Weekly Transition 7 March 2012

Word from the Coaches….
As we head into our last couple of months of racing, we generally find athletes is one of three places:
You are hitting your peak right now – with big races including Sprint/Olympic World Qualifiers at at Vic Habour, Mooloolaba and Sydney to come, Ironman Melbourne, Portarlington Long Course and the last 2 races of the Gatorade Series. Athletes in this place would have had two builds for the season, generally peaking around November, and then again in Feb/March for their key races, and if you have got it right, you have and will reach the goals you have set yourself.
Others may feel drained, the season has been long, the training longer and you are ready for a break – this is not uncommon for those who haven’t timed their peaks correctly, or tried to train and race hard from Oct right through to the end of the season. This is extremely hard to do – which is why we have A, B, C grade races. If you feel concerned with where you are at, or how you feel leading into your last few races of the season ensure you speak to one of our coaches in the office so we can guide you accordingly. There’s nothing better than finishing off the season strong, so make sure you do – you may just need some extra guidance to get you there, so don’t be afraid to ask!
OR you are new to our squad and you are simply just ‘peaking’ from how awesome you feel with your new found sport and training. If this is you – then welcome to the awesome world of triathlon, you guys may just well help our seasoned athletes finish the season as your enthusiasm is infectious – so keep it up!
No matter which situation you find yourself in, at anytime you have a question about how we program our sessions, your training in general, nutritional advice – anything at all relating to your training and racing with us – then make sure you ask the questions. We can guarantee that someone before you would have asked the same question and someone after you will also do the same. So it doesn’t matter what it is – we can’t assist unless you ask. (I’ll start manning the phones now…) 🙂

This leads us to our GOAL SETTING WORKSHOPS this weekend.These workshops are an important part of your training and race planning and we encourage everyone to attend. YOU MUST RSVP BY CLICKING HERE.

DETAILS:Saturday 10 March 2012
Tri Alliance Office 3/20-26 Sabre Drive, Port Melbourne
9.00-10.30am – Fun / Social / new athletes
11.00-12.30pm – Sprint/Olympic Athletes
1.00-2.30pm – Half Ironman Athletes
3.00-4.30pm – Ironman Athletes

For those attending the 9am goal setting session, if you are training in the morning, ensure you finish up no later than 8.30am to ensure you have time to shower and head to Port Melbourne. Please ensure you plan accordingly with spare clothes, post training food etc.

Did we also forget to remind you it’s a LONG WEEKEND this weekend! (woo!) So make sure you enjoy a little R&R alongside your training. Great chance to catch up on a few zzz’s, or with some family/friends…. And remember Monday is the public holiday – so no coached sessions. Feel free to post/check the Tri Alliance facebook if you want to meet up for a session. If it’s a nice day on Monday, we’d recommend an open water swim. 🙂

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TRAINING DETAILS FOR THIS THURSDAY COMBO SESSION
Due to the Nissan Corporate Triathlon swim being cancelled on Sunday (and as with other races where swim has been cancelled) Tri Alliance and ELSC will be holding an Open Water Training Swim. This will allow athletes to time themselves over a 400m course and give you a good indication on how your open water swimming is going. This open water swim is also open to anyone who participated in the Nissan Corporate Event on Sunday, so we expect good wave numbers. 🙂
Given we have the chance to utilise the marked course and ELSC lifesavers, we will therefore be completing the following session/s on Thursday Night:

Short Course – Race Simulation:
15min warm-up (either bike or run), followed by prepping for a 6.30pm open water swim start. Option of 400 or 800m swim, followed by straight into a 15-20min bike from windtrainer and 15-20min run (coaches will advice distances and further details)
Half Ironman – Race Simulation:
15min warm-up (either bike or run), followed by prepping for 6.30pm open water swim start. 800m swim, followed by straight into a 40min bike from windtrainer and 15min run. (coaches will confirm distances and further details)
Long Course – will remain the same

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IRONMAN NEW ZEALAND – A RACE TO REMEMBER (FOR THE WRONG REASONS!)
We have all heard of the lead up to this Ironman race. Severe weather was set to ruin the plans of 1500+ competitors who had out the extremely hard yards to get themselvs to the start line. And for once the weather forecast was true to its words with gale force winds of 100+kms scheduled for race day meant that the race was to be cancelled. Absolutely devastating for our athletes and coaches, friends and family who have helped get them there. But there was nothing the race organisers could do – the conditions were simply unsafe to race in. As a small consolation, they organisers were able to put on a Half Ironman 70.3 on the Sunday to allow athletes to at least race – with same qualifying points for Kona, so it was still set to be a hard fought race.

