Friday, January 29, 2010

Half Ironman Program

Dear Athletes

As promised, I wanted to detail you with some new plans that we have made to re-ignite some of the bike and run sessions for those of you doing the Busselton Half Ironman in now just 13 weeks. I'm very much looking forward to helping those of you who were lucky enough to get one of the sought-after spots! But before I do that, here are some important training dates for your diaries - it is very important that you read these notes, especially if you swim in the 9.30am sessions or do the Monday, Friday or Saturday swim sessions. 

Half Ironman Program:

I have managed to arrange things to allow me to be present at a key bike and run session per week in order to crack the whip and get you all pumped! I do sincerely hope that on some of the non-coached sessions that you'll be willing to meet at a common location and time as this really helps everyone's motivation!

Payments:

Some of you have been enquiring about whether or not you can buy a bulk-pay card to attend the weekly sessions and save some cash. We have a few options here: if you would like to pay for the 13 week program (starting 1/2/10) and attend any of the sessions on the HIM Program, the cost will be $450 - this is great if you are committed to attending as many sessions as possible - payment for this can be made using the details here; alternatively, you might like to buy one of our 50 session cards which is a little more flexible in the sense that you will still be just paying for the sessions that you attend and if you haven't used all these sessions before the program ends, you can just roll them over past the event. The 50 session card costs $400 and can be purchased here. Of course, you are more than welcome to use any of your existing cards if you so choose.

Free Sessions .vs. Paid For Sessions:

FREE:

  • Monday evening run, 6pm, UWA Car Park
  • Tuesday evening tempo run, ~6pm, on your own
  • Wednesday morning ride, 5.50am, Bouchard Cafe on Mount Street, Perth*
  • Saturday morning long ride, 6.30am, Bell Tower

* I will be back from the 10th February to run and guide this session from my own bike. Can't wait! All other sessions (Monday, Tuesday and Saturday) will have a common meeting spot, detailed direction from the program, but no coach. It is recommended that if you can fit in a 3rd solo or group ride per week of ~1h30 to 2hrs that you should do so at a moderate pace.

PAID FOR:

  • all normal pool squad sessions
  • Thursday morning, 6am, open water session at Cottesloe Beach
  • the re-introduced Thursday evening run interval session at Lake Monger, meeting here each week at 6pm in the car park off Powis Street to the north-side of the lake*.
  • the three structured BRICK sessions on 20/3, 10/4 & 17/4.

* we need +10 runners to make this session viable, so will see how it develops over the next few weeks, commencing Thursday 4th February.

Please let me know if you have any questions or queries, otherwise, see you all out there this week!

Cheers

Paul

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Oops! Forgot to mention...

Saturday squad swim session at the Claremont Pool from 1.00pm is also on this week (as usual) - come along for some specific open-water skills work including drafting, sighting and turning! Did I mention it was also the most fun session of the week??!

Cheers

Paul




Training this Weekend and a few notes

Dear TEAM

Lovely weather this week! The swim down at Cottesloe this morning was simply perfect and a good reminder of just how lucky we all are to have easy access to what I rate as the world's best open water swimming.

OK, a few things for this week:

