Tri This!

this weekend

2011-02-04T13:48:00.000-08:00

this weekend students from 5 different area high schools will compete in the Hensley Offroad Series!! The DREAM is coming true for more high school multisport teams!

A new season

2011-01-28T14:23:00.000-08:00

This year starts the fifth year of training for triathlons with youth. I can't believe it's been so long yet at the same time so short! I can still remember my first practices where running even a mile was torture, where biking up the small hills in Fresno was pain! Now a mile is a warmup (and a short one at that), and biking is one of my greatest joys - be it on the road or mountain!

Last weekend's Hensley Duathlon series was a success, with my students camping and doing very well. We had a record 20 youth camping friday night to help with saturday's race and setting up... despite some transportation problems it all turned out ok. At around 1am on Saturday morning/Friday night, the Madera County Sheriff came and asked who had called 911! It was none of us, but I guess someone had called and said they were at Hensley Lake... after we let them know it wasn't us they let us go on their way and no harm was done except we were a little bit more tired.

Looking forward to two more weekends of it all! Then a break from hosting races and in March/April we start competing!

working

2010-12-07T14:22:00.001-08:00

working and dreaming of plans for 2011...

Where Tri-This! is (probably!) going

2010-11-09T10:41:00.000-08:00

It's been almost half a year since i really wrote anything on here because i've honestly been constantly busy. Getting Married, teaching 4 prep's, coaching water polo, and my own training and that of the kids...

So here's where Tri-This! Inc is strategically headed for the rest of 2010 and 2011/beyond.

1) Growth
A few months ago my new Board Secretary looked at me quite candidly and asked me, "So if your goal was to start a high school triathlon team, you've done that. Now what?".

I guess I looked around and realized that for all intents and purposes, the fact that I take kids to do triathlon/duathlons/running/biking races on a regular basis means that yes, we've accomplished that goal.

The current idea is to have preferably a staff member at each school site that wants a triathlon/mtb team organize practices, etc. BUT, hopefully thanks to funding through after school programs, we hope to expand upon the Einstein Park model and pay former Tri-This! members to do that as well. Sovann Mey, who was an original TT member in 2007, is doing an excellent job at our Einstein Park Community Multi-sport Center. We are in talks or currently training kids at McLane, Hoover, Yosemite, Edison and perhaps Reedley High Schools as well as Kings Canyon Middle School.

Program Details
- I want each kid to have a bike at home; preferably they find a bike at a garage sale and fix it up themselves through the tri-this program. Working on finding money for that part...
- Clear guidelines have been given to the kids especially in regards to grades - if they're improving, keep going! If not, we take it back. Also in regards to races - they need to let me know and give me $5 a week before the race or else I will not let them race. It's about teaching responsibility and being tough because there are plenty of races; one race isn't going to be the difference between them connecting with the group or not.
- Camping and other trips take on a renewed importance as we go from McLane and Mr. Dorman being at every event to more mentors and sites.

Funding
- Events will continue to provide us with more than half of our funding
- This year our projected budget was $15,000. Next year it will be $50,000. Not counting the Kids Triathlon, Tri-This! Inc has brought in more $16,000 this year of non-grant income - all of it has been spent on students and events!
- Next year there will be more paid positions in Tri-This! and an increased push for more volunteers to do the work effectively; including budgeting money for a storage facility and/or office to handle events and have more of a community presence.

The programs may be changing and expanding, but Tri-This! is committed to continuing to make the sport of triathlon/multisport available to all youth in the Central Valley. We are well poised to deal with donations and host events/camps to help expand the multisport community at the grassroots level! 2011 will be the most exciting time of the triathlon adventure yet!

Continued

2010-09-13T21:13:00.000-07:00

Well, a lot has changed since the last post!

We did several triathlons that went really well, but in regards to Einstein Park here's the really exciting parts:

- We will offer once a week classes for kids
- We will offer weekly classes for the kids and their parents too! (free)
- We will teach bike repair classes for kids to train them to fix their peers bikes and operate this bike repair shop out of the center!

so excited to start October 6th I can't hardly wait!

huge news! ($9,999 reasons to love Fresno!)

2010-06-29T23:53:00.000-07:00

In march or so the City of Fresno announced they were going to have to close 11 community centers due to lack of funds. After going to a meeting it seemed like something that would be good for Tri-This. We applied with a fairly detailed proposal and a month later found out we were approved as a secondary provider. This means that we aren't taking over all of the services at the center but hopefully can plug in to whoever takes over all of the programs and help out with our own services.

So we wrote a grant to the Fresno Regional Foundation with some help from quite a variety of people to expand our triathlon program to the center at Einstein Park.

Two weeks ago was the week before my wedding. I found out on Wednesday as I was going to a graduation of a Tri-This! kid (who was on the field with me today to receive the check) that we had gotten the grant in the full amount but I wasn't allowed to tell! That night I got a flat tire after the kids' graduation to bring me back down to earth! :-)

Three days later was my wedding which was amazing, a week later the honeyooon. I almost forgot to sign and return the grant agreement I was so excited with everything going on!

The plan is for us to offer once or twice a week classes teaching kids from the community about bike repair, running form and offer running classes for kids of all ages, easy kid-focused nutrition information, and other stuff along the lines of our free summer bike races. All kids will become USA Triathlon members and we hope of course to be able to track them throughout the next year and get them involved in as many Tri-This! events as possible (camps,races, etc.).

So here's the breakdown of funds so everyone's clear:

1) Salaries: $3600: this pays a little to the program manager (me), and most of it goes to hire two people to teach lessons once a week for 2 hours - former Tri-This! kids who have now graduated are the first picks obviously and interviews will be held by an unbiased panel.

2) office equipment: $1500: Part of being a non-profit is that whenever we get money donated/raised, we want to spend it on program activities! But that's no good if it means photocopies of fliers and such come from my own pocket. With this money we also hope to make some signs/banners for Tri-This! that can also be used at events, etc.

