The TEAM CORE Blog

Amendments to Bunbury Results & Thursday Open Water Swim

paul@swimsmooth.com (PaulNewsome) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:39:41 PST

Dear Athletes

A quick apology...I hadn't scrolled down past the blank page of the Bunbury triathlon results to see the details of the Open category athletes who took line honours and also the Sprint distance race as well. Blind as a bat! Sorry. Congratulations therefore to:

Craig Scott - 2nd overall in the sprint event
Katrina Mercer - 1st overall in the female open event
Sandy Crowe - 3rd overall in the female open event

Also, details of the Anaconda event results can be found here: http://www.rapidascent.com.au/Results/WA2009Overall.aspx?e=6

..unfortunately I'm having some difficulty deciphering who was in which team given the various team names and also the fact that I've seen at least 3 errors with different people recorded as doing different legs of the event!! Anyway, well done to everyone who competed and especially to Kathryn Granheim and Carl Andrews who I know for sure raced solo...anyone else, please let me know!

THURSDAY SWIM:

As usual, 6am start on the grass bank in front of the pylon at Cottesloe Beach - best session of the week, pop along and see why!!!

Cheers

Paul

Amendments to Bunbury Results & Thursday Open Water Session

paul@swimsmooth.com (PaulNewsome) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:33:13 PST

Dear Athletes

Craig Scott - 2nd overall in the sprint event
Katrina Mercer - 1st overall in the female open event
Sandy Crowe - 3rd overall in the female open event

Also, details of the Anaconda event results can be found here: http://www.rapidascent.com.au/Results/WA2009Overall.aspx?e=6

THURSDAY SWIM:

As usual, 6am start on the grass bank in front of the pylon at Cottesloe Beach - best session of the week, pop along and see why!!!

Cheers

Paul

Results from the Bunbury TRI and Anaconda Event

paul@swimsmooth.com (PaulNewsome) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 03:44:43 PST

Dear TEAM

It was quite a quiet this last weekend in Perth...people were either racing in Bunbury at the Olympic Distance Triathlon or were down in Augusta at the Anaconda Adventure Race.

Anaconda:

We are still awaiting the results of this event, but we already have some photos posted up by "Adam the Speedy" at:

http://www.bornskinny.com/bs114_anaconda09/index.html

...all I can say is after falling off my bike at least 20 times in the soft sand of the mountain bike leg and dropping back massively in the field, that this is one tough and very skilful event. It has however inspired me to look at us running a program for solo competitors next year where we'll bring in experts in the individual disciplines to help advise (goodness knows I'll personally need the help on the bike!).

There were a good few members of the squad out there racing as SOLOs, DUOs and TEAMs, so it'll be interesting to see the full results when they are published.

Bunbury:

Looking at the results ( http://www.bunburytriclub.asn.au/results/0910/Bunbury%20Classic%202009%20Results%20Overall.pdf ) it seems there were quite a few of the squad racing. As usual at this event, the swim seemed long and slow, the bike ride windy and the run hot and sweaty!!! Here are the results:

Glenn O'Connell - 1st place overall male
Alan Nicholls - 14th place overall male
Nathalie Laurendeau - 26th place overall and 1st place female overall*
Daniel Taborsky - 30th place overall male
Matthew Howes - 32nd place overall male
Suzanne Laidlaw - 66th place overall*
Lyndal Tudehope - 69th place overall*
Tracey Edwards - 76th place overall*
Mark Rayner - 93rd place overall
Nicole Klemm - 102nd place overall*
David Laidlaw - 110th place overall
Louise Jones - 129th place overall*
Sandy Tindale - 144th place overall*

*unfortunately there is no age-group data or female-specific results as yet, so its a little hard to see where everyone finished in their respective categories.

Nice job everyone!! Big congrats to Glenn and Nathalie - really awesome efforts there!

