Hello Gators, Three exciting club special events taking place over the next 10 days… Bike skills clinic, Triathlon Transitions clinic, and our first 2015 Open Water Swim workout! Two Sundays until our next club race and first club triathlon of the year… Devilman! One hundred and one days until Ironman Lake Placid… Lots of Gators preparing for this and other long distance events such as Eagleman, Ironman Syracuse, Challenge Atlantic City, Challenge Pocono Mountains, Ironman Boulder, Challenge Quassy, and Ironman Maryland. Also, one day until our uniforms arrive! Go!... This week's news topics include...Who’s Next?… Beastly and Boston!!Sponsors… And now for a word about our great club sponsors!!About a Gator... Steph ‘en up to some new challenges!!Kids Giving It a Tri?... Are your kids racing this season?Recommended… Lots of podcasts to help fill your long training hours!!Mark Your Calendars… Bike skills clinic, Transitions seminar, and Open Water Swimming, oh my!! Happy Birthday!: Best wishes to the many Gators celebrating birthdays this week! Congrats to all, hopefully some of you are moving up to a new age group!Tuesday, 4/14: Erin GallagherThursday, 4/16 (TODAY): Maureen PinkertonFriday, 4/17: Mike AliprantisSunday, 4/19: Brian Kozera Who’s Next?: This weekend we have Gators participating in events in New Jersey and Massachusetts. Best wishes for a safe and successful event!Saturday, 4/18: Spartan Tri-State New Jersey Beast (Vernon, NJ): Jay Sherman kicks off his extensive Spartan race season with this grueling 12+ mile, 4,500 foot elevation, 5+ hour event taking place at the Mountain Creek Resort. Rumor has it that the course is still mostly covered by snow.Monday, 4/20: Boston Marathon: Don Mack will be participating in his 4th consecutive Boston Marathon. This historic event is traditionally run as part of Massachusetts’ “Patriots’ Day”, which commemorates the anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the first battles of the American Revolutionary War. Sponsors: We have several area businesses that have signed on as sponsors for 2015 (and more coming soon!). We’ll be presenting more on how they can help you in future communications. Attached is our current sponsors information document, which will also be posted to Facebook. About A Gator: Down on the farm and complete a half Ironman… Not your typical set of “About a Gator” goals. Learn about this and more in Steph Babiec’s edition of “About A Gator”! Kids Giving it a Tri?: We have some long range plans to start Junior Gators and Gator Tots programs. While those are still in the planning stages, we’d like to know when your kids are participating in events ranging from 5k’s to triathlons. If you have a child that is participating in an event this year, please let us know so that we can send them off with some good Gator karma and congratulate them on their successes. Also, just a reminder to let us know whenever you add (or subtract) an event to your calendar so that we can cheer you on as well. The current 2015 “Who’s In?” event schedule is attached and also posted on Facebook (under “Files”). Recommended: This week’s recommendations include a running-focused podcast and a swimming-focused podcast. We’ll work on something for biking next week!ZenTri 4 hour podcast (Zen and the Art of Triathlon): I think this is a new record length for a podcast. But since many of us have increasingly long rides and runs as we prepare for the coming season, this is a good one to help get you through it. In this edition, host Brett Blankner includes an interview with Hillary Biscay about equality for women in triathlon as well as an interview with Endurance Planet’s Tawnee Prazak. Plus he has his usual “Training Log” segment where he offers lots of training and racing tips… http://www.zentriathlon.com/Endurance Planet: There are several new podcasts that might be of interest including some coverage of the Endurance Planet’s recent Ragnar California participation and also a new series entitled “ZENdurance” that came about as a result of Brett’s interview with Tawnee in the above podcast; in the series, Tawnee coaches Brett as he attempts to complete a sub-10 hour Ironman triathlon… It includes lots of training and nutrition tips… http://www.enduranceplanet.com/Racing in the Rain (Endurance Nation): Chris Phillips passed this one on. One of the fears that many triathletes have (besides the open water swim) pertains to cycling in rainy conditions. In this podcast, several strategies and tips for handling adverse weather conditions are covered… http://enation.libsyn.com/coach-chat-racing-in-the-rainLegends of Triathlon: Valerie Silk interview (IM Talk): If you are interested in some of the early history/trials and tribulations of Ironman Kona, you will find this to be a fascinating interview. Valerie Silk was the race director in the early days of Kona for about 10 years, mostly during the 80’s… http://www.legendsoftriathlon.com/home/2015/3/30/legends-of-triathlon-38-valerie-silk.html Mark Your Calendars: Upcoming Events:CLINIC: Saturday, 4/18, 7:15am-8:15am: A Bike Skills clinic will be delivered by Brian Kozera and Chris Reiter in a parking lot in Oaks near the SRT (see Facebook event page for details). This clinic is appropriate for riders of all skill levels and will include such topics as stopping quickly, riding at slow speeds, and maneuvering through tight turns. The clinic will precede our Tri Club Saturday morning ride, which will begin at 8:30am that day. Be sure to reply to the Facebook invite so we know who to look for!SEMINAR: Wednesday, April 22, 7:15pm-8:15pm: Triathlon Transitions clinic with two of our top specialists in making amazingly fast transitions from swim to bike and bike to run. Learn some tips from Ken and Kelly Beauchamp (and perhaps share one or two of your own). This will take place at the Y. Please be sure to respond to the soon to be posted Facebook event so that we can get a headcount.OPEN WATER SWIMMING: Saturday, April 25, morning: We are tentatively planning to host the Saturday, April 25th Tri Club workout (which is just a week before Devilman) at Blue Marsh and the plan is to include an Open Water Swim plus biking and running. It will likely take a good chunk of the morning (probably starting around 8:15am). We’ll make a call on this when it gets a bit closer and we have a better idea of the weather situation. Weekly Workouts: Remaining workouts for this week include...Thursday, 4/16 (TONIGHT!), 6pm-7:45pm: Cycling ride led by Danny. Meet at the dog park at 5:45pm for a 6pm sharp departure.Saturday, 4/18, 8:30am-Noon (immediately following the 7:15am-8:15am Bike Skills Clinic): Tri Club with Don M. See Facebook events page for starting point, which will be on the SRT adjacent to the Bike Skills clinic location.8:30am-10:15am: SRT/Valley Forge Bike Ride, part 1. Will include a few miles on the SRT plus a loop through Valley Forge (hilly)10:15am-11:30am: Bike Ride, part 2. Location and details will be discussed on Saturday.After Bike: Brick Run… 30 minutes Go Gators! Don M