It wasn’t the day, the distance or the race our athletes had been training all year for, but despite this, they went out there and gave it just as much – if not more! Their determination and resolve in such a devastating situation is highly commendable. To make it to the start line of an Ironman Race is the hardest part of diong an ironman. The countless training hours and kilometres, the sacrifices, the injuries, niggles, the contant grind – the mental and physical challenges are enormous. And to have your race taken away from you is devastating. But in our eyes, you have all run and won your Ironman race simply by getting to this oint. Our hats go off to you all – look forward to see you all back in Melbourne soon.
New Zealand Half Ironman 70.3 results
Nick Sissons – #382, M30-34 – S 37:56, B 2:25.03, R 1:41.39, Overall 4:56.29
Rob Scapin – #1155, M45-49 – S 42.37, B 2:43.21, R 1:44.36, Overall 5:24.39
Mike Murray – #176, M25-29 – S  31:50, B 2:40.33, R 2:04.45, Overall 5:27.07
Jason Nicholl – #610, M35-39 – S 39:38, B 2:42.09, R1:51.50, Overall 5:28.08
Greg Nugent – #1354 M50-54 – S 37:58, B2:57.27, R 1:53.11, Overall 5:42.12
Paul Venner – #1179, M45-49 – S 43.32, B3:00.34, R 2:09.59, Overall 6:10.34
Dale Beehre – #1013, M45-49 – S 42.27, B 3:05.53, R 2:15.26, Overall 6:20.15
Rohan Belmore – #1015, M45-49 – S 35.38, B 2:55.41, R 2:42.26, Overall 6:31.58
Justine Marshall-Owens – #972, F40-44 – S 49.45, B 3:29.05, R 2:11.15, Overall 6:48.23
Jeannette Linehan – #971, F40-44 – S 42.05, B 3:48.10, R 2:24.46, Overall 7:12.51

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GOOD LUCK TO OUR ATHLETES RACING THIS WEEKEND
This weekend South Australia holds a race in Victor Harbour as a qualifying race for athletes who are aiming at qualifying for the New Zealand Sprint or Olympic Distance World Championships in September 2012. Best of luck to the following athletes racing:

Emma-Lise Donati   |   Peter Rainey  |  Dan Weekes  |  Anthony Leverington

We also wish BRAD RIDDINGTON all the best in conquering the Three Peaks Challenge this weekend. This is a tough ride (just ask anyone who has done it!) including 235km over Towonga Gap, Mount Hotham and Falls Creek. Given Brad’s stomping ground is Kinglake, he’s been putting in the km’s on the bike – so have a great ride Brad!

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GOOD LUCK TO OUR ATHLETES GETTING MARRIED THIS WEEKEND!

We wish Narelle Crooks and Nathan Sims a wonderful wedding and celebrations this Sunday. We have no doubt what-so-ever that Narelle will be a stunning bride and Nathan will prop her up just nicely. 🙂 Best wishes to you both – look forward to celebrating with you!

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WISHING MICHELLE A SPEEDY RECOVERY
Athlete Michelle Grocock had an unfortunate accident on the weekend, coming off her bike while on a training ride and landing herself in hospital with concussion. Tri Alliance has been in costant contact with Michelle since her acident and we are pleased to advise that she is on the mend. After some physio on her shoulder yesterday she should be able to start doing some light training Thursday. Michelle has been training for her first long course event at Portarlington next weekend and we wish Michelle a speedy recovery and will be sure to see her line up at Portarlington next weekend – and back on the podium again soon!

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NISSAN CORPORATE TRIATHLON
The Nissan Corporate Triathlon was run for another year and again had huge numbers. This year our coaches were on the sidelines cheering on athletes and participants and it’s fantastic to see so many people enjoying the sport we love!

We ended up having around 30+ tri Alliance athletes either competing in their own teams or that of other companies and by all reports everyone had a great time.  And we even managed to snag a podium finish with Active Moreland City Council consisting of TA athletes Darrel Clemson, Ryan Bourke and Kristine Banks-Smith taking out the mixed teams. Word is we also have a video from their moment in the spotlight in the corporate colours prize – happy to sell at a cost! 😉

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THANKS TO OUR IM MELB VOLUNTEERS TO BE!
A big thankyou to everyone who has put their name down to be part of the Ironman Journey – and ironman history in Melbourne and volunteer to assist on one of our aid stations. We have around 40 volunteers which is great as it allows our volunteers to take shifts of 3-6hours, which is a lot more manageable than 6+ hours. Emma Nicholl will be collating all this info and communicating to you in the next week – so stay tuned on further details on this. If you missed putting your name down but would still like to be involved, we ask you to email Emma – as we’d still love around 5 more! CLICK HEREto read more and then email [email protected] to let her know.