3) Equipment: $2,399: Bike repairs, heart rate monitors, shoes in an emergency, bike lights, etc. We have several bikes that would be great for kids that need money to be fixed up including several nice bike frames and now we have the money to make sure all of our bikes are safe! Tri-This! currently has 8 working road or hybrid bikes that kids have either taken home to use or are at my house. We have 5 mountain bikes. This is a far cry from the 3 bikes we started with in 2007 and thanks only to the community's donations!

4) Summer Bike Races: $500. We think community events like the summer races are an integral part of what Tri-This! SHOULD be doing. Thus we included some money for the bike races to cover overhead like equipment for them, insurance costs, and things like clipboards.

5) Insurance: $2,000. It's only $5 per kid to become a USAT member, so with this much money we budgeted in Directors and Officers Insurance for the year ($650 from USAT) to make sure the Tri-This! board is covered as we increase our risk, as well as $250 general liability insurance for next year. The rest can be applied towards paying for kids USAT memberships when they can't afford it. We will keep all of that information on file to continue to track those kids and help keep them fit. Hope to be able to coordinate with other youth sports organizations as well.

So the core expenses of Tri-This! are NOT covered in this grant... perhaps not the smartest move on our part, but what's done is done. We have not all the way covered our expenses of what we want a full-featured triathlon program in 2010 due to less than expected revenue from events, but 2010 has been an extremely positive year for TT overall. The uniforms, the events, the Kids Tri Camps, etc.

The Board of TT has also changed significantly this year... the people coming in are people who heard about Tri-This! and wanted to help, as opposed to people who knew me and wanted to help *me* which is exciting. And we hit our 50th kid who has participated in a triathlon this year.

About 15 kids are training or significantly involved currently (Jacob, Marcos, Rigo, Benny, Lindsay kind of , Patricia, Nick, Raymond, Sovann, Pinky, Luis, Nancy, Aaron, Robert, Daniel a bit, Luis kind of, Paul W a bit, Albert still reigns as king but is graduated now...). More are being recruited daily and the cool thing lately is having a hard time finding kids because well, it's difficult! so the ones that do come out are generally more committed.

We are bringing a bunch of kids to the July 4th run this Sunday to race or volunteer, and our last big triathlon of the year probably will be the July 10-11 Tri for Fun/Real races in a week and a half.

This is much longer than I intended. Tri-This is training students about fitness and how to be healthy citizens. But in the past 2 weeks, I've also spend an hour or so running with a kid who was thinking about suicide, gotten a phone call from a kid on the team who needs help getting a job because his dad is on disability and his mom just lost her two jobs. A long-time kid called last night needing $20 and "you were the last person I could call Coach." After a long chat Meagan and I gave him the money because it ended up it was for his sister that he had promised (verified with the sister and the mom!) One of the new kids who has a bike to ride now is often the only "adult" home as his single mom goes to work and he is in charge of their five kids - 3 of whom will be involved in either Tri-This! activities or McLane Water Polo next year. Thanks to your donations, these kids are able to get helmets, bikes, shoes, participate in races, camping trips, Grizzlies Games, and invaluable conversation, athletic training, and life mentoring along the way. Special shout-out to people like Jesse Gamino, Rob Roy, Shawna Thiessen, Liz McAfee, JP Sickler, Laura Holden, Steffani Sanchez, Hanna Starkweather, Erin Prieto, Heather McGil, Kris Kubota, Katy Robinson, the Just us Girls group, CVC and Greg McKinney/Matt from Momentum with valuable cycling clothes(!), TNT people, Sierra Challenge Express, Scott Bolin and Lea Nibur, Aaron and Andrea Samansky and Sierra Running Company staffers Kyle/Amandra/Casey, Faron and Heleen Reed, Bill/Eat Driskill, Ben and Rich from Rubber Soul, MIKE from Tri-Sport, John/Vanessa McCracken and Sunnyside Bicycles, John Browning, Rich Kahn, Jeffrey Phillips, Mike Fast, Adrian and Susan Reyes, Gus and Felicia Gomez, the UCSD Triathlon Team, the entire Monke family(!), Jorge Aguilar, Leo Kahn, Dan Montague*, Chris Denny, Alma Wong, Marcia and Ed Parcaut, Joanie LeRoux, Christine Burrows, Trish Renfro, Chris Boswell, Dwayne Servillo, the Minnema family, my WIFE MEAGAN and her family, and more who have donated their time, money, or energies in helping Tri-This!/Fresno PAL triathlon team over the years. Once I started I couldn't stop...

It's always been about the kids, and this grant from the Fresno Regional Foundation just opened up the magic of Triathlons/outdoor multisport to a whole new group of youth in Fresno and beyond.

Now it's time to take a deep breath, look at where TT is and how we will really spend this money to make the MOST impact on the lives of kids in Fresno! Who's with me?!

updates

2010-06-07T09:19:00.000-07:00

With less than two weeks until my marriage, thought I'd take some time to do a real update.

Things for Tri-This! ended up great with the very busy April-May season. We took some time off after the Splash and Dash May 8th from training as much and it's been nice. We also worked on two big grants that were due soon.

The only thing we're working on is training for a triathlon july 10-11th, the summer bike races and kids tri camp 2 in late july. What nice is I have partners for all of these things, so I'm not doing all of the work!

As I head into married life, Tri-This! has more volunteers, more financial resources, partnerships and kids wanting to do it than ever before. With a new plan to control busy-ness in place for next year, 2009 continues to be one of the best year's we've had - ever! It's an exciting time to help kids be fit, healthy, and active community citizens!

bike to work day?

2010-05-18T21:54:00.000-07:00

With (national?) bike to work day tomorrow, I'm making 3 Tri-This! athletes bike with me to Fresno State where I teach/they take high school classes from McLane, where we all come from. It's only about 3 miles so not a huge deal except for the fact that we'll have to get there at 7 which is hard to do, and bring a change of clothes and stuff.