Cheers

Paul

This Weekend and The Master Plan!

paul@swimsmooth.com (PaulNewsome) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:18:01 PST

Weekend Training NEWSFLASH:

Friday 4.30pm squad swim = join Ceinwen for the session as detailed in The Master Plan.

Saturday 6am = ride from the Bell Tower as per The Master Plan. 68km ride into Kalamunda (not back in time for the swim).

Saturday 8am = 6.0km ocean swim, i.e. 6 laps at City Beach (NB. Paul will not be here this week!)

Saturday 12pm = the final session-shift (thank god!). 12pm squad swim at Claremont Pool with guest coaches Shelley Taylor-Smith and Nikki Rogers as per The Master Plan. Please note we will then be back to 1pm as normal going forward.

Dear TEAM

It gives me great pleasure to announce that after much hard work I have finally pieced together "The 2010 TEAM CORE Master Plan".

This is a free guide for you to all access and download as you choose which will help you plan out your summer season of training and racing, be you keeping fit, doing triathlons or preparing for the Rottnest Channel Swim. The Master Plan contains the outline of every major session from now until May 2010. I have compiled all this information and training tips as well as creating detailed maps of training routes etc so as to take the thinking out of your planning and to help prompt your action into the "doing and enjoying".

The main source of inspiration for this was three-fold:

1. Provide those doing the Rottnest Channel Swim with a detailed plan of how to build-up and prepare for the event, including my "Top-10 Tips for Solo Swimmers" and "5 Long Pool Sets" for those taking on this massive challenge. With 16 weeks to go now until the event, I am hoping this will help you step it up a notch or two and give you real structure and purpose to what you are doing. We'll be with you every step of the way obviously, but this should help you get an idea about how you're going to develop your endurance to permit you to swim 20km continuously in the ocean.

2. Given that the squad has grown so much in the last 18 months there has been the need to add quite a few new training sessions to the weekly program (all here to view: http://www.theteamcore.com/weeklyprogram.html ). So far, I have personally been covering all the new swim sessions which has meant that I have been absent from all the biking and running sessions. Apparently things have tailed off here a tad, and so together with the "Good Shepherd" and athlete mentor (Glen Blackwell) we have compiled a full season's worth of all the sessions that I will suggest and also some new routes to try them out on. Hopefully this will be some good impetus to get you back into the swing of things if you are planning to do some triathlons this year. This will also form the basis of our 2010 Busselton Half Ironman Program which will commence on Monday 11th January 2010. The actual Master Plan kicks off in earnest this week though, so get along if you can!

3. As the squad expands it has been necessary to take on some additional coaching staff. Rather than just appoint anyone in this capacity though, we have conducted a rigorous training regime and mentorship program with 7 of WA's finest up and coming coaches and athlete mentors. You will be introduced to them all through The Master Plan and also over the December / January period (from December 8th to January 19th 2010) when Paul and Adam will be taking a much needed vacation in the UK (well, kind of vacation - they'll be running some Swim Smooth Clinics there as well!). I do hope you will make them all feel welcome and continue to support all the sessions with your attendance and see the benefits in their placement within the coaching ranks of the squad.

OK, enough waffle, here's the Master Plan: http://www.theteamcore.com/images/TeamCorePlan_2010.pdf (please note that this file size for the 16 page document is 20mb and as such will take a few minutes to download).

Enjoy!

Paul

3km Swim Results

paul@swimsmooth.com (PaulNewsome) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:15:15 PST

NERD WARNING!! Non-number-bods turn away now!!

Dear Swimmers

Thanks to so many of you for turning up this morning especially given that a) it was likely to still be a bit cool in the water and b) because you knew you were doing a continuous 3000m swim!!!

I really don't "like" prescribing these types of sessions (seriously!) as I am well aware that many of you might find this type of swim very boring and perhaps "pointless" as a squad session. However, in an effort to help you guys improve, for you to gauge how much you are improving, and to recognise the fact that a swim such as this every now and then is a great way to boost your endurance, I don't think you can really beat it! So despite a couple of disgruntled looks at 5.30am, I think you all secretly enjoyed it!

