Kids.. god love em..

Good couple of weeks for me, did the Keswick Mountain Festival Triathlon and managed to lead off the bike and hold on for the 5 mile fell run to secure the win. Nice way to start the year and a good confidence boost when I thought that I had been going pretty poor for the early season.. As with everyone else.. too much work, not enough time to train.. blah blah.

Recently been doing some work with kids in local primary schools. Organising a project which involves a childrens triathlon in July and linked with that we are visiting local primary schools over a 5 week period and delivering sessions to help them prepare. British Tri (Rob Bishop - NW Development Officer) have been great and British Cycling are providing the bikes which has been a bonus.

Last week we had transition relays which involved kids running to the end of the sports hall and putting on shoes and socks to deafening screams of team mates. The transitions were far from slick but nevertheless they thought it was the best thing ever and they are now hooked on triathlon! A race involving changing socks! That'll do for us!

So hopefully we can promote health in the schools through the medium of 'swim bike run' (or at least that's the plan).. perhaps the most amazing of all, year 5 were still wearing black plimsolls with elastic tops.. how old are they? I thought they would be long gone!! Now they were fast.. and ideal for quick transitions.. You thinking what i'm thinking..?

Here endeth theenduranceblog..

I bet Linford was good at open water swimming..

Open water swim training is now well under way at Rock and Rive and whilst coaching this week I had some thoughts that i felt compelled to share..

I’d put money on the fact that at some point in your triathlon life you have walked through public changing rooms in the swimming pool, hoping that the pool is empty and you can get the space by the wall to swim uninterrupted up and down the pool.. lane ropes are great.. no idiots getting in your way.. and then you move from that environment to open water...

One of the key things to successful open water swimming is being comfortable in close proximity to others, remember the old Linford Christie technique of tunnel vision? Simply refers to focusing internally on yourself and not focusing on what’s going on around you.. In open water events most people think too much about what’s going on around them... who’s bumping into them.. who is too close.. and if you are thinking about them.. you aren’t thinking about yourself.. the head start lifting and you start to panic.

When you begin your open water swimming this year, change your mental focus and think about your stroke and your breathing (especially exhaling) and ignore others.. Tunnel Vision.. it’s the future.. and there is light at the end of it!

Here endeth theenduranceblog..