  1. If you are following The TEAM CORE's "Master Plan" for your Busselton Half Ironman preparations, we have some important news to follow by Saturday this week about some interventions we have been planning to put in place in order to bring a bit of cohesion and structure back to the key bike and run sessions of the week. This will include some minor tweaks to the actual timetable and meeting venues from that displayed here. Watch this space! You should now be 3 weeks into your training preparation and hopefully enjoying an easier week before this weekend's Perth Olympic Distance race. From last week's "call out" to see who was involved and who missed out for the Half Ironman, it appears we have ~30 people from the squad racing for your reference.
  2. On Saturday 6 February 2010, 11am to 12.30pm, North Cottesloe Surf Life Saving Club is presenting an informal seminar which will combine first aid information with a chance to learn practical skills such as how to treat stingers, manage a hypothermic or very cold swimmer, give CPR, operate a defibrillator and prepare your own easy to assemble 'open water' first aid kit. More details here.
  3. Desperately seeking a paddler for the Rottnest Channel Swim! Myself and Michelle are still seeking a paddler for our Rottnest DUO attempt on Saturday 20th February. If you know of anyone who would be keen to help out we'd very much like to hear from them! We're hoping to complete the swim in ~5 to 5h30 and will be able to give whoever paddles for us a lift back on the boat after the swim as we also need to get back for little Jackson's dinner! Please email or call me on 0431 540 980. Thanks!
  4. Patrick will attempt Mount Everest this March / April - can you / your company help out? Patrick Hollingworth will attempt to be only the second West Australian (born) climber to summit the mighty Mount Everest in Nepal in just a few months time. I have been coaching Patrick with a fitness program since November and Ceinwen has been putting him through his paces with regular core stability sessions. It will be an amazing expedition. Patrick has been sourcing sponsorship for this hugely costly affair and I suggested a quick Blog post to see if anyone within the TEAM knows of any company that might be keen to assist in anyway, shape or form. You can read more about the exciting adventure in this Power Point Presentation. Patrick can be reached directly on HollingworthP@rpsgroup.com.au 
  5. Next few days of training. Tonight's run from McGilvray Oval at 6pm for a 6.15pm start will likely to be a quiet affair. The session set is a 5 x 1km run with 90s rest between each one, preferably done on the road over Oceanic BLVD. These are to be done at 75% effort and will be a nice loosener for those racing this weekend. On Friday, all swim sessions (5.30am, 6.30am, 9.30am and 4.30pm) will be running as normal. I have something new and exciting up my sleeve for the two early Friday sessions which will be a lot of fun, the 9.30am session will feature some steady technique work and the SOLO swimmers swimming at 4.30pm should attempt the 7.5km "Monster Set" from the Master Plan (week # 13). On Saturday morning there is no planned bike / run brick owing to the hope that everyone preparing for the Busselton Half Ironman would be racing the Perth Olympic Distance race on Sunday. If you're not doing that, I'd recommend a 2.5hr ride with a 45 min run off the bike on a flat-ish type of course. Please do this in your own time, or why not attempt one of the various cafe rides, skip the coffee, and hit the pavement with your trainers. Just a thought. For the SOLO swimmers, we have our last major open water swim of 10.0km planned. The program says 8am at Cottesloe Beach, but we've been down there twice already this week, so how about we meet at 7.30am on the beach at Leighton (inline with the old iron bridge) and we'll go from there. Please bring a paddler if you can and plenty of fluids / fuel. You are going to be quite tired this week, but fear not, we're now on the homeward straight...so let's just chip this one off and look towards freshening up a little for the race! Sunday is the Perth Olympic Distance race - well worth a look if you're not racing!

See you out there crew!

Cheers

Paul







Saturday, January 23, 2010

Confirming that we'll be swimming on Australia Day at Cottesloe Beach

Dear TEAM

Just to confirm that we will meet at 6.45am for a 7am swim start at Cottesloe Beach on Tuesday 26th January. Meet in front of the pylon. Swim distances will be 1.6km, 4.0km or 8.0km as a social training swim depending upon your needs. If anyone can bring a paddler or two along with them, please do so. No charge for this swim. 

For those who might be upset to miss the 5.30am, 6.30am or 6.15pm sessions on Tuesday (due to the pool being closed), remember we also have a 5.30am session on Wednesday morning which you can attend. We start off with 10 mins of stretching and then most stay in the pool till 7am (though some get out earlier). Its a great endurance session ranging from ~3km to 4.5km for lane 3. Hope to see you next week!

Cheers

Paul





Friday, January 22, 2010

A quick note on numbers...

Dear TEAM

We're into the last week of school holidays and predictably numbers at some of the squad swim sessions are still a little low. I am sure that this will pick up a little over the next couple of weeks, but just to say that if there is a particular session that you have wanted to join from those displayed here: http://www.theteamcore.com/weeklyprogram.html but were under the impression that these were fully booked, please drop me a quick email by replying to this message with the session that you request to attend and I'll get back to you right away. This will be on a strictly first-come, best-dressed basis. 

Also, if you are no longer able to attend any of the sessions which you originally put your name down for (see: http://theteamcore.com/images/Confirmed_Squad_List.pdf ) please let me know so that I can clear those spots for other swimmers. Equally, if you have any friends or training buddies whom you might like to invite along, please let me know and they can attend a complimentary session to see if they like to get "Fresh & Fruity" with the squad at silly o'clock!

Thanks for your support!

Paul





Australia Day Swimming

Dear Swimmers

I was hoping that the Claremont Pool would be open as normal at 530am
next Tuesday (26th) but alas it does not open until 7am and closes at
6pm. Regrettably this means that we will have to cancel all 3 swim
sessions scheduled that day. Apologies for any inconvenience this
causes anyone.

There is an Australia Day triathlon at Matilda Bay and a swim race at
Scarborough for your information.