OK, onto the results. If you recall, 10 weeks ago I set you all a 3-month training challenge: could the Tuesday Technique / Endurance work coupled with a better pace awareness from the Friday Fresh & Fruity sets help you improve upon my predictions for the following sessions: 1) 14 to 20 x 100m with ~20s rest; 2) 400m Time Trial; 3) 1000m Time Trial; 4) 3000m Time Trial? From last Friday and this morning the answer to Points 1 & 4 have been a resounding "yes!" This is great news. We still obviously have the 400m and 1000m timed swims to go, but like anything, don't fear these - just see what you can do and pace yourself well!

10 weeks ago I went through all 150 squad swimmers and predicted what time you could each hold for the 100m interval test set. My predictions were surprisingly accurate even for a swim-nerd like me! From this I said "can you all improve by ~2.5% in 6-8 weeks?" Using this improved pace per 100m I then extrapolated what you should be able to hold for 400m, 1000m and 3000m building in "fatigue factors" of 2%, 4% and 11.5% respectively. This is not a "cut-throat" method, though it is generally agreed that as the distance of any endurance event doubles the time should increase by 3-4%. I used my own "Fudge Factor" method to eye-ball the results of this equation 10 weeks ago to arrive at a point which I felt was both challenging and realistic. We can debate the accuracy of this method until the cows come home, but given that the first two results from this morning's first finishers with known experience over these distances were both within just 10 seconds of my prediction for 3000m, I'm happy that this is at least a very good approximation!

You can access the results here: http://theteamcore.com/images/3km.pdf

From the chart, please check for your name, your actual time, your actual pace per 100m, your predicted time from 10 weeks ago, your "improvement" ABOVE my predicted improvement, and your percentage "improvement". Remember a couple of things: 1) even if your improvement was 0:00 or 0%, you have still improved as this takes into account the 2.5% goal from week # 1; 2) anything over 5% is exceptionally good - well done; 3) some of you were a little unsure if you had done more or less than the stipulated distance of 3000m - I have tried to address this below.

Colour Code:

Yellow = no original predicted time from 10 weeks ago (due to absence) - I predicted this as you swam this morning based on other swimmers of known similar ability.

Green = I have modified your finish time slightly to add or subtract the 100m or so that you felt you had done under / over the distance (please note that this is only an approximation)

Red = I couldn't get excel to spit out a negative time (I can't be that nerdy obviously!)...if you are highlighted in red it simply means that you were slightly slower than my predicted time.

Anyway, that's how to spend a morning scouring a whole bunch of numbers - hope you enjoy! ;-)

Paul

Anyone have a room to rent for Jan/Feb 2010?

paul@swimsmooth.com (PaulNewsome) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 01:55:23 PST

Dear TEAM

Just a quick one - anyone have a room to rent or a space for a UK athlete to stay between the 25th January and the 13th February 2010? Lauren is a physio who wishes to come out to Perth for a spot of training in our glorious sunshine but has been let down by her last accommodation "lead". If anyone can help out please liaise with her directly at Lauren lrnbrdshw@yahoo.co.uk

Thanks

Paul

Update on pool temperature!

paul@swimsmooth.com (PaulNewsome) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:44:56 PST

Dear Swimmers

Just a quick update on the pool temperature at Claremont Pool.
Thankfully the engineers have arrived and are fixing the motor as we
speak. The pool temp today was 21.5 degrees and very chilly for most.
They haven't given me an update on how long it will take to get the
temperature back up to normal but I am hopeful that this will be in
the next few days. I will keep you posted on any developments but
would suggest that if you come to swim tomorrow that you bring a rash
vest or wetsuit if you like. We plan to do a longer continuous swim
tomorrow as per the original plan so this will at least keep you
moving. Why not come down and give it a try and if it really is too
cold for you you can hop out and we won't charge your card.

Hope to see some of you then!

