​RTB's Member Directory is posted at long last and all current members are in it RIGHT NOW. To our knowledge, this is a unique element to RTB and took many months to get it rolling.  The directory will allow you to:
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• Tell other teammates about yourself - post photos, network your business or special skills, tell us about your hobbies, tri-habits... anything you like. (Or don't....your choice)
• Learn about your fellow teammates:  The cities they live in,  The events they participate in, Their training activities, habits, and speeds
• Contact each other through a private messaging system (no emails or phone numbers are shared on the directory - you can do that if you choose)

The opportunity to connect and learn more about each is right there! The more info, the more easily we can find team members close by, others who share our similar training speeds and habits, or are headed to the same events we're going to.

Take the Next Step: Beef up your listing

1.  Click Here to find your profile

2. Log in with your email and password (or choose password request for an immediate temporary password to be sent to your Inbox)

3. Go through the info on the "About" tab. Consider adding a description about yourself, add a one-sentence tagline.  Need ideas?  Check some out on the existing directory here.    Scroll to the bottom and click "Save and Continue"

4. Continue through the other tabs: "Profile",  "Business", "Events", & "Training".  Share as much or as little as you'd like.  You can make changes at any time

Any members that make additions to their directory listing through this coming Thursday will be entered into a drawing for a $50 NWTB credit. (We know you'll like that because every person who answered the member survey seem to be in love with them)

Questions or hiccups?  Email Patty!  

This probably isn’t your normal race report and more info than needed but here’s my story. A little about me – I’m a late 40’s (okay, almost 50!) very busy contractor with a wonderful supportive wife and two nearly grown children. My wife inspired me to start running in 2009 when I did my first half marathon which was also the inaugural Seattle Rock N Roll. Prior to that event and training, I wouldn’t have gone for a run unless a bear was chasing me! After several years of toting the kids to view points along race routes to support my wife I was inspired to take a shot at it. The Rock N Roll was a bucket list item but the accomplishment and thrill of crossing the finish line that first time had me hooked! After sustaining a knee injury at work in early 2014 I had to stop running. Being an active person I
couldn’t sit around so I dusted off my 20 year old mountain bike and started riding again. About that time a good friend invited me to do some pool swims. After a month I realized I could probably do a sprint triathlon. In June of 2014 I completed my first sprint which consisted of a ¼ mile doggy paddle, 15 wobbly miles on a crappy old mountain bike and a reasonable run. I was one of the last to cross the finish line but once again, I was hooked! 2018 brought my first Half Ironman with about 1 per year to
follow.

Never would I have thought I would enjoy this sport as much as I have. I’ve made some wonderful friends along the way that have helped get me here but most of all my appreciation to Regan and her continued support of me abusing my body in this way! The comradery and support amongst the triathlon community has truly made my heart happy.

ESCAPE TRAINING – I had never heard of Escape From Alcatraz before, it came across my Facebook feed last summer and thought it looked like a fun challenge. Without telling anyone I filled out the entry form and a few days later I received an email saying I was qualified to enter the lottery. On October 27th I got a confirmation email stating my name was picked and I was in! My first thought as I quickly realized that I was just accepted into a race that I had no business being a part of was - “crap, I better take this one seriously!!”

As someone who works in construction 65 to 70 hours a week and starts around 5am, the thought of training every night was….well, it wasn’t going to happen! My basic training plan consisted of “do what I can when I can”. It was not a great plan but it was enough to get me through. I’m FAR from being an elite athlete and I knew I wasn’t going to have a podium finish but I was okay with that. All I wanted was to cross the finish line under my own power and in one piece! I read and watched so many videos on this event that it scared me almost enough to withdraw from the
race. They really want to make sure you’re fit, not just physically but mentally too. Even though this is what I would call a very technical Olympic distance tri with double the swim, the psychological side of this event (for me) had my anxiety at an all-time high. With the help and support from some amazing friends I got in as much training is as I could with very limited time.

MY TRIP – Not being a fan of flying and with the hassle of getting so much equipment to San Francisco I decided to take a solo road trip. The drive and being by myself in a new city was going to be a bit lonely but at the same time  gave me time to reflect on my life and focus on the task coming up. By suggestion of Patty Swedberg, I signed up for a swim clinic hosted by a local swim group in San Francisco. It was a very helpful 2 hour session that gave us a complete tutorial on the event and a chance to experience swimming in the cold water with strong currents in the bay before the event.

RACE DAY - We all visualize California as sunny and warm but of course this day, race day, the one day we all wanted dry, was the first day of rain in a month with none in the forecast after. San Francisco set a record for rainfall on that day and I wasn’t sure I even left Seattle! One big thing I’ve learned from doing triathlons and being a small business owner is to not stress over what I can not control. This was very tough!

