Archive for the ‘General triathlon’ Category

Charlotte Roach recently completed the Duston Triathlon, a pool-based sprint distance event. It was her first ever triathlon. She kindly agreed to share her experience, and her mistakes, with Tzero. Charlotte was a member of the TriGold triathlon programme until a collision with a car while on a training ride took her out of training for several months (see her story here). Despite loosing her place on the programme, Charlotte hopes to race elite triathlon someday soon and decided to carry on training and racing alone.

Overall, I’d say my first experience of triathlon was positive, but at times during the race it felt like a nightmare. To start with, I was overwhelmed by how technical triathlon is compared to running, where I’ve often raced before. Secondly, it’s incredible how much preparation and organisation has to go into each event, and I used to think that getting ready for a marathon was a logistical challenge. On the other hand, everyone was super helpful and supportive.

Elite triathlete and Asics ambassador Helen Jenkins talks about the mental strategies she uses in racing and training

How do you prepare mentally for a race?

I used to swim competitively as a kid and sometimes I’d get completely psyched out, which could affect my performance. In my early 20s I did some psychological coaching that helped me become much more organised and hence calmer before a race. There’s no big secret. I simply write down a plan for race day starting with the time I wake up, how far I go for my warm up run, when I have breakfast and what I eat all the way through to race start.

Part of that plan involves walking through transition, making sure I know where everything is and mentally rehearsing the process.

I also have a plan for the race itself that will include both process and outcome goals. For example, I might aim to be in the top five at the first buoy on the swim. However, I think it’s usually better to focus on things that are within my control like making sure I’m properly prepared.

What mental strategies do you use to help you with your training?

Most people have experienced music’s amazing ability to stir our emotions: the human race has known this for centuries, if not millennia. It is only in the last couple of decades though that it has systematically been used by athletes to boost sports performance through the advent of lightweight, portable music players. It also seems scientific research supports what most people instinctively know: listening to music before or during exercise can inspire you to work harder.

While musical tastes are highly individualised, not everyone has the time, inclination or technical skills to compile their own play lists. Realising that this creates a market opportunity, companies have started creating ready-made motivational play lists. We decided to sample a couple.

Running Trax

This new 3-CD album from Ministry of Sound features “upbeat dance anthems, each possible disc designed to give the best possible motivation”.

The tracks are specially selected for each album and are designed for different exercise intensities: Jog, Run and Sprint.

Strangely, we found the pace of the 1^st CD (Jog) much higher than the 3^rd (Sprint) although the latter was far more inspirational. Perhaps the idea is that you listen to some of the tracks before embarking on your killer session.

Joe Friel’s Triathlete’s Training Bible has been around for many years and is now in its third (2009) edition. It’s easy to see why this book has sold so well and continues to be popular with triathletes and coaches. It comprehensively covers just about everything the self-coached athlete needs to construct a structured, progressive training programme designed to hit peak performance for priority races.

An untrained person taking up triathlon will almost certainly make progress without this book by simply swimming, cycling and running as and when they feel like it. However, that progress will be limited without a structure. Friel shows you how to build that structure from first principles.

Because triathlon involves three sports and every athlete is unique and has a different background, no pre-defined plan fits all. Any triathlete who wants to improve needs to define where they want to go, identify their strengths and weaknesses and design a programme to address those weaknesses. The book covers all this in detail.

Last year, Charlotte Roach won selection to the highly competitive TriGold programme, British Triathlon’s fast track initiative to encourage internationally competitive runners to switch to triathlon and hopefully become Olympic medal contenders in 2012.

A few months later, a collision with a Land Rover while out cycling derailed Charlotte’s Olympic dreams and almost killed her. Her injuries included two punctured lungs, broken ribs, a broken collar bone and multiple fractures in her spine. However, she has made a remarkable recovery, is back on her feet running again and hopes to do her first triathlon soon.

She took some time out of her recovery and training to talk to Tzero.

How are you coping mentally? You sound very positive.

