Hello Gators,The tri season is winding down, but our club is staying plenty busy...This week's topics include...Accomplishments... Another IRONMAN, some personal bests, "winner, winner, chicKEN dinner", even more podiums, and lots more to report!Who's Next?... The Poconos, the Delaware beach, Marshman, and another athlete racing in North Carolina!About A Gator... This week's edition is about our club President!Weekend Training Opportunity... Times getting short for Open Water Swims!... See the note below about weather-related backup plans.TRIvia: Find out who had the right answer last week and a new question for this week!Recommended Podcasts: Training for your first 70.3 and bike gear overview.Happy Birthday! Best wishes for a very happy birthday to club member Eric Afre who celebrates this Saturday, September 13! Accomplishments: A great mix of accomplishments this past weekend as we had athletes participating in nine different races!IRONMAN Wisconsin 140.6 (Madison, WI):Steve Gilman is the newest Gator IRONMAN having set PRs in both the swim and on the bike. Way to go Steve!!! Ruth posted a great video of Steve as he approaches the finish line and greets his family and then you can hear Mike Reilly shouting the words many of us hope to someday hear... "Steve, You are an IRONMAN!"Ruth Subach continued to pursue her quest to become an IRONMAN. Although Ruth did not make it to the finish line, she did overcome a huge hurdle by finishing the swim with a lot of time to spare. Congrats for a bit step forward, Ruth, and we look forward to that day when you will become an IRONMAN!!Diamondman Challenge (Bear, DE):JD Landis: Completed his 1st half IRONMAN distance race and was top 25% overall in the swim, top 30% on the bike, and top 50% in T1... Congrats, JD!Ken Beauchamp: Competed in the sprint duathlon (2 mile run, 19.5 mile bike, 3.3 mile run) and achieved the 1st ever Gator overall race victory!... PODIUM! Ken's accomplishments: #1 overall (out of 56), fastest bike (duathlon and triathlon), top duathlon T1 and T2, #2 run for both run #1 and run #2... Great job, Ken!Kelly Beachamp: Kelly also reached the top podium with a #5 female finish in the sprint triathlon!... PODIUM! Kelly's accomplishments: #2 female bike, top 33% overall finish, top 15% in T1 and T2, top 30% overall bike, and top 50% overall run... Nice job, Kelly!Shoreman Half Distance Triathlon and Duathlon (Port Republic, NJ):Michelle Leonard: Michelle completed her first ever half IRONMAN distance duathlon (3.1 mile run, 57 mile bike, 13.1 mile run). Michelle was the #2 overall female... PODIUM!... and finished in the top 33% overall, top 30% overall on run #2, and top 40% on T2... Great accomplishment, Michelle! Byron Solvason: Completed the half IRONMAN distance triathlon on a very hot and steamy day. Byron's accomplishments included top 40% overall, top 30% overall bike, and top 50% run. Byron ran the half marathon and finished alongside Michelle... Good practice for their side-by-side walk down the aisle on September 20! Great job, Byron! Byron and Michelle dedicated the race to their friend, Jessica Offord, who tragically passed away earlier in the week.Quakerman Olympic-plus Triathlon (Quakertown, PA):Don Mack: Finished #5 overall (out of 87) and had the following accomplishments... 1st in age group... PODIUM!... #2 overall run, #3 overall T2, #8 overall bike, top 15% overall T1, and top 30% overall swim.Chris Phillips: Finished 3rd in age group... PODIUM!... and had the following accomplishments... Top 40% overall, top 20% T1, top 33% overall bike, and top 50% T2... Congrats, Chris!Lake Davidson Sprint Triathlon (Davidson, NC): Doug Schmidt completed his 2nd ever triathlon and, despite very warm water (89 degF) achieved a personal best by 6% on his swim and an even better personal best by 17% on the bike... Way to go, Doug!The Run for Green Valleys 10K (Pottstown, PA): Tiff Pfluger was the #1 overall female and #5 overall race finisher... PODIUM! Fantastic finish, Tiff! Who's Next?: We have participants in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Wisconsin this weekend (let us know if you are racing and not listed below). Best wishes for fun, safe, and successful races to