Tri Alliance Triathlon Coaching Melbourne, Beginner Triathlon Training

FROM THE COACHES
Coach Sarah spoke to a group of Short Course athletes this week about the importance of having a purpose at each session and the importance of recovery between sessions. We are finding a number of athletes are already at the potential risk over training and under recovering. And it can be easy to do. Particularly for those who have big goals and want to achieve them in a short period of time. But sometimes you just need to take a step back, have a breather and reassess where you are at. Remembering – for most short course athletes, your first A grade race is still 3 months away and for Long Course, this could be up to 4-5months away depending on your race. It can be easy to be caught in the trap of training with others and ‘just trying to keep up’.
You need to ensure you know and understand the purpose of every session and the sets within a session as this can also vary. Understand is it a recovery session/set, speed, tempo, lactate threshold, strength, technique etc. Once you understand this and can be disciplined, you will become a better athlete.

To give you an example.
Swim Main Set: 4 x (4 x 50m @ T4 on 1min, 200m @ T4, 200m T2, 30sec rec)
If you get through the first set but finish the set with 200 at T3 instead of T2 recovery, then your next set of hitting T4 invervals will be compromised and you won’t hit the pace/intensity as intended. You will end up just ‘chasing your tail’ for the remainder of the set just trying to keep up. So if you feel like you can’t hit the times on the lane you are in (for swimming), drop back a spot or two, or a lane. There is nothing wrong with this if you are hitting the PURPOSE of the session. So understand the purpose or each session, and ensure you aim to hit that purpose. Don’t know the purpose? Ask! 🙂

You also need to ensure you are recovering between sessions and/or during your recovery weeks/days – if not, then you are effectively hindering your progress. The recovery process allows your body to adapt and it allows you to be able to hit your harder sessions at the levels and intensities that we ask of you. So ensure your recovery sessions/intervals/sets are just that – EASY. Not in between, not that fluffy grey area of sort of hard sort of easy (or in some athletes cases, hard). Recovery should be easy!

So have a think about whether you are training as smart as you should be and if you need to – speak to a Coach. You should be touching base with a Coach as much as you can at sessions or on the phone in the office to gain the most from your training. If you don’t ask – you won’t learn. And as Coaches – we are your teachers, and our area of expertise is Triathlon. We want every one of our athletes to receive a masters in Triathlon Training and racing! 🙂

You may also like to review Coach Sarah’s recent Tri 101 article – The patience to succeed….

RUN TIME TRIALS – THIS THURSDAY!
Due to the unforeseen weather conditions last Thursday Night, we had to cancel Run time Trials last week. So this week we will pick up where we left off! Please ensure you are aware of details for Run Time Trials this Thursday Night:

Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Centre – 6.15pm start (NOT The Tan!)
Essendon Rowing Club, Maribyrnong River – 6.15pm start
*If you have already completed a Time Trial (either by yourself or as part of run Melbourne) you can either complete a recovery run or follow set in your program. Chat to a Coach if you need.

RUN MELBOURNE RESULTS
Well do to all our athletes who ran in Sunday’s Run Melbourne Half, 10km and 5km events. It was great seeing so many of you out there enjoying the event and cheering each other on. There were plenty of athletes racing and don’t have results for all, but a couple of noteworthy mentions include:
Catherine Allison – in placing 2nd female overall in the Half Marathon finishing in a slick time of 1:24:19. Cracking the average of just under 4min/km. As an Osteopath Catherines hours can be long and varied and completes most of her training by herself. But she is well on track for the Sunshine Coast 70.3 Half Ironman in September. Well done Catherine!
Nola MacGregor – a champion effort in completing her first half marathon in 2:41. This was a big achievement for Nola who is preparing for her first Half Ironman at Shepparton and under the guidance of Coach Emma pulled out PB times over each 5km marker in the half. So well done Nola, amazing work!

