I wish that I had been able to attend a training camp specifically for novice athletes when I was starting out as a triathlete 20+ years ago. Unfortunately there weren’t any and I made lots of mistakes which cost me time, money and a good deal of pain. 3 things which I could have learned that would have helped to prevent these mistakes are outlined below

1. Learn to train smart – It’s a common mistake of novice triathletes (in fact novice athletes in any sport) to think that if you do more training then you get fitter. To some extent that is true, but a far better tactic is to train smarter. This means getting the maximum benefit from every available training minute before you just add more volume.

2. Learn to recover smart – Even more experienced triathletes still don’t fully “get” this one. Fitness gains are the result of a simple equation – Smart training + smart recovery. It is still possible to make gains by ignoring this, but they will be much less noticeable and take longer to percolate through. Learning how to fully recover from each training session (stretching, nutrition, massage, sleep + many other elements) is an art in itself.

3. Learn to spend smart – If you read the Tri mags then you’d be excused from thinking that just by opening your wallet you would be granted the right to go faster in your next race. Some products can help you to gain a bit of speed but there really is no substitute for the 2 elements I mention above. Of course there are some bits of gear that you do need as part of your regular kit bag but not nearly as much or expensive as the marketeers would have you believe.

I may have made the process of training and improving sound like a quite a simple process and in truth it is. If you want to find out how simple it really is then we have a training camp at the Idlebreaks complex in September. To find out more about the camp and how you can take advantage of our EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT please click here

I hope to see you there

2. Remember where you left your bike – I observed at least 3-4 people running around the transition area like headless chickens looking for their bikes. It will have been where they left it, but they obviously forgot where that was. In some races you can put your towel on the ground but if you cant then the very least is to remember which row you are in and how far down. Some times you might be near a significant landmark like a tree or a banner attached to some fencing. Just dont use the pink bike next to you as your marker; it might be gone when you get there!

3. Know the way out of transition – I spotted at least half a dozen people trying to run the wrong way out of transition. I estimate it cost most of them 20-30s. All you need to do is do a short recce when you get to the venue and work out the right route

4. Use elastic laces – this clever little innovation (costing you less than a tenner) could probably save you 20 seconds in transition 2. Just replace your normal laces with elastic ones and gain seconds in your next race

5. Know the rules – when you enter transition 2 at the end of the bike section you have to wait until your bike is racked before unbuckling your helmet. I watched at least 4 people get penalised 30 seconds for not knowing this simple rule!

Before I go 1 more FREE tip. Good ideas only become good ideas if you put them into action. How many simple ways can you think of to save time in your next race

If you want to find more ways to gain time in your next races then why not join our new website www.TriathlonPB.com

Stay healthy & have fun!

While I have managed an element of consistency in my training recently, sadly the same cannot be said for my blog. I was horrified to see that my last posting was way back in April, when the summer (and my big race of the year) seemed a long way off.

Now summer is here and the race is only 6 weeks away. In my next blog I’ll bring you up-to-date on progress in training and news of the big race we have entered for 2011.
In the meantime I wanted to reflect on a training session I attended recently. It was hosted by Olympic physiotherapist Alison Rose and was entirely devoted to running drills.

The outcome goal was for athletes to understand the benefits of this type of training and how these simple drills can be integrated into warms ups. The benefit is not just the immediate running session but the long term running technique and therefore overall performance.