My perspective on life changed overnight. The day before the accident I was very fit, training hard and focused on securing a place in the 2012 Olympic triathlon squad. Then, suddenly, I was asking myself, ‘can I breathe?’ and ‘can I move?’.

Paul Sutton is a Consultant Orthopaedic Consultant and knee specialist from Sheffield Orthopaedics Limited (Sol). Here he shares his advice on when to see an orthopaedic surgeon and, importantly, how to find one.

As an enthusiastic amateur triathlete and Ironman I understand the frustration that athletes feel when injured. Like all sports triathlon brings with it a risk of injury. The vast majority of these injuries are benign and self-limiting but some may be more serious and potentially career threatening. As an athlete it is important to know how to get good medical advice and recognise when to seek it.

In my other role as a consultant orthopaedic surgeon and knee specialist I recognise it is impossible to list every potential injury associated with triathlon so I’m going to concentrate on general points that may be applied to managing any musculoskeletal injury.

Paul Sutton: triathlete and orthopaedic surgeon

Triathlon related injuries can be divided into those associated with an acute event such as a bike crash or running fall and those more insidious onset injuries. Acute injuries may need more urgent attention whilst with more insidious onset injuries there is usually more time before medical attention can be sought.

This year’s Outdoors Show at the NEC in Birmingham will host a new triathlon event: TriLive. As well as featuring triathlon exhibitors and exports, the event will also support the TriLive Duathlon, the Outdoors 100 Bike Ride or the Outdoors Show Run. And Tzero members have a chance to win tickets!

The TriLive Duathlon consists of a fun event (1.25k run – 10 km Cycle – 2.5 km Run), a main event (2.5k run – 20 km Cycle – 5 km Run) and a two-person relay, over the same distances as the main event (the runner runs twice!).

For more details see: http://www.fun2tri.co.uk/TriLive-Duathlon/index.htm

Alternatively cycle 100 km or 100 miles on fully sign-posted bike routes supported by back up vehicles, drink stops and bike mechanics.

http://www.outdoorsshowextra.co.uk/the_show_2010/events2010/TheOutdoorsshow100BikeRide/

Or if dragging your bicycle to Birmingham for the day is too much trouble, how about tackling the Outdoors Show Run: a flat, lapped course over 2.5, 5 or 10 km:

 http://www.fun2tri.co.uk/Outdoor-show-run/index.htm

Entry to any of the above events comes with a free ticket to the entire Outdoors Show featuring climbing, mountain biking, wild swimming, fell running and a slew of other outdoor activities.

With thousands of triathlon races on offer this year, how do you choose what to do? It’s definitely worth considering now, because it will shape your triathlon training for the next few months. Additionally, popular races fill up fast and entries often close long before the advised final date, so you may need to apply pronto.

Race choice clearly depends on your goals (assuming you’ve identified some) and other criteria. For example, if you don’t have a wetsuit and don’t intend to buy or rent one this year, then pool-based triathlons will be high on your list. In theory, you can (and some people do) compete in open water swims sans wetsuit so long as the water temperature exceeds 14 degrees (for a Standard Distance triathlon) according to International Triathlon Union regulations, some race organisers insist on neoprene for safety reasons.

Similarly, if you want to do an ironman distance race and you’re limited to the UK, your choices will be few and easy to identify.

Book cover picture

How to win in Sport and Life through Mental Training

 

 

 

This book was first published in 1980, only two years after the first Hawaii Ironman, and early editions do not once mention triathlon. But triathletes at all levels will find much of its content inspirational.

While this review is based on the second edition, Terry Orlick published a fourth edition in 2007 and this is the one you should read. “The fourth edition is a much stronger book as I’ve had an additional 10 years experience working with high performance athletes. I have lots of new personal athlete stories and also something specific for triathletes,” says Orlick.

The book’s basic premise can be summarised as follows:

• The desire to do your personal best, to excel, is a worthy human ambition.
• High levels of achievement do not come easily. They demand commitment and sacrifice.
• The greatest barriers in our pursuit of excellence are psychological barriers that we impose upon ourselves, sometimes unknowingly.
• As your beliefs about limits change, the limits themselves change.