Thursday 29 April 2010

SWIM ALERT!!

No swimming tomorrow (Friday) morning at Tollcross - closed due to Industrial Action.

Rumour has it the real reason is that Gareth dropped a Mars Bar whilst swimming & it blocked one of the filters.

Colin

Tuesday 27 April 2010

Women Cycling

Hi,
Scottish Cycling have asked to publicise the undernoted events which may be of benefit to your members. I would be grateful if you could forward this around any interested club members.
Many thanks,
Jacqui (Triathlon Scotland)
As part of the Women and Veterans Series 2010, Scottish Cycling is pleased to announce 3 Women’s Development Coaching Sessions on:

· 8th May at Ingliston Showground,
· 26th June at Caird Park
· 7th August at Ingliston Showground.
These coach led sessions will aim to teach women of all abilities the skills for road racing. Working with Scottish Cycling’s performance development coaches you will have the chance to develop your skills in a positive environment where the focus will be on skill development rather than physical ability.
The sessions will focus on:
· bunch riding skills and confidence,
· cornering,
· accelerations in and out of the saddle

Using coaching sessions that are designed to give riders the maximum amount of time on the bike while focussing on skill development; it will be a great opportunity to learn in a fun environment with like-minded people. A big part of the feedback process is using video analysis, this is only one of the ways the coaches will be able to support your skill development. By creating a beginner friendly environment where it is ok to not know! it’s hoped you will have the opportunity to ask those questions you have always had but never asked!

The session on 8th May will start at 9am. The exact timings and content of the other 2 sessions will be confirmed closer to the time. The cost will be £10 per person for each development session and payable on the day.
This is a fantastic opportunity for women to be part of a specific coaching session before the start of the Women and Veterans Series which take place on the following dates:

16th May – Women and Veterans’ RR Series Event 1 – Dunfermline
3rd July - Women and Veterans’ RR Series 2 – Blairgowrie
22nd August - Women and Veterans’ RR Series 3 – Balfron

We would like to encourage as many women along to these sessions as possible whether experienced or novice riders.

If you have any questions regarding the sessions please do not hesitate to contact the Events Coordinator Ruth Volley on 0131 317 9704 or emailing ruth.volley@scottishcycling.org.uk

Monday 26 April 2010

Group Sunday Ride - Crieff 25th April

Twelve of us arranged via many, many emails to meet up at Crieff Leisure Centre on Sunday morning for a 100 mile group ride. Through fear, drunkeness & shopping for bathroom fittings we were whittled down to the final 8 by Saturday night & that's the way it stayed.... Colin 'The Freebster' Freeman, Genevieve 'Lovin' It' Freeman, Neil 'The Boy' Crookston, Graeme 'Thunder Thighs' Allan, John 'Bleedin' Legs' Irish, Dawn 'Dirty Dawn' Buchanan, Michael 'Wet Leisure' Martin & Race Ride Organiser Trevor 'Trevor Blackburn' Blackburn.
The weather forecast was looking favourable so it was a bit of a suprise to look out the window at 7.00am on Sunday to see the rain bouncing off the car roof. We optimistically assumed that by the time we got to Crieff we would be bathed in sunshine like those Lucky London Marathoners. No such luck - it was hammering it down & the thought of riding 100 miles was horrific, as was getting out of the car.
After waiting 20 minutes for Graeme to arrive having had trouble negotiating the complicated? road system of Crieff City we headed off into the freezing rain.

Out of Crieff toward Loch Earn on the following route...

Route_Map

Once we had got going it was VERY wet but not too bad other than if you were on someones wheel & tried to speak then your mouth immediately filled with water & you just gurgled.
We had one food stop for Michael to get some fried food on board, the rest of us were just being polite ...


Dawn had the first puncture - apparently the guage on her track pump is faulty hence riding her tyres at 200 psi. Trevors wheel bearings sounded like a bag of nails in a washing machine, Dawns cassette rattled like a shopping trolley. The Boy changed Colins first puncture but refused on the second 'Cattle Grid Bunny Hop' puncture so I changed it myself only to somehow unscrew the entire valve afterwards so Trevor sorted this one out for me. I don't get many punctures :-/
Other than some long climbs & lots of sheep the ride was fantastic, everyone survived without any further problems & at some points some people even managed a smile....