In the past few weeks we've gotten uniforms (and are the front page at http://www.oomphsports.com or at least were at the time of this posting!) and most of the kids have their uniforms. Had to tell a kid today who (admittedly hasn't paid his $25 portion of the cost which is more than 3 times that...) that he won't get his probably because ha a) has a 0.0 GPA despite repeated calls to try doing his homework and b) is pretty famous at this point for saying he'll go to practice then not showing up/answering his phone. Hey ya can't save them all :-)

We are hard at work at an innovative biking series designed to get more kids active - FREE summer bike races! the website has more information, but the idea is to design a course in the mclane high school parking lot that's kid-friendly and get kids ages 8-16 racing on it for fun this summer! We'll do a race every wednesday to keep momentum building and try to offer prizes and such. I can't wait! Sponsorships are rolling in too which is nice to see...

We have been blessed with getting payment from past events recently and that is so very nice to see! Still wrapping up the Kids Triathlon from April 25th but the Splash and Dash is a day or two away from being done and we are already planning things for the summer, etc. Life is GREAT.

and I'm getting married June 19th!

-brandon
founder, president, tri-this! inc
http://www.tri-this.org

Kids Tri Camp and Uniforms!

2010-04-06T21:40:00.000-07:00

Hi guys,

It's been very busy around here lately!

- Kids Tri Camp was a HUGE success!

- So was taking 5 kids on a 22 mile pretty hilly ride last week!

- Uniforms come this week!

- Three triathlons in the next three weekends (not counting my half ironman at wildflower May 1st!) whew!

ViTri (Sprint distance tri) this weekend, the big Millerton Tri (we are hoping to have 10 kids representing Tri-This! at that race - the biggest ever!) I will do my best to post pictures!

Racing and training

2010-03-03T20:28:00.001-08:00

Greetings,

this week I'm taking some time off of training (partly still recovering time-wise from the buildup to the Duathlon last weekend) to train for another teacher certification test coming up in two weeks.

http://www.mtbduathlon.com has a link to the amazing pictures page by Kevin Ford. Love the kid with the pacifier doing the race!

amazing ride...

2010-02-25T21:53:00.000-08:00

It's been a crazy month!

The Feb 21st MTB Duathlon at Hensley Lake was a resounding success! 68 athletes braved the rain for the first-year event, and had a great time! pics are here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/trithisfresno/ and look for 'hensleyduathlon' pics - including all of our preparation, camping etc. not too many from the race yet due to the fact that I was pretty busy during the actual race! I'm still catching up on sleep.

We didn't really make much money from the race but did make some great infrastructure improvements (great walkie-talkies for future events), and it really was a high-quality event! Complete with bike racks borrowed from another local race organizer, a well-marked course map, about 60 volunteers over two days thanks to the Disney Give a Day, Get a Day program, and a dozen of my students were up there too. We rented a 12 passenger van and then provided a shuttle service from the parking lots to the trailhead on race day, a 26 foot van was rented from Penske, awesome gray long sleeve t-shirts with a cool logo too, very professional awards (medals three deep in 2 age categories per gender/race.) Even 8 kids showed up to race which was great!

This week is taking it easy, next week is back to practice again!

one year anniversary

2010-01-21T13:46:00.001-08:00

Happy one year anniversary Tri-This! Inc.!

One year ago today I raced down to the secretary of state's office in downtown fresno from Fresno State (in the rain!) to get back the filing of articles of incorporation for Tri This. I was elated that after about the second try, we had been approved! Once approved we could begin the process of applying for an employer identification number, a bank account, 501c(3) status, etc!

What a year it was, and what a year for TT it's going to be!

Camps and Races and Uniforms!

2010-01-16T18:23:00.000-08:00

Ok team,

Thanks to all of the readers/not posters for your emails.

This week I went back to teaching again and along with that a flurry of meetings for tri things! (Every night except thursday actually!)

Monday: Sierra Kids Triathlon - going to be awesome! Set up http://www.sierrakidstri.com

Tuesday: Met with sponsors... we will be able to order uniforms soon! (from oomphsports.com)

Wednesday: Kids Tri Camp meeting. Building off the success of last year's (admittedly small) Kids Tri Camp, met with basically everyone in Fresno running tri teams for kids! That in itself was really cool. We decided to expand the concept to a Kids Tri Camp and a separate Teen Tri Camp.

Thursday: Met again with a sponsor and was able to pick up some AMAZING donated gear, including a carbon fiber frame, a great mountain bike, and several odds and ends that will help a lot! (biking shoes, helmets, some gear)

Friday: Met with my school principal after school to discuss how we can help more students pass the CAHSEE (california high school exit exam). I will be teaching a seventh period this semester for freshmen who didn't pass algebra 1 last semester...

This morning went mountain biking with Meagan my beautiful fiancee and a few friends. pics are here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/brandon.dorman/hensleymtb_jan2010

2010

2010-01-05T23:09:00.001-08:00

This 2010, change the world.

http://picasaweb.google.com/trithisfresno/snowtrip2010

http://www.youtube.com/trithisfresno

Vacation is almost over, so now it's time to switch gears from working out and seeing family to writing thank you notes, actually sending them, and working on school planning!

but again, you too can change your corner of the world in 2010!

MTB Duathlon

2009-12-23T17:59:00.000-08:00

the central valley's first Mountain Bike Duathlon is going to be hosted by Tri-This! Inc. on February 21st at Hensley Lake. There will be beginner (1 mile run, 6 mile MTB, 1 mile run) and advanced (2 mile run, 18 mile MTB, 2 mile run) courses and both will be low-cost. I filled out some of the USA Triathlon sanctioning paperwork today and talked to other event directors to make sure we all work together to make all of our events successes! (Valentines day run on the 13th and MTB race on march 7th)

paypal

2009-12-17T15:28:00.001-08:00

we now accept paypal donations from our website at http://www.tri-this.org

Almost end of the year!

2009-12-13T17:52:00.000-08:00

The end of the year report is languishing because I moved into a house december 4th! The past week I've had no internet at home but now am BACK!

