Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Final Week at Claremont!

Dear TEAM

Hope you're absolutely loving this glorious weather - its simply first class!

Thanks to everyone who has already got in there early and completed their Winter Squads Feedback form. If you haven't yet done so, please make sure you reserve your spot in the various sessions that we will have available over winter. Remember, it is not compulsory that you attend every session that you nominate for, but it does help me to manage squad sizes and avoid over-crowding. 

If you plan not to swim with us over the winter, please be so kind as to also complete the form so that I'm not holding spaces open for anyone. 


You can check your booking status at: http://www.theteamcore.com/images/Squad_Winter_2010.pdf

Remember, we will have no official training sessions after Friday 30th April's 9.30am session until Monday 10th May's 7.00am session. This will be our transitionary period up to Challenge Stadium where we'll commence on the 10th May until the 1st December whilst the Claremont Pool is closed for refurbishments.

For those keen to still attend and keep swimming next week, here are my suggested sessions in order, i.e. the first session = Monday 7.00am, the 2nd session = Monday 9.30am / Tuesday 5.30am / Tuesday 6.30am / Tuesday 6.15pm, the 3rd session = Wednesday 9.30am / Friday 5.30am / Friday 6.30am, the 4th session = Wednesday 5.30am and the 5th session = Saturday 1.00pm. Enjoy:


NB. These five sessions are taken from the 35 session water proof Training Plans that we produce. If you would like a full copy of the program delivered in this super-versatile and user-friendly booklet format, please visit http://www.swimsmooth.com/products.html - cost is just $60.00. This particular sample is from the Level 1 Ironman Program and the typical session length is 2400m; for those of you swimming in lane 2 I'd typically recommend adding 3 to 400m to the suggested main set and for those of you in lane 3 please add 6 to 800m to the main set. Hope this helps - the Training Plans really are a great resource for your kit bag and for times when you find yourself swimming alone and in need of some inspiration...the three levels offered typically equate to our three lanes of ability in our squad sessions for your reference.

OK, so here's how our last few days shape up then before the mini "transition" break:

Thursday 29th April = no running session this evening. All HIM athletes are advised to take today as a rest day.

Friday 30th April = all sessions (5.30am, 6.30am & 9.30am) as normal at Claremont Pool. We'll make this a really fun session to wave goodbye to Claremont for the next 6 months, so please try and attend if you can! I would recommend that the HIM athletes either come down for an easy swim, or take the morning off and do a light 45 mins ride in the afternoon followed by a short jog of ~10 mins, preferably once you're down in Busselton.

Saturday 1st May = no bike ride or early morning swim due to the Half Ironman. There will also be no Saturday 1.00pm swim session this week (use the 5th session above if you still want to swim). 

Sunday 2nd May to Sunday 9th May = no official sessions (see notes above).

Monday 10th May = Winter Training Program commences at our new home of Challenge Stadium. Please see http://www.theteamcore.com/weeklyprogram.html for full details!

NB. I am still waiting to hear about the various additional requested swim sessions at Challenge (i.e. evenings and another early morning swim) and will update you all as soon as I hear anything.

So, on that note, may I take this opportunity to thank all of you for your support down at Claremont Pool over the last 2 years...we've had some great times, lots of fun and despite having 12 swim sessions per week, hardly ever a repeated session! That's a lot of sessions and variety and I would like to thank you all for your ideas and inspiration on that front - this feedback is what keeps everyone's spark and love for swimming alive, so long may it continue!!!

Best of luck to everyone competing at the Half Ironman this weekend. I shall post the results out later next week.

Cheers

Paul







Thursday, April 22, 2010

Fwd: Ironman Western Australia 2010 - Entries Filling Fast

Begin forwarded message:

From: Triathlon Western Australia <admin@triathlonwa.asn.au>
Date: 22 April 2010 4:21:49 PM AWST
To: Paul Newsome <paul@swimsmooth.com>
Subject: Ironman Western Australia 2010 - Entries Filling Fast

To all TWA members,

Just a reminder to all those that wish to participate in Ironman Western Australia on Sunday 5th December, 2010.  There are now less than 250 spots remaining and we have recently been informed of an entry surge over the past 24 hrs. Please visit www.ironmanwesternaustralia.com/entry.php to enter.

