Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Link to Xmas Vacation / Squad Timetable

Sorry all, you might not have been able to coherently read the squad training timetable for the Xmas period, so please find it attached here
 
Cheers
 
Paul

Give yourself a big pat on the back! And Xmas Vacation Info!

Dear All
 
Hope you're all enjoying a good week. As you know, we're having a steadier week this week which coincides with the Ironman crew's middle taper-week and also a chance to freshen up a little bit for the West Coast 1000m World Record swim at North Cottesloe Beach on Saturday.
 
Give yourself a pat on the back!
 
I just wanted to commend you all on your conduct and lane etiquette in the pool this morning! It was a particularly busy session (especially at 530am), but you all handled yourselves well and swam at your own intensity, which was good. A pyramid set like this is always going to be a test of how well the lane is communicating and working with each other as different swimmers find themselves at different stages in the program, but you coped admirably! So, give yourself a big pat on the back, you did your coach proud this morning!
 
West Coast 1000m Swim this Saturday!
 
As you'll no doubt be aware, this Saturday will see the inaugral running of the West Coast 1000m world record swim. You don't need to be a super-demon swimmer to compete, just be able to swim 1000m. The "world record" element will be to get as many swimmers as possible to compete to break the world record for a mass participation swim. They need +3071 swimmers and so far are only at 50% of this amount. If we had everyone within the TEAM swimming this would add another 100 people and account for 7% of the field at this stage! So, we're going to make this a bit of a TEAM CORE affair on Saturday. The official schedule is as follows:
 
RACE DAY SCHEDULE
8.45am Official Competitor Briefing
9.00am Swimmers to make their way to the start area
9.30am First swim wave starts
10.20am Final swim wave starts
11.00am Swim completed
 
The idea is that the briefing is held down at Cottesloe Beach, then you walk 1000m north up to North Cott before starting the swim back as per http://wc1000.com.au/images/race_map.gif Looks great!
 
WARM-UP FOR OUR ATHLETES:
 
Its going to be VERY busy down there, so I'd recommend you get down early. There will be an official TEAM CORE warm-up (which you are all invited to) starting from 745am on the grassy bank in front of the pylon at Cottesloe Beach. This will involve ~20 mins of stretching and a bit of light swimming where you can pick up a final few tips from me. If you can make it down, it'd be great to have a bit of a TEAM feel down there, starting with the warm-up! Our location may be adjusted slightly on the day subject to everything that's going on down there, but you'll find us from the sound of me shouting! LOL!
 
You'll need to enter online at http://wc1000.com.au/enter.htm and then collect your timing chip between 2 and 7pm on Wed/Thur/Fri this week at the Subiaco Oval. There are no entries on race day.
 
Holiday Swim Timetable
 
Its getting to that time of year when many of you will be heading off on various vacations. I'll be bringing down a little sheet over the next few sessions where I'll be asking you for when you expect to be away and not training, to allow me to work out who to expect and when. Your help is much appreciated.
 
The squad's official program will look like this:
 
The TEAM CORE / Swim Smooth Xmas Vacation Program
Day
Up to Fri 19/12
Sat 20/12
Sun 21/12 up to and inc. Mon 29/12
Tue 30/12
Wed 31/12
Thur 1/1
Fri 2/1
Sat 3/1
Sun 4/1
Mon 5/1 onwards
As normal
As normal
No sessions running!
5.30am & 6.30am squad swim only
7.00am social swim at Cottesloe Beach + breakie!
No sessions running!
5.30am & 6.30am squad swim only
As normal, inc. 8.00am OW swim at Sorrento and squad swim at 1pm at Claremont
Leighton Beach openwater series swim. 1.25km / 2.5km or 5.0km
Full program back to normal. Please see http://www.theteamcore.com/weeklyprogram.html for full details
NB. Please note, the 9.30am Time-4-Me Swim Sessions will take a 2 week break for the week's commencing Mon 22/12 and Mon 29/12, recommencing on Mon 5/1. Anyone in these squads keen on swimming, should please attend the 5.30am or 6.30am swim sessions on Tue 30/12 and Fri 2/1 and don't forget the social openwater swim on New Year's EVE!!
 
