Good Evening OxfordTri Family!
Firstly massive thanks to those who have volunteered for the Oxford 1/2 Marathon in a couple of weeks time we are probably still 4 volunteers short of what we would be looking for to run the whole aid station. Do be thinking if you can help support the club and this awesome local event by volunteering. You can sign up by clicking HERE.
There isn’t much new news this week, however a little plea to sign up if you are planning on attending our End of Season + Awards Night in November. It’s set to be a great night and hopefully you will have all received the email with regards to nominations for awards. Here is the link for the nominations which have a deadline of this Thursday so that we can then open up voting.
One final thing, Saturday morning lake swims. As a committee we have agreed that we are happy to continue to facilitate our Saturday morning social swims at the lake as long as the number continue to stay above 15 participants. If it begins to drop below this then we will review as a committee the viability session.
Have a great weekend.
God Bless
Craig
End of Season + Awards Night – 3rd of November 2023
Our End of Season + Awards Night which will be taking place on the 3rd of November. Our theme for the evening with be the Day of the Dead (Which actually takes place on the 2nd) with an amazing three course meal being provided by member and resident chef Robbie who cooked for us last year, it was unreal!!
Tickets for yourselves and any +1s can be purchased at £45 each from our club website by clicking HERE.
The sooner you get these the better as it helps us to plan for catering etc. The firm deadline is the close of play on the 15th of October.
We can’t wait to see as many club family as possible for what is set to be an amazing night to round the season off.
Oxford Tri AGM + Social 2023 – 19th October 2023
This a notice to all that our Annual General Meeting will take place on the 19th of October at Oxrad starting at 7pm. There will be pizza provided for all that attend with also the possibility of a trip to the near by Victoria Arms afterwards.
Our Coached Running session at Horspath Track will be postponed in order to allow as many members to attend.
So we can ensure enough enough pizza for all please do sign up HERE if you are planning on attending. It’s also important to say that this is your club and your opportunity to have a say on what the future looks like so please do consider making it a priority if possible, we would love to see as many of our Oxford Tri family there as possible.
We are just finalising the descriptions of the committee roles but please do consider if you could spare a few hours a month to help support the club by serving on committee. This look different depending on the roles which we will share next week.
Oxford Tri goes Cross Country
As some of you may have seen and heard we are fast approaching Cross Country season. As always as a club we will be competing in the Oxfordshire Cross Country League which runs on the first Sunday of every month November through March. It is often the highlight of the year for many club members both on a competitive level and also a social one.
Each race day we will often travel as a team so don’t worry if you don’t have a car etc lifts will be available to the race venue, where we will then run around in the mud for about 7km before finishing with homemade cake or on the odd occasion a pub lunch. The first race of the year is on the 5th of November.
In order to join in with the muddy fun you need to sign up firstly for an English Athletics Membership which is £17 if you don’t already have one. Then your entry for the league which is £20 for the five races which is fantastic value for money. Please see below the two links for signing up and if you do have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out to Kelly who is our amazing Cross-Country Coordinator via EA@oxfordtri.co.uk
English Athletics Membership – HERE
Cross Country League Entry – HERE
Friday Night Stages Spin Session – Iffley Sports Centre 7-8pm
We are delighted to share that next week we will be starting the first of two weekly spin classes available to members over the winter months. We are thrilled to be back in the Iffley Sports Centre Stages Studio. For anyone who hasn’t heard of stages it’s a spin class set up which allows you to see your effort percentages and a whole host of things on a big screen in front of you whilst you ride. As always please do make the most of this opportunity you can sign up for next weeks session HERE
Dorney Olympic Triathlon Race Report – Matt
louds were gathering ominously as I rolled up at Dorney Lake for the Season Finale Triathlon. A storm was on the way and after inspecting the radar, I’d calculated that I could just about get away with not having my transition items sheltered. Luckily, I was in Wave 4 of 16. This was the first event I’ve done (triathlon, or otherwise) in which waves were arranged by category, rather than expected finish time, so all the Males Under 33 doing the Olympic distance gathered together, Greek gods lined up alongside dad bods.
The swim was a delight. Water temperature 20.1 °C so wetsuits weren’t banned, as I feared they might be, and a low-stress time trial format with one person starting every 10 seconds meant it never really felt congested. I found good rhythm and plodded away. 30:24.
As for the cycle, there’s only so much you can say about a bike course that’s 5.3 km long. But what it lacked in variety it made up for in speed – in fact it was the fastest cycle of my life at 29.4 km/h, but it’s all relative. Many places were dropped here to much better cyclists with much better machines. What’s more, I did stop once for a wee, then again to beg my parents for the chocolate Hobnobs in their rucksack; two of my gels had fallen out onto the course, much to my frustration. In any case, they refused to hand the biscuits over – apparently it’s against the rules to accept external help. I didn’t exactly have time to remonstrate with them, so I cycled off, but I’ll remember that when I’m Christmas shopping later this year. 1:26:26.
The run’s course was equally uninspiring – out and back along the lake’s edge four times. It was difficult to know how to pace it at first when I still had the stiff-legged feeling post cycle. But from the 4th kilometre onwards I felt in control of things and recorded progressively negative splits through to the finish, where the rain arrived just as I collected my medal. 54:58 (Total: 2:57:36).
I’m not sure how fervently I would recommend this event to others. It’s good if, like me, you need the race experience. But it’s very samey, a little under-marshalled and generally quite no frills. Not one for the bucket list.
But all in all, I was pleased with how things went, especially recording sub-3 hours, which I was secretly hoping for. Onwards and upwards.
Training Calendar
See the official calendar for full info and sign up links.
Saturday 30th September: Social Swim – Queenford Lake @ 08:00
Monday 2nd October: Coached Swim – Leys Pool @ 20:00
Tuesday 3rd October: Member Lead Social Run – Headington Hill @ 19:00
Tuesday 3rd October: Coached Swim – Thame Pool @ 20:00
Wednesday 4th October: Coached Swim – Radley Pool @ 19:30
Thursday 5th October: Coached Run Session – Horspath Athletic Track @ 19:00
Friday 6th October: Strength and Conditioning Online @ 07:15
Friday 6th October: Coached Swim – Kidlington Pool @ 19:00
Friday 6th October: Coached Spin – Iffley Sports Centre @ 19:00