Many thanks,

Nicky Scott
TWA
08 9387 2907

Follow-up about Claremont & ANZAC Day

Dear TEAM

Thanks so much to those of you whom have already sent through feedback and session spot requests. If you haven't already done so, you can do that here:


...we've had over 60 returns just this morning, so spaces are filling quickly. Please get your requests in asap.

A couple of pointers then:

  1. I shall write and prepare a few sessions for those of you who wish to keep swimming during the "Transitional Week" from the 3rd to 9th May inclusive so you can keep ticking over.
  2. The "Mini Olympics" have received a really positive reception by you all - now I just need to think up some good events and cool new training sessions to go with them! Remember, this won't engulf the sessions that we do, so for those of you fearing 10 x 100m butterfly sets etc - don't panic...there'll only be 8 x 100m (JOKE!). The idea is more as a chance to learn some fun new skills and to be supplementary to what we normally do.
  3. Still waiting to hear back from Challenge re. an evening swim slot and also perhaps an additional 5.30am session to replace the much loved Wednesday session. If we can't get that, a proposal for some of you (depending upon numbers) will be to work out a system to stay in for 1.5-2hrs in the Tuesday / Thursday sessions, but this really will depend on space. I'll keep you posted of course.
  4. As most of you know, the standard pool entry at Challenge Stadium is currently $5.00. They also offer discounted AquaCards which I believe can bring pool entry down to ~$3.90. I've also put in an enquiry about Challenge Stadium memberships which include "free" access to the gym and associated services which I believe could bring this cost down further for those of you who train regularly and want to pump some iron over winter (like me!). Again, I'll keep you posted. I'd highly encourage you to look at one of our 25 or 50 session PAYG cards as well for saving a few pennies down the line.
  5. For those of you who will be taking a break over winter and whom have been regular over the last few months, please have a great, relaxing time! If you won't be continuing on with us in the next six months, please also let me know (via the form) so that I am not holding any spaces open that don't need to be. Thanks in advance for your support here...it helps to make what's been quite a busy administrative time that little bit easier!!

Its a Public Holiday this coming Monday (ANZAC Day 26/4/10), however, in true TEAM CORE style I'll still be running the 7am and 9.30am sessions down at Claremont, so if you can make it, please pop along...good chance to do some technique work.

Have a great weekend!

Paul






Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Claremont Pool IS closing!

Dear TEAM

Please be advised that I have just found out that Claremont Pool will indeed close on Monday 17th May 2010 and will aim to re-open on Wednesday 1st December 2010.

We have been successful in securing some lane space at Challenge Stadium over this period, though there will be some minor changes to the schedule. This schedule will be effective as of Monday 10th May 2010 (when we start up at Challenge Stadium). Please check http://www.theteamcore.com/weeklyprogram.html for details of what will effectively be our Winter Program for 2010.

I must admit the last month has been extremely stressful not knowing if we'd still have a squad at all come May, so the fact Challenge have offered to help us out is really appreciated and I really, really hope that you guys will choose to make the transition up there for this period, keep ticking over through the winter, work on your form and technique and support the squad. We're coming up to our 2 year anniversary now and your support over that period has been hugely welcomed - long may it continue! We'll do our very best to keep things new, fun, entertaining and inspiring for you to hopefully make that extra 2 minutes 48 seconds walk to the change-rooms worth it! ;-)

IMPORTANT:

Please now reserve your place in the new winter program at Challenge Stadium by visiting and completing the form at http://www.theteamcore.com/feedback_winter2010.html

We have space for some new faces at the moment, so if you have any mates who want to join us, please ask them to complete the form also and I'll publish the new list accordingly. Due to the change in program schedule (see below) and venue, this will all be on a strictly first-come / best-dressed basis - so please don't delay

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY:

