WORD FROM THE COACHES
A great week of training last week from athletes, some solid performances and consistency is bringing some good results on the training track and racing. Torrential rain Thursday Night meant we had to post pone Mizuno Running and Ironman athlete Sam Hume joining us. But tomorrow night is looking like another cracker so they will be down to join us so make sure you get along to Thursday Night. We also have heaps of other things happening tomorrow night so make sure you read below for more details.
Last Sunday for Race 4 of the Gatorade & Active Feet Series with 66 athletes racing over the three distance, we had podiums galore, PB’s first timer Olympic Distances and more. Click here to read our race report.

CONGRATULATIONS
A big congratulations to Tri Alliance athletes Narelle Crooks and Nathan Sims on the safe arrival of their beautiful little boy Mitchell Joshua Sims. Narelle had to be very very patient on waiting for little Mitchell to arrive but he did with gusto on Tuesday morning. Much love goes to your new little family and we look forward to meeting him. (Athletes have asked whether we should do a competition on when we will see Narelle back at training?!) 😉
We now eagerly await the impending arrival of a little one from Coach Des and his wife Emily. Good luck guys!

MIZUNO RUNNING & IRONMAN SAM HUME
The team from Running Fit and Mizuno will be at this Thursday Nights session at Elwood. Our Ironman Team will also get the chance to have a Q&A with one of the best Ironman Age Group Athletes – Sam Hume. So make sure you get along – some valuable Ironman tips will be handed out!
6.00pm Elwood Beach. Bring all swim, bike and run gear. Also ensure you bring along some post training nutrition and hydration.

GEELONG PRE RACE BRIEF – THIS THURSDAY
This Thursday Night we will also hold a pre-race briefing for athletes racing in Geelong. Coaches Ollie, Greg and Sarah will take separate groups for IM Melbourne athletes racing, Half Ironman Athletes and Olympic Distance. Discussions will go through areas such as race plan, nutrition and hydration, training pre/post race plus more. Make sure you come along so you don’t miss out.

MYSTERY PRIZE COMPETITION
Another congrats goes to Narelle Crooks who studied the form guide and won our Mystery Prize Competition by guessing the time that “Team Tri Alliance” will finish in the Sandringham Olympic Distance.
Narelle’s guess of 1:52.05 was a mere 16 seconds within the winning time of 1:51:49. Two wins in the one day – nice one Narelle! 🙂

NEXT STROKE CORRECTION COURSE
Due to popular demand, we will be running another Stroke Correction Course in March. We are currently taking expressions of interest if you can email [email protected] if interested. Click here for more details.
You may also be interested in watching our new Swim Stroke Correction videos via our YouTube Channel here.

RUNNING AND CYCLING GEAR NOW IN STOCK!
We now have our full range of running and Cycling Gear in stock. If you have ordered any gear make sure you come along to this weeks Thursday Night’s Combo Session to pick up.

So if you haven’t got yourself some of our training, racing or cycling gear, make sure you check out our NEW ONLINE SHOP for all your triathlon needs.

IRONMAN MELBOURNE ‘GROUP’
Our Ironman Melbourne Team this year is the largest Tri Alliance Ironman Team to date, including our largest group of First Time Ironman Athletes.

And it is for this purpose that we have created a ‘group’ so fellow athletes can chat, discuss, share thoughts, ask questions etc. As many questions we have from athletes are similar or along the same lines, so if you ask – you can guarantee that someone else is probably wondering the same thing! For our athletes who have done Ironman before, you may be able to share your experiences, just as you would have asked LOADS of questions before your first IM.   Tri Alliance will also provide information in the next week regarding our final 6 weeks training post Geelong including Race Simulation sessions in/around Frankston, an IM Melbourne dinner and more. So stay tuned.
CLICK HERE to join the Tri Alliance Ironman Melbourne Facebook Group

GEELONG – LEAD CYCLISTS – 3 PEOPLE NEEDED!
We are looking for 3 athletes (or friends/family) who will be in Geelong Saturday afternoon and for the race to be lead and tail cyclists for the event. There will be a lead for the Male LC, Female Long Course and lead Olympic Distance.
You must also be available at 4pm on Saturday afternoon in geelong to meet and do a recon on the run course.
You would be provided with use of:

• Bikes and helmets
• Radios
• Identification vests
• And we’ve been told you will receive a little “thank you” gift also (bonus!)

If you are keen and available please email [email protected] ASAP!

UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO GOLF A PROFESSIONAL TRIATHLETE!
Tri Alliance has been given the opportunity to provide 6 lucky people the chance to golf with a professional triathlete this Friday 8 Feb in Geelong.
You will have the chance to be partnered with a professional triathlete, a mate or colleague and play as a team of two to complete 9 holes of golf in the shortest amount of time. The team with the fastest course time will win 2 VIP tickets to IRONMAN Melbourne! Click here to read more. If you are FREE and INTERESTED in winning one of these spots, please CLICK HERE and post and we will randomly select 6 lucky people! 🙂 Draw closes 2pm this Thursday 7 Feb.

FIRST AID COURSE – THIS FRIDAY!
Some of Tri Alliance Coaches and athletes are attending a first aid course through StJohn Ambulance this Friday and we have two places remaining. $175 for a full day course including first aid and CPR. So if you need to be re-qualified, or have never down your first aid before, why not join us. We promise to make it FUN! 🙂 Email [email protected]

ALPINE CLASSIC RACE REPORT – By David Stokie
Tri Alliance Online Coached athlete David Stokie provides us with an insight into this years Alpine Classic – which had many challenges due to the bush fires and extreme weather. David lives in Harrietville where the bush fires were but luckily no damage was done. He is now in his final prep for Ironman Melbourne. Click here to read his report.

MARSHALS WANTED – NISSAN CORPORATE TRIATHLON!
The Nissan Corporate Triathlon National Series – Melbourne is now less than 2 weeks away and we are all back to some sort of normality following the festive break, and SuperSprint are looking for Marshals for this event – the biggest triathlon in the hemisphere!

Event Roles / Areas:

Race Kit Collection, Number Writing, Bag Compound, Transition Area, Pedestrian Crossing, Swim Course, Cycle Course, Run Course

• Drink stations
• Finish Line
• Timing
• Athlete Show Bags
• Spectator Services

The feedback from athletes who have offered their services over the past few events say that the experience is invaluable!

Eamonn: “I really enjoyed the experience and as an athlete I will definitely be more appreciative of the great job the volunteers do. It’s a long morning and getting up so early is not an easy task!”
Peter:  “It was great fun helping out! I’d definitely recommend it to any competitors!”
Charlie: “Thanks so much, I had a great time, was a pleasure helping.”

You’ll have just as much fun without the pressure of competing…..you’ll also see the race from the ‘other’ side. Email [email protected] – let her know you are with Tri Alliance.

SMILING FOR SMIDDY – THE LEADER BOARD! 
Tri Alliance Victoria has had a great start to our fundraising campaign thanks to Brianna Scarlett who has done a fantastic effort in raising over $3,500 and helping to put Tri Alliance in the top 5 Fundraisers so far this year.

We are also pleased to announce that this takes us in front in our ‘fundraising race’ against Tri Alliance Queensland – but not by much! So make sure you get involved!

You can donate to Brianna’s fundraising campaign (her goal $5k before IM Melbourne!) or Tri Alliance Victoria in general HERE.
To find out more and to register to start your own fundraising (and have your training fees paid for!) CLICK HERE.

HAPPY TRAINING!
Team Tri Alliance