We took a shuttle from transition at Marinna Green Park to pier 33 where the San Francisco Bell took us to Alcatraz. I sat next to a guy from Houston on the bus who was also there alone, just as anxious as I was and coincidentally in the same hotel just across the hall! We hit it off, even met up for a couple meals after the race and took a bike ride across the Golden Gate Bridge, just because we could!

THE SWIM - Without a doubt this was the most challenging swim I have ever done. I knew it would be which had my anxiety through the roof for weeks leading up to the race! This consisted of a 1.5 mile swim across San Francisco Bay fighting 1,999 other swimmers, choppy waves, a strong current pulling us out to sea and even a sea lion! Unfortunately fog set in as we were shuttling to The Rock and for safety reasons they had to slightly modify the course but still got the mile and a half-ish distance in. The 6 foot jump off the main deck of the San Francisco Bell into the 55* water was exciting, terrifying, exhilarating but most of all…..really cold! Diane Haensel gave me the best cold water tip – “the first 10 minutes are going to suck but if you can get through that you’ll be just fine”. She was right.

About midway across the bay (after swallowing half of it!) I stopped for a quick rest and for just a brief moment the fog lifted. As I sat there in choppy waters in absolute awe of my surroundings - Alcatraz behind me, city of San Francisco in front, the Oakland Bay Bridge to the left and the Golden Gate Bridge to the right, a question really set in. “Who’s stupid idea was this?!!” Well, it was mine! I also realized how incredibly grateful and lucky I was to have the ability to take part in an epic event of this magnitude. With the 6 knot speed of the current, I swam what equated to 1.6 miles in 36 minutes! I suppose using the current is cheating but I’ll take a record speed swim however I can get it!

TRANSITION 1 – After exiting the water at the St. Francis Yacht Club we had a ½ mile run to transition back at Marina Green Park. There were wetsuit strippers and a mini transition there that you could towel off and put on a spare pair of shoes for the run over. I opted to run in my swim booties and keep my wetsuit on to stay warm and it worked out great. I’m grateful for the volunteers handing out bottles of water to rinse the nasty saltwater taste out of my mouth!!

The exciting season of Open Water Swimming is (almost) here! A few brave souls have put a toe or more in the water already.  Here are a few thoughts about getting yourself ready - written especially with the new OW swimmers in mind.  We're excited to see you out there! 
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First - a word about the current water temps. Usually by early May,  many triathletes would have done a couple of OW swims by now,  but 2022 is a different story.  As of today (May 10, 2022) the water is much colder than usual.    Look at the temperature of Lake Meridian in Kent, WA the last few years according to Lake Monster:

5/10/2019 - 62.7°
5/10/2020 - 67.5°
5/10/2021 - 67.0°
5/10/2022 - 56.7°!!

That's a big drop from normal and not a surprise given April's crummy weather.  Is 56° swimmable?  Sure.  Is 65+° better? Absolutely.  65° allows your body's energy to focus on effort instead of staying warm.  When your body gets cold, it sends the blood to the interior to keep our vital organs warm. (They're not called 'vital' for nothing)  Our brains don't consider arms and legs to be a priority when our body temperature drops, and the time you spend training in the very cold water won't yield the same training benefit you get in warmer water.  So if you can stand it, wait until we have a good warm stretch of warm, dry weather and keep training in the pool.

• Plan a weekly open water swim - but stay in the pool for an interval workout or two during the spring and summer. The best training for race season includes those longer steady distance swims in the OW combined with hard intervals to keep your strength and speed.  RTB's Open Water Wednesdays are workouts that do both that you might think about including in your training.  
• If you're a little anxious about hitting the open water, we suggest you wait for some warmer temps! We've never seen cold water calm nerves.  ;)
• Please....don't make your first OW swim on a race day!

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There are many more great tips in this article Blueseventy posted on Open Water Swimming a few years ago and the info still applies. If you are gearing and psyching up for some early open water swims, read it!  They suggest some super helpful open water accessories (thermal caps, gloves, booties) that are in full supply at Northwest Tri & Bike. Head over and stock up and we'll see you on shore soon. ​

Submitted by Patty Swedberg.  [email protected].  Please submit your own tips and suggestions in the Comments!

As you all know, the first Ironman World Championships in the continental US happened last weekend and 5 RTBers helped make history.  Great work Casey Arbenz, Diane Haensel, Adam Heiner, Brent Mecham, and Doug Simms.

Here are their race takeaways.   

​"​Every full Ironman that I’ve raced has had its own specific challenges.  St. George was no different.  Heat, wind, elevation, cold water, dry air, and hills, hills, hills.  My biggest takeaway from this and my other experiences is that it is okay to stress over the details and to over plan for a race.  Every bit of information you can get about a course is helpful.  Any way that you can train to the expected race conditions is wise.  Fussing over every piece of gear is okay.  You can control your training and preparation and put yourself in a better place to succeed.  With that being said, once you get to race day things move outside of your sphere of control.  Don’t stress if it doesn’t go exactly as planned.  Let the race come to you and use your experience to adjust along the way.  When you inevitably encounter adversity, remember that you’re supposed to encounter adversity.  It’s supposed to be hard, and you’re supposed to feel some pain.  If you’re not, you’re not doing it right or living up to your potential.  As they say, “pain is temporary, pride is forever”.

