Inside Triathlon

The comments on the inclusivity in triathlon post included the fact that the cost of triathlon is off putting for many people.

Talking to a friend of a friend last night who takes part in motorbike racing.

I understand that he is good but still in the second or third division of British Leagues.

Like most triathletes, he races 2 or 3 weekends a month in the summer, often travelling and staying the weekend.

The cost of all this for 2007 ?

£40,000

New bike anyone?

Race across america (RAAM) was the first of an interesting new series which started on ITV4 last Saturday. The series explores what make people push beyond the limits and boundaries of everyone else.

It told the story of an englishman, Jim Rees and his quest to break the British record of 11 days, 22 hours for the RAAM. In his own words, he isn’t an elite athlete, just an ordinary Joe with a lot of determination.

Few British people realise how big America is, and 11 days 22 hours, equates to around 20-21 hours on the bike everyday followed by 3 hours sleep, and the same again, and again…

Jims crew consisted on 2 teams of 3 helpers (working 12 hours on, 12 hours off) plus a nutritionist/physiotherapist and at least 2 bikes.

In true docu-soap-drama style, this program was heavy on figures and information but a bit short on the reasons why. (Perhaps appealing to a wider audience…)

I wondered, why, for instance, he was suiting up for sub zero temperatures going over Wolf Creek Pass in the Rocky Mountains in the middle of the night. The program told us nothing of his schedule and why this was necessary.

However, the mental side of the challenge was explored reasonably well. Sleep deprivation meant that Jim was seeing snakes jump out at him, Dick Turpin and allsorts of halucinations.

His crew felt his mental state so fragile, that they didn’t tell him for a day or so that he was behind target for the British record. He still thought he was on target - but they feared he would miss the official cut off for the race…

All in all, an interesting program, slightly spoilt by adverts for future programs being splashed over the top of the screen at the final emotional finish & celebrations.

I am not sure what this weeks episode is, but for British viewers and anyone who can get ITV4, it will be well worth a look 8:15pm Saturday.

A poll has apppeared on the right hand side of the screen.

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Last week I went on an athletics coaching course. The UK athletics level 1 course is for a “helper” coach. You are not qualified to lead session - just to help a higher qualified coach.

Why did I do this?
The athletics club where my kids go are short of coaches and as the level 1 is pretty much a 1 day course about safety and a criminal records bureau check - it was a no brainer.

The 4 practical sessions were spread out through the day and were

Sprints - Our group did starts & baton passing
Endurance - Our group did race walking
Jumps - Everyone did the standing long jump
Throws - Everyone did the shot & javelin (with a mini plastic javelin)

Everyone took turns to “coach” the group and play the students.

It is a long time since I did the long jump, shot or javelin and I have never done any race walking.

As a result - I was very sore the day after and my foot is still hurting a little from the long jump.

Result - Beware of doing other sports - it’s not big and its not clever and you can get hurt…

A while back, we hosted the Triathlon Blog Carnival but this has fallen into disrepair.

Why?
A number of reasons (in no particular order)
First, the amount of spam submissions that I received
Secondly, The Blog carnival interface is kinda clunky. I use Firefox which maybe doesn’t help - but hey - it’s the web and that’s my choice.
Thirdly, It’s kinda hard to get back into the synch if you go past a deadline for publication.
And lastly, I figured that I was pestering people into promoting their blog. Heck, if they don’t want to that’s their choice. Just don’t expect me to do it for you…

The future of the blog carnival of triathlon

I still think it’s a great idea and if anyone starts it up again, I will definately send you an article every week or fortnight.

Regular readers will know that I pulled out of the Sunday race at the Rother Valley Triathlon Festival

And to be honest, I haven’t been 100% right since. I have woke up with a nasty cough most mornings which I guessed was my pipes and tubes settling down after having a summer cold.

Despite this, last week, I headed to the club duathlon training event. It was the club championship event, so I figured that this would either kill me or cure me. (Either way, it would get me some club championship points..)

The run is 2k and it has a steepish uphill section just after the start followed by a flat section. Turn and come back the same way.

I was running with people I normally run with but after the hill, I seemed to have nothing in my legs. After touching the gate and returning back the same way, people I normally run with were started to move away from me.

Starting to get back towards transition, I started to think about the cycling (that starts uphill too) and how I would rather not do it.

And so I pulled out.

For probably the first time ever, in almost 12 years of racing Triathlon & Duathlon that I have not finished a race (mechanical problems aside).

The rest of the field piled into T1 as I just stood at the side of the road.

I waited till they had gone through before I gathered my stuff up and headed back to the car.

I didn’t feel ill. In fact, when I had put my bike away, I jogged back to have a chat to the timekeepers.

So how did I feel?

In truth, I felt pleased with myself that I had listened to my body and packed up. It was a nothing race and I had avoided any damage to myself.

Do you listen to your body?

When was the last time you checked your cleats for wear and tear and possible missing screws. Cycling cleats are often the “fit and forget” type of gear and when there is a problem, it can be serious or even dangerous.