Adam is back!
 
Good news! For those of you who were with us last summer, you'll remember my "Number 2" (sounds like Doctor Evil from Austin Powers!), Adam Young. Well, the good news is that Adam arrives back from the UK and will be helping out at various sessions over the next few months. Please make him welcome...it'll be great to have a spare pair of hands on pool deck to help with the swim sessions!
 
Ironman WA Sunday 7th December
 
Next Sunday is the 5th running of the Busselton Ironman and we have a good few athletes competing at the event. They've worked really hard over the winter and endured the "ups and downs" that typically go hand-in-hand with this length of event. The athletes will be completing a 3.8km swim, 180km ride and a 42.2km run - phew!!! If you get chance to go down and have a peek, I know they'd love your support!
 
So it'll be good luck to the following TEAM CORE athletes:
 
Andrew Graham, Nimal Wickramasinghe, Anthony Tholet, James Forbes, and Glen Blackwell.
 
And also to those whom have been swimming with the squad, including Ursula Muhsfeldt, Nelson Woss and gun swimmers Paul & Bridgette over from New Zealand for the event! Good look groovers!

Monday, November 17, 2008

Reminder about tonight's cycle session!

Dear All
 
Hope you all had a great weekend. We had a fantastic time down south shooting the wedding of Sean O'Neill and Lisa Kempthorne at the Wise Winery in Yallingup. The weather and lighting were so perfectly on our side and a little "location, location, location" tip from landscape photographer extraordinaire Christian Fletcher helped us get some stunning post-wedding photos on the clifftops overlooking Sugar Loaf Rock. Very nice indeed. I've got a task on my hands though sorting through over 2200 images from the day!
 
Anyhow, onto this evening. Just a reminder that due to low attendance numbers at the Monday evening windtrainer session over the past few weeks, we have decided to go with your feedback and suggestions now the summer is here and the evening light is good and go with a new Monday evening "short, sharp intervals" session which may include hills of various descriptions and gradients etc!! Lots of fun. We will start this evening as per:
 
Time: 6pm meet, 6.10pm start.
Venue: Small carpark immediately below Reabold Hill just off Oceanic. This is the carpark that is still on the hill and not down by the skate ramp. For all those who attended last year, its the same spot! (see here: http://maps.google.com.au/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=floreat,+wa&sll=-25.335448,135.745076&sspn=72.326579,157.5&ie=UTF8&ll=-31.938971,115.78253&spn=0.00417,0.009613&t=h&z=17&layer=c&cbll=-31.939162,115.782573)
Cost: 1 credit off your card
 
I really want to try and keep this session running, and no doubt numbers will pick up in the new year when we start our Busso Half Ironman Program on the 12th January 2009, so please aim to support it if you can in the meantime.
 
See you tonight!
 
Paul

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Run Time Trial Results

Dear All
 
Thursday night was our first 5km run time trial in quite some time. Athletes faced good conditions and the time trial was run as a handicap event with the prize for first across the line being a free 5 session Team CORE PAYG session card worth $55. Taking line honours tonight was Dan Kierath, but the biggest improver was Anthony Tholet with a +4 mins PB over this distance - nice work mate! Well done to all athletes who participated, here are the results:
 
Place Name Time Pace per km
1 Joe Kierath 18.02 3.36
2 Anthony Tholet 18.39 3.42
3 Dan Kierath 19.46 3.57
4 Karl Andrews 20.10 4.02
5 Renee  20.36 4.07
6 Nic Holmes 21.00 4.12
7 Andrew Holmes 22.02 4.24
8 Nimal Wickramasinghe 23.45 4.45
9 Ursula Muhsfeldt 25.52 5.10
10 Karlee Cannon 25.57 5.12
 
Just a reminder that I will NOT be in attendance for Saturday's 1pm squad swim session, but this WILL still be running. Coach Nicola Holmes will conduct the session under the guidance and direction of my pre-determined set - hope you enjoy - it'll be a good'un! I'm happy to have been chosen by triathlete-extraordinaire Sean O'Neill and his fiancee Lisa Kempthorne to be their wedding photographer down in beautiful Dunsborough, so I'll see you all again next week!
 