Last tuesday night four students and I rode the 4 miles in the dark and cold (33 degrees) to Fresno State from my new house to go to swim practice for an hour, then rode back! we lost feeling in our hands but it was a lot of fun! This coming tuesday we will do a similar thing except go further and faster at night! (ride to woodward park probably, do some sprint drills up there, and head home.)

We are also in contact with several uniform suppliers (mainly oomphsports.com who donated a bunch of tri tops and shorts a couple of years ago that have been the tri-gear glue that holds our team together:
http://picasaweb.google.com/trithisfresno/Night

We need to raise about $100 per kid, and not quite sure how to do that obviously! that's a ton of money for these kids, but I believe that making them pay for the uniforms is a good way also of ensuring their investment - they will keep the uniforms unless they drop out of the team, in which case I will take them back. we'll order some extra shorts probably/keep them pretty generic so it's easy to re-order.

My half ironman training is taking a break because I'm sick again; so I've been lifting weights...

chase community giving!

2009-12-03T21:33:00.001-08:00

Help spread the word!

chase community giving!

2009-12-03T21:33:00.000-08:00

Help spread the word!

opportunities

2009-11-19T10:25:00.000-08:00

With the Marathon and the fiscal 2009 behind us (yikes, first tax season for Tri-This! coming up!), minds are turning towards 2010 for Tri-This!

I have sent some emails out about the Kids Tri Camp and ways to get more kids - and volunteers - involved. Also, this week I have been able to get five kids so far fitted with brand or mostly-new shoes! Thank you Sierra Running Company for setting this up!

Tonight (Thursday) I'm going running with some students (after some Algebra II meetings after sixth period) at 4pm then swimming with the Fresno State Triathlon team at 6pm. Last night to get ready I went to the gym and did some weights then some light swimming. Wow, now I remember what people experience when they first start swimming! I hadn't swam much at all since the Shaver Lake Triathlon in September so felt very uncoordinated and 'ugly' in the water! Still managed to churn out a 1:05 100 yard freestyle though, but was sprinting and really tired afterwards!

Ahh, post-season! It's fun to reconnect with experienced kids that I haven't talked to in a while (Gabe, Vanessa, Betzaida, Benny, Lindsey, Sovann) and new ones that are just starting to get involved in this triathlon craziness (Jadiel, Adrian, James, Josh, Marcos)! Pictures will probably follow tomorrow at the picasaweb address: (Pictures)

-brandon

Hope

2009-11-06T10:32:00.000-08:00

Recently, there's been a lot of bad news.

- a 14 year old boy from Mendota molested then drowned a 4 year old neighbor boy and put the body in the dryer afterwards.

- the killing rampage on servicemen in Fort Hood, Texas

- rising apathy towards sex and life and death

and for myself, walking around the campus of mclane this morning on my prep, with the sun shining, I just had one thought:

We are here to provide hope. We are here to love people not because of what they do, but despite what they do. Being a coach and teacher who pretty much spends all of my waking hours with kids and communicating about kids after school, it's easy for me to get wrapped up in setting my worth with 'how' the students are doing. To tie my performance to theirs.

It is important how they do, but that's not the point! :-) For myself at least, I was reminded to keep trying and not to give up on kids no matter how many times they 'let me down' because it's not about me! For many kids, that 'third time' was the time that stuck, and now they're succeeding.

Have a great, restful weekend!

weekday biking

2009-10-28T21:23:00.000-07:00

There's no snow in Fresno, although it does get below 60 these days at night.

This week I took some kids biking on Monday and tonight, Wednesday. Very fun. We aren't able to get out there until the sun's almost done but we do a good run 'out', then it's dark so take it kinda easy on the trail back. one of the kids pictured on monday's ride couldn't come tonight because he didn't do his homework like he was supposed to afterwards...

http://picasaweb.google.com/trithisfresno/woodwardbiking

Water Polo ends next week then i'll be doing running/biking twice a week or so probably...

The joy of it!

2009-10-19T21:03:00.000-07:00

So things are kind of slowing down. I'm working on getting a group of kids to man our very own aid station at the Trail of Two Cities Marathon in November. Should be 5,000 runners this year! I'm trying to get 20 kids to go out there and am working with other service groups on campus at McLane too.

My cell phone was stolen last week while I was helping out at the homecoming week festivities at McLane. Four years ago, as a student teacher, I was 'coerced' into helping with making the floats, etc. after school and it directly led to my decision to come back to McLane to become a teacher/the type of teacher/coach that I am. It was very fun last week too. The phone being stolen was unfortunate but I have to say not unexpected; I was careless with it and I've been there long enough to not have anything significant stolen is pretty good.

The kids seemed to have noticed because I was elected 'Mr. Highlander' or like faculty king. As part of that I have uploaded a video of me "dancing" last Friday. http://www.youtube.com/dormanmath

Tonight after polo I went bike riding with a kid from my classes who had asked to go. We only rode about 6 miles and it was cool but he was sweating and commented about how hard he was working. It was a nice ride and a good time. It was really fun to be just riding bikes again and remembering why I love this sport and these kids.

a lot of catching up

2009-10-04T12:53:00.000-07:00

The end of september is finally here! Every weekend I spent doing something for tri-this related events, so needleess to say this first week of october is pretty nice to relax! Today (sunday) i let myself sleep with no alarm clock poised and ready and slept in until 9am!

water polo has also picked up full steam, and with practice from 4-6:30pm daily plus morning practices wed and fri from 6-7am and saturday scrimmage from 9-11, things are pretty busy there too! http://www.mclanewaterpolo.com

Next weekend Tri-This! students and I will help put on the Steven Ayres memorial run in Exeter, CA. Steven sadly drowned a couple of weeks ago while training for the Scott Tinley Adventure triathlon. I knew his girlfriend Melanie more, but Melanie and Steven were at the Splash and Dash and we've known them for a while now. I'll be bringing down hopefully about 10 kids, Meagan and myself to do a fun 5k run too. this year completely free, we'll try to build it into someting bigger in the future to help provide a scholarship fund for him at the community college he was attending, West Hills in Lemoore.