I’m already a convert to running drills and their effect on running performance. I’ve been doing them myself for years (although I confess, not on a consistently regular basis) and more recently including them in all the running sessions I prescribe for my athletes. Here are my observations from the session;

1. There were obviously plenty of people interested in learning more as the attendance was 20% higher than for the normal Thursday night track session

2. Despite being highly (aerobically) conditioned, probably 90% of the individuals had poor coordination and balance, including the fittest athletes in the group

3. It seemed that females were generally better than the guys. Perhaps they had more patience to stick with the drills whereas the guys were rushing the exercise

4. Despite this everyone had FUN – a key element in exercise adherence

5. The drills were good to use as a specific warm up, rather than just running and chatting, as well as having benefits for technique

6. There was a large element of core strength and stability required for many of the drills, which also seemed to be lacking in some athletes

7. I’d be interested to survey the group in 12 months time to find out how many had actually practiced the drills on a regular basis (1-2 times per week) and what impact they had on overall running performance

All drills (swim, bike and run) will have a specific benefit for their sport if performed on a regular basis (just ask Johnny & Alistair Brownlee – they’ve been working with Alison Rose and her team now for the last 2 years!). Many athletes, however, seem to want to spend their time time doing as much swimming, biking and running as possible. They see strength/conditioning work (including core & stretching) and drills as enemies, that reduce their aerobic development time.
On the contrary, I believe that becoming a more efficient athlete with better technique and control is a much smarter way to train.

If you think like me then you might be interested in our new website – www.TriathlonPB.com – where you will find many articles, sessions, drills designed to help you set new Triathlon PB’s the smart way.

Train smarter, race faster!

Simon

If you can remember back as far as August 2009 or if you read my blog, you might recall that my big event for last year was the Norseman Iron distance event in Norway. In fact this turned out to be the biggest ever triathlon I have done, not in number of participants but race duration, severity and planning.

After an event of that magnitude and toughness what would present a similar or more difficult challenge?

There were a few contenders
Embrunman, Altriman, Alpe d’Huez Long Course but the choice for this year was the Inferno Triathlon in Switzerland which intrigued me because it not only has 5000m of total ascent and a mountain top finish like Norseman, but it also has 30km of mountain biking as well as 90k of road biking.

So the entry was processed on Monday and having had confirmation of that I just need to finalise the payment later this week and Inferno triathlon becomes the major goal for 2010. To find out what I’m letting myself in for take a look at the website.

More about the planned preparation for this event in future blog posts.

Stay healthy & have fun.

1. A catch up style stroke doesn’t work in open water - a catch up stroke means that at some point during every arm cycle neither arm is applying force to the water resulting in a loss of momentum and if you are swimming against the tide or current, another swimmer interrupts your stroke or you get smashed by a wave, you will stop or go backwards. You need a fast arm turnover where one arm is always catching the water (known as power-on or kayak style) and you have to learn this in the pool, since this is where you will do over 90% of your training. Include regular sprints to develop a faster arm cadence and focus on catching the water early in the stroke and eliminating the glide at the front end. Drills which help you do this are; fists, single arm drill with non active arm by the side and swimming with a band around the ankles.

2. you have to be comfortable breathing to the left and right - when the waves are breaking over you as you turn your head to breathe you’ll get a mouth full of water unless you are comfortable breathing to the other side. In the pool, practice breathing left and right during your regular sessions. If possible learn to breathe bilaterally as this will help you to achieve a balanced stroke for when you do have to breathe to a single side.

3. If you are going to race in open water (especially the sea) it pays to spend a few days getting comfortable in the environment before the race – For the first few days you feel as though you are fighting against the natural flow. This example came to light during our swim. Unless its a flat calm sea the swell will move the torso and legs around quite a bit. The natural action is to fight to stay in a neutral position which takes more energy and eventually becomes quite tiring. After a few days of swimming you will relax and stop fighting this action but it will take a few days, so get to the event early if you have a sea swim.

Why am I telling you all this? Because it’s apparent that many of the coaches who teach triathletes to swim come from a pool based background and teach techniques which are just fine for pool swimming. Personally I dont think that these are as effective in open water but by the time the athletes gets to the open water race it’s too late. This could be one reason why many triathletes struggle to replicate their pool times in open water events (there are others of course but I’ll cover those in a future blog).

Thanks for reading and please do make comments, whether you agree with me or not.

Stay healthy & have fun

TFN, who have been voted 220 magazine “Retailer of the Year” for the past 3 years, have had a strong presence in the triathlon market for many years.