Have a good weekend!
 
Paul

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Super FREE Training Day at Lake Lesch + Weekend's activities

Dear All
 
Hope you are having a good week!
 
Urgent Need for a Skipper!
 
I am desperately seeking a skipper and paddler for the Rottnest Solo swim on the 21st February (we have a boat sorted). If anyone has their license and is a dab-hand with the old GPS, please let me know on 0431 540 980. Also seeking a suitably able paddler for the event too. Beers will be included! ;-)
 
This Morning's Time Trial:
 
The results from this morning's 11.2km cycle time trial down at Shelley were as follows:
 
Placing Name Time Speed (km/h)
1 Andrew Graham 16.44 40.88
2 Anthony Tholet 16.48 40.78
3 Glen Blackwell 17.40 38.62
4 Matt Lowth 17.43 38.55
5 Joe Kierath* 17.54 38.31
6 Nathan Thompson 18.04 37.25
7 Andrew Holmes 18.33 36.66
8 Helen Cuthbert-Buckle 18.37 36.58
9 Judi Clemie 18.51 36.30
10 Liz Beeck 19.12 35.15
11 Mel Cundy 19.27 34.87
12 Sally Scafidi 19.37 34.69
13 Trevor Maggee 19.47 34.51
14 Nic Holmes 20.43 32.89
15 Mary Tennant 21.05 31.92
16 Karen Wynne 21.36 31.46
17 Karlee Cannon 21.51 31.24
 
* Joe cycled an extra little loop unfortunately.
 
Super Training Day at Lake Leschenaulta, Saturday 22nd November:
 
You are invited to an awesome morning of multisport activity, socialising and a breakfast BBQ at Lake Leschenaulta reserve on Saturday 22nd November! This will replace the scheduled swim at Sorrento Beach. Whether you are training for the Ironman, swimming to Rottnest or fancy the challenge of the West Coast 1000m down at Cottesloe Beach on the 29th November - this session is for you! Let's get a good crew down there...best of all, its FREE!
 
 
Plan for the morning:
 
615am Cyclists to leave the Dodgy Digital Dunnies on the southside of the Narrows Bridge for the 50km hilly(ish) ride up to the Lake. As the IM crew will be into their taper, the whole group will ride steady as one up to the lake. If you plan to just swim, suggestion would be to drive up, leaving Perth at 0700am.
 
700am Anyone driving up should leave about now!
 
800am Everyone arrives at the lake. A short briefing and then chance to do some freshwater swimming. Some coaching will be offered on sighting and drafting. The Rottnest Solo swimmers will commence a 7.5km swim (~2hrs) whilst the IM crew will do a 3.8km swim (steady) and everyone else will attempt a 1.6, 2.0 or 3.0km swim.
 
915am IM crew will head off for a 45mins steady run around the woods whilst the swimmers are still finishing up in the Lake.
 
1030am Everyone finished their activities and time to get a breakie started on the public BBQs! Please bring your own food and drink! Anyone swimming shorter and keen on being Jamie Oliver, please let me know!
 
1200pm Heading back to Perth (either riding or hitching a lift with someone else - recommended!)
 
100pm Squad swim session at Claremont Pool as usual.
 
Please let me know if you plan to attend - its going to be a lot of fun!!
 