Paul

Apology and Weekend's Training

paul@swimsmooth.com (PaulNewsome) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:53:30 PDT

Dear Swimmers

Firstly, sincerest apologies to those of you who turned up at 5.30am to swim on Wednesday 28th October for our new morning swim. As explained, the Duty Manager rostered for this shift did not turn up and as such the pool couldn't be opened until 6.05am. Unfortunately we had no way of accurately knowing just how long this wait would be and as such I made the call to cancel the swim and offer to take us down to Cottesloe Beach for a free open water swim instead (where it was very rough!!). This incident was an unfortunate start to many of your days and I can only apologise and pass on the Centre Manager's sincere apologies also.

Also regarding the pool, there is currently a heating issue which is being investigated and work is due to commence (hopefully) early next week to rectify this. The temperature is currently hovering at a brisk 24.5 degrees which many of you have commented on is "fresh" to begin with but actually really nice to train (hard) in. Hope this doesn't put you off but definitely come attired with a nice warm towel to greet you after the session!

TRAINING THIS WEEKEND:

Saturday - 6am = ride / run from Cottesloe Beach Car Park. This will be a 15 mins easy warm-up, 1hr hard riding (or as hard as you wish to go), followed by a 15 to 20 mins run off the bike for those keen.

12pm squad swim session - early this week and next due to waterpolo competitions.

Sunday - Rockingham Open Water Series race - 1.25km, 2.5km, 5km. Details at http://www.wa.swimming.org.au/

Cheers

Paul

Photos from the race and Thursday open water swim

paul@swimsmooth.com (PaulNewsome) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 04:42:15 PDT

Dear All

Just two quick ones today:

Photos from the race expertly delivered by Adam can now be seen at http://www.bornskinny.com/bs113_itulongcourse09/index.html Adam was experimenting with some arty slow shutter-speeds which look kind of cool. See what you think!
Don't forget, 6am Thursday morning, the place to be is Cottesloe Beach for our open water skills swim session. Lots of fun. Suitable for all - plus, its definitely warming up out there!!!

Cheers

Paul

Long Course World Championships - Results

paul@swimsmooth.com (PaulNewsome) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 06:43:20 PDT

Dear All

Well the wind blew hard and it was hot, hot, hot - exactly as I predicted 6 months ago!! Ok, enough about my mystical future-predicting skills ;-) on to the results!

Members of the TEAM who had been training with us for anything from regular swim squad sessions to full Long Course triathlon programs performed admirably in the conditions. In all, 6 athletes scooped up Top-5 finishing positions in their age groups. This is a great result!

I was particularly inspired by Sandy Crowe's run up to 5th place, Sally Scaffidi's 1st place out of the water, Nat Laurendeau's dominance on the bike leg and Anne Murrell's 5th place in her age-group despite being unsure as to whether she should race or not! Well done to everyone!! I thoroughly enjoyed supporting you out there!

You can see their results here:

http://www.theteamcore.com/images/Longcourse.pdf

And the full unabridged results here:

http://results.racetectiming.com/default.aspx?CId=11&RId=2003

I have to give a quick shout out to my very good friends and former training partners Jodie Swallow and Daniel Plews who had sensational races! As predicted Jodie totally annihilated the field beating former Ironman WA Champion Rebecca Keat by over 11 minutes and actually lapped one of the race favourites (Pip Taylor) on the run course. Not bad on a 5km lap I think you'll agree! This result was really pleasing and I am so happy for Jodie that she has claimed her first senior World Title. Well done. Dan Plews took a bronze in his age-group which was doubly special as his Dad also scooped up a bronze in his 55-59 age-group too!

Cheers

Paul

Fisher Photography Exhibition for Heart Swim Week

paul@swimsmooth.com (PaulNewsome) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:46:04 PDT

Dear Team

Masters Water Polo Player and multi-award winning professional photographer, Geoff Fisher, is hosting a photographic exhibition, entitled 'Rising to the Challenge,' featuring local swimmers and his photographic art. The exhibition is to be held at Challenge Stadium from Friday 6th November 2009 to Sunday 15th November 2009.

