Chris Hoy signed Braveheart Cycling Jersey

Now then all you generous souls out there - take a look at this...

We are auctioning a Genuine Braveheart Cycling Fund Jersey - signed for by Braveheart Patron SIR Chris Hoy at last years 2008 Braveheart Ride.

This is a limited edition jersey that we are auctioning on our eBay shop on behalf of our Mandy who is currently raising money for Marie Curie Cancer Care.

This is a great & very deserving cause so take a look at the following link & see what you can do.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=310119435135&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT

Thank you!!

ATHelite Triathlon Club

Bike Ride - A nice wee pack of 8 managed it out today on the somewhat blustery morning.
Not quite organised enough to leave sharp at 9.15am but hopefully we can improve on this - starting next week!!

Some slightly more experienced riders and some beginners out.
If you feel tempted to join us next week, then don't delay any more and come along, while it's the early on in the season.

Leave a comment if you're up for a ride next Saturday or email mail@ATHelite.net

ATHelite Triathlon Club

Swim - is on tomorrow morning at 7.30am, Hamilton Water Palace.
We're starting to get a few regulars along now which is nice.
Leave a comment if you're coming so we can expect you.

Don't forget to get you entry form in for our 5k run in Chatelherault Country Park on the 15th February.

Bike - ride scheduled for Saturday morning at 9.15am. Meeting at East Kilbride shop. Already a good few coming out (see posting below) leave a comment if you fancy coming out so we can expect you.

Marshals

Please leave a comment or send us an email if you can help marshal at our 5k Run in the Park

There is a goodie bag in it for you....

'The only thing that's running is my nose!!'

Fortunately it was a low intensity recovery week anyway last week seeing as Mrs ATHelite caught the cold & then generously gave it to me. We actually still managed a couple of easy bikes, 2 easy runs & an easy swim so not too far off the plan & we are now better, thanks for asking. The only area that was sacrificed was the push- up plan. I did have a go mid-week but felt like Vanessa Phelps was sat on my back, so the mission was aborted.

Following an easier week we have hit this week with re-newed vigour. An steady hour run in the countryside on Sunday morning saw lots of nose blowing (you can use sheep as handkerchiefs you know) & we both felt much looser at the end of it than at the start. Yesterday (Monday) saw a 2.5 hr bike out beyond Strathaven & back - beautiful weather in the afternoon but the sun dropped at 4.00ish & so did the temperature - baltic!! We went pretty much off the bikes into Jogscotland with the biggest turnout yet of 18 runners. A good session with a great bunch of people - most enjoyable.
Swim session was good too this morning - enough good drills & distance to feel effective but not wiped out for the days work ahead.
Mrs ATHelites 'lil' sister Pammy arrives tomorrow morning on the 'red eye' from Toronto so an exciting week ahead. She is a training junkie so we'll need to keep her busy for a week.

As usual I had intended to write my Blog on Sunday whilst in the Hamilton shop but way, way too busy. A customer said 'You don't do much trade in Hamilton on a Sunday do you?' & from then on the flood gates opened. Good to see so many people taking interest in getting fit & also all the Spring marathon runners starting to get sorted for the right footwear & gear.

Happy Running!!

ATHelite Triathlon Club

Bike Ride - who is up for a 20 mile (minimum option add ons/cut off available) bike ride next Saturday, leaving from East Kilbride Shop at 9.15/9.30am?

Leave a comment

Sports Therapist

Grant our Sports Therapist has a fabulous special offer on
2 x 1/2 hour Sports Massage appointments for £20
available at our clinic in ATHelite, Hamilton
call Grant on 07967 543 083 for an appointment
or email grant.mclullich@btinternet.com

ATHelite Triathlon Club

Swim - This friday at Hamilton Water Palace, 7.30am for another great session.

You can leave a comment if you're coming so we can expect you.