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EXCITING THINGS TO COME – STAY TUNED!
The Tri Alliance Team have been working extremely hard behind the scenes in the last couple of months already planning for the 2012/2013 season. There is a lot that happens in the four walls of the TA and we can’t wait to release a lot more details on what we have been working hard for you on. Some exciting details to be released in the next 2 weeks:

• Our Goal Setting Workshops this weekend – presented by The performance & Sports Psychology Clinic.
• Our April ‘Recovery & Transition Phase‘ Traning Timetable – this includes details on what happens if you are still racing during April May, and the importance of this 5th phase of our training program. Did someone say let’s have some FUN??? Mountain biking, bootcamp, bike skills, Stand Up Paddle Boarding PLUS MORE!
• Post Race 7 Celebrations – Sun 1 April, get ready to swap your training shoes for dancing shoes!
• End of Season presentation Night – locked in for May 12, official invites (and details!) will be released on March 19.
• NEW training timetable for the NORTH/WEST, with new bike and run sessions starting in May for those who train in the North/West area – including new coaches!
• Run Technique Program with Level 5 Track & Field Coach. Keep reading to find out more.
• Lorne Training Camp – back with popular demand, our first (and biggest!) camp for the season. Queens Birthday Weekend – lock it in!
• *Please also note that the Tri Alliance office will be closed during the period Friday 6 April, returning Monday 23rd April, all sessions will remain as planned during this time, howere there will be no-one in the office. Further communication on this will be provided including emergency contact numbers.

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RUN TECHNIQUE PROGRAM – COMMENCING MAY
Wanting to work on your Run Technique? Tri Alliance has again secured the services of Level 5 Track & Field Coach Tony Benson to run a run technique program for those who want to work specifically on this area to improve their technique. It will be a 6 week program commencing in May (perfect timing for technique!) We already have 25 names on our list, so we are looking at running 2 programs at the same time – we are just confirming these days/times but will either be 1 on Thursday PM, 1 on Saturday afternoon OR both on Saturday afternoon. So keep reading on how you can secure yourself a place….

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ARE YOU RACING IN APRIL / MAY / JUNE ?? IF SO, WE NEED TO KNOW
Are you racing outside of the ‘Melbourne Triathlon Racing Calendar’? This includes any race after the last race of the Gatorade/Active Feet Fun Tri Series such as Sydney, Busselton Half, Port Mac + more.  IF SO – WE NEED TO KNOW! This will ensure you are provided with a program over the April/May period leading into your specific races.
Below is a list of athletes / races we have  – if you are not on this list please let us know: (or if you are on the list and no longer racing, we also need to know.)

SYDNEY – 15 APRIL
Margaret Mielczarek, Brad Campbell, Brinn Tavener, Rachel Stonestreet, Brett Parker, Meg Takiguchi, Morris Caleca, Mark Skilton, Stan Assimopoulos, Pam Tunas, Anthony Churchward, Lisa Dominguez, Shane Buntman, Geoff Taylor, Daniel Steadman, Michelle Grocock, Damien Phelan, Alex Angelini, Jonathan Carberry, John-Paul Collins, Xavier Flynn, Hendrick Zimmet
Port Macquarie – 6 MAY
Peter Hinrichsen, Mark Jenkins, Jonathan Cahill
Busselton Half – 6 MAY
Lucas Riley, John Grant
Hawaii 70.3 – 20 MAY
Stan Assimopoulos
Challenge Cairns – 3 JUNE
Michelle Grocock – Half

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WINTER LIGHTS SPECIAL FROM CBD CYCLES
With the days getting shorter, and the training getting darker, our valued partners CBD Cycles have put together a great special on quality bike lights to ensure you can see and BE seen on your road rides. It is compulsory from no on for all athletes to ride with lights (due to late sunrise) on our weekend rides, so if you don’t have any – make sure you get some!

CLICK HERE to grab yourself a bargain!

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PRO IRONMAN ATHLETE JOE GAMBLES ‘ASCENDS’ ON TRI ALLIANCE!
Tri Alliance is excited to announce that ‘ASCEND‘ believer and Pro Ironman Athlete Joe Gambles will join Tri Alliance at a training session before his next major race – Ironman Melbourne!

Joe recently finished 2nd at the Australian Long Course Championships at Falls Creek last month, and is now setting his sights on Ironman Melbourne on Sunday 25 March 2012, along with 17 Tri Alliance athletes.

This is exciting not only for our own Ironman Melbourne athletes tackling this course, but for every one of our athletes. To have a pro triathlete of Joe’s calibre sharing his knowledge, experience and stories of triathlon and Ironman racing – and we are excited to have Joe join us at our training session on Thursday 22 March 2012

There will also be ASCEND give-aways on the night, so you don’t want to miss out on this one in a life time training session!!

