Wednesday 31 March 2010

Merrell - New Gear New Season

Merrell


New Merrell stock now in. Some lovely womens sandals great for hanging out in pre and post race!

Merrell Running socks and Multi Sport Socks now available too

Swimming

This Wednesday is the last swim at Hamilton College before the Easter Holidays.
The Easter Holidays are for 2 weeks so NO SWIMMING on the 7th or 14th April.

For these two weeks we will be swimming at Tollcross in the morning for a group swim - 7am

These holidays are really interfering with my training......

No swimming this Friday morning at Tollcross!

Tuesday 30 March 2010

Stirling Championship Duathlon and Age Group European and World Qualifier

James raced at Stirling at the weekend & here is our first race report of the year ......

 
Now that the race is over I can honestly say it was great!

Lining up alongside Catriona Morrison and the other 'pros' was quite a treat! Even if that was the closest I got to them.
The day started with a little bit of a scare as my arrival at Stirling was delayed somewhat by those on-going roadworks and diversions around Stirling. But I still got there in plenty of time - unlike some.
So after registering and putting my gear together I headed off for the transition area. That was packed. Wider handlebars make for a neat fit of all those bikes. Bags and boxes were definately forbidden.
I was keen to try out my new aero-bars and their bespoke extensions. The saddle was 2 cm higher too, so a new set-up all round.
With porridge, cornflakes, an energy bar, and banana inside me I felt quite good. A short warm-up including a look at the 'hill' was all I needed.
I decided that pacing would be crucial, so set-off at a nice steady pace, completing each 2.5km lap in 12 minutes or so. Coming home bang on 49 minutes I felt the race was just beginning.
I set-off on the bike and had the benefit of a tail wind as I turned left out towards Alloa. The bike felt good as did I and I stepped up the cadence. The first 6 miles flew by and I turned two sharp lefts into the wind for the return journey. Ah THE WIND!! Gusting at 20 mph, head-on, it was tough. The aero-bars helped by forcing me into an aerodynamic position and I continued to make decent headway.
A second outbound section saw another fast 6 miles followed by another painful return. I resisted the temptation to get-off and knuckled down to get to the finish.
Coming back into the university after 1 hour 17 minutes I was glad it was over, had the wind not been blowing it would have been a very enjoyable ride.
All that was left was the 2 x 2.5km loops including the hill!!!
It's at this time that my brain had to force my legs to run uphill otherwise they simply wouldn't have moved.
A 13 minutes first lap and 12 minutes second lap saw me home in 2hrs 35 minutes and 27 seconds.
I was hoping for 2 hrs 45 mins and with 2 x 1m 30s transitions it was a pleasing first attempt at the full duathlon distance.
Now I'd better put in a few sessions in the pool ahead of Cupar!!

James

Sunday 28 March 2010

Here we go again!!!

SO... We have finally entered our big race for the year & it is Challenge Copenhagen Ironman. Race day is August 15th.

http://www.challengecopenhagen.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGPD34gh4mQ&NR=1

This is the first year of this event but it sounds like a good one & a potentially fast course too.
The 2.4 mile swim course is in an artificial laguna, the 2 loop 112 mile bike route is a mix of urban & rural roads & relatively flat & the 3 loop 26.2 mile run course round the city is also pretty flat.

Last year for Barcelona we had about a 10 month countdown to the race but this year our training plan will be much shorter but we are further forward now than last year both in terms of fitness (I hope) & knowledge. We have 4 1/2 months or 19 weeks from now till race day.

Our next 8 weeks will consist of base training - building our endurance base, stamina & core strength.
As with last year I will attempt to log our training on the Blog on a weekly basis.

As I sit here looking at the training plan for next week the weather is on the TV forecasting heavy snow & freezing wintery conditions for the whole of next week which is not the best start! None the less the plan is as follows;

Mon; Bike 4 hrs followed by 20 min run (if snowing this will be 2 hours on the rollers indoors)
Tues; 7.00am Tollcross swim - long efforts. Pm - the first Bike with the Bundy (oh dear - let you know how this goes!)             
Weds; Pm Tollcross Club Swim Session, Bike hill efforts.
Thurs; Pm Run
Fri; Am Tollcross Long Swim, Pm Run
Sat; Rest day
Sun; Bike - Royal Albert 10 mile TT (Ride before too)

We also need to fit in a core session & a stretching session in & that should make it a 14 hr training week.
I'll let you know how it goes!
C.

Thursday 25 March 2010

Pool Mate Swim Watch by Swimovate Now in

Now in and available at ATHelite



The Pool-Mate is the only fully automatic Swimming Computer. Simply press the Start button and begin to swim.

No forgetting your lap count!

No pressing buttons at the end of each lap!

Pool-Mates have been sold to 60 countries all around the world since our launch in September and they have had amazing feedback from our swimmers.

The Pool-Mate uses state of the art MEMS accelerometers to measure the acceleration of the wrist during the swim stroke. Advanced digital signal processing techniques and software algorithms have been developed by their engineers to pick out the stroke and lap information for the recognised swimming strokes. Works with Front Crawl, BackCrawl, Breaststroke and Butterfly, all sizes of pool over 15m, without calibration.