TRIVIA NIGHT SUCCESS!
Tri Alliance Athlete Anne-Marie Cooke did an amazing effort in organising a Trivia Night recently to raise money for her Smiling for Smiddy Fund. Here’s a wrap up from the event:

The Smiling for Smiddy Trivia Fundraising night was a great success with $1740 raised in total. We held a raffle which everyone very generously participated in and our Tri Alliance representatives won two prizes, a fitting return as they bought a lot of tickets!!! Our MC for the night, Rob, in gold glittering jacket did a great job & kept everybody entertained throughout the night.
Thank you to everyone who came or donated & to Tri Alliance for the assistance in sourcing raffle prizes!! Hopefully the fundraising tally won’t stop there, lots more to be done before November!! You can continue to support Anne-Marie in fundraising by donating here.

ADVANCED TRAINING CAMP – SOLD OUT!
Our Advanced & World Qualifying Athlete Camp in Apollo Bay in two weeks has sold out. If you would like to go on our waiting list to be considered, please email sarah@dev.tri-alliance.com.au. This is set to be a big camp for athletes, now here’s hoping the weather plays nice!

PRE SEASON TRAINING CAMP – ALREADY 50% FULL!
Early Bird Special runs out 31 July and this camp will no doubt also sell out. So don’t think about it anymore, make sure you confirm a place on this years Pre Season Training Camp. The perfect lead-in camp for Noosa, Shepparton Half Ironman, Ironman Western Australia and the Victorian Gatorade Series. All levels and abilities catered for. This year held in Anglesea – a quiet sea side town located between Geelong and Lorne, only 1.5 hours from Melbourne. 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. Click here to read more and to reserve your place – places will fill fast!

3 TIPS TO MOTIVATE YOU IN THE MORNING
By Coach Sarah
I have conversations with athletes regularly about the struggle of getting out of bed for morning sessions – particularly in winter. When I sit back and think about it, when I first started training and didn’t have the tools and knowledge I have now, I was asking the same questions and trying to find ways to motivate myself to get out of bed for an early morning session. But many athletes still struggle with morning sessions, so I thought I’d share my 3 hot tips to help you get motivated and jumping out of bed in the morning. (well at least moving – which is a start) Click here to continue reading….

SPORT PSYCHOLOGY SEMINARS
Our Partners The Performance and Psychology Clinic (PSPC) will be holding Monthly Seminars on relevant topics that can assist you with training, racing and sports performance in general. Their first Seminar was so popular they will be running this again next week – and well worth attending.

PERFORMANCE ANXIETY – 6.30pm Monday 29 July
Due to popularity, our partners PSPC will be running another seminar next week on the fundamental principles of overcoming performance anxiety. Click here to read more and to RSVP
MENTAL TOUGHNESS – 6.30pm Monday 6 August
Learn from the experts in the industry and improving and developing your mental toughness. As they say – a race can be run or won on mental toughness. So why wouldn’t you want to train this area! Click here to read more and to RSVP.

IMPORTANT – SAFETY ON LONG RIDES
Following our message above, we recommend that for safety- all athletes on a Tri Alliance group ride wear at least one piece of TA Cycling gear (ideally minimum a jersey). This allows both our riders to know who is in our group and who to look out for, and also shows other riders that we are a group and so will avoid ‘jumping in’ on our pack.
You also want to avoid dark cycling clothing. Remember that you need to be as visible as possible to motorists – particularly on days that have less than favourable riding conditions .
We have pretty much all sizes of cycling gear in stock now including Knicks, Bib knicks, Jerseys and arm warmers. (Winter Jackets and leg warmers not too far away!) Click here to check out our cycling range.
Also a timely remember that all athletes are to ride with front and rear lights – even if you are riding after sunrise. They are for your safety – so always check your lights the night before to ensure they are working.

WIN ! WIN ! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN!
Tri Alliance loves giving back to our athletes, and we have some great competitions running at the moment – so make sure you get involved for your chance to WIN!

WIN A RACE ENTRY OF YOUR CHOICE!
We have one more entry into a Half or Full Ironman in Asia Pacific of your choice to give away to one lucky recipient and this one is easy!
All you need to do is sign up to our National newsletter to WIN an Ironman entry of your choiceClick here to sign up and go in the draw to WIN! Simple as that!