  • Last (official) session at Claremont Pool = Friday 30th April 2010 (5.30am, 6.30am and 9.30am sessions)
  • Busselton Half Ironman (Solo & Teams) = Saturday 1st May 2010
  • 1 week "Transitional Break" between Claremont and Challenge Stadium from Saturday 1st May to Sunday 9th May (inclusive)*
  • First (official) session at Challenge Stadium = Monday 10th May 2010 (7.00am and 9.30am sessions)
  • Paul away in the UK = Tuesday 1st June 2010 to Wednesday 23rd June 2010 (inclusive)**
  • 1st Winter "Mini-Olympics" = Saturday 3rd July 2010***
  • 2nd Winter "Mini-Olympics" = Saturday 14th August 2010***
  • 3rd Winter "Mini-Olympics" = Saturday 2nd October 2010***

* We felt it appropriate to plan for a 1 week transitional break between the two pools which will serve two key purposes: 1) for those doing the Half Ironman to have a recommended recovery break (some of you may take up to 4 weeks here); 2) to allow me to smooth everything out between the two pools, i.e. moving equipment etc. Lane space will still be available for swimming at Claremont Pool during this week, though no official coaching sessions will run.

** I wish to inform you that I feel honoured to have been asked by the British Triathlon Federation to help them re-write and produce some of their new material for educating the whole British coaching infrastructure with respect to swim stroke technique and correction. This recognition by a national governing body is something I feel very proud of and as such I have scheduled a 3 week trip over to the UK to begin planning this with their team. We shall also be running several Swim Smooth Clinics whilst over there and touching base with the pilots for our English Channel attempts next year (of which there are 10 of us from Perth doing it). It will be a busy but hopefully rewarding trip. In my absence I will be placing the same coaches as over the Christmas period in charge of the squad and as such I do really hope you will continue to attend given your great feedback last time!

*** I have been thinking of a "new" way to keep you all motivated over the winter period and happened upon an idea which I used very successfully with a squad I was working with back in 2002/3. The idea will be to run 3 "Mini-Olympics" spaced apart by six weeks. These will take place on a Saturday afternoon and the aim will be to offer a program of ten unique swimming events across all four strokes and from 25/50m up to 400m. Each swimmer can pick four events to focus on over the winter and during the standard training sessions we'll aid an element of training for each event, i.e. dive starts, tumble-turns, butterfly, backstroke and breaststroke, sprint capacity etc. The emphasis will be on fun and we'll keep things competitive both inter-swimmer and intra-swimmer with a special prize for the "Most Improved". More on this to follow, but it will be a great chance to learn some key new skills for many of you.

NEW SCHEDULE DETAILS:

We will be offering the following weekly sessions (as shown here: http://www.theteamcore.com/weeklyprogram.html)

  • Monday 7-8am (Pure Technique and Stroke Correction) in Outdoor 10 lane pool
  • Monday 9.30-10.30am (Technique & Endurance) in Outdoor 8 lane pool
  • Tuesday 5.30-6.30am (Technique & Endurance) in Outdoor 8 lane pool
  • Tuesday 6.30-7.30am (Technique & Endurance) in Outdoor 8 lane pool
  • Wednesday (CYCLE) 5.50-7.30am (Social) from Bouchard Cafe, Mount Street, Perth
  • Wednesday 9.30-10.30am (Fresh & Fruity) in Outdoor 8 lane pool
  • Thursday 5.30-6.30am (Fresh & Fruity) in Outdoor 10 lane pool
  • Thursday 6.30-7.30am (Fresh & Fruity) in Outdoor 10 lane pool
  • Friday 9.30-10.30am (Technique, Endurance & Stroke Correction) in Outdoor 8 lane pool
  • Saturday 1-2pm (Open Water Skills / "Mini Olympics") in Outdoor 10 lane pool

...the key changes then are:

  • no Tuesday evening swim session (scaled back due to the winter period)
  • no Wednesday early morning swim (due to lack of pool space...but I am working on this as I've really enjoyed taking this new session this year! Watch this space!)
  • Friday (early) morning's Fresh & Fruity sessions have shifted to Thursday mornings and have hence become "Fresh & Fruity Fursday" instead (due to lack of space on a Friday morning). I personally think that this balances the program a little better anyway. Please note that this session may be set up as a short-course pool (i.e. 25m) until September but we will have 5 to 6 lanes at each session so it doesn't get too crowded. It will actually work really well for some of the "Mini Olympics" training as well as the speed work we'll be doing and as they say "a change is as good as a holiday!"