TFN Owner Mark Redwood commented:

“We are really excited to work with TheTriathlonCoach.com as they are the UK’s best known and most professional coaching outfit. Our common links to a number of big races make this a logical relationship and it enhances the services that we are able to offer. Watch this space for more developments.”

TheTriathlonCoach.com is now in its 10th year. With 7 coaches and over 100 athletes they are one of the largest coaching organisations in triathlon and have a strong presence in the North of England.

Joint TTC head coach Jack Maitland commented:

“It’s a natural fit for us. We’ve known the guys at TFN for many years and they work closely with many of our existing partners including Blue Seventy, One Step Beyond and Pacesetter events. Their online store presents a fantastic opportunity for us to help our athletes purchase goods at favourable prices and add to TFN’s customer base. Beyond this we can see many areas where we can help each other to develop.”

To find out more about TFN please visit their website www.tfn.uk.com

Places are limited and offer those who take part a unique insight to the specifics of the Outlaw and iron distance training and racing in general. The courses will be led by Simon Ward of TheTriathlonCoach.com, 220 Coach of the year 2009 and one of the UKs leading elite and age group coaches. You can find more information about Simon Ward and his coaching team by visiting their website www.TheTriathlonCoach.com.

The camps will take place at Holme Pierrepont, the start and finish venue for the Outlaw, on 21st March and 16th May – 20 and 12 weeks out from the event respectively.

Simon Ward said: “The camps will familiarise athletes with the various aspects of the course, which looks like it could be super fast! We’ll also cover things like planning and fine tuning your training, nutrition and race strategy.

“Iron distance racing invariably requires athletes to overcome challenges throughout their training and preparation and on the day itself. Attending a camp will give athletes every opportunity to prepare themselves for success.”

Athletes will have the opportunity to try swimming in Holme Pierrepont Lake during the second camp, and both camps will incorporate elements of running and cycling as well. Based at Holme Pierrpont, the camps will familiarise athletes with how things will be set up when the Outlaw takes place on 8th August 2010. Places for the camps, and for the race are still available, but filling fast!

Make sure you are properly prepared when the Outlaw kicks off this August!

1). Assumptions –
a – Assume that every motorist is incompetent until they prove otherwise
b – Assume every motorist is out to get you until they prove otherwise
c – DON’T assume that just because you have the right of way the motorist will give you the right of way
d – DON’T assume that the motorist has seen you

2).Obey the Laws of the Road -You know when you get the feeling that the motorist hates you? That’s probably because they do! It’s nothing personal; how could it be? They don’t even know who you are! Its more likely that they just hate all cyclists because they imagine that you are slowing them down or more liley that we all ignore the rules of the road,when they have to obey them (running red lights, riding on the pavement, riding without lights etc) If we were all a bit better behaved then maybe they would treat us better!

3).Be Courteous – When I’m driving behind a cyclist and I wait for a safe opportunity to pass them, it would be nice if they acknowledged it. Maybe they aren’t aware that I have waited (in which case they need to be more aware of what’s going on around them OR maybe they are/were wearing an iPod) either way, if you thank motorists for being courteous maybe they’ll be more inclined to behave the same way next time, even if it’s not for you.

4).Use your senses – We have 5 senses, 3 of which can be lifesavers on a bike
1 – Sight – look over your shoulder regularly to see what’s behind and to help you when planning manouvres and always attempt to make eye contact with other rioad users
2 – Hearing – I like to know when cars are approaching. I fail to understand how you can hear road traffic when you have headphones in your ears and music playing. Sorry, but if you do this, it’s got to be the dullest thing you can do! If you insist on weraing headphones then at least take the right earphone out to give you half a chance of hearing that big truck.
3 – Smell. This may seem a bit off the wall, but a few weeks ago my riding partner smelled fuel as we approached a roundabout. Sure enough there had a been a small spill and his senses definitely saved us from an accident