If anyone is keen we will arrange to meet for a social open water swim
at Cottesloe Beach at 7am. This will be a free session and just chance
to go for an enjoyable swim together, roll your shoulders over if you
raced on Sunday and of course to sample the cullinary delights of
Daisies Deli afterwards. Hope you can make it - bring a friend or 3!

Cheers

Paul

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Open Water Swim Clinics with Shelley Taylor-Smith

Here's something else which I think you'll all find very useful too:

Master OWS with Shelley Taylor-Smith
Eliminate Your Fears & Increase Your Confidence!
 
Clinic No.1: Saturday 6th February 2-4pm
Where: Busselton: Equinox Café, (directly opposite finish area for Be Active Busselton Jetty Swim)
Includes Theory & Practical: Get Wet with the Champ!
Download more information (link to the attached pdf)
 
 
Clinic No.2: Saturday 27th  February 10am-12noon
Where: Sorrento: Sorrento Surf Lifesaving Club, West Coast Drive, Sorrento
Includes Theory & Practical: Get Wet with the Champ!
Download more information (link to the attached pdf)
 
More information please contact Shelley at champion@championmindset.com.au or call 0414 594 245



If you're racing this weekend...

Dear Swimmers

So this weekend sees the State 5km Open Water Championships on Saturday and also the Rottnest "Rehearsal" qualifying event of 10km on Sunday, both at Sorrento beach. Some of you who will be attempting your first-ever Rottnest Channel Swim this year will be using the event on Sunday to qualify for the actual event in just 4 weeks time now on the 20th February and may be feeling a little apprehensive about what lies ahead. Here are my top-10 tips for surviving (& qualifying) for the event and looking forward to an excellent day in 4 weeks time - you've done the majority of the hard work and now need to enjoy the fruits of your labour!

  1. Know the qualifying time...to qualify for the Channel Swim, you must complete the 10km distance in under 4 hours and 15 minutes. This equates to 10 x 1km swims averaging faster than 25'30" per km or an average pace of 2'33" per 100m as a guide.
  2. Know the course: http://www.wa.swimming.org.au/documents/Public/Open%20Water%20Swimming/OWS%205%202010%20Sorrento.pdf
  3. Listen up to the briefing! Shelley Taylor-Smith, event referee, will be taking you all through a structured briefing on race morning. It is very important that you and your paddler listen in closely to this for details of where your paddler is allowed to assist you.
  4. Don't start off too fast! 10km is a long way! Start off comfortably and work your way into it. Pacing is absolutely essential and should not be guffawed at!
  5. Don't get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the start. With a field of over 150 swimmers it will be a little crowded at the start. Don't panic, keep focused and keep blowing those bubbles to keep you relaxed!
  6. Keep feeding / drinking regularly. Aim for fluid stops every 20-25 minutes or so and aim to drink ~200ml at these points. You should have your nutritional strategy honed now, so don't make any new changes today! I would recommend taking on some food / gel every second stop (~45 minutes), but don't forget to wash this down with some plain water (not sports drink!).
  7. Ask your paddler to gee you up a bit when needed. This is likely to be after ~6.5km. Their support will be crucial and this will be your first real test together before the big day!
  8. Swim straight through better sighting skills - see this clip of Ceinwen in action (Point # 4): http://www.swimsmooth.com/triathlon.html
  9. Know what to do when the going gets rough. Last year this course was quite lumpy. Don't fear this! If it is a little rough out there, adopt a slightly straighter arm recovery and increased your stroke rate a touch to combat the chop. This will give you more momentum and rhythm. Don't feel like you have to swim any faster / work harder to do this...think of it like riding a bicycle and hitting an uphill section, using your gears to reduce some of the load required and increase your cadence. Rhythm is essential in these conditions.
  10. Don't build it up into something that it's not! Those of you doing the solo are all more than fit enough now to complete the event in the required time. Don't panic about it. Break it down into km sections and when you get tired (and you will) just focus on the "here and now" of each individual stroke ticking along rather than how much further you have to swim. Having been away for 6 weeks and seeing the transformation in how much fitter and stronger (and browner!) you all look, I'm very confident that you will all excel on Sunday! Just keep it relaxed, enjoy yourself and see this as a stepping-stone to the Big Day. And, if it makes you feel any better, I personally found the Big Day (at twice the distance) easier than the 10km "Rehearsal" event last year - simply because I was another 4 weeks more prepared and more importantly was tapered nicely into the event. You are all carrying around a good bit of residual fatigue at the moment, so bear this in mind. And, if you exit Sunday's event thinking "Oh my god! There's no way I could do that all again!"  - think again, because you can and I know you can! Here's to the last block of work then!