The exhibition will coincide with Heart Swim week being held at Challenge. The title, 'Rising to the Challenge,' and the link to the Heart Swim is based on Geoff's own journey from serious heart-related illness. In early June this year the super fit veteran water polo player was struck down by a virus that damaged his heart and left him near death on the pool-deck at Challenge. Subsequent blood-clot induced paralysis has seen Geoff journey through hospitals, rehabilitation, wheelchairs, and now crutches on his long road back to the pool.

Profits from the exhibition have been pledged to the Heart & Lung Transplant Foundation to aid the work championed by cardiothorasic surgeon and masters water polo player, Dr Rob Larbalestier. Rob, a long-time friend and team mate of Geoff, was swimming at Challenge with Geoff when Geoff's heart stopped. Rob literally saved his life.  Ticket numbers to the Friday evening function Nov 6 are limited so please respond quickly by contacting Fisher Photography on 9381 2233. You can purchase over the phone or drop in to the studio at 294 Hay St. Subiaco.

Thanks to Jeremy for sending this through. Check out some of the images here.

Cheers

Paul

Training / Racing this weekend

paul@swimsmooth.com (PaulNewsome) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 06:28:47 PDT

Dear Crew

This weekend sees the City of Perth being over-run by some of the world's best triathletes in the form of the ITU Triathlon Long Distance World Championships held right here, down at Langley Park and utilising the Freeway and Mounts Bay Road area. It will be a spectacular event to watch, so I suggest you try and make it down. The event consists of a 3km swim, an 80km bike ride and a 20km run to finish. Racing starts from 8am on Sunday down by the Barrack Street Jetty. Full details here: http://www.ldworlds.org.au/en/default.htm

Racing from the squad will be (good luck crew!):

40-44 Mens

Matt Illingworth

45-49 Mens

Mike Bowles
Sandy Burt (...is he back? Judging by the Aquathlon today - maybe?! Good on you Sandy!)

50-54 Mens

David Laidlaw
Alan Nicholls

60-64 Mens

Graham Crocker

25-29 Womens

Lisa Delaurentis
Sandy Crowe

30-34 Womens

Sarah Thomson

40-44 Womens

Judi Clemie
Suzanne Laidlaw
Donna Todesco
Sally Scaffidi

45-49 Womens

Desiree Silva

55-59 Womens

Anne Murrell

We'll also be batting for three British athletes with whom I've shared many a hotel-room whilst on training camps / races etc: Jodie Swallow, Leanda Cave and Daniel Plews - all will be right up there at the pointy end of the PRO field. Give them a shout for me!

OK, so back to the training for us mere mortals then:

Saturday:

6am - ride from Cottesloe Beach Car Park - just under 2hrs at a good old pace on a looped course.

8am - swim from Cottesloe Beach - aim for 3 to 5km for those doing the Rottnest DUO / SOLO swim.

1pm - squad swim at Claremont Pool (please note - 1pm)

Rottnest Solo / Duo Swimmers and those racing triathlons this season:

I've been promising to get this information out to you for a good few weeks now and I'm nearly there - promise!! First up, here's my pick of the races that I would recommend this season on a per-discipline-basis. I'm not suggesting you have to do all of them - just to help you plan:

http://www.theteamcore.com/images/Suggested_Races.pdf

The final Rottnest Program (adjusted for this Calendar and our new timetable) is not quite complete yet, but as inspiration for some benchmarks for where you should be aiming as you step up your volume, please see last year's program as a rough guide:

http://www.theteamcore.com/images/Rotto_Program.pdf

I'm busy writing a more detailed plan for 2009/10 with some tips on what we learnt last year for those doing it this year as solo or duo swimmers which will be very useful for you. Please bare with me - I've been very busy of late (yeah, that old chestnut!). Here's one thing to get you started though - for those doing the Solo swim, aim to do a 2km continuous swim in the pool this week. Do this at a pace which you believe you could go for 5km at currently. Take the time and work out your 100m pace, i.e. 1:45 per 100m. We'll then use this as your Endurance Pace as we develop your ability to swim for ever-increasing distances. This figure is very important, so please make sure you get chance to do this.

