From The Triathlon Coach (www.triathloncoach.com):

To enable athletes to improve technique in all 3 disciplines and subsequently times. Every athlete should leave with a clear idea of what constitutes good technique, will have a video of their own technique and will know what the key things are that is needed to improve.

In addition, each athlete will understand how to manage their training, recovery, nutrition, stretching and conditioning programmes to enable them to train consistently and therefore improve their performances.

Venue: The John Charles Centre for Sport, Middleton Grove, Leeds, LS11 5DJ

Cost: £150 (discounts for TTC atheletes)

Ability: All welcome

Coach: Louise Hanley

PROVISIONAL ITINERARY

Saturday:

• 0900 – Meet

• 0915-1015 – Classroom – The Theory of Swim Technique

• 1030-1130 – Practical in the pool to record video of all athletes

• 1200-1330 – Studio – Stretching and Strength for Triathlon

• 1330-1415 – Lunch

• 1415-1545 – Classroom – Review of everyone’s swim video

• 1600-1700 – Practical in the pool to practise identified stroke corrections

• 1715 – Finish

Sunday:

• 0900 – Meet

Last year we spoke to Charlotte Roach while she was recovering from a terrifying collision with a Land Rover that nearly killed (see here for details). At the time Charlotte was aiming for a slot in the 2012 Olympics. Against expectations, she made a return to triathlon and was able to compete at a high level. However, she has since taken a new path and ridden off into the sunset (actually sunrise) to raise money for Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland Air Ambulance (DLRAA), the organisation she credits with saving her life. She’s riding alone across China and planning to return via Australia.

See http://www.justgiving.com/Charlotte-Roach for details.

Here’s a plea from the organisers of Sky Ride for local cyclists (West London area) to lead Sky Rides .

Do you ride a bike? Do you think healthy exercise is good for the community? Do you enjoy helping others? If this is you then get in touch!

British Cycling’s Sky Ride Local guided ride programme is going to hit even more of London this summer. We are running courses in Croydon, Lewisham and Richmond in the next three weekends and we want anyone who has enthusiasm for cycling and the health and fitness of their community to come along and get free training leading to a professional qualification.

You will need to commit to helping to run a minimum of 4 Sky Ride Local rides this summer but you will be paid and the qualification is yours forever. If you want to improve the health and wellbeing of your community and enjoy helping others to make a positive change in their lives please get in touch

0161 274 2062

recreation@britishcycling.org.uk

www.goskyride.com

If you’re planning ahead for next winter and fancy a challenge for February 2012, consider the Enduroman Lanzarote festival of triathlon. The event is fully backed by the Cabildo de Lanzarote and after the successful first staging of the event now has permission to use the main beach in Playa Blanca, so great for spectators and athletes. See www.enduroman.com for pictures and videos from last time.

Here’s an interesting opportunity for an East London Triathlete – please see the press release below for a chance to earn a place at the London Triathlon, all the kit you need and £500 towards a bike.

Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is on the hunt for an aspiring triathlete from East London that it can support to take part in the 2011 London Triathlon in July. DLR has teamed up with running specialists Runners Need and sports associated sponsor of the London Triathlon, Asics, to put together a package of support that will help someone take part in this event that otherwise wouldn’t be able to.

The winning local athlete will receive a package that includes entry to the 2011 London Triathlon and a triathlon wetsuit and running shoes courtesy of Asics, together with £500 towards the purchase or hire of a triathlon bike for the race. Aspiring tri-athletes can visit www.dlr.co.uk/promotions for more information on how to enter.

Entrants must be from one of the London Boroughs that the DLR serves: Newham, Tower Hamlets, Greenwich, Lewisham and The City of London. Entrants will be asked why they need the support package and wish to take part in the Triathlon. A winner will be selected on this basis, by DLR and Runners Need. The deadline for entries is 20 May 2011.

Thorpe Lakes opened to swimming last weekend (17^th April). Coaching and training facilities are available on site, as are a number of distance-marked running trails. For cyclists, the lakes could be used as a base to explore out to Windsor (and take in part of the route of the Windsor Triathlon perhaps) or even out to Henley.