Training this Saturday (15th November):
  • 530am Final Long Ride for the IM crew leaving from the Dodgy Digital Dunnies.
  • 800am No official long openwater swim this Saturday, due to the running of the 2nd Openwater Series swim event at Rockingham. Suggestion is for solo swimmers to have a go at the 5.0km.
  • 100pm Squad session at Claremont Pool. Paul will not be coaching at this session, this session will be covered by Nic whilst Paul is away this weekend. We will make a decision re. splitting this session into 2 based upon numbers at this Saturday's session. Please be patient with this!
Cheers
 
Paul
 

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Top-notch results from today's swim, Monday windtrainer session & Clinic Summary!

Dear All
 
Well its been a busy old weekend!
 
Saturday's FREE Technique Clinic:
 
On Saturday we held our very first Swim Smooth Clinic down at the Claremont Pool between 11am and 1pm, followed by a squad swim session where attendees had chance to put into practice some of the technique tips from the classroom session. This was a free session open to anyone currently training within any of our squads and we had a stellar turn-out of 37 people! This made the squad session at 1pm a little squishy, but subject to attendance over the next week or so, we may elect to run dual back-2-back sessions on a Saturday as well, i.e. 1-2pm and 2-3pm. We'll see how we go. Thanks so much for your support if you attended, it was a great chance for me to share with you what I've been doing with our worldwide Swim Smooth Clinics for the last 4.5 years, and hopefully seeing our animated Mr. Smooth for the first time was also quite enjoyable! Some of the ideas and tips discussed can be found at http://www.swimsmooth.com/10steps.html and anyone wishing to take the Clinic a little further with a 1-2-1 Video Analysis and Stroke Correction session can book in at: http://www.theteamcore.com/videoanalysis.html - highly recommended! :-)
 
Monday night's cycle session:
 
As you will only just be receiving this email today, we will continue with the scheduled wind trainer session at The Sweat Shack (22 Fairfield St, Mount Hawthorn) this Monday (10th November). Kick-off will be 6pm as usual. We have spare windtrainers available, so please pop along if you can. From Monday 17th November onwards, it seems the concessus would be for us to operate an outdoor session on a Monday evening in order to boost numbers and take advantage of daylight savings.
 
As such, from Monday 17th November we will run a Monday evening "Fresh & Fruity" session meeting at 6pm from the bottom of Reabold Hill (see here for details: http://www.communitywalk.com/teamcoremap#00046JR9). The session will include a variety of hill, speed and power work to complement the longer intervals on a Wednesday morning. Cost is just one credit from your card.
 
Lake Lesch 1.6km swim - a day for the laaaaaaaadies!
 
Blue skies, flat water, friendly atmosphere, reasonable water temperatures - what more could you ask for from an openwater swim event!
 
Today our ladies definitely had the pick of the results! Ceinwen missed first lady overall by 1 second but took out here age-group easily, covering what we actually believe to have been ~1.7km in 22:24. A fantastic result which placed Ceinwen 7th overall (men and women) - watch out, Ceinwen's on a roll! Sally Scafidi came home in 5th place overall and held an average 100m pace of 1:25 to do so! Unfortunately, Sally's result didn't count as she was wearing a wetsuit, but she easily won the 40-44 AG category. Nice job! Ursula Muhsfeldt also elected to get some practice in her wetsuit for the upcoming Busso IM event and covered the distance in 42:52  which is well on track for her Busso aspirations - a good confidence boost there Ursula - well done!
 
Only two of the blokes from our team raced this event in the hills. Sandy Burt did without his wetsuit today and braved the fresh conditions, quoting a much straighter swim than last week finishing 3rd in the 45-49 AG in a shade over 28 mins. Coach Paul was also out there mixing it up with the "big boys" who also raced last weekend but in the longer events. 1st across the line in just under 20 minutes was David Cox who was the 1st male finisher in this year's Rottnest Solo swim in a staggering time of 4h40! He was closely followed by young-gun James Macfarlane in 2nd place. James won the 10km swim last weekend at Champion Lakes and has only just turned 16! It was a close battle for 3rd place a good 1:30 back between Mike Swaddle (also only 16; 21:28), Damien Eyre (21:40) and Paul (21:51) who finished in that order after a sprint down the final straight. Being a relative "fossil" though at 30, Paul did at least take out his 30-34 AG!
 