OK, see you over the weekend!

Paul

Blue Seventy Suits Permitted at Rottnest Channel Swim 2010

paul@swimsmooth.com (PaulNewsome) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 22:47:59 PDT

http://rottnestchannelswim.com.au/content/open-letter-president-rottnest-channel-swim-association-regarding-swim-suits

Thursday Morning Open Water Swim

paul@swimsmooth.com (PaulNewsome) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:28:26 PDT

Business as usual tomorrow morning down at Cottesloe Beach. Meeting at
6am on the grass in front of the pylon. See you there for a fun open
water skills session. Please remember your PAYG session card. Thanks
in advance!

Cheers

Paul

Tony, Lotti and Bill mix it up at the World Masters!

paul@swimsmooth.com (PaulNewsome) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:11:33 PDT

Dear Swimmers

Whilst some of us were wondering how many 100m intervals we had left to complete the 10,000m relay challenge on Sunday, Tony and Loretta Van Merwyk, together with Bill Moody, were whooping it up at the World Masters Swimming Championships in Sydney.

Tony and Lotti entered the 50m, 100m, 200m and 400m freestyle events, with Bill entering the sprint events of 50m and 100m. They had some impressive results (see below). Tony said that for him and Lotti (having competed here once before), that they are now quicker than they were 7 years ago - which is no mean fete! Well done.

Bill took up the challenge following a slight bit of goading from myself after a Friday morning Fresh & Fruity session where he blew away everyone in the pool over a 50m sprint, including the super-fish in lane 3 who mostly have long swimming backgrounds.

The World Masters championships are a great event to get involved in. In 2013 they will be held in Turin which will be an amazing venue! Tony said the only draw-back was the fact that they had to do the YMCA and Macarena on the pool-deck in celebration! Very funny!!

Loretta Van Merwyk

50m = 30.3
100m = 1:07
200m = 2:29
400m = 5:13 (massive PB and 5th in her age category!!)

Tony Van Merwyk

50m = 30.2 (got to get 0.1s over the missus!)
100m = 1:06
200m = 2:33
400m = 5:33

Bill Moody

50m = 32.0
100m = 1:12

Well done guys!!

10km Relay Challenge - THE RESULTS!!

paul@swimsmooth.com (PaulNewsome) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 04:46:05 PDT

Dear Swimmers

Some fine form yesterday at the inaugural Claremont Pool 10KM Team Relay Challenge as displayed here by these two fine specimens...winners of this year's event from a team of 2009's Rottnest Solo-ists aptly named "Just Keep Swimming!"

The format of the day was for the 8 teams of between 4 and 8 swimmers to a team to complete a total distance of 10KM in as fast a time as possible. All teams had to nominate an estimated finish time and there were awards for a) Fastest Overall; b) Best Dressed / Supported; and c) Closest to Estimated Time.

Taking out line honours were "Just Keep Swimming" in a total time of 2:12:26 which is a fantastic result, averaging well under 1:18s per 100m for 100 x 100m! They didn't have it all their own way though as team "Bar 120" led by Justin Palmer were off to a flying start in the first 1500m, eventually finishing 2nd in 2:17:00. In third place were this year's Best Dressed Team - the "Somerset Super Seals" led by gun water-polo player Karlee Canon. The girls were superbly dressed as super-heroes and finished in 2:25:34. Next in were the "Thorns and 2 Roses" made-up of Trevor, Stuart (the Roses) and Renee and Olivia (the Thorns!) who finished in 2:32:22 and were within 1:30 of their estimated time of 2:31:00 - nice pacing skills!