Review of the Week

Well that's another week flown by - I don't know where they go to.
This week saw me doing 3 swim sessions (Mrs ATHelite did 2 - still being careful with the shoulder to avoid any more injury). The Friday session was great - coach Jack was unavailable again (the Man Flu seems to have taken a turn for the worse, poor little soldier) but he left us a good session to do. A good turnout & enjoyed by all.
We got a couple of short bikes in but no real distance due to more miserable weather. I think I may have sorted my hip issue with a little bit of cleat adjustment - haven't done any long rides as yet but it definately felt better over the commute to work.
We are mainly doing our running on the Monday & Thursday with the JogScotland group at the moment - we still get a good session in as it is mainly hills & interval training.
We both took part in the Masters Road Relays in Strathclyde Park today (Sunday) before work. I think it is fair to say we both found this pretty tough. The conditions were not too bad, a bit cold & windy but the early morning snow had cleared by the time we started.
I had hoped for a sub 22 minute for the 4 mile loop but finished a good 40 secs outside that - felt very rusty & out of practice. I didn't feel like I had any power in the legs at all but not too worried - we have a lot of training to do this year & it is only the 18th Jan !
The OneHundredPushUps regime is going to plan - i did day 1 of week 4 yesterday with a total of 97 push ups over the 5 sets. Still can't imagine doing 100 non stop but I am doing more each time & it doesn't actually get any harder (just the normal pain level!)
Really need to get more biking done - hoping for a couple of hours out on Monday but as I look out of the window now I see the rain has turned to sleet & it just looks baltic. A good biking day tomorrow seems unlikely at the moment.
Happy Training Everyone!!

ATHelite Run in the Park 5k

Many thanks to Mark Coyle from Motherwell AC & his daughter who did a course reccy - it is the first race in Motherwells Grand Prix so there is always a great turnout for the club.
It shows what a great place Chatelherault is for running

http://flickr.com/photos/sparkie/sets/72157612678832428/show/

Thanks Mark.

ATHelite Triathlon Club

Bike Ride - can you email me or leave a comment if you're interested in the bike ride tomorrow morning?
We're thinking of leaving from the East Kilbride shop as there are more EK based people interested!!
Let us know what suits you and we'll make a call today.

*****OK BIKE RIDE FROM EK SHOP 9.15AM

mail@athelite.net

ATHelite Triathlon Club

Swim session Friday morning, Hamilton Water Palace, 7.30am see you there for a friendly relaxed (but tough) session.
People of mixed abilities attend!!

Sports Orthotics

So, as you may have picked up I, Mr ATHelite, am a bit injury prone so seeing as this year is Ironman year I have consulted Robbie - our instore Orthotist (see 'Sport Orthotics' link on the right hand menu) for a Biomechanical assessment. The last thing I need this year is for my training to be held up by annoying injuries.

We see many people passing through Robbies' Hamilton Biomechanics Clinic every week - he is a busy man - but it is fascinating to go through the process in person for a real insight into how it all works. There is alot more going on with these feet of ours than you may initially realise.

After going through a number of tests including video analysis it seems that whilst I am biomechanically symetrical (I do not have any difference in leg length which causes problems for many people) I do have a (wait for it)... 'bilateral hindfoot valgus with a prominent Talonavicular joint and plantarflexed 1st ray'

In short I have a funny heel & an inflexible big toe which affects the rotation of my leg whilst running & cycling leading to some of the injuries which have been dealt to me over the years.

So Robbie has made me some orthotics (insoles) which have (wait for it again)..... bilateral hind and forefoot posts with 1st MTP pockets to accommodate my plantarflexed 1st ray.

I have had orthotics before but never like these - lightweight & flexible & they fit easily into my running & cycling shoes. They have been comfortable from the outset & feel like they are working with my feet.

We see many orthotics in the shops that customers bring in when purchasing shoes and they are invariably hard & rigid . The difference here is that they are Sports Specific & well worth the investment.

Obviously I have the luxury of seeing Robbie regularly at work but 'proper' clients get regular reviews & adjustments included in the price. I will need mine building up more in the future but he will do it in stages to make the transition easier.

I will post again on this subject with an update on my progress but do not hesitate to make an appointment for a FREE consultation if you think this is something that could help you.

Summary of Last Week

I had hoped to summarise the previous weeks training on the Blog every Sunday but I managed that for one week only & am already behind this week. I must try harder!

The first full training week of 2009 went as expected for myself & Mrs ATHelite. Despite being very busy in the shops at the moment we managed to squeeze in most of what we wanted.
We managed 2 introductory swims, once on Tuesday & again on Friday with the 1st training group. Not quite as rusty as expected but a long way to go in this department.
4 run sessions saw us coming back steadily after the Christmas binge - though we have realised we are both racing at the Vets relays at Strathclyde Park this Sunday so slightly concerned about that, but not much we can do now!
We also incorporated 2 x stretching sessions & 2 x core stability sessions - always feel like a new person afterwards.
The biking is the area where we really need to crank it up - we went out yesterday around the back roads in the wind which wasn't too horrendous but need to start the daily commutes from now on to get the mileage up - not so bad now the frosts have eased (for now - I'm sure they will return).
A concern for me is that I am still concious of the hip injury that stopped me biking last year so need to look at my bike set up again.
I know there are a few of you out there who are doing the 'One Hundred Push Ups' regime - keep it going every other day - I am up to 80 in one session over the 5 sets now & have a progress check at the end of this week so it will be good to see the difference to my intial 22. (There had better be a difference!!)