Tri This is awaiting word from the Jamba Juice Fundraiser of the 19th and had a GREAT weekend at Shaver Lake triathlon last weekend! Pictures are on the main page linked to from http://www.tri-this.org

I'll begin work now on the planned mtb duathlon at lake hensley january 1st!

A new way to support Tri-This!

2009-09-18T09:38:00.001-07:00

Hey guys,

Momentum continues to build for Tri-This! Inc.

http://www.freelanthropy.com/?q=node/41&a=ti2

is a downloadable toolbar that installs to your browser. it's very skinny/unobtrusive and works with Mac/Linux if you have firefox and IE and firefox in Windows. Every time you search (it goes through Yahoo) Tri-This! earns one cent. So if 100 people end up downloading it and do just one search a day, that's a dollar. Even thirty bucks a month could easily be raised this way, probably more! (assuming we get numbers!) I've been using it for about a week and have already made thirty six cents :-)

Thanks!

Criterium!

2009-09-04T13:44:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I am going to race in my first criterium race! I'm nervous/scared/EXCITED! I got roped into it by a friend... it will be good training at least and only $15!

http://www.cloviscritseries.com

Also taking a group of students to volunteer/act as race marshalls.

nike opportunity

2009-08-22T23:53:00.000-07:00

http://www.nikebackyourblock.com/ApplicantProfile.aspx?ApplicantId=ce7107e4-0d89-4f0e-87bc-c5a6a652658a

Nike is offering a chance for up to $5,000 (actually, $2,500 but that's cool too!) from Nike just by clicking above! People who just read and people who post... please help? Thanks!

Tri This would use the money to be able to subsidize more kids to go to more events and also upgrade our team equipment (bicycles, uniforms, etc.)

This week my team and I will also be asking a certain local University to be our Fiscal Agent so that we can apply for a big grant from a local grant-making agency. This means that they would process the grant money for us - so that the people who give the money know that a reliable non-profit agency is handling the money with it still all going to us. The grant is due September 11th but we have built a strong case for receiving support.

Click the link and spread the word!

This is why Tri-This! was founded!

2009-08-02T04:23:00.000-07:00

Toward the end of last year (October-ish), talk began to steer toward the position of founding Tri-This! We wanted to break from the Police Activities League mainly to be more triathlon-focused when talking to sponsors and even the general public, put on events, and have autonomity.

So far except for being shorter on cash than hoped for everything has gone very well. However I wanted to take a few minutes and share what's been going on.

1) More USA Triathlon Focus
- At least one student will race as a Junior Elite in the Pacific Grove Triathlon in September. It will be Tri-This's first entry. I'm hoping to scrounge up the money ($75 per kid now) to race three kids who would do well.
- give a name to the kids in Tri-This! who compete - the Youth or Jr. teams to align with USAT naming and race structure.
- Try to move more toward getting ALL kids to do all three sports. Plan on doing all three or at least two in a training session rather than allowing kids to do just one. USAT-wise, it's better to have just 10 kids who can do all three and really work on those than have 20 kids who aren't triathlon-ready. On the other hand Tri-This has been instrumental in getting many kids who wouldn't have otherwise been involved in anything more involved in a lot of other school things. (I counted - 30 of my 135 students last year were at some point involved in my triathlon, water polo, or swim team. The swim team alone consisted of 50% of current or former students of mine. wow!)

2) Events
Big news may be coming regarding a mountain bike duathlon event in December/January and a new event we will sponsor in April as well; in addition to the Splash and Dash.

3) Camps
We hope to get some dates and more information about offering one day triathlon camps for kids in different parts of the Valley next Spring as well. Possibly late Fall?

4) Sponsorships
The race is on to erase some Tri-This start up debt as well as build funds for next year. We will do more grant writing soon in earnest as well as actively seek out sponsorships to get real jersey's next year. I'll probably be working with Oomph! sports who donated a BUNCH of tri gear to us last year which we still haven't used all of yet!

5) Volunteers
Trading in the Suburban was a hard decision, but made easier by the fact that we have been blessed to have an abundance of volunteers this year come out of seemingly nowhere; many from the Fresno State Tri team and just other people who had 'heard' of the program, but with the new name and publicity now knew how they could help. 3 great bikes have been donated this year too.

6) Education
Coaching at the USAT Skills Camp last week was so encouraging for a lot of reasons. Mainly I was able to learn how to really run a triathlon camp from professional triathlete and awesome person Alexis (Waddell) Smith and Coach Sharon Osgood. Also, there have been a number of troubling incidents related to kids this summer that have reminded me of why Tri-This exists (to build relationships with kids which help lead to lasting positive life change) and taught myself and my volunteers valuable lessons.

update

2009-07-24T23:08:00.000-07:00

The triathlon at the group home was a HUGE success! Four kids participated and they really loved it. Would post pictures but... can't ... :-(

We'll definitely go back out there again. Albeit in my new RAV4!!

http://picasaweb.google.com/brandon.dorman/car02

going to the USA Triathlon camp next week...

Hydration

2009-07-21T22:36:00.001-07:00

For the past three days - and foreseeable days ahead - the temperature has been over 100 degrees here in Fresno. I've been doing a lot of work lately at a group home where I worked before teaching and the kids are in awe of the 'triathlon stuff' I do. So much so that I take them bike riding I overheard comments between them like, "I bet if you tried to take off on this thing Mr. Dorman would catch you in 2 seconds..." which while it maybe true, was funny nonetheless.

So as I've been taking bikes out to the Ranch as well as go swimming with them, the issue of hydration has taken center stage. Yesterday I went with a kid without drinking beforehand and we were both parched upon coming back from six miles of riding at 2pm.

This morning I went out there again and the kid had drunk quite a bit of water and eaten oatmeal too... we rode more than 12 miles total and he agreed he felt fine today.