Hope this helps and good luck!

Paul





Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Training, the Half Ironman & Lance Armstrong!

Dear Athletes

Wow! Its great to be back! Believe it or not, we did encounter one final hurdle on our adventure around the world - when we got to Manchester to check-in for our flight back to Perth it transpired that Jackson's ticket allocation had gone AWOL. What apparently happened was that there was another Paul Newsome travelling with an M Newsome, flying on the same flight back to Perth! Unbelievable! The computer spotted what it thought was a duplicate and cancelled our tickets as a result. Because the other Paul Newsome checked in before us and were obviously confronted with what would have been a strange question of "where is your baby? Baby Jackson?" to which they evidently replied "but we don't have a baby called Jackson!" - Jackson was then shut out of the system as well! Nightmare. Emirates says this has never happened before with a relatively uncommon name like mine. Very weird! Normally it would be a simple case of re-issue the ticket and be done with it, but due to both flights being fully booked, this was not quite so easy! In the end, someone else was unlucky enough to get downgraded and sit on the tarmac whilst we were allowed to fly back (complete with a very generous luggage allowance which we received as compensation!). So it all worked out well in the end and now we're back, safe and sound!

Training this week:

Adam returns this evening from the UK, but I will essentially be running all the sessions as per the timetable at http://www.theteamcore.com/weeklyprogram.html this week. I'd like to extend a very big thank you to all the coaches who ran the sessions whilst I was away - I've been receiving some great feedback from you all this morning about how that went down, so thanks! If you have any further input you'd like to add, please email me directly.

The openwater session on Thursday at 6am at Cottesloe Beach will proceed as normal this week - hope you can make it - it's lots of fun!

Saturday - due to the Rottnest Channel Swim rehearsal races this Saturday at Sorrento, it is recommended that those of you who are involved in the swim this year in whatever capacity should swim at this event on either Saturday and/or Sunday. Last year most of us solo swimmers did the "double-up" (5km on Saturday and 10km on Sunday) - so if you're going well, I'd recommend this too! Please note the 1pm squad session will still run as well - come on down for some fun!

For those of you training for the Half Ironman event on the 2nd May, please follow the recommendations this Saturday from the Master Plan (more on this below).

Half Ironman:

As it happens, there is still a waiting list of +250 people for this year's event. You should hear by midweek, next week, if you were one of the lucky ones who snaffled-up one of the 200 extra places allocated. As such, please can you email me if you are either A) already in; or B) on the waiting list and C) keen to be involved in some of our dedicated sessions for this event. I need to know exactly who and how many in the squad will be training and competing at this event so as to then post-out an updated training itinerary for you to use free of charge. Also, if you'd be keen to look at purchasing a "bulk-buy" discount card to attend the block of training leading up to the event, please let me know and I'll look at what is practical given my concerns that many people may have missed out on their entry this year.

Stu and Helen attempt to smash Lance Armstrong at the TDU!

From Stu:

"Both Helen and I are riding in the Tour Down Under on the 22nd Jan and we've committed ourselves to the "Ride to Find a Cure" cause. Mr Armstrong's favourite cause, a worthy one it is too. Could you please help by posting a blog asking people to donate what they can.
 
 
It's gonna be a hard 160km's in red hot heat. I promise to beat Lance Armstrong and Cadel Evans to the finish!"

Please help if you can.

OK, cheerio - off to fight this jet lag - very much looking forward to catching up with you all soon!

Paul





Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Prague, Toy Trains & Goulash

Dear TEAM

Just a few days to go on out trip around the world. We will be back
next Monday and on pool deck again next Tuesday.

After 3 solid days running our fully booked Clinics in Windsor, UK, I
took the opportunity to catch up with Mish and Jackson who had been
gallavanting across Paris. We met each other for a 3 day trip to
Prague, Czech Republic.

Prague is a beautiful medieval city which I've always dreamed of
visiting. I packed all my camera gear including a special lens which
I've been saving up for just such a cause. Despite cloudy, leaden-
skies full of snow, Prague is every bit the fairy tale city you would
imagine, complete with some unique quirks. On our first evening we
were greeted outside our hotel by a gang of youths struggling to
control a leashed dog. The solution seemed to be to pick the dog up by
the neck an body slam it (hard) against the public conveniences! We
couldn't believe such cruelty. Noone dared intervene however!