There was some hot rivalry between teams in 5th & 6th (the "Comodo Dragons" & the "Slappers) and also 7th & 8th (the "Snails" & the "Slugs"). The Dragons were the boys / husbands team and the Slappers were the girls / wives team. It was close between these two teams with the boys finishing just over 2:35:00 and the girls at just over 2:39:00 (awaiting confirmed results...!). The Snails and the Slugs fought it out literally within 2m of each other for the first 7km with the Slugs eventually pulling ahead and finishing 7th in exactly 2:50:00 with the Snails not too far behind in 2:54:00 and a good 5-mins quicker than they thought they'd be!

We've had some very interesting photos through from the day and these can be seen here: http://gallery.me.com/swimsmooth/100143

Thanks to Claremont Pool and their staff for hosting the event and to Adam, Nat and Victoria for the photos! Here's to next year!!!

Cheers

Paul

Weekend Training

paul@swimsmooth.com (PaulNewsome) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:30:47 PDT

Dear Athletes

This is the plan for the weekend:

Friday - all sessions as normal including the new 430pm session.

Saturday - meet at the slightly earlier time of 6am in cott beach car
park for a spirited 2hr ride followed by a dip in the ocean (subject
to warnings) at 8am. Would love for you to then join us at the John St
Cafe for a breakfast celebration for Trevors 55th birthday at ~915am.

Squad swim is on at 12pm this week due to waterpolo comp.

Sunday - Team Relay Competition at Claremont Pool. Registration and
warm up at 930am for a 10am start. BBQ from 1230pm.

Hope to see you then!

Cheers

Paul

Thursday Morning Ocean Swim Cancelled this week!

paul@swimsmooth.com (PaulNewsome) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:10:00 PDT

Dear Swimmers

Please be advised that due to the proximity of the two large great white sharks feeding on the whale carcass off Floreat beach yesterday, we have made the decision to cancel tomorrow's Open Water swim session at Cottesloe Beach (6am). We plan to maintain the swim on Saturday at 8am (subject to warnings and advice from the fisheries) and will return to the Thursday 6am session next week (watch for an update on this). Thanks for your support in this matter!

Cheers

Paul

Seeking female swimmer for Anaconda event!

paul@swimsmooth.com (PaulNewsome) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:00:51 PDT

Dear Swimmers

Any of you ladies keen on joining a strong team for the Anaconda event down in August on the weekend of the 7th/8th November? A team including a former Avon Descent winner is short of a swimmer. You'd need to be able to swim 1.8km and also do a 1.8km beach run. Accommodation is provided. Please contact sallyh@hale.wa.edu.au if you can!

Thanks

Paul

Mark finishes 17th at Bathurst

paul@swimsmooth.com (PaulNewsome) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 22:18:30 PDT

Dear Athletes

It's that time of year when we're starting to post out numerous reports of different athlete's results at different multisport events around the country and further afield. Whilst you wouldn't necessarily refer to V8 Supercars as multisport racing, it does require an exceptional level of endurance, skill and mental acuity to perform well in. We are very proud at The TEAM CORE to have one of the best up and coming V8 Supercar drivers in Australia as part of the squad in driver Mark McNally.

Last February, Mark McNally (whom many of you now know who swims at 5.30am on a Tuesday and Friday in Lane 1 when he's in town) joined the squad to build his fitness and endurance for his V8 goals and this last weekend had the chance to perform at the highest level at the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama. Running as high as fourth overall at stages in the event, it certainly provided exciting watching for those of us who know Mark. Andrew Holmes (also of Lane 1) said:

"A bit of drama in the last handful of laps pushed them down to 17th overall, but this is a fabulous result. I know I was excited!!"

Mark said of the race:

"The team did an unreal job, I'm really happy with them. Oscar did a great job with the strategy to keep us on the lead lap and a great position, which is probably a surprise for a lot of people that we were running as high as fourth."

Full details of the race can be seen at: http://www.bammedia.com.au/news_article.asp?news_id=11232

From all of us here Mark - well done!!

