Archive for the ‘Interviews’ Category

Lucy Gossage in Hawaii with her prize a Kona wooden bowl.

Lucy Gossage is an exceptional athlete with successes under her belt ranging from winning the Outlaw Triathlon in a relay with her TFN teammates to an individual course record for the Vitruvian Triathlon. This season she trained harder than ever in preparation for the ultimate Ironman race: Kona, Hawaii. Tzero caught up with Lucy at the Cancer Research Institute in Cambridge where she is busy completing her Ph.D. and discovered how Lucy caught the Ironman bug, and what she would do in a parallel universe where triathlon doesn’t exist. She also shared some top advice for anyone undertaking an Ironman Triathlon.

When was your first race?

LG: 2005, The London Triathlon

Do you have a training philosophy?

LG: Train hard but clever.

What is your favourite diet component?

LG: Coffee and Chocolate

What music do you train to?

LG: Infinity by the Guru Josh Project is my number one motivating song.

If triathlon didn’t exist what would you do for kicks?

LG: I’d go walking in mountains or travel the world. Maybe some watersports too!

Winter is the ideal time to improve your swimming. For most people, open water swimming is out of the question, and when the weather gets really bad, the pool might be the last refuge for triathletes desperate to continue their training. We asked ex-elite triathlete and now full-time triathlon coach Rick Kiddle for his top swimming tips.

Unfortunately Rick couldn’t provide us with a simple solution for swimming faster. “It’s very difficult to identify a technique that will work for everyone,” he says. “Two excellent and comparable swimmers may have very different swimming styles.” Rick believes that, especially initially, improving swimmers should work with an experienced coach as there are so many factors to take into account.

“People come into triathlon from a range of backgrounds, they have different body shapes, different experiences and a whole range of techniques. Some are flexible, others are not. Some swim one way when they’re fresh and another when tired.”

Rick, in common with many coaches, likes to watch his swimmers from both above and below the water to assess what they can do and what they might be able to achieve physiologically.

Following her relay team’s Outlaw Triathlon win last weekend, Tzero caught up with Lucy Gossage, an Ironman Triathlete who is currently gearing up for the Ironman Championships in Hawaii later this year.

We had just enough time to get the lowdown on the relay team who won the UK’s alternative to the official Ironman race and Lucy’s take on the race from an experienced competitor’s point of view.

Tzero: When and why did the TFN relay team come into being?

LG: TFN is an amazing triathlon club in Nottingham of which Helen, Lou and I are all members. We were invited to take part in the Outlaw as a relay team by the event sponsors, Total Fitness Nottingham, Bloc and CompresSport and obviously jumped at the chance! Both Lou and I are training for Hawaii so couldn’t really do the whole thing by ourselves. Instead we had a win-win situation – we all got some quality training in as well as having a really fun day and being part of Nottingham’s first ever Ironman! It’s great to have the opportunity to race with your friends rather than against them and being part of a team really makes you want to give 100%. Though none of us had tapered and we were all viewing it as a training day, I think when it came down to our bit, we all gave us much as we could – and that’s how Lou’s ‘jogging’ the marathon turned into a 2hr49 run. Just think what she could do if she was properly rested! One of the best bits of the day was seeing lots of TFN friends finish their first Ironman – it certainly made me realise what an amazing achievement it is to finish one!

Suunto is currently the official timing and data partner of the Dextro Energy ITU World Championship Series. Its smart looking watches and heart rate monitors can be seen adorning the wrists of several top triathletes. However, the company’s background is in adventure sports, mountaineering and diving, so what’s it doing sponsoring triathlon? We decided to ask Suunto’s UK Marketing Assistant, Cat Sutherland, to find out.

Q. Over the past few years you’ve become a big sponsor of triathlon although your company’s roots are elsewhere. What attracts you to triathlon?

The last couple of years have really witnessed a tremendous growth in triathlon – both from an active participant perspective as well as a general public awareness in the UK and all over the world. It’s a young and growing sport that is all inclusive so it’s accessible to all and can be a challenge at any level. As one of the leading sports instrument brands in the world, Suunto identified this as a great opportunity to apply our product design, style and functionality. Triathlon is an exciting place to be at present!