PRICE INCREASE:

I'm sorry to have to do this, but my lane fees during this period will be 42% more than they were at Claremont Pool, plus I've now gone a full 3 years without any change in price structure despite also being liable for GST for the last 12 months too. I hate to have to increase my fees but it will be essential that I do so in order for the squad to survive and I do hope that you can understand and support this. The price increase will be effective as of 1st July 2010 so there's always the opportunity to stock-up on PAYG cards before then if you wish to save some pennies! The new prices will be as follows:

  • Casual Rate = $15.00 (no increase)
  • 10 Session Card = $120.00 (i.e. $12 per session)
  • 25 Session Card = $270.00 (i.e. $10.80 per session)
  • 50 Session Card = $480.00 (i.e. $9.60 per session)
  • 1-2-1 Video Analysis & Stroke Correction (Initial Consult) = $165.00
  • 1-2-1 Video Analysis & Stroke Correction (Follow-up) = $120.00

We really believe in the value of these coaching sessions, especially with the restricted squad numbers, often having two coaches on pool deck etc and hope that you will continue your training with us despite this increase.

FUTURE OF THE TEAM CORE:

It is probably no real surprise to many of you that we have really focussed on the swim coaching side of things in the last 12 months in tandem with the successful release of the new www.swimsmooth.com website in July 2009. This website now has over 19,000 subscribers worldwide and we have also created a strong international network of over 200 coaches as well. We're very proud of how well this is all going given the huge amount of hard work that has gone into it all and the respect and praise we are now receiving from our peers, especially the British Triathlon Federation, is very pleasing. I personally really feel that this is where I excel - swim stroke correction in small squad environments and through my 1-2-1 Video Analysis sessions. 

Having had our little man a little over a year ago as well has made me re-assess what I can feasibly cram into a day as well and without a doubt swim training is much more time efficient than say a long cycle ride. It has been hard to cut-back on the bike and running sessions as I am still so passionate about triathlon, but feel that you guys all benefit much more from my input pool-side and on the beach as highlighted by the difference in popularity between swim .vs. bike / run sessions in the last 12 months. To that end we are looking at merging the two businesses down the line and re-branding our local operations under the "Swim Smooth" banner. We will still look at running casual bike and run sessions upon demand and will hopefully have a bigger TRI squad for next year's Busselton Half Ironman (if everyone gets their entries in on time!), so in reality nothing changes too much, just that we'll be really focussing our attention on the Rottnest Channel Swim, enjoying social and recreational swimming for all ability levels, and helping the triathletes of WA improve their open water skills - all under a different (but hopefully less confusing!) name! Our ethos will remain unchanged and I will still be called Paul...! ;-)

SUMMARY:

Anyway guys, that was a mammoth email, sorry about that...just wanted to ensure you knew what was going on and when. Please now complete the squad form at:


OH YEAH, TRAINING THIS WEEKEND:

Thursday = run session at the north of Lake Monger. Meet at 6pm for a 6.15pm start. 4 x 1km intervals tonight.

Friday = all sessions (5.30am, 6.30am and 9.30am) all as normal - totally specific set for you guys doing the Half Ironman next weekend and if you're not, you'll still enjoy it!

Saturday = (those doing the Half Ironman) should just do a steady 2hr ride with a quick 20 mins run off the bike. 1.00pm squad session this week will be with Ceinwen.

Next week = last week at Claremont for 6 months - oo er missus!

Cheers

Paul





Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Lost swim gear bag!