The Lake Leschenaulta venue (just 45 mins from the CBD) is simply stunning and as such, please watch this space as we are planning some trips up there over the coming weeks for a bit of distance freestyle training, both for the Rotto guys, those doing the Ironman and also anyone else keen on some lovely freshwater swimming!
 
Have a fun week everyone!

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Wet Wednesday Ride - Plan of action!

Weather forecast for early tomorrow morning is not looking great!
 
Last week, 7 people rode with me in assistance on the scooter, but it was rather dangerous with the high winds and rain.
 
As such, if it's looking pretty dodgy tomorrow morning, chances are the ride will be cancelled. If it looks OK (ish) we will ride but will probably stay sheltered up in Kings Park instead.
 
Also, numbers have really dropped off quite a bit for the Monday evening wind trainer session. Please let me know if you are keen to support this session in conjunction with the free Wednesday ride session, otherwise we might make the decision to cancel Monday's sessions if the interest is not there. Options for variety include returning to the popular Monday evening hills session which works great with the Daylight Savings now in place and also doesn't require a wind trainer!! Let me know.
 
Regards
 
Paul

Sunday, November 2, 2008

1st overall, 2 golds, 1 silver, 1 bronze and some great results!

Well we had an awesome first "showing" at the first Open Water race of the swim series at Champion Lakes today!
 
Swimmers had the option of 1.25km, 2.5km, 5.0km and 10.0km. There were over 300 competitors according to the listings and all swimmers across all categories and distances all set off together.
 
The majority of our team had opted today for the 2.5km distance, aiming to get a bit of speed into the old arms before we get into the really long stuff!!
 
First out of the water and overall winner of the 2.5km swim was coach Paul Newsome. Everyone reckons the new speed suit helped him quite a bit, put Paul believes its the extra few kilos he's stacking on in readiness for the Rotto Solo swim - simply floating much better! Andrew Graham had a good and consistent swim but felt the cold a little bit (not surprising when you see from the photo how "ripped" Andrew is looking right now in preparation for the Busso Ironman in 5 weeks!!). Wayne Morris took 1st place in the +35 year old category showing that his prowess in the pool is carrying nicely over to the openwater and Andrew Hunt had a strong swim to finish in 3rd place. Sandy Burt was also right up there "in the mix" but his result won't count unfortunately as he was wearing a wetsuit. Whereas we all drove down to the event, Sandy rode there (and back) so we'll give him that at least! Sue Laidlaw took out a podium position in the ladies +35 year old category (we believe silver?) and was chuffed with her race - rightly so! Lastly (but for a very good reason!) was Justin who had competed in the 5.0km event wanting to get a little more distance under his belt. Justin completed the swim in ~1h30 and looked fresh upon finishing - well on track for his first Rottnest Solo swim - "on yer mate!"
 
So, if you feel like getting involved in some of these openwater races this year, please visit www.mastersswimmingwa.asn.au for more details and the full calendar. Next Sunday is the 1600m Lake Leschenaulta swim which would be ideal for anyone swimming in any of our various groups at the moment. Its a great event to go and attend and be part of our exciting team this season! And if thats too short notice for you, why not think about doing the West Coast 1000 swim on Saturday 29th November (see www.wc1000.com.au) which is aiming to break the world record for the most number of swimmers in an openwater event! Just think, you could feature in the Guiness Book of World Records just by participating!
 
OK, see you this week for more fun in the pool, on the road and down on the running track! Enjoy the photos!
 
The TEAM CORE - "something's are just better done together!"
 
Cheers
 
Paul