For me, the best way to avoid dehydration is to drink about 2 hours and 1 hour before working out. What we drink while we work out won't be processed really anyway... and of course keep drinking afterwards! I like to make sure I go to the bathroom before I work out too ESPECIALLY running.

On thursday myself and a few others will hold a mock 'triathlon' for the boys out at the group home. All contained within ranch property, it will be a one mile run, then a six mile bike, finishing off with some laps in their small pool. Sure it's a reverse tri, but we figured by starting at nine and then finishing with the swim it'd feel good :-) I'll bring old bib numbers for them to wear and take their times -including transition - too. Should be a lot of fun. For legal reasons (most of the boys are there because they've committed felonies...) I can't show pictures but hopefully will make it a great experience for the boys! The plan has always been to try and include these guys in Tri-This! experiences but scheduling is very difficult and has to be considered that there are about 7 county Probation Offices to contend with too...

Drink up!

new car!

2009-07-19T22:54:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a busy month once again! After having my main car (a 1998 Toyota Corolla) totalled June 26th, I had to resort to the backup plan - my 1993 Chevrolet Suburban with no AC and about 10 Mpg.

However the brakes they were a squeakin', and along with some other problems needed about $400 in repairs.

I knew Cash for Clunkers was going to happen soon, so have been shopping for a bit now. The time today seemed right, and I purchased the RAV4 mostly seen above today! It will arrive on Friday. I had room in my budget for $350 a month and I negotiated a price of $353 before adding the towing option. However the racks up top are included along with a slew of awesomeness!

However, many of my students and I are pretty sad about the Suburban leaving. When it was given to us at a deep discount in 2007 - specifically for the Triathlon Team - it was a godsend. I would certainly say that without it, Tri-This! would not be the organization it is today. It is with great sadness that Wednesday night we will have a little good bye party for it and people can share favorite memories, etc. (after water polo practice.)

I made a slideshow of pictures here (also showing my now deceased Toyota Corolla in some parts...)

http://picasaweb.google.com/trithisfresno/goodbyesuburban

update

2009-07-01T10:18:00.000-07:00

It's been almost a month since the last update! Wow.

We've been training for an upcoming triathlon next weekend - a Sprint distance on Saturday and an Olympic Distance on Sunday with TBF Racing. The camp site is reserved and today I'm going to get the business of who is doing what relay race, etc.

I visited my friend Mark in Indiana for a week which was awesome. Last week I did some 'subbing' at the group home at night and summer water polo started which is always a good time. Also got into a car accident on the way to a family camp for kids with cancer... no one was hurt. Looking at buying a house with/for the fiancee too which is very exciting. More meetings with real estate agent today and the parents are coming down on Friday to possibly sign the deal...

Tri This Board meeting on Thursday which are always fun. I will be trying to push a scholarship for a kid through to help him pay for USAT West Skills Camp July 27-31... I visited it for one day last week when they had the first session and it was amazing! 24 something kids and great venue. It will be this kids second time at 'camp' - his first is actually this week at a church camp. He's 18. So it's good for him to experience these things before his senior year and heading out into life.

random cool quote

2009-06-11T20:45:00.000-07:00

Today I was taking a kid to Lifeguarding practice, and he forgot to wear his seatbelt - automatic 5 'triathlon-style' pushups (where the kids go down and hold for one second, then two seconds, then three...). Not much but it gets the point across without being corporal punishment :-) Anyway, so we got to the pool and he did them without complaining. Then he made the comment, "you know you're the only person I'd do that for."

Which was cool because this is a kid who I met two summers ago in my summer school class (and actually failed it because three days before he would have passed it he stopped coming... three summer school absences and you're automatically failed...), then did water polo for a season, tried diving for 2 weeks but then quit, and has gone on just one triathlon camping trip because he annoys most of the kids. So he's definitely what you call, "grew up without a strong father in the home." Nice reminder as the school year ended the power of positive change being consistent with these kids can bring about!

Splash and Dash Race Report

2009-06-05T09:20:00.000-07:00

It's taken a week, but I really wanted to be able to sit down and do a race report that fit the Splash and Dash!

Friday (5/29)
The venerable Suburban did not die (as it had been doing lately... whenever I'd be driving for a while then stop, it wouldn't start without a jump) as I picked up the trailer, students, sleeping bags, fruit, shirts, etc. We met up at McLane for a nice Chipotle dinner courtesy of our sponsors and then headed off to Millerton Lake. We set up camp, had a nice little swim, and people came up to help us set up, tell ghost stories etc.

I did have some problems with some of the 23 (yep) students who hadn't been on trips before because I belatedly tried to enforce the usual no electronics rule. Didn't work too well. But all were in their tents at 10:59 just as I had instructed.

Then the sprinklers came on.

Yep... we were camping out by the picnic area as we had been allowed to by the park ranger and the sprinklers hit the tent with the girls newest to camping. The rangers could hear the screams from across the campsite. Most of us were laughing, although a few of the students not so much! Ha ha. So we initiated "back up plan B" which involved sending a few of the students whose stuff was now soaked to other tents or to sleep in cars. Thanks Lindsey and Edna for understanding... sleeping in the Suburban isn't that bad ;-)

I slept on a park bench.... first with just a blanket for a pillow and in my regular clothes, but around 3am it got cold so put my wet sleeping bag on top of me. I didn't sleep on the ground because we'd seen snakes earlier that night.

SATURDAY MAY 30th!

The day was finally here! I'd stayed up until about midnight every night of the week prior getting ready for this, and had been talking it up for months and months! I pretty much used up most of my 'personal capital' getting ready for it, but it's all good.

We had 51 pre-registration sign ups, and 24 people signed up on race day! There were certainly a few bumps in the road, but most people were good sports and I was very thankful for the strong tri-community support. My student volunteers were outstanding and I got several comments or emails like this one:
"I just wanted to let you know how impressed I was with all of the teens who were working the event. They were all helpful, friendly, and serious about their jobs, which is not always the case with teen volunteers at races. I just want you, and your students, what a great job they did."