all!...Saturday, September 13:Dewey Beach Sprint Triathlon (Dewey Beach, DE): JD Landis says "I don't need no stinkin' recovery" and returns to race just a week after his 70.3 race finish.Sunday, September 14:Rev3 Pocono Triathlon (Pocono Mountains, PA):Tim Pfluger steps it up with his debut 70.3 / half Ironman distance race.Andy Rosebrook, our local Rev3 veteran, participates in the Olympic distance race.Outer Banks Triathlon: Bob Lanyon makes it two weeks in a row for Gators racing in North Carolina in this sprint distance event (and next month he'll break new ground for the Gators with a race in China).Marshman (Downingtown, PA): Ken and Kelly Beauchamp look to carry last weekend's success over for another week in this sprint distance event. Other Gator participants include Don Schlichtmann, his son Jake Schlichtmann, and Ken's and Kelly's son, Nick Beauchamp.About A Gator: Our club President, Jon Wesler, has been one of our busiest race participants this season and he's also busy doing a lot more than racing.Weekend Training Opportunity: Tomorrow's Blue Marsh swim/bike/run is still tentatively on starting with the OWS at 8:30am, but the weather is questionable, so stay tuned for an e-mail update if anything changes... Note that an e-mail will be sent by no later than 7am on Saturday if anything changes. The backup plan will be a bike ride at SRT or, if the weather is really bad, a bike trainer (Y pool deck)/run brick at the Y. TRIvia: We had a pretty good response to our first TRIvia contest, so this week we're upping the challenge a bit by requiring a total of three answers. Send your replies directly to me (only) and all correct replies received in the first 24 hours after this e-mail is sent will be recognized in next week's e-mail. Records will be kept of total correct replies and a TBD prize will be awarded at the End of the Year Extravaganza. Here's the first question...How many Spring Valley YMCA indoor lap pool lengths is it necessary to swim in order to cover the official Olympic distance swim leg (answer must be within two of the correct total)?Who are the current male and female IRONMAN 70.3 World Champions?Last week's winners, who correctly identified that the significance of the number 226.3 is that it is the IRONMAN total race distance in kilometers, included (each receives 1 TRIvia point towards our first TRIvia championship)...Bob LanyonByron SolvasonEllen FriendGregg HeimerMelissa MoffaTim PflugerRecommended Podcasts:Prep for a Half IRONMAN Distance Race (Triathlon Training TT038): Interestingly, this is an athlete getting ready for his first half IRONMAN distance race earlier this year and it happens to be the Shoreman race that Byron just completed. The podcast is basically the athlete asking the coach a bunch of questions pertaining to race training and execution... Pacing, nutrition, etc... All of the same stuff we think about, and particularly agonize over the first time doing a new distance... http://triathletetraining.com/tt038-ironman-70-3-triathlon-prep/Gearing Up (Triathlon Research Radio Episode 19): This is an interview with TriSports founder, Seton Claggett, who gives his take on the best equipment investments to improve your bike, run, and swim... http://triathlonresearch.org/podcasts/ Hold the Dates: There are several significant tri club-related events coming up over the next couple of months, so here's an early head's up so that you can mark your calendars...Monday, September 29: Start of the "Gator Challenge", which will run through December 31... More details coming soon!Sunday, October 12, 9am: Spring Valley YMCA "Fall 5" 5K Run/Walk and Kids' Fun Run (Spring-Ford High School cross country course). Registration fees increas in mid-September. Race link... http://runccrs.com/results/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Spring-Valley-YMCA-5k-Flyer.pdfTuesday, October 14, 7pm-8:30pm: Spring Valley Multisport Gators Members Meeting. Opportunity to get caught up on all of the exciting stuff that we have in the works for the club. Will include an overview of how to create a training plan.Saturday, November 15: SVMG End of Year Extravaganza at the Trappe Tavern. More details coming soon!Have a great weekend! Go Gators!Don M