If you have lost a screw, it is much cheaper to take an existing one to a hardware or agricultural merchants and get a handful for only a few pence.

I did this, showed the man the screw and I asked for 14 or 15, he replied

“what hundred or thousand? “

Result - It is likely you will get cleat screws much cheaper than the mainstream cycling shops.

Following on from the Rother Valley Race report, here are some more thoughts on Inclusivity.

Most newcomers to a triathlon club are likely to be put off by one or more of the following

It’s hard and they can’t keep up on group training sessions
They have a low level of equipment (and therefore self confidence) compared to everyone else
Everyone else talks in a language that they can’t understand
The location is somewhere you have never been before and populated by lots of people who know each other very well

In short – they feel like a spare part and don’t bother going again

Lets take another example – suppose you have a friend who says to you
“How about learning sewing”

– and you think

“hhhmmm, I’ve always wanted to learn sewing but never got round to it”

You go to the sewing club and guess what …

It’s hard and you can’t keep up
You have a low level of equipment (and therefore self confidence) compared to everyone else
Everyone else talks in a language you can’t understand
The location is somewhere you have never been before and populated by lots of people who know each other very well

In short – you feel like a spare part and don’t bother going again

Any of this seem familiar?

But what if the sewing class came to you?

Lent you a top of the range sewing machine for the day
Allocated you a “buddy” of similar standard to help you
Started you off on a simple pattern that you could understand
Made contact with you afterwards to see how you found it

And it’s the same for triathlon clubs

The Rother Valley Triathlon Festival is a new event designed to promote the sport of triathlon, bring in people who wouldn’t normally get involved, provide a conventional standard and sprint race as well as the first ever British Disabled Championships.

There is a lot of European funding around this part of the UK and I guess that part of the cost of this event was paid for by that.

One of the younger members of the insidetriathlon team was doing the scootathon so it was an opportunity to make a day of it.

Most of my running is done around the park, I swim in it regularly with Sheffield Tri Club and I know the roads well so it made sense to do both the community race on Saturday and the sprint race on Sunday.

Fetching the sun umbrella (yes really) down from the loft on Friday night made me sneeze and cough and I though nothing more of it. More of this later…

The scootathon was fast and furious and over in a little under 10 minutes.

Scooter crashes, kids falling over their own feet in a desire to do well and medals and T shirts meant a great start to the day.

The Children’s only race featured a “shallow” 50 metre swim which was barely that. Safety considerations were obviously paramount but the PA told us not to be alarmed but to be aware that the police underwater search & rescue team were in attendance….

Loads of quite nervous looking kids and LOTS of bling bling bikes took the plunge.

The next race was a ladies only super sprint race

Some very apprehensive ladies lined up for this and talking to an old friend Julian Wills, British Triathlons’ National Equity Manager, it appears that there may well be more of these types of events.

Julian’s role is to promote triathlon to “under represented” groups such as women, the disabled, young people and ethnic minorities.

His view on inclusivity is that it is no good saying to people – “come to our tri club – you will love it” when the reality is that you need to go to them and do it on their terms.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t talk long – he was leading a partially sighted young lady round the course but I plan to keep in contact and post some more thoughts.

And so after sitting around all day, it was my turn and in truth, I made some pretty novice mistakes.

Firstly, don’t use old goggles – the elastic snapped when I dived into the water.

Secondly, after exiting the water, it was a very short trip into transition and I couldn’t get hold of my wetsuit cord and lost a few seconds in a bit of a panic.

Thirdly, I didn’t know the EXACT location of the RUN out and that cost a few seconds. See – knowing the course.

The cycling was 2 complete laps of the park perimeter path and it was interesting dodging prams, babies, pushchairs and the like.

By the second lap, it seemed to be getting quite hard work and I was passed by a couple of people.

By the running, I was starting to suffer. Normally it takes me a minute or so to get my running legs on but nothing.

By the finish, I was all out and by 7 O’clock that night, a heavy cold had descended and I felt lousy.

Obviously the Sunday race was out which was slightly disappointing but it was more than made up with by seeing my own (and other) children do so well.

Most race information will point out that open water in the UK is not completely safe for swimming in and that you do so at your own risk. (I am not sure about some swimming pools but that’a another story). So, although the risks are extremely low, how can you prevent upset stomach or something more serious?

Firstly, never swim if you are not 100% health wise. Your immune system will be low and you will be a much easier target to bugs and germs.
Secondly, don’t drink or swallow the water. Sounds an obvious thing to say but you would be surprised..
Lastly ( the “killer tip”) - Drink a simple can of coke before you go to bed that night.

Why?
Have you seen what coke does to a dirty coin?
Well - it does the same to any bug and germs you might have swallowed.

One final tip…
After a sea swim, your mouth is likely to feel pretty lousy - so have half a bottle of plain water either in transition or on your bike to rinse your mouth out as you are setting off.

All the above work for me - why not test them?