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DURBAN SET TO ROCK
Durban is set to host the inaugural TRI ROCK half ironman distance triathlon in Septmeber of this year.
The challenge of completing a swim-bike-run combination of events is one many athletes aspire to complete. Durban, in association with partners and the KZN Triathlon Association, are happy to welcome a new event to the capital of sport in SA, to accommodate these aspiring athletes. Tri-Rock Durban is set to proverbially “rock” the town with its fresh ideas, race format and organization on the 22nd September 2013.
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Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) makes triumphant return from injury at 2013 ITU World Triathlon Yokohama
Yokohama, Japan (11 May 2013) – Great Britain’s Jonathan Brownlee started his season in a now familiar way in Japan, as he led from almost start to finish in an all-round perfect performance at ITU World Triathlon Yokohama.
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Gwen Jorgensen (USA) claims back to back ITU World Triathlon Series wins in Yokohama
Yokohama, Japan (11 May 2013) – If San Diego hinted at it, Yokohama has well and truly confirmed the USA’s Gwen Jorgensen as the leading contender in 2013, as she took back to back ITU World Triathlon Series titles and the overall series lead in Japan on Saturday.
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Challenge Family relaunches in Australia with three new events
7 MAY 2013 – Challenge Family has today announced its return to the Australian triathlon scene with three new Challenge Half events being added to their worldwide series.
Challenge Melbourne, Challenge Forster and Challenge Bateman’s Bay will spearhead the Challenge Family’s return to Australia. All three Challenge Half distance events will comprise a 1.9km swim, a 90km cycle and a 21.1km run together with a prize purse of over AUD$30,000.
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McNeice and Granger claim inaugural titles at Challenge Taiwan
5 May, 2013 – New Zealand’s Dylan McNeice has again made his mark on the international triathlon circuit as he took his second major title in only his second long distance race at this weekend’s Challenge Taiwan. Meanwhile Belinda Granger (AUS) won the women’s race, claiming her 15th long distance victory in the process.
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KEY SWIM WORKOUTS TO KEEP YOU THE NOVICE, FRESH
Swim Training geared towards the TRIATHLETE
Every body gets to a stage sometime in their training when they seem to hit a plateau. No real progress forwards, just stuck in the rut. This is especially true for the novice, who comes into the world of triathlon and multi sports. Their initial gains are huge as the training and fitness levels increase dramatically when going from practically zero. These gains could last a while (dependant of course on how committed each athlete is towards his or her sport). There will come a time however during training when you need to shake things up a bit to get past that stale patch.
Change of Scenery;
We are all creatures of habit and I am one of the biggest culprits. It’s always the same old route and regime we follow week in week out. That’s not necessarily a bad thing but to keep you fresh, you need to change your surroundings and the workouts.
Swim:
Try a different pool venue if you can or opt for a different spot when you do open water swims. You will be surprised at how this can spice up the training session, even if you stick to the original program schedule.
You can then also incorporate various alternate workouts to coincide with the new venue to really put the zoom back into your step.
For example:
Pool swim at different venue:
Let’s for a minute pretend that you are some hot shot Olympic pool swimmer and today is the day you are going to show off that raw speed. This is what we do!
- Stretch for 5 – 10 minutes before we actually dive in (arms/shoulders/back/legs)
- Bring along all the toys and whistles (zoomer fins/ freestyler paddles/ align kickboard)
- 400m easy swim warm-up (concentrating on the stroke pull and what you are doing underneath the water to make you go slip faster through the water)
- 200m kick with zoomer fins, resting 5 seconds after each 50m but kicking harder than normal
- 400m pulling with freestyler paddles and foam pull-buoy (once again, think about the arm pull/high shoulder/far reach entry)
Okay the warm-up is over and your’ ready to rock n roll. Get out the water and stretch for another 2-3 minutes, more so to get the head into the right mental frame of mind.
If the pool venue has lane ropes and starting blocks, even better:
- 4 x 100m maximum swims (starting off the blocks/good fast turns/high stroke turnover) and going at 100%. Record time? Get out and rest a full 1-2 minutes between each. What we try do is keep our times the same for all 4. That means you will have to work that much harder each one to keep on track with your pacing. It’s almost like a mini time trial over 400m but with rest in between
- 8 x 50m any stroke but freestyle, rest 20 seconds after each and a full 1 minute after 4. Butterfly would be great if you can do it and so would backstroke (as it closely resembles the freestyle stroke).
- 8 x 25m sprints, diving off the blocks each time and trying to breathe as little as possible over the course of each length. Imagine you’re in the final of the 50m Free at the Olympics and it’s all out to the wall. Keep you eyes fixed on the wall at each end and swim hard into the finish
- Ease off with a 200/400m swim or freestyler paddle pull for recovery
Open Water swim venue:
Whether it’s a sea/lake or river swim, this is the perfect workout to keep you fresh and make it well worth your while. I call it ins and out’s.
- you start on the beach/edge and run into the water at race pace intensity, swim out for about 50m (perhaps more so if you have waves to navigate), swim parallel to the beach for 400m and then return to shore. Upon exiting the water, you run back to the start point of the swim and repeat the rectangular course again.
- 500m swim/400m run and you do this a minimum of 3 to 4 times. If you are planning on training for ironman, then 5 to 6 times would suffice. If you want to keep track of your pacing, record each lap ad try finish off with the fastest lap towards the end. This is much more fun when in a group but does keep you focused when alone as well. A mini aquathlon so to speak but great for a number of reasons;
I guarantee you renewed vigour and performances if you adopt similar approaches to alternate training as has been suggested above. Good luck!
