Fasten your Fuelbelts

"There's something about the sport of triathlon that pulls you in and hangs on pretty tight.  It's more than swimming, biking, and running. It's the unseen values the sport gives that are so powerful.  Values like Strength, Self-Respect, Determination, Challenge, Camaraderie, Hope, Courage, & Growth.  Raise the Bar is about uncovering those values in the world of triathlon. We work with novice and elite athletes, men and women.  Our standard is pretty simple. We want everything we do to be about excellence - because the people knocking on our door seem to be about that too. We figure if we're all headed that direction, somebody's likely to get there!"   RTB 2006

That text came from a circular we put together a decade ago - coincidentally the year we invited men to join the team. Not such a bad idea!  I'm very aware of how much Raise the Bar  has changed over the last 10+ years.    When I read the old circular, I was more than a little delighted about how much has also stayed the same.

Today we discovered that RTB was voted Best Triathlon Team in the Pacific Northwest and the Lake Meridian Tri was voted the Best Triathlon in 2015. If you voted - THANKS!  Announcements like that typically don't inspire much rest around here.  And, by the way, you triathletes reading this are no different. When you accomplish some amazing feat during your training and racing it only makes you want to get stronger and faster, doesn't it?  "If I can do THAT, what next?"  It's just the nature of our sport and the people in it, I guess.

Lake Meridian Tri - Best Triathlon
Raise the Bar - Best Triathlon Team

So what's next at RTB?  Well, we need to respond to the rumblings and grumblings  ;)  of the triathletes who are living in the southern reaches.  Places like Algona..Edgewood...Puyallup...Tacoma.  Take a look at this map that shows where our team members live. You are everywhere - but most noticeably there's a growing number of you in the south end.  It turns out a few of our major sponsors have also opened up shop down there - or are in the process.  Kriss Chiropractic, Center for Diagnostic Imaging, Outpatient Physical Therapy...   The home office of Hester Law Group is already down there.   It's a whole new region for Raise the Bar!

We've started a Facebook group for active RTB members that you'll soon be invited to participate in.  We're hopeful this will be a good start to help all of you (not just the southenders) find team members and existing workouts that will work for you.  We're hearing about spin classes, swim workouts, group runs, etc, that team members have going right now that you might want to join. And when the warmer months come, there will be even more.

An RTB membership is worth more now than ever. NWTB and other sponsors have made our triathlon shopping more fun and affordable, many local race entries (not just RTB events) are discounted, and training is less expensive when you're a member. Not only that, but racing in a RTB kit continues to reward the wearer with many friends and fans on race day. 

Fasten your Fuelbelts for a fun 2016. 
It's here!
Patty Swedberg  
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