Despite consuming large portions of Genevieves Birthday cake, some of us decided to stop off for a pub dinner on the way home. Having driven loops round Dunblane looking for a great pub that Dawn knew its turns out that that great pub was in fact in Dunkeld so we went to a not so great pub instead. Nice food though.
Thanks everyone for a fun day out & some good hard miles & we look forward to the next one.

C.

That is NOT a Recovery Week!!

Quite a week last week - on the training plan it was a recovery week but it turned out there were so many exciting events going on that it turned into a 16 hour training week with the recovery happening this week instead!

Mon - Harriers 5 x 3 min efforts round the Glen & back roads. Felt very strong despite barely running recently & sat up the front comfortably. All down to the biking.

Tues - Am; Tollcross swim 2.5k efforts.

Tues - Pm; out with the Bundy & got out to Crossford this time before 'nipping' up the Braidwood climb & jumping on the bunch again for a while once they caught us.

Weds - Am; Core/Stretching

Weds - Pm; Hamilton College session - great 3k efforts session.

Thurs - EKRC 38 mile APR - felt strong again. I have not ridden that hard for that duration before.

Fri - Rest/Stretch

Sat - Rest/Stretch

Sun - Long ride from Creiff 100 miles in miserable weather conditions! (report to follow).

A solid training week for both of us but now need to recover after 4 consecutive weeks of building. Must find time to run more, especially fitting in a weekly long run.
 
C.

Sunday 18 April 2010

Ayr Duathlon 2010 - Report, Results & Photos

A great turnout for the Duathlon today - for those of you who don't know it, it is a fabulous, friendly sprint Duathlon (5k run, 20k bike, 5k run) held in the grounds of Oswald Hall just outside Ayr. The course is far from easy with a twisty 5k run with sharp ups & downs, a (long) 20k bike with several climbs & a poor road surface followed by a repeat of the same 5k. On the plus side the weather was warm & sunny & there is a great array of cakes available at the finish, even if you do have to run past them twice before you can get stuck in.
In attendance today were Me (Colin), Genevieve, Colin B, Alan S, Graeme A, Gareth, Davy Herbertson, Big Don K.....
Colin B was hot off the blocks with a flying start in front of myself with the others close together behind. Out of stubborness more than desire I managed to sneak past Colin B but there was little between us as we arrived into transition. I was first out of T1 & straight onto the first climb with screaming thighs & lots of pothole dodging & knew Colin was hot on my heels. Down the daredevil descent past the start line & quickly onto the second lap Malcom Dippie nipped past me but I started to feel stronger but as we got caught up in a bit of traffic I was aware of someone half wheeling me & knew it was the Bainmeister. I put the hammer down a bit & opened up a small gap but again there was little in it in T2 & I had only a 200 mtr lead. Malcom was the same distance ahead of me & I thought I would catch him until I started running & felt far from comfortable. I haven't done a sprint distance for months & had forgotton that I cannot take on fluids just before the run as I get terrible stomach cramps so grabbing a glass of water coming out of T2 was a stupid mistake & it hurt. Malcom neither pulled away or got any closer & when I looked back I saw Colin B had self-combusted & just consolidated my position & got to the finish. Not a good 2nd run time for me but 12th position any way & 1.19.17 total time. As expected my runs were slower than last year but a quicker bike meant for an improved total time on 2009. Colin B lost a handful of places on the 2nd run but finished in a great time of 1.21.05  
A strong consistent performance from Alan brought him next in in 1.27.12 followed in by Graeme in 1.31.42. (On checking previous results Graeme once finished this event in 2007 in 1.55 - that's quite an improvement!)  
Genevieve came in just under a minute behind Graeme in 1.32.40 - quicker than last year & also quick enough to pick up a PODIUM POSITION  as 2nd Female OVERALL!!!
An outstanding performance from David Herbertson. 1.33.58 in his first ever Duathlon saw him turn out 2 good runs as expected but also a respectable bike aswell on a tricky course.
Gareth was in next in 1.37.42 swearing he would never be appearing in this event again but 25 minutes on the 1st & 2nd run is a good result.
Late entrant Don Kennedy was next in for the club. 1.49.37 with two consistant runs & a good steady bike time on the Hybrid.
    