Just two years since his first ever triathlon, Marc Jones is now a double ironman. Hailing originally from the land of the Prince Bishops, Durham, in North East England Marc made the transition from rower to triathlete during a period living in London. Marc has had tri-fever ever since, and last year friends and training partners at his then local club, Tri London, inspired him to take the challenge under the scorching Lanzarote sun. This year,the island’s 20th year of hosting the event that claims to be “probably the toughest Ironman race in the world”, he went back to do it all again.

We caught up with Marc in his hometown to find out a little about his Ironman experience, and mine some nuggets of that priceless first hand experience you can only obtain by asking someone who really has been there, swam 2.4miles, cycled 112 miles, ran 26.2 miles and truly earnt the t-shirt.

What attracted you to Ironman Lanzarote 2009 instead of other races such as the closer to home Ironman UK?

After a long absence, Speedo re-entered the triathlon market this year with a new range of wetsuits and tri suits. Dr Tom Waller tells T-Zero why the timing is right and how he believes Speedo’s swimming heritage gives it a competitive edge.

Why has it taken you so long to produce triathlon specific products?

Speedo was into triathlon in a big way in the early 1990s, before the sport was an Olympic discipline and had the huge mass participation that it does today. However, it lacked the media coverage and interest that it does now and because resources are always limited we decided to focus our research and development efforts on pool based swimming, where we’ve had some impressive results. For example, we launched our first fastskin in 2000.

Since triathlon became an Olympic sport the growth has been terrific. On top of that, people seem to find Ironman something they can really buy into. With races catering to all distances and abilities, the sport is hugely accessible and this has helped it develop a broad popular appeal.

Clearly there is a massive crossover from swimming for us and for the technologies we’ve developed to help swimmers move more quickly through the water and we see a fantastic opportunity to apply that to triathlon.

RG Active (www.rgactive.com) started life as a part time activity for John Brame but has since grown to become a vibrant coaching and triathlon business. John took some time out to talk to T-Zero about RG Active and to share some top tips for beginner triathletes.

What inspired you to set up RG Active?

I started RG Active with another triathlete, Dermott Hayes, over 5 years ago. It was originally something both Dermott and myself did alongside other jobs after seeing an opportunity in the growing triathlon market. I was seeing the sport grow at a rapid rate and all these people buying wetsuits and not being able to experience swimming outdoors until the day of their chosen event. We started offering group swim sessions to these people, a place where they could come and experience outdoor swimming in their wetsuit with experienced coaches who could offer advice and guidance before the ‘big day’.

I was also doing some cycle coaching and from there it started to evolve and I took RG Active on ‘full time’ in 2009.

How does where you are now with RG Active compare with what you envisaged when you started out?

Within the triathlon world, Torq is probably best known for its energy and recovery products but its roots and driving philosophy lie firmly in mountain biking and fitness consultancy. Matt Hart, the company’s founder, started his career as a fitness consultant with Curzons gym, while at the same time competing as a pro/elite level mountain biker.

By 1999 the yearning to run his own show became too strong to remain an employee and he struck off on his own as a coach, fitness consultant and journalist.

“I found myself advising cyclists on nutrition and recommending products I couldn’t whole-heartedly endorse. I saw a gap in the market and in 2003 we launched the first Torq products, the Tangy Apricot and Sundried Banana bars,” says Matt. “I wanted to make a bar that ticked all the right boxes: fairly traded, organic natural ingredients where possible and fully supported by scientific research.”

One of Matt’s first priorities was to strip out all the additives. “We found that most of them you don’t actually need. In fact, we will not use any ingredients that are not derived from natural sources or are not naturally occurring in the body.”

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?

In March 2010, Emily Morris became the first British woman to swim across the Cook Strait, the cold and potentially treacherous stretch of water between New Zealand’s North and South Islands. She battled wind, waves and water for nearly 10 hours. We asked her how she did it and what advice she could offer to triathletes.

You don’t wear a wetsuit. How did you prepare yourself for the cold?

You need to acclimatise, and you need to do it each season to remind your body of the shock. Normally I start in May when sea temperatures at Dover are typically between 7 and 10 degrees. In week one I’ll stay in for 20 minutes, come out for two hours to warm up, and then re-enter the water for another 30 minutes. Week two is similar: 30 minutes in the water, two hours to warm up followed by another 40 minutes swimming.

After that, hopefully by week three I’ll be able to stay in for an hour and maybe swim 3km. Then I’ll build up to six hours or so over the subsequent weeks. It’s worth persevering. You get a definite buzz from cold water swimming.