-
‘The Apprentice Update’
So I’m now fully immersed in the Triathlon Coaching course – February included the third and fourth days of the nine day course.
On Saturday there was a great learning and discussion day with Jamie Pringle – “exercise physiologist by trade; bike coach by application” – and Kevin Currell, Head of Performance Nutrition at the English Institute of Sport. They both presented sessions related to endurance sports.
Jamie showed us round Loughborough’s physiology lab, as well as the usual equipment including treadmill, SRM ergometer and blood analysers they had a built in altitude chamber for acclimatisation/training which we went in and a bike that focused on eccentric contractions (you pedal backwards with force against the movement). I asked to have a go but couldnt on that occasion. Some of the elite athletes use it but only for short durations as its incredibly intense. In the chamber we could only just feel the reduced oxygen content but I suppose you would notice this much more when exercising or if you jumped on the anti gravity treadmill that was also in there.
On Sunday we were joined by BTF tutor Rob Moore, and spent the day working on our running coaching theory, followed by a practical session. I was coached on my pace judgement by fellow coach Alvin, who I in turn coached on VO2max. As part of the qualification I need to submit a log of an applied coaching experience over a continuous twelve week period, so am looking for two or three athletes to train. Let me know if you know me and you are interested.
I spent the first Sunday of the month at the Triathlon Cycling Running show in Esher. Liz gave us our new coaches kit, which had just arrived – it is lovely kit by Ashmei Running Being in fabulous new sports kit was a great start to the day. Check out a photo from the day on our Twitter account (@thetrilife). I spent most of the time meeting athletes and talking to them about the camps we run and services we offer. It was a great day to catch up with older friends too. Two topics that a lot of people were talking about were: ‘recovery is just as important as training’ and ‘you don’t need to spend lots of money on equipment to do a triathlon, it’s all about enjoying it!’
Our spring training camp has ended and the Tri Life coaches have just got back from the stunning hills of Andalucía in Spain. Photos are here. I’m looking forward to hearing how it went. Hopefully I’ll be going too next year!
