Weekly Transition #1, 30 April 2012

WORD FROM THE COACHES

Welcome back Team!

Your training for the 2012/2013 Triathlon Season starts here – TODAY. By reading the first edition of the Weekly Transitin, you are commencing day 1 of your winter training season and its going to be a good one. And best of all you have the guidance, support, knowledge and resources of Tri Alliance at your finger tips – so you are already one step ahead if the rest. So welcome onboard – we can’t wait to share this next journyou with you!

Most of you now are coming off a break of some shape or form after your last race of the 2011/2012 Season. The start of our official winter training starts TODAY (that is unless, you are one of our 7 athletes who are still putting in the hard yards and finalising their race preparations for races in the next 1-3 weeks more on these guys below), so we hope that you have taken our advice and had a good break over the last 2-4 weeks. Winter is long tough training – both physically and mentally so it’s important that you are fresh and ready to get stuck into your base and technique training. And for those who may be thinking ‘another couple of weeks off won’t hurt’, remember every week you lose now cannot be gained back! Training starts back easy so no need to stress that you have lost fitness or put on an extra few kg’s – that simply means you have let your body enjoy a well needed recovery and it will repay you for it come the next season – trust us! 🙂 Plenty of advice will be given over the coming months, so listen to coaches, seek advice when needed and you will set yourself up for a great season ahead.

The office and our coaches have also been enjoying some R&R away from training, coaching and working over the past month – just like you, they are human too and it is super important that all our Coaches are also refreshed and ready to take on another season. You will all at times rely on their drive, enthusiasm and passion throughout the year so I’m sure you will appreciate their need for time off. Because of this, the office has been closed 2 weeks, Emma away for an additional week, and Coaches Ollie and Sarah not back until next week. If you have any urgent matters you can contact the office from 10am-3pm Mond-Thurs this week. Otherwise any outstanding emails will be responded to  this week.

So we trust you have all had a great break, enjoyed part or all of our April Transition & Recovery Phase and are ready to get stuck into the first week of many great training weeks over the coming months! (Can you tell we are excited??!!) 🙂

APRIL TRAINING A BIG HIT!

This year we believe we put together our best training lineup yet and it didn’t disappoint. April is designed to allow athletes to rest and recover while maintaining some base fitness – and having some fun at the same time.

Our swim program provided plenty of variety and  challenges including tandem swimming, swimming in clothes, relays and more.

Our Bike Skills sessions with Matt C were a huge hit with our bike enthusiasts and those keen to learn. Despite the cold mornings we had fantastic numbers and a few lucky athletes even took away some GIANT prizes. Well done.

BootCamp was not for the faint hearted. With Katee at the helm athletes were in for a solid workout. The weather didn’t help, so top work to those who braved it and survived!

Fun Run Thursdays – the word fun can be loosely termed when Coach Zoolander is in charge. Numbers proved his popularity though and athletes enjoyed tough run, skills and strength sessions.

Tour de Latte is always one of the favourites. Less confident riders ride away feeling proud of their efforts, confident riders feel chuffed that they helped others and everyone enjoys the Lattes! Sunday Fundays – gold! Around 2o athletes participated in Stand Up Paddle Boarding on a gorgeous Melbourne day –  some great pics posted on Facebook.

With popular demand from last year, next up was the 1000 steps and breaky at Coach Dazzas. And a big hit again. (not to worry about not being able to walk the next day though!) 🙂

And last – Mountain biking. Around 20 athletes hit Lysterfield Park yesterday for a great ride. It was great to see a number of athletes experience their first mountain biking ride. We’re sure you will be back for more! 🙂

MAY TRAINING – TECHNIQUE & VOLUME/BASE 

May is the start of the first phase of our 5 training phases in our Yearly Planner. It is the time of the year when the majority of our athletes start back training for our ‘Winter Base Training Program’ after some rest and recovery from the previous season of training and racing. This phase of training is based around slow km’s in the pool, on the bike and running as we start to build/work on improving your base fitness and technique

If you are new to triathlon OR new to training with a group/squad then this is the perfect time to get your training started! Technique and base endurance fitness early in the season is extremely important and will have a direct impact on your training and more importantly—racing, over the next season. So NOW is the time to start your training for the coming 2012/2013 season.

If you want to know more about our ‘Technique Phase’ in your training program login to your athlete login and view the document “Technique Phase – May”

CLICK HERE to view the May Training Timetable. 