Have a good week.

ATHelite Triathlon Club

Swim - after the first swim being so much 'FUN' we have already decided to incorporate another day of training together.
Our swim days are now Tuesday and Friday morning. Meet in the pool 7.30am - 8.15am
See you Tuesday. Email or call and let us know you're coming so we can expect you.
mail@ATHelite.net


Bike - next Saturday 17th, steady ride from 30mins easy to 2hrs+ depending on what you want!


Email us if other days are better or if you would like more sessions included. We are at very early stages and build a club to suit you, so let us know what you would like.

Friday Swim Session

A good first swim session this morning for the ATHelite Tri Club. It is so much better swimming in a group .....
1. You feel more pressure to actually get out of bed to be on time &
2. You swim harder & more consistantly than on your own
I thoroughly enjoyed it & swam much better than I did when I did the same session on my own on Tuesday. We were all pretty rusty having not swum for between 1 month & a year so well done all.
Unfortunately Coach Jack was off today with man flu but should be back in action for next Friday.

PUSH UPS
We have both started on our One Hundred Push Ups regime - see the link to the right for the website. I only mentioned Mrs ATHelites comical attempt at push ups to John Dargie & now he seems to have got us doing this.
Start off with as many 'good form' push ups as you can then consult the 6 week training plan with the aim of completing 100 non-stop push ups by the end.
Your first thought is 'no chance' but I did my first set last night completing 73 push ups in total over 5 sets which i wouldn't have thought i could do given that I could only do 22 at the initial test! I'm sure I was up to 35 before Christmas but appear to have over-indulged & added extra weight.

Are you doing the Hundred Push Ups challenge? Let us know how you are getting on.

ATHelite Triathlon Club

The latest update on the Tri club is;
The Swim will be Friday mornings (starting the 9th Jan) at Hamilton Water Palace, 7.30am-8/8.15am. You will need to pay your own entry into the pool. Please send us an email or call us to let us know if you will be coming so we know who to expect.
The Bike session will leave from ATHelite, Hamilton on Saturday mornings (starting the 10th Jan) at 9.15am and can be anything from 30mins upwards depending on your ability. Again this is informal group until we get an idea of numbers.
The Run will leave from ATHelite, East Kilbride Monday's and Thursday's, 6.15pm prompt. These sessions will incorporate a lot of speed work and hills and allow you to run your long steady runs on your own. Our run club is already established and there is a cost of £1.25 per session until membership fees are sorted.

We will plan an AGM for sometime in Feb. At the meeting we will introduce a constitution and discuss the future of the club, fees, training sessions, membership etc etc!!! However we can't organise that until we see who's coming out.....

The club will be run on an informal basis until we get an idea of numbers.

ATHelite Tri Club

Things are rolling forward nicely regarding ATHelite Tri Club.
We are now affiliated with TriathlonScotland and are finalising our training days.

We also have planned 6 workshops commencing late Feb (and then one a month thereafter).
These workshops will be held at ATHelite, Hamilton and be coached by John Dargie of Fusion Coaching, the will all be a mix of theory and practical.......more info will follow shortly.

New Year - WOOHOO - LETS GO!!!!!

As much as we love Xmas & New Year I was starting to think that myself & Mrs ATHelite were turning into the sofa. We always knew that the back end of December is a write-off for training - so busy in the shops & now online plus all the too-ing & fro-ing to see family also. We may have still eaten beyond our own expectations.
2009 is our Ironman Distance year so the training starts here in earnest. We are focussing on building a strong base for the time being & getting back into the routine. The hardest bit for us is fitting it all in - running the two shops, JogScotland groups, setting up the new ATHelite Triathlon Club, organising the ATHelite Run in the Park in February. So little time.
A good start so far though - we have eased ourselves back in to it on the 2nd Jan with half an hour of core workout followed by a gentle 40 minute trot, another gentle run at 7.00am in the dark on Saturday morning before work & an easy 1hr 30 today around Auldhouse lanes. Great to get out again, felt pretty sluggish but fully recovered the minute we stopped running.

Focuses for the coming week....
1. Remove every trace of Christmas from the shops!
2. Get the bikes out & try peddling. Need to cycle to work & leave the car at home.
3. 1st swim session with Jack next Friday. I may just sink to the bottom.
4. Work on the Run in the Park 5k - need to get organised!!
5. Work on the Triathlon Club set up.

All that and it's a busy time in the shops in January - everyone wanting to get fit & all the Spring Marathon runners start appearing for all their shoes & gear.

Busy times!!