For swimming, the lake is marked out into triangular courses of 400m, 750m and 1500m.

Access is from either junction 11 or junction 13 of the M25.

See www.nowca.org for more details.

Opening times:

Saturday, Sunday mornings 6.00-9.30am

Wednesday mornings 6.00-8.30am

Tuesday evenings 5.30-8.30pm

Not sure how long these will be available, but this came out from Challenger World yesterday:
EXTRA PLACES AVAILABLE NOW!
We are pleased to announce that GE are the new title sponsor for the UK’s second largest triathlon, the Blenheim Triathlon.

Now in its seventh year, the GE Blenheim Triathlon, an IMG World event, will take place on the 4th and 5th of June 2011 in the stunning grounds of Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire. Offering distances to suit all levels, there will be 5,500 participants taking part over the two days.

Held in a World Heritage Site, the swim takes place in the Great Lake, whilst the cycle and run routes twist and turn through the acres of Blenheim Palace’s grounds, offering participants picturesque views throughout the course.

To celebrate this announcement, we have released a limited amount of sprint race places for you to purchase. This event is SOLD OUT and this is the only remaining way to get a direct place into one of the most picturesque triathlon events on the calendar. Just go to the website and enter the code below when signing up.
CODE: ‘GEWAVE2011′
These places will fill up fast so enter now to avoid disappointment.

MyProtein releases it’s MP MAX ONE Energel Isotonic

With the wide range of gels currently available it’s quite hard to be pleasantly surprised by a new one on the market. However, MyProtein’s first foray into endurance carbohydrate gels does just that. As an isotonic gel (meaning it’s concentration of sugars and salts are similar to the human body) it is lighter on the stomach than some more concentrated gels and therefore doesn’t have the same requirement to be washed down with copious quantities of water. As well as maltodextrin and fructose, the gel also contains B vitamins, which are associated with energy release in the body, and electrolytes for salt replacement.

While we’d be hard pushed to say any gel tastes good, the MP Max is relatively palatable and easy enough to stomach for a hard bike ride or a race.

MP MAX ONE Energel Isotonic is available in Orange and Summer Berry flavours.  They are priced at £25.99 for a box of 30, 70g sachets or £1.49 for single 70g sachets.

For more information visit www.myprotein.com

Last week we noted the power of imagination and distraction to help ease your way through tough turbo sessions. This week we tried something from swimming and it was also effective for cycling, plus you could do it with your eyes open so it would be equally suitable for use on the road.

The trick is simple: focus on technique. In swimming, it’s easy to let technique slip as you become tired. The result is predictable. You slow down, you put in more effort to keep up the speed, you become more tired, your technique deteriorates further, you slow down some more.

One way to fight this vicious circle (apart from improving your swimming fitness) is to pick a key part of your stroke – such as high elbows or executing a perfect catch – and focusing on that. Not only does it distract you from feeling tired, it helps keep the stroke together and your speed up.

In cycling, technique is not so obvious. Your feet are locked to the pedals and there’s no where else to go. But pedalling technique does make a difference. As we become tired we tend to let the pedal cycles become more uneven, forget to unweight the foot on the upstroke, start throwing our weight around to put more energy through the pedals or shift into a less aerodynamic position.

As surely as spring brings daffodils out of the ground, cyclists too start emerging from their garages and basements, where they’ve spent the winter safely but boringly spinning the wheels but not moving.

Still, Spring weather can be as changeable as it is promising, the days are still short and sometimes the dreaded turbo trainer is the only option for keeping up the training. Apart from iron will power, how do cyclists keep up their efforts on the human equivalent of a hamster wheel?

Motivational videos are one approach. We tried some at T-Zero recently, but weren’t overly impressed. It made a change, but it also made us resentful of those lucky people who live in places with 300+ days a year of sunshine and have the option of swimming in the ocean in the morning and cycling into the mountains in the afternoon. Not only that, the commentary and music both irritated after a short time.

One suggestion is to use the video but turn off the sound and use your own music, which is OK, up to a point. The accompanying music is often set to match the tempo of the pre-recorded ride and unless you’re prepared to spend hours mixing your own playlists (we guess some people are), yours will not.