You will notice that we have Time Trials plannd for next week. Do not stress yourself about these, they the perfect way to compare this time to last year and give you an understanding and plan on where/how you can improve over the coming months. Plus give you good motivation going into the Winter Season! Stay tuned for further details on these.

MONTHLY DINNER THIS THURSDAY NIGHT

Back after demand, we will be continuing our monthly team dinners on a Thursday Night after run training. Our first dinner is as scheduled:

The Palmerston Hotel, 51 Palmerston Cres South Melbourne. We will head to’The Palmie’ straight after run training (city based only) so will be around 7.30pm. A good hearty pub quality meal and cheap drinks. See you there!

ATHLETES STILL RACING – SO CLOSE NOW!

While most of us have been taking it easy, we have a small number of athletes who have still been building up to their last race of the season. A hard as the days get shorter and colder and everyone else is living a ‘normal’ life. A big shout out to Mark Jenkins (first IM), Peter Hinrichsen (first IM), Rob Scapin (ready to complete his first after missing the opportunity at IM NZ) and Jono Cahill (our athlete from Tassie and looking for a PB from last year) who are competing in Ironman Port Macquarie this weekend. A tough course so good luck boys.

Heading over to Busso this weekend for Busselton 70.3 Half Ironman are Lucas Riley (first Half) and Dax Stanley (backing up after IM Melbourne with a few entry into Busso thanks to Shotz Sports Nutrition). A great course and withphotos conditions, a fast one!

And alsobracing in a couple of weeks is Nick Sissions who also missed out on completing IM NZ, so is making another OS trip and this time to St George. A tough ask to back up mentally and physically again for an IM but word on the street is he is feeling good.

Good luck to all our guys racing, further details will be posted on Facebook this week for the guys racing this weekend so you can follow them online.

DEXTRO SYDNEY RACE REPORT

Two weeks ago we had 23 athletes finish their season on a high by racing the Dextro Sydney Olympic Distance Race. Read athlete Shane Buntmans account of the race HERE.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Congratulations to the newly married couples in the squad Cam and Belinda Pegg and Brad and Danielle Campbell. We’ve seen some great pics from the weddings and we must say both bride and grooms were stunningly gorgeous (yes you too boys!) 🙂 Enjoy your respective honeymoons!

END OF SEASON PRESENTATION NIGHT IS ALMOST UPON US!

The night of nights on the Tri Alliance Social Calendar is almost here. And what a night we have planned! We have been busy putting together a great line up of entertainment and presentations, so if you haven’t booked your tickets DO IT NOW! Numbers are being finalised with the venue is week, and we don’t want you to miss out!

WINTER SEASON TRAINING CAMP – LORNE
The first (and biggest!) of our training camps for the year. Queens Birthday Weekend marks our first triathlon training camp for the 2012/2013 Triathlon Season. This Annual Training Camp held in Lorne is centred on kick starting your training for the 2012/2013 Triathlon Season, while having fun and learning from experienced coaches and other athletes.
This camp caters for all abilities and fitness levels – so if you want to give your winter training a boost and want to challenge your mind and body then this camp is for you! This year we will again have a jam packed camp full of training, guest speakers, workshops, giveaways and another fantastic Athlete Pack.
CLICK HERE to read more…

SETTING YOUR RACE PLANS AND GOALS

Pig you haven’t set your race plans for the season yet, then you better get to it. Knowing your race plans early ensures your training plan will lead you to the race plan – and then ultimately your goals. We are finalising a comprehensive events and race calendar and in the next week communications king for you to complete a questionnaire on what races/events you will be participating in. This ensures we have you in the right training plans based on your goals and level. So please keep an eye out for this. In the meantime make sure you have your races locked in – if you are unsure, contact the office for guidance.

CLICK HERE to view our events and race calendar. Due to the large number if races and events for running, cycling, Duathlon, triathlon and off-road,  Tri Alliance will have certain focus races that we will support and provide assistance for. This does not mean that you have to do these races, just that we will be supporting them. So a large proportion of athletes will train up for and lead into these races which creates acreator training atmosphere, motivation and challenge – and plenty of training buddies!

Stay tuned for more info on getting your training on track and planning out your Winter Training Season.

We wish you all an enjoyable, challenging and rewarding season – we look forward to sharing the journey with you.

Team Tri Alliance