Weekly Update 9 April 2022

Hi Everyone

Lots to talk about in the run up to Easter next weekend.

Before going into the regular updates, I just wanted to confirm that subject to what follows below we are going to be starting Saturday morning open water swims 8-9 am at Queenford Lake, starting 7 May.

In order to make these sessions happen safely we will however need to provide our own safety team each week, and so this is a call out for a volunteer or two to help coordinate the lake safety, please just email me if you’re interested or just want to find out a bit more (no obligation!). Full details will be set out nearer the time, but the headlines are: tow floats compulsory; no need for NOWCA bands or payment, this is fully inclusive as part of your Club membership; it will be subject to risk assessment in terms of the courses available and will start with the shorter ~400m loop. We will require at least one lakeside safety and one on the water in order to deliver these sessions, and it is expected that members volunteer some of their time as part of our community ethos.

This is a very exciting opportunity as the lake has good quality water and facilities for socials, and there’s some very interesting multi-sport options for later on in the season once we’ve got this up and running smoothly. As an additional incentive, we also intend to hold a Tuesday evening session from mid June once it’s warmer. Huge thanks and kudos to Grace for doing the groundwork and negotiations for this brand new session, now it’s up to the membership to step up!

These sessions are obviously going to cost the Club, but for 2022 the Committee have spent quite a bit of time considering our financial position, and the fact that we made an unexpected surplus in 2020 due to Covid. This investment is therefore a big thank you to members for sticking with us through all the dark days, and as a result we will likely reverse out some of that surplus through a series of initiatives like this. Any feedback as ever, just let me know.

Next up congratulations to everyone who raced today at the Newbury Duathlon, lovely to see all smiley faces in the sunshine showing off their Club kit on the Club Facebook page.

In terms of next week’s training we see the return of an old favourite with the restart of Headington Hills Social Run to the club calendar! This friendly, uncoached session is an excellent opportunity to improve run fitness, as well as meet fellow Club members. In winter, the 1mile anti-clockwise loop starts at the bottom of Headington Hill and is mostly on tarmac. When the evenings are lighter, we move across to South Park for a clockwise loop (just over a mile). Meet at the car park at the bottom of Headington Hill (small number of free parking spaces available). Many thanks to Bernard for hosting these social runs, I know he is always delighted to welcome new faces (and old!). ‘Rehydration’ occurs at a local pub immediately afterwards- a very important part of triathlon training! We hope to see you there!

Have a great week!

Nick Wenban-Smith – chair@oxfordtri.co.uk


Training Calendar

See the official calendar for full info and sign up links. Sign up and familiarisation with Covid guidance is now compulsory for all sessions please.

Sunday 10 April: Sunday Club rides Oxsrad @ 09:15

Monday 11 April: Turbo from home @ 18:30

Monday 11 April: Swim lanes Abingdon @ 20:30 NB earlier time slot!

Tuesday 12 April: Static bike Oxsrad @ 18:25

Tuesday 12 April: Headington Hill social hill reps @ 19:00 NEW!

Tuesday 12 April: Yoga for Triathletes Oxsrad @ 19:30

Tuesday 12 April: Swim Lanes Thame pool @ 20:00

Wednesday 13 April: Swim lanes Radley @ 19:30

Thursday 14 April: Track Horspath Athletic Grounds @ 19:00

Friday 15 April: Good Friday no pool session this week tbc

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