WEEKLY TRANSITION, SWIM, BIKE, RUN, READ…..
- WORD FROM THE COACHES
- NEW CYCLING GEAR PRE ORDERS
- PRE-SEASON TRAINING CAMP
- BIKE FOR SALE
- TRAINING ARTICLE – WHY WE SWIM TT
- ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP
- TRAINING SESSION UPDATES
At the weekend we saw a great turnout for our Beach Road recovery ride with 30+ athletes having a spin. Some of our new athletes making great strides and gaining in confidence on the road. Thanks to all for making them welcome and helping them along – we were all there at some point. Although it was a great ride please remember Coach Greg’s words of wisdom – we all need to be accountable for the group we are riding to make it safe for all road users. Do not just follow the rider in-front – pay attention, be alert at all times, look over your shoulder when moving out and be vocal to those in your group and those passing and being passed. Lecture over. This weekend Advanced and Intermediate riders will be heading back out to the Dandenongs for more strength work. Further details on the rides can be found below.
Well done to those who ran in the City to Surf in Sydney at the weekend (James, Michelle, Wright, Kate). From the pictures it looked a great day and by all accounts fun was had along with some personal bests and great results. This weekend sees a number of athletes racing in the Salamon Trail running series at Olinda – it will be a muddy affair no doubt with some tough hills to build on the strength work we have done at the Tan. Good luck and race well all.
Speaking of racing….To get us thinking of summer, the race season and to lock in those goal short course races Supersprint have launched the Gatorade Triathlon Series for 2015/2016 and entries are now open. The 5 race series will follow the same format as last year with 2 races at Elwood, 2 at St Kilda (both including an Olympic Distance) and 1 at Portarlington (it’s 30 Anniversary). Tri-Alliance members will receive an 10% discount on entries so make sure you select the club to qualify. http://bit.ly/1MTlBRs
The Queenscliff pre-season camp is gaining momentum so make sure you get onto the TriShop and book your spot for the 11-13th September. Open to all abilities. Read more here.
Tomorrow is swim TT (200m/500m/1k) at all sessions so make sure you head along to see how well you have progressed in the past 6 weeks. Also ensure you have updated your bike training zones from the testing set we did at the MSAC wind trainer session last week. Always bring your heart rate monitor so you can train in the appropriate zone. For the spreadsheet that determines your zones based on your results click here to download it: Tri Alliance HR Zones – Wind Trainer Test.
Remember to keep an eye out on the Tri-Alliance Victoria Facebook page for all important updates and any changes regards training. Also regularly check the timetable for session details.
Our new cycling gear is ready for pre-orders. Be ready for the new season in some stylish new kit – so order now to guarantee your gear. For those who attended the Lorne camp we have contacted you with a coupon code for your order – sizes are the same as the existing Elite gear so get onto the shop and place your order.
3. PRE-SEAONTRAINING CAMP – QUEENSCLIFF
The pre-season camp at YMCA Queenscliff from Friday 11th September to Sunday 13th September is now open for bookings – BOOK HERE NOW.
$349 ((early bird deposit only $164.50) for the entire weekend including accommodation , training, breakfast and lunch. This camp is perfect for all levels of athlete with flat and challenging options available leading into race season.
Queenscliff is a quiet sea side town located just 30min outside of Geelong on the Bellarine Peninsula. You will have access to a mixture of flat, undulating and hilly ride and runs, and some fantastic trail running, along with your first open water swimming for the season in Port Phillip Bay.
This camp signifies the commencement of our pre race preparation phase – which incorporates race specific training (bike/run combo). Distances will vary depending on athlete level, what you are training for and when your race goals are. So all levels and race distances are catered for! This is a whole team camp, so all levels are encouraged to attend to gain a final training spike before jumping into our pre season preparation phase.
There are some fantastic benefits of attending this camp including having direct access and contact with our Coaching team for the weekend, mixing with other like minded athletes, pushing yourself both mentally and physically, focusing on nothing but training, eating and sleeping for 3 days!
Book in now and if you have any questions please drop us a note [email protected].
Ex Giant Pro Deal bike at a great price is available to our athletes. In great condition having been very well looked after. Contact us if interested in learning more.
