable as it keeps my sinking legs afloat to
make me more streamlined, faster and more efficient and the extra
buoyancy provides peace of mind which is important on race day. It
is the best tri money I've spent!
Thing 3…I was glad to have practiced the bike to run transition. I
saw many people walking the first mile of the run with cramps in
their calves and doing some bike-run bricks prior is a great way to
prepare your body for that transition.
Thing 4…I was glad to get to the race early to have some time to
set-up. However, I did not need to get there at 5 AM for a 7 AM
start as I had way too much time to stand there and think about the
swim.
Thing 5…Even though it was my slowest time, the first race went by
quick. Remember to relax, smile at least once and cheer on your
fellow athletes.
There have been lots of questions and answers on the message boards
in various ontri clubs from first timers so those are great
resources. Don't be afraid to ask even if you think it's an obvious
question. We've all been there. Enjoy your first race and please
send emails with your race day tales. We would love to post them in
our news section.
10% off gear at trivillage.com…
As always, visit http://www.trivillage.com for all your triathlon
gear needs. They offer some of the best deals around on wetsuits,
apparel, heart rate monitors, running shoes, bike accessories and
more. ontri.com members get 10% off all purchases by entering the
code ontri012004 at checkout so take advantage of this great
opportunity. You'll get great products, great service and great
deals and your purchases help support ontri.com so please visit
trivillage when you are in the market for any swimming, cycling and
running gear.
Improving our online community…
Over the last year we've made several improvements to ontri.com
and we have a growing list of features that we are planning to add
this coming year. Many of the great improvements came as a result of
your feedback so please let us know what we can do better.
This May we added the ability to change the workouts in your
training plan. You can move workouts around by modifying the date,
change the type of workout and the target minutes. From the trainer
tab, simply click on “Edit today's plan” to edit that day's
suggested workout. We also added the ability to log “OTHER” types of
workouts besides runs, bikes and swims. These do not count towards
the competition but they do let you log any type of workout from
stairmaster sessions to cross country skiing, walking and kayaking.
Just select OTHER when you log your workout and fill in the
description and notes accordingly. In addition, you can now log
workouts in kilometers or miles. When you log a workout select
Miles, Kilometers or Meters from the drop down next to distance and
ontri will do the conversions for you!
We also recently added an “invite new members” link from the admin
tab after you log-in. This will send a personalized email to anyone
you know who might like to join your ontri club so please help
spread the word. Any of you that have a web site or blog, add a link
to ontri to let your readers know about us. The more people who
join, the more beneficial ontri will be for all of us. If you would
like us to link back to you, just send me and email with your URL
and a brief description.
Why log your workouts…
As I reflected on the past year, I was looking through my own
training log from the first workouts ever logged on ontri back on
May 1, 2004 up through my most recent miles. I've participated in
sports since I was kid, did my first triathlon in 2001 but this was
the first time I ever kept a training log. I have to say it has been
a great motivator as I've never had a more consistent and rewarding
12 months of exercise. Logging my workouts has kept me motivated and
now provides me with the means to go back and easily recall each and
every swim, bike ride and run. I was astonished when I viewed my
workouts on ontri.com for the past 12 months and learned that I had
biked 2442 miles, ran 573 miles and swam 54 miles. Those miles
included 5 triathlons, a handful of road races and charity bike
rides as well as hobbling through 18 miles of the Niagara Falls
Marathon before dropping out with severe pain in my left knee from
iliotibial band syndrome (or ITB.) I swam in stunning Lake Arenal
Costa Rica, ran through scenic Nova Scotia, biked up Mt. Wachusett
and logged many city miles here in Boston. I added miles with big
groups, close friends, my brothers, my nephew as well as many solo.
(Thank you Met, Dan, Mike, Shred, Doug, Kris and Josh…and Sony for
helping me through the solo runs) Some miles were indoors on a
trainer, treadmill or in a pool; others were outside in January in
13 degree weather or in August when we were close to 95 degrees. It
rained, snowed and beat down sun but each mile helped me to meet
goals, to set new ones and to feel great. I share this with you not
as a means of comparison but as a reminder to all of you that
keeping a diary of your workouts will keep you on track, will help
you add miles when you aren't feeling motivated and will give you
something great to look back on at the end of the year. It takes a
few clicks to log a workout on ontri.com and it really is great to
be able to recall each and every mile whether a big smile covered
your face as you crossed a finish line or whether tears of
frustration welled up as you pulled out of a race in pain. Remember,
every mile counts. That is what ontri.com is all about.
I wish everyone a great and rewarding season. Thanks again for your
support of www.ontri.com and
please do keep the suggestions and feedback coming. We are
listening!
Happy training!
Jon Finegold
Founder, ontri.com
jon@ontri.com
ontri.com - triathlon training for the rest of
us
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