As well as lap counting the Pool-Mate will do much more. It will display and store Session Time, Average Strokes per lap, Speed, Distance, Calories and Efficiency.

In addition to the statistics for the overall session it will record the same data for each individual set so you can see how all these metrics change through a swim session. You can even time your rest periods between sets. All data is stored in a large memory for review during or after a swim session (up to 400 LOGS can be stored). The Pool-Mate is available in different colour options - grey/blue, black/blue.

Numerous studies and respected coaches stress the value of stroke counting as a valued way to improve swimming efficiency. Reducing the number of strokes per lap increases efficiency. The Pool-Mate has a unique swimming efficiency index that gives feedback about the efficiency of your swimming. By monitoring this so you can see how you improve over time.

We have designed a complete bespoke watch specifically for swimmers. All aspects of the watch from the strap to the display and electronics have been designed by Swimovate. Features include lightweight, flexible PU strap, easy to read display, stainless steel buttons, backlight and double secure fastening.

The Pool-Mate has been extensively tested by a wide variety of swimmers over a 2 year period. They have a database of hundreds of kms of swimming and an accuracy rate of over 99.75%. The watch has full CE and FCC approvals.

RRP £69.99

Bank of Scotland Great Scottish Run

Half Marathon and 10km

Glasgow, 5 September 2010

Be part of Scotland's largest mass participation sporting event and do something amazing! The popularity of the race is due to the fantastic atmosphere, the fast courses in both half marathon and 10k and the cosmopolitan buzz of Glasgow.

More Info

ParkRun Strathclyde Park

New park run scheduled for Strathclyde park starts 10th April at 9.30am

Everyone welcome. Suits all abilities.

More Info

Route

Saturday 20 March 2010

RepairMyOrthotics.com is a new concept orthotic repair service for patients who currently have orthotics or insoles that are no longer in the condition they once were.

What do we do at RepairMyOrthotics.com?

Many custom made orthotics or insoles are made from a combination of plastics, carbon fibre, foams and padding. Some parts of the orthotics wear through time, however other parts usually made from plastic or carbon fibre can be recycled.

The main part of these plastic or carbon fibre foot orthotics (called the shell) are very robust and often outlast the leather and foam coverings added to them when first manufactured.

RepairMyOrthotics.com refurbish your old foot orthotics by replacing the foams and coverings fitted to the shell and make them look and work like new!! Simple!

Good for your feet, good for your pocket, good for the environment!!
The advantage is that instead of having to always replace your orthotics we recycle the parts that we can to prolong the life of your orthotics and save you money by preventing the need to buy new foot orthotics (more importantly!)
They are state registered professionals who have over 20 years experience in the assessment, manufacture and repair of orthotics (orthoses).
Our clinical website and online shop SportOrthotics.co.uk was where it all began for the team based out of ATHelite running and triathlon store in Hamilton, Scotland.

Within the store there are 2 clinic rooms and a purpose built orthotic lab designed to deal with patients wishing to be assessed and supplied with orthotics.

The Orthotic team have worked in the store since 2008 where it quickly grew to the point where we had people coming from as far away as the continent for our services!!

The orthotic lab was set up to ensure patients could be seen and have orthotics made, modified and repaired in a one stop shop setting to be sure that the best possible service could be provided to our patients.

Want to know more before about us before sending your orthotics for repair? click here

Sunday 7 March 2010

Stirling Triathlon

You'll need to enter ASAP. This event is filling up at a crazy rate!!!!

Come on enter you know you'll have fun.

Enter here

Training this week.... 8th March

Monday - RUN, ATHelite EK, 6.15pm

Tuesday - SWIM, Tollcross, 7.00am

Wednesday - SWIM, Hamilton College 5-7pm

Thursday - RUN, ATHelite, EK, 6.15pm

Friday - SWIM, Tollcross 7.00am

Saturday - BIKE

Sunday - Long steady run. The usual Sunday run will start at 9am, meeting point at the top of Hurlawcrook Road just before the turn off for Langlands golf course.

Tuesday 2 March 2010

Lake APR 28th March

Come on ladies, we need a few more to enter for this race to be a goer.

Lots of first timers entered. Our very own wee Dawn has even entered and is riding round with her friend so come on ENTER.

There's no serious rules you pitch up and ride 25 miles - you'll be done in 2 hours and then we can stay and have tea and cakes!

It's a gorgeous ride around the Lake of Mentith

http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/web/site/SCU/roa/sc_road_results_news/20100223_Australian_Pursuit_Race.asp

MORE INFO

The Lake of Menteith APR 'Feminine' will take place immediately after the men's event and cover one lap of the same circuit around the Lake of Menteith covering 25 miles to finish in Balfron Town Centre. This all women's event has been promoted to encourage all abilities of women cyclist, from novice to seasoned racer, to race together on a level playing field as all participants will be handicapped in accordance with their ability and experience.
There will be a separate prize list for this event including a race winner's jersey. So if you've always wanted to have a go at road racing, but have been put off because of it being a mixed event now is your chance to take that first step, who knows you may just end up being the first winner of the Lake APR Feminine.
Details of the event can be found on Glasgow Nightingale CC pages: GNCC website and Lake APR Feminie

entries via Entry Central