Join the Club
After many years of hemming and hawing, I’ve finally joined a tri club.* I officially became a member of the LA Tri Club.
The biggest reason I didn’t join a club in NY was geography. There were clubs on the Upper East Side and Upper West Side that did most of their workouts in Central Park or Ashpalt Green or similar places. The Brooklyn Tri Club worked out in Prospect Park, obviously. I was “stuck” living in the middle of the City and couldn’t bring myself to travel that far (either north or south) to train. The other reason was, similar to why I never joined a Master’s Swim program was that I’m not much of a joiner and do well training on my own. And except for the Brooklyn Tri Club, the clubs in NY always struck me as a little to clique-y. I didn’t (and don’t) want triathlon to become my life and was worried that the clubs are too all-or-nothing and maybe take themselves a bit too seriously. (I know, I’ve never been a member so how can I judge? I shouldn’t judge, but I do!)
Here in LA, though, I’m going to generally travel to train anyway. And the LA Triathlon Club has tons of workouts all across the city every day. And, even though, I’m resistant to the idea of being in a club, I’m going to give it a shot – start slowly and do it my own way. My friend, fellow blogger and pretty bad-ass triathlete, Cat, has been showing me the ropes in LA and has promised to direct me to the better members and training. I’m actually looking at doing two sessions with the Club this week. First, tomorrow evening there’s a Brick (bike-run) workout at Griffith Park that sounds good (it will be my first Brick in many, many, many months, so I’ll have to be careful. Then, on Wednesday morning, there’s an open water swim in Santa Monica that sounds good. It’s a bit early for me these days, but I’m excited to put on my wetsuit and get in the ocean, so hopefully that will get me out of bed!
*For the last few years, I’ve been “affiliated with” the Brooklyn Tri Club – but very loosely. I was a member of their email forum, went to one or two meetings and worked out with some members of the club, but I never officially joined.
Bike – May 13
Distance: 26.8 miles
Time: 1:38
Average heart rate: 132
Course: Griffith Park, LA River Bike Path, climb to Observatory
Conditions: Sunny, 80’s
Run – May 14
Distance: 4.5 miles
Time:
Average heart rate:
Course: West Hollywood
Conditions: Sunny, mid-60’s
Swim – May 15
Distance: 2,296 yards (2,100 meters)
Time: 40 minutes
Bike – May 15
Distance: 22.83 miles
Time: 1:27
Course: To Culver City pool (6.5 miles/30 minutes), Ballona Creek bike path (10 miles/40 minutes), home
Conditions: Sunny, 70’s
Run – May 16
Distance: 4.7 miles
Time: 35 minutes
Average heart rate: 147
Course: West Hollywood
Conditions: Sunny, 70’s
Bike – May 17
Distance: 58.7 miles
Time: 3:07
Average heart rate: 121
Course: Home to Malibu via Venice/Ocean/PCH and back
Conditions: Overcast, high 60’s
Swim – May 18
Distance: 3,062 yards (2,800 meters)
Time: 1:00