Dear Swimmers

During the warm-up in today's session (Tuesday 20th April at ~6.40am), Sally Steffanoni's beloved Speedo mesh kit bag with all her fins, pull bouy, paddles etc went missing...all we can think of is that it was picked up in error by someone in the 5.30am session. Don't panic if this was you - you won't go to jail for this offence but may incur a 200m bands only butterfly set on Friday (?!) instead. Please check your gear and let me know if you might have got it. Thanks!

Paul





Friday, April 16, 2010

Bike For Sale - quite fancy!

For your information if anyone fancied what is indeed my own "dream" bike!

Price: $3950 ($7999 RRP)
Condition: Very good (regularly maintained)
Specifications:
Frameset: 2007 Cervélo Soloist Carbon-54cm
Groupset: Shimano Ultegra 2007
Crankset: FSA SL-K carbon 175mm (53-43)
Wheelset: Mavic Aksium Race 
Tires: Vittoria Rubino Pro 
Stem: 150mm FSA Alloy
Handlebars: FSA Alloy (with brand new 3T cork gel bar tape)
Fork: Cervélo CL Wolf Classic
Saddle: Selle Italia Trans Am
Upgrades: Mavic Aksium Race Wheelset (2008 model)
Brand new Shimano Ultegra 26-12 cassette and chain
Brand new brake pads and cabling
Additional Pro Lite wireless cycle computer with front wheel magnet!

Contact: James Lewin
Mob: 0422 864 611 Home: (08) 9445 1319

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Training this Weekend

Dear TEAM

Hope you're all staying dry this week - what a massive turn-around in the weather hey?!

OK, so training over the weekend will look like this:

Tonight (Thursday) = 6/6.15pm Run at Lake Monger (meet at the dodgy toilets to the north of the lake). This week is a 15km timed run but done at a steady / moderate pace (so not eye-balls out like last week!).

Friday = 5.30am, 6.30am and 9.30am swim sessions all as normal.

Saturday = there has been very little interest again in the structured Brick session this Saturday (maybe they're too long?!), but I would still recommend you have a go. Again the option this week would be to attend the very specific openwater skills session at 1pm at the Claremont Pool after having done a 60km ride in the morning followed by a 12-14km run-walk immediately thereafter. If you can do a swim-bike-run brick, then by all means do so...the suggested swim distance would be just 800m this week but at a good pace.

PM = 1.00pm squad swim session.

Notes on the proposed pool closure:

We should know by Wednesday 21st April if this will all be going ahead and when. Early indications suggest that this will take 6 months and that the pool will close in mid-May...we'll know more next week! I have, however, managed to source some alternative lane space at Challenge Stadium in the event of Claremont's closure. I have just found this out today and needless to say feel quite relieved. There will be a few minor modifications to the program, but nothing too much...oh, and for those of you who hate the so-called ten minute walk from the carpark to the pool deck at Challenge, you'll be pleased to know that it's actually only 2'48" as timed by my pedantic self earlier this week! LOL! In any case it will make a nice change to be somewhere different and I sincerely hope that you will support us over this period - it'd be really very much appreciated!

Stay tuned groovers!

Cheers

Paul

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Training this week - Brick Session anyone?



Dear TEAM

Hope you all had a great weekend - we had a fabulous time down in Pemberton - simply stunning scenery!

OK, this week sees everything back to normal:

Wednesday - 5.30am and 9.30am swim sessions as normal

Thursday - 6/6.15pm run session as normal at the north side of Lake Monger (chance to test yourself tonight over a measured 10km course - don't miss it!)

Friday - 5.30am, 6.30am and 9.30am swim sessions as normal

Saturday - 6.30am = proposed BRICK session at Cottesloe Beach. We need 10 athletes to make this viable to run. Please let me know asap if you plan to attend. Distances will be a 1200m swim + 75km bike + 12km run. If the session does not proceed "officially" - these will be the distances I'd recommend.

NB. Also, the 1.00pm squad swim session will take place as normal at the Claremont Pool.

Have a great week.

P.S We should know by next Wednesday (14th April) the fate of the pool and proposed closures due to refurbishments. I am still waiting to hear back next week as well about the alternative pool situation - please cross your fingers with me and let's hope for a good result on all fronts!! ;-)

Cheers

Paul