Diane had one of our favorite pre-race Facebook posts. She agrees this sums up her thoughts on race morning.

"​I do not take it for granted what my body allows me to do. I’m grateful for my health.  Today will be a challenging day. More challenging as I have probably ever experienced before. This is why I am here. I am chasing the deep satisfaction of testing what I can do. It’s go time!

My big takeaways are 'Don't try new things' and 'If you don't feel right and safe to continue, follow your instincts.'
 
I had been fighting a sore back working from home and at my sister's house at the dinner table, hadn't been sleeping well, and was looking for relief.

I took a muscle relaxer the day before not knowing that it takes 2-4 days to exit my system. I experienced some of the side effects of high HR and extreme drowsiness and was unable to keep my eyes open while riding the bike. I was essentially riding impaired and didn't know it. Things could have turned out much worse with some type of cardiac event or crashing. What I thought was a safe medicine to take ended up causing a lot of issues. I'm safe now but man it hurt to have trained and sacrificed so much time to give up so easily because I tried something new.  

It was the right choice to stop the race but the wrong choice to take the medicine. I've come to terms with it and there will be more races and more goals. I'm looking forward to Salem 70.3 with a goal to get a spot at Worlds 70.3. I need some redemption. 🤪

I think life has a funny way of teaching these lessons. All things considered it was a drag how it turned out but I'm safe and healthy and I got to spend time with a lot of my triathlete friends and my family. Seeing so many people overcoming their own challenges that day was inspiring and kept me realizing that there will be more time to tackle these challenges. The community was amazing. They really cared and several of them helped me out by calling the paramedics and staying by me to make sure I was okay. They even prayed for me. It was truly inspiring the way they served the athletes.

Lastly, I want to give a shout out to RTB swim coach, Erin Eronemo. for helping me with my swim stroke and providing great workouts. I was able to take 3 min off my PR for the swim on a full Ironman. 

​The race was tough in a totally unexpected way. Sure the course was hard, at elevation, cold water, wind, sand, heat, lots of climbs late in the bike and a hilly run to top it all off. I arrived a week ahead to get adjusted and ready and felt really great. I thought for sure I could give the course a good shot for my 6th IM.

But the real challenge for me was waking up Friday morning with a totally unexpected stomach bug. It relieved me of all contents and nutrients and left me in bed Friday with only a quick exit to check in my bike and gear bags. Attempts to hold down some dinner failed in the middle of the night and I was ready to withdraw. It was my teenage daughter sitting next to me during one of the episodes who quietly suggested that I was here, I might as well try and see how far I could make it. She also reminded me of our family motto "We Do Hard Things" and I knew there would be no easy way out.

So I fidgeted through the rest of the short night and got up and headed into the race. Still feeling uneasy I slowly began taking in liquids, hoping they would stay down, and getting myself ready to go. Talking to my wife right before the race kicked off she reminded me that this was a choice and that there was no shame in opting out, I promised not to get hurt and headed to the swim start. I decided that I would keep going until I thought there was a risk of serious injury or until I missed a cutoff. And with that I was off.

The swim was relatively normal, but I knew it was going to be a long day when I tried to use my legs after the swim. There simply wasn't anything in the tank. So I set off trying to consume some food and liquid. I determined pretty quickly that instead of the usual "how hard can I go and still have something left to get to the finish line" I was thinking "how little can I do to make the cutoff and ultimately finish." For the first time in my IM experience I started trying to remember the cutoff times and doing math.

The bike was hard, as promised, with heat, wind and late climbs at elevation. And made worse with more emptying of my stomach and the recognition that attempts to hold down anything solid wasn't going to work. I even got hot with a getaway aid station tent as it was tossed unexpectedly by the gusts of wind. Could the day get any harder?

After the longest bike ride of my life, I was so excited to get upright and on my feet. I quickly learned that the gels I had used to supplement the water and Gatorade I relied on to get me through the bike were sitting angrily in my gut. So I decided it was time to walk it off and go natural and hope I could get things settled down with a few miles of walking it off and taking in only water and fruit at the aid stations. And it started to work so I started to jog and move my feet fast enough to get me to the finish line before the lights were shut off. It was a record long marathon for me but I made the cutoffs and my stomach pain stayed at bay and I continued to progress in the lowest gear imaginable. Finally I found the finish line and I was so glad to stop.

Sleep was easy Saturday night and when I awoke Sunday I felt wonderful. Go figure!

This IM helped me learn that the limits of our minds and bodies are far beyond what I've previously believed, that faith goes a long way, that good vibes, encouragement, and support of others actually does lift me up, and that given the will, We, can indeed, Do Hard Things!