                     Overall   Run1   Cycle    Run2
Colin Freeman 1:19:17 0:18:12 0:41:08 0:19:57

Colin Bain 1:21:05 0:18:17 0:41:53 0:20:55

Alan Stirling 1:27:12 0:21:31 0:43:08 0:22:33

Graeme Allan 1:31:42 0:22:27 0:43:58 0:25:17

Genevieve F 1:32:40 0:22:26 0:45:28 0:24:46

David H 1:33:58 0:20:49 0:50:55 0:22:14

Gareth 1:37:42 0:25:17 0:46:34 0:25:51

Don Kennedy 1:49:37 0:25:41 0:57:37 0:26:19

Well done everyone - it was great having a good turnout for the club - others were commenting at the end at our good representation & we also managed a sound unrelenting attack on the cake table afterwards. Imagine having 3 different flavours of swiss roll? Myself & Alan managed to tag team the lot between us I think. Final congrats to Genevieve for getting the club a Podium Position!!

Photos

Results

Legacy project weblinks

To all Clubs and race organisers

In addition to circulating your members with the information and email link supplied in our legacy project email, if you are able to publish the following two links on your website, we would be most grateful.

More than willing helpers

Understanding where your talents lie, and how even a small amount of your skilled time might result in a massive boost to the organisation, is a key driver in this project. We are looking for responses from all types of volunteers - not just event marshals, but also club officials, coaches and anyone else who gives up their own time to support multi-sports.

Our quick survey will take you no more than 5 minutes, is completed online and will give us more information on where your talents lie.
Weblink

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NWCK8BR%22%3EClick here to take survey

Our quick survey will take you no more than 5 minutes, is completed online and will give us more information on where your talents lie.

ITU European Cup event - Volunteers Required

BTF are currently recruiting volunteers for the ITU European Cup race at the the 2014 Commonwealth venue, Strathclyde Park. Clubs members who volunteer for this event, will see a donation made to their club funds following the event.

For further information on the event and volunteering opportunities, please see http://www.strathclydeparktriathlon.com/.

Thank you for your assistance.
Regards
Fiona

Saturday 17 April 2010

Training this week....19th April

Back to Hamilton College on Wednsday night for our coached swim sessions. 8 weeks of hard training before the schools stop for summer!

Monday - RUN, ATHelite EK, 6.15pm

Tuesday - SWIM, Tollcross, 7.00am

Tuesday - BIKE, 6.15pm. With the Bundy - not for the faint hearted!!

Wednesday - SWIM, 5.00pm - 6.45pm Hamilton College

Thursday - RUN, ATHelite, EK, 6.15pm

Friday - SWIM, Tollcross 7.00am

Saturday - BIKE - 9.00am Long Steady. Meeting point at the top of Hurlawcrook Road just before the turn off for Langlands golf course.

Sunday - RUN Long steady. 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.

See you at the sessions!!

Friday 16 April 2010

Core Strength Workout

Here is the Core Strength Workout again that I posted earlier in the year. Do these now once or twice a week - they will hurt the first time but get easier from then on.


"If your core is weak, nothing else can be strong"
 
http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/cms/article-detail.asp?articleid=486

C.

Friday Swim

10 of us in the Tollcross pool this morning (i think) - pretty good turnout for a 7.00am session. Even Jack was there though he looked a bit dead at the end. 

For those who have done the 3 sessions this week that is over 8k in 4 days. 

Well done!!

Tuesday 13 April 2010

Review of the week

A nicer week of weather helped the training along nicely last week once Monday had passed by.
We went for our first long run in ages - a 2 hour hilly route around Carmunock & Kittochside in the rain & wind with puddles over our ankles. Not fun & quite painful but we knew it wouldn't get any worse than that.
We got a few runs in - running off the bike after every ride plus a couple of other runs, but no efforts as yet.
We got in some pretty good bike mileage & both feel pretty good. I feel much stronger on the bike now than I did whilst in Lanzarote & the 50 - 60 milers that we are currently doing aren't presenting any problems.
Swimming is still going well - we only had the 2 sessions due to the Tollcross & Hamilton College opening times over Easter but what we are doing is looking ok. A great 58 min 3k continuous swim on Weds.
Wednesday was a crazy day - 3k swim, 55 mile bike, bike hill efforts in the evening & a brick run.

Must do more core & stretching!

Ayr Duathlon this weekend - feel a bit odd about this. I haven't done any Sprint event since before Ironman last October. I know I am strong enough not to tire but a serious lack of any running speedwork may hamper my turnover whilst running. We'll have to wait & see what happens.
We are targetting 16 hrs training this week then have a recovery week next week (though this does include a 100 miler on the Sunday!).