So that's nice to see! It was pretty fun being race director with the megaphone and everything.

The people came in, we got results going and all that... then for the other big surprise!

After the results were announced and pictures taken of people on the podium and all, I asked my sponsors to come on up. Active.me who provided sports and energy drinks, Sierra Running Company who came up with wetsuits and other stuff to give away and helped set up the entire thing, local tri clubs who helped get things set up, etc. And my girlfriend, because I mean she put up with me working and stressing a lot about not just the Splash and Dash, but the tri team in general!

Then, as I thanked her for being so wonderful I reached into my pocket.

And pulled out a ring.

And got down on one knee and proposed! Captured on many cameras and even in video!

She said yes. So we're gonna get married sometime in the next year or so. Still kinda working on the date.

It was a GREAT first weekend for Tri-This (we netted about $500) and and of course me personally too!

Pictures are here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/trithisfresno/splashanddash#

almost here!

2009-05-27T23:17:00.000-07:00

The race bibs are written, the t-shirts are ordered, the permits issued and paid for... wow! The 2009 Splash and Dash is almost here!

Counting some students, 52 people have signed up and we expect at least another 14 to sign up between now and on race day. 70 would be a cool milestone to hit.

Tonight I went with some students to Home Depot to get some course markers and sign posts, also posterboard and the like. Also processed a few more registrations today (although active.com likes to go down at night when I try to do my offline registrations...)

Will of course pictures and all that after the event as soon as possible!

A Proper Update

2009-05-23T08:56:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I (Brandon Dorman, President of Tri-This! Inc.) went to Wells Fargo, Rubber Soul, and Sierrra Running Company for various reasons.

Pretty amazing when some of the workers at Wells Fargo told me, "Hey, thanks for the free PR on your blog..." which blew me away that they'd been reading it... sure they'd mentioned they thought what I'm doing is cool but I had no idea they'd actually mean it. (note to wells fargo employees: my offer for the Splash and Dash next Saturday still stands. Click here.

While in line I saw Sarah Klose, an old friend from Camp Sugar Pine. We're talking 7 years here... I hadn't seen her in a while so that was pretty cool.

Then off to Rubber Soul to drop off some bikes. That accomplished, it's great to be greeted by the owners. While there I saw some parents of some jr high kids I used to mentor and even tutored for a bit. I felt bad interruepting the Rubber Soul owner's sales pitch, but it was nice catching up. (I did forget to pick up a bike Rubber Soul was going to donate to us... will swing by today before leaving and do that.)

At Sierra Running Company it's been a pleasure to get to know pretty much all of the staff there over the past year and half/two years I guess now! They didn't have bags I was hoping to get for packet pickup, so we'll just use envelopes instead. That's fine.

Now off to a great weekend of relaxing with Meagan, my parents, a baseball game in SF, then Monday is dedicated to the splash and dash!

update

2009-05-18T23:18:00.000-07:00

- Debit card from Wells Fargo with Tri-This! name proudly on it!

- 38 people signed up for the Splash and Dash and climbing!

- Running with some new kids this Wednesday Morning

- Water Polo season starts umm... tomorrow after school! (Tues/Thurs afternoons)

- house hunting is going well.

- I decided to ride the 10 miles on roads each way to Masters Swimming tonight. Going there was great, coming back got a flat about 2 miles in. Didn't have a co'2 canister in my pack like I assumed I did... so had to call my uncle. still, a good idea! I did the ride on Saturday and it is a very easy but flat ride and I was able to hit 27mph on flat and sustain it for a bit!

- looking for grants/meeting with the Grant guy on Monday!

message to my supporters (copied and pasted from email)

2009-05-11T22:22:00.000-07:00

Greetings supporters of Tri-This!

Just a note to let you know that Tri-This! Inc. now also has a bank account at Wells Fargo. So now we can actually deposit those checks for the Splash and Dash as well as write them when necessary.

We are currently in debt as has been necessary to establish the team and do a few events.

Tri-This! is unique in using the unique sport of triathlon to train, discipline and lift student athletes from low-income areas in Fresno. For the past two years as Fresno PAL and with a renewed purpose now, we aim to help students go to new heights academically and athletically. Join with me once again as we embark on a $5,000 capital campaign that will:
- eliminate debt incurred in the first 3 months of operation (general liability insurance, government fees, 4 events involving 42 students with some duplicates)
- rent or see if we can receive donated space from a mini-storage facility for bikes, donated clothes not already given out, camping gear etc.)
- extensive bike repairs
- uniforms* (seeking sponsors for these mostly)

Rest assured that for principal exenses and growth we are actively working to find and receive grants. We are working on two currently... but grants take time to process.

Currently the 'goal' event for the crew is the Lemoore Mud Run June 6th. It will probably be mostly paid for by proceeds from the Splash and Dash as well as student fees of $10 'no flake' deposits). We have done this event the last two years.

I wouldn't be doing this nor asking for money if I didn't see results in these students. I wish more people could be with me as when, driving some students up to the snow in January, the suburban grew silent as many of the students saw falling snow for the first time(Joua, Hnuhli, Sovann). The sense of accomplishment when they finish their first triathlon(10+ kids). The motivation to wake up at 4am on a Friday to bring up a failing grade (albert).

Online, one can donate via credit card at
http://www.active.com/donate/trithis09

Donations can also be sent to:

Tri-This!
c/o BRANDON DORMAN
2727 N. Cedar Ave.
Fresno, CA 93703

Please pass along this email as you feel led.

Board Meeting

2009-04-29T09:32:00.001-07:00

Highlights from last night's board meeting:

- The board approved making "camps" an integral part of the mission of Tri-This. With the trained high school students as teachers of course. We are looking at putting on camps at the county juvenille detention facility as well as valley teen ranch, a local group home set in the countryside.

- The board also approved reimbursement of $2,000+ of expenses I have incurred as a result of the few trips we have gone on and the typical start up expenses. My credit card thanks them and I look forward to being able to NOT be the intermediary. We have received $600 in pledges so far (grants from USAT and Aetna Foundation) but don't have the money yet...

