April 2009
Posted by trytotri on April 16, 2009
On the 4th April I attended a triathlon training day organized by the team behind the London Triathlon. The day consisted of sessions for each of the disciplines and a presentation on what to expect and how to prepare for the London and Blenheim triathlons.
We were split into three groups, my group had the run session first which was taken by Ralph Hydes, who is one of ‘the trilife’ coaches and a coach in his own right. His session gave us a thorough warm up routine including a number of dynamic stretches and drills. We then went out to the track for ten sets of 1 min cadence drill, aiming for 92 strides followed by 1 min recovery. It was a good work out and I have subsequently found that my speed has dramatically increased with minimal additional effort, so thanks Ralph. We then went inside for a warm down and stretch routine to help us recover and stay injury free.
The second session for our group was in the pool. Our coach this time was ex GB Triathlon Team coach Dan Salcedo. Our first task though was to don our wetsuit and for many of us this was a first. We then had a series of poolside briefings followed by practical swim sets. The focus was on developing good front crawl technique, again it was a really good session and gave me a good boost to take into my club swim sessions. We finished the session with a mock transition to extricate ourselves quickly from the neoprene. I can see why swimming is the first part of a triathlon as they come off much quicker than they go on!
After lunch we had the presentation session with the team from IMG and then a presentation from the 220 Triathlon coach of the year Simon Ward (@triathloncoach on twitter). This session gave an overview of what we all need to do during the 17 weeks to the London Triathlon, which focused on getting and keeping to a training plan.
Our final session was on the bike ( or should I say off the bike, as we didn’t actually get on the bike that I had taken on the 110 mile round trip!) the session was taken by Dermottt Hayle who gave us a really good overview of the bike discipline, helping everyone to understand what they need in terms of bike equipment, maintenance skills (in race), training and bike skills. I didn’t learn much but it helped remind me about all the things that I have learned over the past six months.
So overall it was a great day’s training and most of all it gave me some satisfaction in that so far my preparation is on track and fingers crossed as long as I stick to it I should be ok for London!
Half way through the month and just 30 days to my first triathlon! I’ve decided to update the blog more frequently as the pace picks up for the race season.
My training has been going quite well but I have had to amend my training schedule as my body can’t take two runs on the same day (Yes I know, I”m a big wimp). I was having to miss the Thursday runs as my legs were still hurting from the runs on a Tuesday. So as of this week my aims are to complete the following training sessions.
Monday – cycle to work (4.5m)/run home (4.5m)/club swim (1600m).
Tuesday – run to work (4.5m)/cycle home (4.5m).
Wednesday – cycle to and from work (9m) /club run (60mins)
Thursday – cycle to work/run home (9m)
Friday – run to work (4.5m)/cycle home (4.5m)
Saturday – long bike ride (20-30 m – race bike)
Sunday – open water swim session
So in total the commute bike rides total 27 miles, race bike 20-30 miles. Runs total 18 miles plus the club session and two swims for about two hours.
About 9 hours per week, not bad for a beginner, although I would hold my hands up to the challenge that the commuting bike rides are not really focused training rides but time is precious and it’s not a if I’m doing an Ironman!
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