Colin

Tollcross Swim

Good turnout this morning for the 7.00am swim.

16 x 100's off 2 minutes.

Funny seeing Genevieve on the front of her group being drafted for the whole session by 4 burly men!

C.

A trip to Arran

Sunday 9th May

ATHelite Tri Club is planning a trip to Arran.

There are 2 cycle routes available to cater for all abilities. There is the North circular which is 32 miles (realistically you have 5-7 hours to complete) or the Arran circular which is 57 miles.

Arran North Circular - A B C D A

A stunning route around Arran's high mountains. Flat coast roads, plus 2 big inland hills. Achievable by most people with good fitness. 32 miles. 3 to 5 hours.

Arran Circular - A B C E F G H J A

The famous ‘Round the Island' route, a tough combination of both North and South circulars, an

excellent days challenge requiring a good level of fitness. 57 miles, 5 to 8 hours.

http://www.arranbikeclub.com/cycling.html

We will get the 0945 Ferry from Ardrossan which will get us in to Brodick, Arran for 1040

We will depart at 1640 arriving back at 1735.

The ferry costs £9.70.

Saturday 10 April 2010

Training this week....12th April

Monday - RUN, ATHelite EK, 6.15pm

Tuesday - SWIM, Tollcross, 7.00am
Tuesday - BIKE, 6.15pm. With the Bundy - not for the faint hearted!!

Wednesday - SWIM, Tollcross, 7.00am
Wednesday - BIKE - 6.15pm Meeting point at the top of Hurlawcrook Road just before the turn off for Langlands golf course. Hills efforts - all abilities. Bring your running shoes, we're doing a brick!

Thursday - RUN, ATHelite, EK, 6.15pm

Friday - SWIM, Tollcross 7.00am

Saturday - BIKE - 9.00am Long Steady. Meeting point at the top of Hurlawcrook Road just before the turn off for Langlands golf course.
Sunday - RUN Long steady. 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.

See you at the sessions!!

Monday 5 April 2010

Review of the week!

Last week was week 1 of our 2010 Ironman training plan and it went pretty much to plan. We managed a good 3 hr ride on Monday over Eaglesham Moor in the snow followed by a short 15 min run to start to train our transition legs.
I did an additional big roller session followed by a 5k run brick (cross country in the snow) plus a couple of commutes & G did another 3 hr bike & run with wee Dawn.
We didn't do the Bundy due to the horrendous weather. Maybe this week.
Only 2 swims this week due to Easter hours (2k of efforts on Tues & 3k on Fri).   
Whilst we are focussing on our riding our running is not really happening yet so we need to get this kick started ASAP (today!)
We did our first 10 mile TT of the year at Cambusbarron yesterday - great conditions, good course & a few Ek roadies there. I was 25.17 & G was 27.00 - both PB's on our first TT of the year so we can't ask more than that. These TT's are on right through the Summer so we can hopefully get some more in on this course.
We finished up 2 hours short of our 14 hr target, we'll see if we can hit our 15 hrs this week. If the weather is more favourable it would help & it looks like it should improve after Tuesday.   

 

Training this week.... 5th April

Monday - RUN, ATHelite EK, 6.15pm
  • good session - mile efforts in the bag
Tuesday - SWIM, Tollcross, 7.00am
  • regular bunch at the pool this fine morning - 15 x 100 completed plus good warm up and cool down.
Wednesday - SWIM, Tollcross 7am
  • 3k swim bagged
Wednesday - BIKE,  6.15pm Meeting point at the top of Hurlawcrook Road just before the turn off for Langlands golf course. Hills efforts - all abilities. Bring your running shoes, we're doing a brick!
  • fun hill session!! how tough is the Arodochrigg Hill? A wee run afterwards finished it all of nicely.

Thursday - RUN, ATHelite, EK, 6.15pm


Friday - Bike? 6.15pm Meeting point at the top of Hurlawcrook Road just before the turn off for Langlands golf course

Saturday - BIKE - please leave a comment if you're meeting up.

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.

10 mile Road Race

Looking for a local 10 mile race, something different to do before you gear up for half marathons

The Annual Tom Scott 10M Road Race & Round the Loch 6K Race will take place on Sunday 11th April 2010 - at 11:00am within Strarhclyde Park Motherwell.

http://www.tomscottroadraces.co.uk/id4.html