- Splash and Dash planning is going well. Will probably change the volunteer meeting next week from Tuesday to Wednesday to avoid Cinco de Mayo craziness. It's a HUGE deal here in Fresno since the population I serve is about 70% hispanic.

Swimming championships are tomorrow and Friday. Should be good; if nothing else it means no more after school practice for a few weeks! I am getting sick but might go to Millerton tonight anyway to do some running and swimming?

Kids Triathlon 09

2009-04-26T16:16:00.000-07:00

(all pictures are HERE)

One of my favorite things about coaching is seeing how things change among the team - most of the time (all of the time?) for the better.

Two years ago was our first kids triathlon. It was two weeks after everyone's first triathlon, a week after the first newspaper article and the night after we were invited to a Fresno Coyotes indoor football game. It was also the first event that we were blessed to use the Suburban... at that time on loan from who we eventually bought it for. (correction: I bought it from...).

Last year we were much more experienced and had more kids who did much better! The Fresno Bee was on hand that time and so my kids performed admirably knowing people were watching.

This year it was 'just another triathlon' for the kids even though in retrospect I had the most competitors to date. I relied on parents for their transportation; but as is often the case things fell through for several students in the end and the students going and how they were gonna get there wasn't set until about 7pm last night. This meant I had to pick up three kids up at 5 this morning because I was helping with set up this year so got there at 6... it's always great to see an event go from nothing to 200 kids and probably as many spectators too!

It was a great event once again. Record (?) numbers of kids and great competition in the 15-17 division. Also had two new racers (siblings of students) racing in the 13-14 division.

We placed 2nd and 3rd in the top age group with solid performances by Albert and Aaron. Jr. finished his first triathlon.

(comparison shots:
Albert in 2007:

Albert in 2008:

Albert in 2009:

... only using albert because he's the only one who has done all three). Aside from the obvious, "difference between 15 and 17" body, it's clear that this year his body is more streamlined from being on the swim team this year and he's solid, not just bulky, muscle. Proud of him and all of the other kids at this year's tri!

Looking forward to next year's event already!

kids tri practice

2009-04-23T21:19:00.000-07:00

took a few kids out practicing for the kids triathlon this weekend...

Carlos (first time on a bike really... the previous two practices of biking and running he'd just wanted to run), Lindsey (borrowing a killer bike from one of her dad's friends!), Paul (aubree's brother and kids tri camp participant!), and Jr.

good times.

tons to post about, but just one important thing now!

2009-04-20T22:48:00.000-07:00

http://www.active.com/donate/trithis09

Tri This is officially a registered public charity (501c (3)) status) organization.

Will set up the bank account once I get the paperwork next week.

Booyah.

the races this weekend went well, lots of great athleticism (the highlights on my end included being third out of the water at the Millerton Tri on Saturday) and teamwork/team building including a stranger loaning me a bike to use at Sunday's tri... finished 30 minutes faster than my race 2 years ago!)

I did however, lose to Albert! His swim was AMAZING! (I was sixth out of the water, he was 7th). i got him on the bike and he overtook me on the run... beat me by 4 lousy minutes! pics are up at trithis.org

Two Triathlons this weekend

2009-04-15T10:55:00.000-07:00

This weekend we've got two triathlons going on.

http://sierramultisport.com/Events.aspx

For the Millerton Lake Triathlon we will head up and camp at millerton lake on Friday night. A handful of kids are going on this part of the trip to practice setting up the tents and have fun setting up the course. When we do the splash and dash set up in May, we will know what to do already...

Then after volunteering at the race on Saturday we'll load up with a few new people (Meagan, my friend Karl and some more kids) up to Folsom Lake (near Sacramento) to set up camp (we get the same campsite pretty much every time we go... at Beals Point!)

This is our 9th camping trip up with TBF Racing.

I explained to my students in a handout this week the importance of getting sleep these days before the race. And proper nutrition (and I'm practicing what I preach by not having soda this week/no energy drinks too... and for lunch for example today is pasta with grilled chicken. last night was the same with some salad and fresh strawberries thrown in!).

and drinking lots of water. tonight i will get off a quick swim and tomorrow a light run in preparation for sunday. some biking will happen friday or saturday!

New Blog, More Focus

2009-04-12T22:13:00.000-07:00

Tri This! is the new name of the triathlon team I, Brandon Dorman, created more than two years ago in the heart of Fresno.

The team and concept have grown from, "hey, let's do a triathlon because it's something challenging," to something that others are taking notice of. Not just because it's a cool thing to get kids from diverse and challenging backgrounds to do triathlons - a decidedly different kind of experience than what they're used to - but because of the scope of programs and type of focus we have.

- Grades generally go up
- Kids gain new experiences of life outside the inner city
- Stereotypes are broken, and people are given hope on both sides
- Quotes like this:

"Not only was it a new experience, but it was new people. Being able to do the triathlon, I believe, is all thanks to my team. I was on the swim team for three years 250 miles away and moved to Fresno in April. These people accepted me. When I finished my first half mile for the swim I was running up the hill to tag my partner and saw all the faces of people who believed in me and it felt great. My goal is to inspire and believe in someone else, so that they get that same feeling."

and:

"Training helps me with my school work and keep me focused on not returning to my bad ways. I am now going to class and get A’s and B’s in school. Because of Coach Dorman, I am also thinking about going to college now. “

In 2009 we left Fresno PAL to closer pursue our triathlon related goals. We are planning a fundraiser event (aquathlon) in May to raise both awareness and funds, and bring more events to the area. We just hosted our first Kids Triathlon Camp.

Thanks to donations from local business, the kids are starting to look like real cyclists!

So this blog will be strictly about the process of building a high school triathlon team - with a hopeful following of current supporters as well as others interested in starting a triathlon club in their town/school. Thanks.

-brandon dorman

USAT Certified Coach

http://www.tri-this.org