5). Ride aggressively – this doesn’t mean threatening to punch every motorist in sight. BUT it does mean claiming your bit of the road. In my experience if you ride close to the gutter motorists will squeeze past and force you into the gutter. I prefer to ride a bit further out so that the motorist actualy has to go around me. When passing parked cars, I like to give them enough room so that even if the door does open I still have some clearance. Yes, of course a car will have to wait a bit but I’m more concerned with my safety not their lost 15seconds. I do look around before moving out, so the driver knows I have seen him and I will wave, when he passes, to say thank you

6). Reduce the odds – Every day there are more cars on the road and every day cycling becomes more popular. Inevitably this will result in more frustrated motorists and more vulnerable cyclists. If you want to reduce the odds of being the next on the list then two alternatives are a)ride your indoor trainer more frequently, b) ride your mountain bike. You may not think it’s ideal for preparing for your next tri, but then neither is a broken leg!

7). Be Seen – primarily this means wearing clothing that motorists can spot from some distance away especially at night. Always have light for riding at might and emergency lights with you for when you might get delayed and end up riding at dusk. If you can wear a yellow band on your R leg & R arm for more vsibility at night then that is a good idea. When passing a junction or approaching road users waiting to make a turn, pull out into the middle of the lane to become more visible and, if possible, sit up . That movement might just trigger something so that they see you instead of the car behind. I mentioned earlier that you should always try to make eye contact with other road users and that includes pedestrians. A motorist once pulled alongside me to ask why i was giving him the evil eye. I wasn’t I just wanted to make sure he had seen me. At least he did, so it was worth it!

If you have any more “Stay safe” ideas please let me have them by leaving a comment here.

Ultimately if you stay alert and expect the unexpected you’ll be a lot safer! It’s a warzone out there so take care!

Stay healthy & have fun

Chrissie & Craig regaining their titles
Monique van der Vorst becoming the 1st female handcycle participant ever to finish an Ironman and beating the guys as she did it!
Watching Kyle Garrett miss out on completing the swim by 10secs, sob his heart out on the steps and then regain his composure to do an interview saying it wasn’t really that bad, “for me, everyday is a good day”. I really hope he gets another shot next year
seeing “Fearless” Phil Graves take the bike prime and then tough it out to make the finish line
All the great athletes we interviewed at the CompuTrainer booth – Phil Graves, Bella & Stephen Bayliss, Sarah Reinertsen, Scott Davis, Scott Neyedli – thank you for your time. You were great to interview (you can see clips of the interviews on the video)
swimming with dolphins
Coming face-to-face with a 7ft shark in a cave while diving.

I know some of you dont believe that I do any work out there, honestly I do, but we have great fun as well. It’s all part of what they call a lifestyle business.
Maybe I’ll talk more about how to set up lifestyle business in a future post.

In the meantime enjoy the video compilation which shows some of the interviews we did in Kona mixed in with some race day clips.
Thanks for reading.

Stay healthy & have fun

Click here to view the embedded video.

Returning to work after a trip (or a holiday) I generally feel invigorated and highly motivated. Do you feel like this?

The Hawaii ironman marks the end of the season for those lucky enough to compete and for me it’s the same. There’s no point in starting a new training programme before I go to work in Kona because it’s too hectic and the travelling and time zone changes increasde the risk of getting ill (which as you’ll see in the video is not a good thing). Generally this means that I plan to get started soon after I get back to the UK (Leaving a few days to get over the jetlag)

When planning any training programmme I follow a set of 6 principles aiming to keep things as simple as possible.

It really isn’t difficult to improve as long as you have a system. Please take a look at the video below and then think about whether your training programme meets these 6 principles. If it does then thats great because it means your are on the right track. All you need now is discipline, resilience and patience.

If on the other hand you can’t tick 6 boxes then go back to the drawing board and work out what changes you need to make to your programme. Then add discipline, resilience and patience and you’ll soon be on the road to improvement.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Best wishes and happy training.