The next day sadly Mish accidently dropped my camera complete with
specialist portrait lens. Caput! It went to camera heaven in the sky!

Despite the disappointment of the camera saga we decided to get a good
look of the city from ahigh on our last day.

Prague Castle is situated atop a picturesque hill overlooking the
city. It has a charming funicular dating back to the mid 1800s which
for around about $2 will take you all the way to the top for a
stunning vista. We took the little train up to the top and were
coerced into a lovely restaurant serving local delicacies and beer at
less than $1.50 a pint! Superb. Poor little Jackson though (who has
been a super star this whole trip) started to run a temperature at the
restaurant so we decided to curtail our stay a little earlier.

Upon exiting the funicular back in Prague we were confronted by a
guard who kindly informed us that we had over stayed our allotted time
by 15 minutes. We explained that Jackson had been sick in the toilets
and was clearly running a fever to which he simply explained in a
stereo typical eastern European brogue: "no problem, I fine just you
and your wife 700 each" (~$75). Needless to say we were gobsmacked. As
soon as we protested he demanded our passports and threatened to call
the police. The police! With a baby! We hardly looked like anti-social
hooligans!! At this point he said, "you, American?!" We told him we
were Australian (he clearly didnt want to know about our United
Nations background) to which he said, "American, Australian - all the
same!". We were clearly getting nowhere! Mish told him we had no cash
so would need to go to a bank to reluctantly withdraw the fine. He
demanded to come with us and hold our passports to prevent us doing a
runner. As we marched along (me cursing him under my breath and
planning our escape) I suddenly demanded we stop and that we call his
bluff and call the police anyway. He simply decided to increase the
fine to $750 each (plus Jackson!) and tried to tell me that I should
have read the sign (in Czech) warning of the time limit. I said, "show
some compassion, we have a sick baby here!" he simply said that it was
tough goulash if I couldn't read the sign and that if our roles were
reversed that tourist signs in Australia would not be posted in Czech.
And so we marched on. Now goodness knows why, it was 2pm on a
Wednesday afternoon, but you can only imagine this fat, bitter, old
communist's face when he saw that the bank was indeed closed! Ha ha!
Fancy that! I could have screamed hallelujah out loud. Instead, we
grabbed our passports and ran, vowing never to take a ride on his
crappy little toy train again!

Prague - lovely city, just make sure you can read the signs!

See you soon!

Paul

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Busselton Half Ironman almost full - get your entry in NOW!

Please visit http://www.busseltonhalf.com/enter.html if you plan to enter this year’s race…this needs to be done literally right now as entries are already at 1030 of 1200 available. Expect it to be full by tomorrow!

 

Cheers

 

Paul

 

P.S Don’t forget the basic structure for this year’s TEAM CORE Half Ironman Program FYI was included within the Master Plan, sent out in November: http://theteamcore.blogspot.com/2009/11/this-weekend-and-master-plan.html

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Happy New Year!

Dear Team

Happy New Year from snowy North Wales! We've been totally snowed into
a little old Welsh farmhouse dating back to 1623 in the Snowdonia
National Park since Christmas. It's been a wonderful way to spend the
holidays with my family. I very much look forward to sharing some
photos with you all upon our return in just over two weeks time.

I hope you have all also had a great break and are looking forward to
a healthy and prosperous 2010!

To get you started, here's what's-what this week with the return to
the training schedule as per http://www.theteamcore.com/weeklyprogram.html

Monday 7am = technique swim with Nicola

Monday 930am = technique and endurance set with Ceinwen

Tuesday 530am, 630am, and 615pm = endurance swim set with a
combination of Nicola and Sandy

Wednesday 530am = 90 minute endurance and tempo work with Ceinwen

Wednesday 930am = Fresh & Fruity session with Ceinwen

Thursday 6am = Open Water swim session at Cottesloe Beach with Shelley
and Adam. This session has reportedly been low on numbers over the
past few weeks. Please support it if you can otherwise we may elect to
remove it from the program in favour of something of more interest to
you. Please let me know if you have any thoughts on this. Thanks in
advance!

Friday 530 & 630am = Fresh & Fruity set with Nicola and Adam

Friday 930am = a light technique session and bit of fun with Ceinwen

Saturday 1pm = open water skills session in the pool with Ceinwen

Please refer to the Master Plan in Novembers Blog for a breakdown of
our bike, run and race schedule this week.

Thanks everyone for your support in 2009, here's to a cracking 2010!!!

Kind regards

Paul