CLICK HERE to read more….

Tri Alliance would like to thank Joe for his time and Ascend for their ongoing support of Tri Alliance.

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DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
Sat 10 March – Goal Setting WorkShops
Sun 11 March – Three Peaks Challenge
Sun 18 March – Race 6 Gatorade/Actve Feet Series, Portarlington (and Grand Prix!)
Sat 24 March – Great Ocean & Otway Classic Ride
Sun 25 March – Ironman Melbourne! & Mooloolaba Olympic Distance
Sun 1 April – Race 7 Gatorade/Actve Feet Series, StKilda followed by post race celebrations
Sun 15 April – Sydney Olympic Distance
Sat 5 Mar – Port MacQuarie Ironman
Sun 6 May – Busselton Half Ironman & Puffing Billy Fun Run
Sat 12 May – Tri Alliance End of Season Presentation Night
Sun 20 May – Great Ocean Road Half/Full Marathon
7-11 June – Lorne Training Camp
Sun 15 July – Run Melbourne

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NEW TRAINING TIMETABLES & PROGRAMS
Our new training timetables for the month of March have been posted. There are a few changes due to the Grand Prix and with heaps of races happening, so make sure you check them out for training details. CLICK HERE to view our March Training Timetables.

New Training Programs for the month of March have now also been uploaded. We had an IT issue with some of our Olympic Distance athletes but this has now been resolved. If you are still unable to access your training program, please call us in the office on 9645 2223.

Viewing your Training Programs
We have put together a help document to help you access your training programs. So if you haven’t read through this document – make sure you do before contacting us to ensure that you are accessing correctly. And if you don’t already view your program on your iPhone, Blackberry or Android Phone, then make sure you read how to – as it is very user friendly on your phone and you can check it out anytime, anywhere without having to log in each time.

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TRIATHLON TRADING POST
Looking for triathlon gear at a chaeaper price? Why not check out our Triathlon Trading Post!

We’ve had some new inclusions this week including a ASICS RUNNING FLATS (new) and a SPECIALIZED TIMETRIAL BIKE!  Click here to find out more and check out what you may be able to pick up at a bargain price!

If you have something you want to sell, email full details to [email protected]

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TRAINING DETAILS THIS WEEKEND
SATURDAY 10 MARCH

SHORT COURSE: Long Run & Open water swim skills, Elwood Beach Coach Darren
6.50am for briefing for a 7.00am start. No bikes required.

GOAL SETTING WORKSHOP – YOU MUST RSVP BY CLICKING HERE.
Meet: Tri Alliance Office 3/20-26 Sabre Drive, Port Melbourne
9.00-10.30am – Fun / Social / new athletes
11.00-12.30pm – Sprint/Olympic Athletes

TRY-the-TRI’s / NISSAN CORPORTES: Triathlon Skills
Elwood Beach 9.30-11.00am
Bring all swim/bike/run gear. Coaches Darren & Des

LONG COURSE ATHLETES
Long Ride/Run off the Bike. Coach Ollie
Meeting at Port Melbourne Lifesaving Club (opposite Pickles Street, Port Melbourne) FRONT & REAR LIGHTS COMPULSORY
Ironman Melbourne 5.50am for a 6.00am start. Coach Ollie
All other long course athletes: 6.20am for a 6.30am start. Coach Sarah

GOAL SETTING WORKSHOP – YOU MUST RSVP BY CLICKING HERE.
Meet: Tri Alliance Office 3/20-26 Sabre Drive, Port Melbourne
1.00-2.30pm – Half Ironman Athletes
3.00-4.30pm – Ironman Athletes

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SUNDAY 11 MARCH

SHORT COURSE: Speed endurance ride 40-90km FRONT & REAR LIGHTS COMPULSORY. Coach Sarah
Meeting at Port Melbourne Lifesaving Club (opposite Pickles Street, Port Melbourne)
6.20am for a 6.30am start. Please ensure you are ready before the start time.
For those new to riding, you will ride to either Black Rock (30km) or Mordialloc (50km) return and focus on completing the distance rather than speed/endurance. All other athletes will ride 70-90km and will include speed intervals along Station Street. Coach Sarah will provide further details at the ride briefing. So please ensure you are on time.

LONG COURSE: Long run (uncoached)
8.00am Meet at Port Melbourne Lifesaving Club – Cnr Pickles and Beaconsfield Parade for a group run. Follow your programs for distances.

If you have any queries on distances for your specific races please ensure you contact one of our coaches.

Happy Training & Racing!
Team Tri Alliance