Giant TCR Advanced 0 2012 – Male Small, Dii2, 10 speed Ultegra – $2300
5.TRAINING ARTICLE – WHY WE DO SWIM TIME TRIALS
You are training for a triathlons later this season. You know your swim training is going well because your times in your 50/100/200-meter sets are coming down. This is a sure sign your performance potential for the swim leg of your upcoming races is headed in the right direction, right? Not necessarily. While any type of improvement in workouts is usually a good sign, improved performance in short sprints is not always a reliable indicator of increasing performance potential in a longer open-water swim. For real evidence, you should regularly perform workouts in the pool that look more like a real triathlon swim leg than a set of 50m+ meter sprints.
That’s where time-trial workouts come in. A time-trial swim workout serves the dual function of giving you a race-specific training stimulus and letting you know whether the rest of your training is actually serving to increase your race-specific fitness. The idea is to do one such workout every number of weeks (we do 6). If you see a satisfactory degree of improvement, you know your training is on track. If your level of improvement is disappointing, or if you fail to improve at all, you know your swim training needs to change.
Always do your swim time-trial workouts when you are well recovered from recent swim sessions. Warm up with at least 200 meters of easy lap swimming plus a few short (25-meter) sprints to prime the nervous system. Swim the designated distance as fast as you can (but evenly paced), record your time and cool down.
As mentioned above, if your degree of improvement from one time trial to the next is disappointing, you should modify your swim training to address the problem. The specific modification you make should depend on the specific limiter you identify (that is, the apparent cause of your disappointing performance). If you found the pace of your time trial manageable but you bonked toward the end, you were probably limited by your endurance and should increase the distance of your longest swim-training efforts.
If you started to feel uncomfortable at the pace you felt you should be able to sustain early in your time trial, then one of two factors is probably limiting you: insufficient speed or lack of specific endurance (or fatigue resistance at race intensity). If your sprint performance has been satisfactory in your other swim workouts, then lack of specific endurance is probably the issue and you should add some longer (200-400-meter) intervals to your subsequent training. If you have generally neglected sprint work, then lack of speed is probably holding you back and you need to add some shorter (25- to 100-meter), maximum-intensity intervals to your subsequent training.
We will gradually be increasing the speed element into sessions as we get closer to race season but your over swim fitness should be improving if you have been consistent at sessions and free from injury.
Adapted from http://triathlon.competitor.com/
top
6.ANNUAL TRIATHLON VICTORIA & TRI-ALLIANCE MEMBERSHIPS
We have had a few questions about annual memberships and the difference between Tri Vic and Tri-Alliance memberships. If you had previously signed up on an automated payment with Tri-Alliance we will take your renewal payment on your due date. This annual membership enables you access to race day tents, partner discounts, social functions, our members online content and helps towards our costs for running the squad we all love.
Triathlon Victoria (Australia) membership covers the governing body for our sport and gives you race day insurance for sanctioned races, pre sale race entries along side their partner and discount offers.
You can get a discounted rate from Triathlon Victoria (Australia) if you are affiliated with a club/squad – in this case Tri-Alliance. We are however checking that you have an active membership with Tri-Alliance to qualify for this discount if you have selected Tri-Alliance as your affiliated club/squad.
If you have not got a current annual membership with Tri-Alliance we will ask you to join up/renew. Should you not wish to do this then you will be requested to pay the full amount to Triathlon Victoria (Australia) as you are not affiliated with Tri-Alliance.
In short you need both if you are training with us and competing in races.
If you have any questions on this please contact the office.
7.TRAINING SESSION UPDATES
Please ensure you check the calendar regularly to ensure you know where and when sessions are.
This weekends highlights (please ensure you check your program or consult a coach so you attend the appropriate session and know your distances – remember you are accountable too!):
- Wednesday 12th August Swims should all include a 200m/500m/1k time trial.
- Saturday 15th August – Advanced ride – Dandenongs leaving North Point Cafe @6:30am with Coach Hilario. See Facebook event for details.
- Saturday 15th August – Intermediate ride – Dandenongs leaving Wantirna Mall car park at 7am with Coaches Scott. See Facebook event for details.
- Saturday 15th August – Beginners & non-hill ride – Beach Road with Coach Greg leaving Elwood Life Saving Club at 7am
- Sunday 16th August – Long Run 8am @MSAC
- Sunday 16th August – Long Run 8am @Fairfield Boathouse Car Park
Safe & Happy Training
Tri Alliance