.
WIN A SUNSHINE COAST 70.3 ENTRY!
The Ironman brand moves to the Sunshine Coast (Mooloolaba) this year, and here’s your chance to WIN a race entry into this SOLD OUT event!
Simply purchase any Shotz Sports Nutrition Product in the Tri Alliance Shopping Cart and go in the draw WIN an entry into this years SOLD OUT Sunshine coast 70.3 event. Entries Close Monday 29 July.

Click here to purchase your Shotz product online and to go in the draw to WIN!

WIN MIZUNO RUNNERS!
Tri Alliance will be supporting a fantastic run event – the De Castella Run on Sunday 25 August. The event is held at Kew Boulevard and includes a 5km, 10km and 15km event.
Fun runs are a great way to keep the motivation over winter – and simply by entering before Friday 2 August we will put you in the draw to WIN a pair of shoes from our fantastic partners MIZUNO!
Early bird price (before 25 July) only $40! And we’ll be holding a BBQ or get together for breakfast post event, so make sure you put this one in your calendar.

Click here for more on the event and to enter. Once entered, please email ryan@dev.tri-alliance.com.au your confirmation to go in the draw to win!
*Please note there will be no Coached run sessions on this day

GIANT TIME TRIAL MACHINE! (FOR SALE)
Get your hands on a Super Fast, Super Slick Time Trial Machine !
This matt black 2012 Giant Trinity SLO has had 1 season of racing Ironman and is ready for a new owner. Regularly serviced and will be handed over with a free service and FREE Retul Bike Bike to ensure you are ready for fast riding.

Features include 808 Zipp race wheels, Shimano Dura ace D12 20sp
Suitable for an rider between 5’10 and 6’2.
$5,500. Not negotiable. (new it retailed at $9,999)
Click here to read more on this bike.

So if you are in the market for a Time Trial Bike this season, contact ollie@dev.tri-alliance.com.au or phone 0425 731 036.

_________________________________

TRAINING THIS WEEKEND:

SATURDAY 27 JULY
STRENGTH ENDURANCE RIDE OPTIONS

LIV GIANT FEMALE BEGINNER RIDE
Location: Beach Road
Type: Flat ride for female beginner riders
Distance: 40km. If wanting to progress, start or finish with a ride to Port Melbourne and back (50km)
Meet: Cafe Racer
Departure: 7.30am
Post Ride Coffee: The Great Provider
Coach: Live Giant Team

BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE
Location: Beach Road
Type: Flat to undulating
Meet: North Point Cafe, Brighton. Plenty of off street parking.
Time: 7.10, for a 7.15am start.
Rides/Distances:
70km Frankston Return
85km Humphries Rd Return
90km Humphries Rd x 2 Return
*(Continue over Olivers Hill, turning left into Humphries Rd – a 3km undulating climb meeting at the shops at the top)
Post Ride Coffee: North Point Cafe
Coach: Ollie

ADVANCED SHORT COURSE
Location: Dandenongs
Type: Solid hill climbs. Advanced short course specific . Invite only.
Meet: Wantirna Mall Carpark. 621 Boronia Road Wantirna.
Departure: 7.00am. (briefing at 6.55am)
Post Ride Coffee: King Bean Cafe
Coach: Ryan

SEASONED & ADVANCED SHORT & LONG COURSE
Location: Kinglake
Type: Solid hill ride include flat, undulating and hill climbs. Must be self sufficient and a confident rider.
Rides: View base route here. 75km Kinglake return (approx 3 hours), 100km Kinglake West Return (approx 3.5hours), 130km Whittlesea Return (approx 4.5hours)
Riders will be put into smaller groups based on riding level/ability and be given full details on their ride at the ride briefing. Don’t be late!
Meet: 7/11 on Cnr Anderson and Wood Street Templestowe. Plenty of off-street parking.*Anyone needing a lift post on our facebook page early to organise.
Departure:briefing 6.45am for a 6.50am roll out.
Post Ride Coffee: Whoever is first back can take their pick!
Coaches: Sarah & Greg