The Magic Mountain Man (M3) in Castaic, California is a great 70.3 distance race and the only half-Iron distance race in Los Angeles county.

Put on by our pals at Renegade Racing, this race starts at beautiful Castaic Lake and the bike and run portions include some amazing views.

I did this race in its inaugural year and can recommend it highly. It’s a very tough race — not one for the faint of heart — but one you’ll have a great sense of accomplishment having completed.

You can get a free entry to Turkey Tri when you register for the Magic Mountain Man Triathlon. It is limited to first 100 to registerers.

Once this deal expires you can use the discount code “tc2011” for 10% off registration for any of the M3 events on October 8 & 9th. This can be use online at active.com or by mail or fax, just deduct the 10% from payment. Please note that they do not accept any discounts on race weekend registration.

Jarrett Pfleiger

Thinking about doing a triathlon? Already done one, but want to know what you need to do to get better? Triathica is in the process of creating a triathlon camp for beginners that will help you reach your goals and give you the knowledge you need to not only finish, but also be competitive and have fun doing it.

A Triathlon is one of the best ways to get and stay in shape. Once you sign up for a race, it is a constant motivator to keep you training hard. Your results don’t lie; it is the perfect accountability partner.

The camp will more than likely be held on a weekend and will cover topics such as swimming, cycling, running, transitions, race strategy, nutrition, safety, equipment, training, and much more. Stay tuned for more information about our beginner triathlete camp.

Ron Saetermoe

Sadly, we didn’t make our new member objective so Jarrett could go to Kona, but we did enroll a bunch of new members, and for that we are extremely grateful.

To our new members, here’s what I think you’ll find. All of the staff members here at Triathica are very friendly and eager to help you. We understand that you have your own unique objectives and we’ll do everything in our power to help you reach them.

Some of the equipment can be a bit intimidating so don’t hesitate to ask questions. It takes several attempts with the CompuTrainer to get it right and be sure to use the USB stick on some of your CycleOps sessions so you can file these as marker sets (see the last newsletter).

You’ll find the Endless Pool easy to use but a bit hard to get used to. You must stay right in the middle of the stream or it will push you sideways. Once you get used to it I think you’ll find it really makes for a great workout. No flip turns needed.

And probably the biggest thing you’ll notice is the help you’ll get from Jarrett and myself when you’re here. We discussed many times before opening, how we really want people to use the facility. The large gyms DEPEND on passive members to break-even. For example, the average 24 Hour Fitness has 8,000 members. Can you imagine if all 8,000 showed up at one time? Our numbers are much lower, but we want athletes that come here often.

You’ll also find Jarrett and myself eager to help you. We love discussing your upcoming races and strategy. While we do offer personal training for a fee our guidance and advice is free so we invite you to ask us what’s on your mind.

Thank you very much for your membership! We hope to see you here often!

Cheers!

There were tons of races weekend before last and we would like to congratulate all our athletes and friends who competed. Here are some members and friends of Triathica who competed last weekend along with their race times, placement in age group, and percentile in age group.

For many of these folks, this was their first triathlon. Just finishing is a great accomplishment, regardless of finish times. Great job everyone!

Ironman Wisconsin

50 – 54 Male: Larry Davidson 7/170 (4%); 11:06:46

Lake Las Vegas Sprint Triathlon

25 – 29 Female: Keisha Dejong 1/19 (5%); 1:37:42

35 – 39 Female: Cynthia Hill 2/16 (12%); 1:38:26

Lake Las Vegas Olympic Triathlon

30 – 34 Male: Jordan Dejong 1/7 (14%); 2:38:32

Malibu Triathlon Olympic

40 – 44 Male: Mark Chavira 46/105 (44%) 2:44:25

Malibu Triathlon Classic

45 – 49 Female: Nancy Higbee 70/76 (92%) 3:01:24

World Sprint Championships

16 – 19 Male: Kevin Cowell 45/55 (82%), 1:08:16

25 – 29 Male: Greg Moe 8/51 (16%), 1:04:31

35 – 39 Male: Stu Lowndes 39/59 (66%), 1:08:47

40 – 44 Male: Mike Collins 4/56 (7%), 1:03:47

45 – 49 Male: Sam Sunshine 58/72 (81%), 1:14:14

50 – 54 Male: Brian Smallwood 18/53 (34%), 1:10:38

50 – 54 Male: Russ Jones 19/53 (36%), 1:10:44

55 – 59 Male: Kim McDonald 1/42 (2%); 1:06:00

55 – 59 Male: Bob Kinney 6/42 (14%); 1:12:20

60 – 64 Male: Peter Hoyt 5/26 (19%); 1:13:45

65 – 69 Male: Richard Lewis 2/15 (13%); 1:21:20

25 – 29 Female: Sara Davis 10/40 (25%); 1:11:55

40 – 44 Female: Julia Juliusson 3/35 (9%); 1:11:38

55 – 59 Female: Sheila Nicholas 11/21 (52%); 1:30:43

Jarrett Pflieger

Doing the OC Tri race for the first time? Did it last year, but forgot what the course was like? No problem.

Triathica is having a course talk on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. We will be doing an overview of the course and discussing what you can do to give yourself the best chance at performing at your best. You need to know where the hills and downhills are, which hills to hammer, which turns to watch out for, where to watch your speed, and how to pace in each part of the race.

The first 10 to RSVP to the course talk will get goodie bags from Hammer nutrition. Spots are filling up, so don’t wait to RSVP. There is no cost for this event.

Date: Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Place: Triathica, 26475 Rancho Parkway South, Lake Forest

For more information please contact Jarrett Pflieger at Jarrett@triathica.com or 949.273.6223.

Ron Saetermoe

We’re glad that the OC International Triathlon is back for a second year now since the race tragically ended in 1993 with Jim MacClaren’s crash that made him a quadriplegic. It truly is one of the great Southern California races.

I first did the race in 1984 as part of a relay team when I was working for Mitsubishi Motors. I’m a pretty good swimmer and the company team needed a swimmer so it all worked out. This was to be my second triathlon, and first as a member of a team. My first was in 1983 in Iowa – who knew!

Anyway, we thought we’d invite anyone out that wanted to sit in on a “course talk” here at Triathica. We’ll go over the course and discuss race strategy. We’ll also hear from Pete and Corrine, the two athletes we’ve had the pleasure to train for the past 10 weeks.

Date: Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Place: Triathica, 26475 Rancho Parkway South, Lake Forest

For more information please contact Jarrett Pflieger at Jarrett@triathica.com or 949.273.6223.