Results in from Kona

paul@swimsmooth.com (PaulNewsome) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 23:30:22 PDT

Dear Athletes

Hope you all had a great weekend. Whilst some of us were grumbling about the rain (again!) over the weekend, 6 guys from the squad were doing it tough over in Kona at the Hawaiian Ironman at the weekend. It certainly looked to be a tough day out there and especially the swim and run seemed to knock a few people around a bit. Our local Ironman "guru" (Mr Sandy Burt) who was busy analysing all the results as they were happening in real time believed that whilst the conditions were reported to be very windy on the bike, the times didn't necessarily show this with slow bike rides, but tended to manifest themselves with people struggling a little more on the run this time around.

We await full race reports from the guys when they arrive back, but for now, big congratulations to Ben, Todd, Ron, Matt, John and Rob for getting through the day - I am in awe at your tenacity chaps and would love to one day (one day) be out there at that event!

Cheers

Paul

The painful road from 12:18 to 9:46 Ironman!

paul@swimsmooth.com (PaulNewsome) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 18:51:15 PDT

Dear Athletes

Today I'd like to share with you Des Adkinson's race report from the recent Challenge Barcelona event - an Ironman distance event in the picturesque city of Barcelona.

I have been coaching Des since 2007 and is one of the athletes that I coach remotely over in the UK using our sophisticated Training Peaks software platform. To be efficient in this manner, communication is essential and Des is extremely good at keeping me informed with regular updates and uploading his data files from his power meter and polar HRM. Whilst some think this is a little "geeky", it was one of the primary reasons why Des was able to knock off a whopping 2.5hrs off his Ironman P.B to record a brilliant 9:46 at the Ironman event!

At 43 years of age, this will ensure that Des has a very realistic shot at going to Kona next year. It wasn't all "plain sailing" though, and whilst Des's report is a little long, it is incredibly detailed and thought-provoking and might just be the sort of thing you need to read if you're considering an Ironman in the next year or so, or even if you're just interested in the science behind what goes into the programs I write.

I've read many a race report over the years, but I'd suggest that this is easily one of the best I have ever read from an "information to others" perspective in particular.

Thanks Des - we're very proud of you! ;-)

Enjoy: http://www.theteamcore.com/images/Barca2009_Race_Report.pdf

Cheers

Paul

Training this weekend

paul@swimsmooth.com (PaulNewsome) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 02:58:09 PDT

Dear Athletes

Training this weekend looks like this:

Friday - usual 5.30, 6.30 and 9.30am sessions all in operation as well as the 4.30pm Friday afternoon session as well.

Saturday - meet at Cottesloe Beach Car Park ready to leave at 6.30am for a 1.5hr tempo ride up the coast before a quick transition to meet the crew for a swim at 8.00am. No charge for these two sessions. Squad swim at the pool is on again at 1.00pm this Saturday (usual fee applies).

Sunday - not a huge amount of local racing on this weekend, but Carl A, Mel C, Rob B and Helen B are all taking part in the Great Southern Adventure Race this weekend which we'll hear a report back from next week. Sounds exciting!

Also, we have Ron Sammut, Rob Newman, John Annear, Ben Curetin, Todd Skipworth and Matt Illingworth all racing at the Hawaiian Ironman on Saturday too - a monster event!! Let's wish them luck...6 from the squad at Kona - wow guys, you've done well!!!

Cheers

Paul

P.S Great article here posted to me by TEAM CORE Ironman WA prospect and rapidly rising star of 5.30am Lane 1, Dan Timbers: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/sep/16/teams-do-better-research-proves - thanks Dan - great stuff!

P.P.S News just in from Mel C re. the Great Southern race:

Helen, Rob, Carl and I are heading down to Denmark to do the Mountain Designs Great Southern Adventure Race – it’s a 2 day event with 13 stages covering approx 200kms with running, mountain biking, ocean and river paddling, navigation and rope work (no swimming which explains why you haven’t seen us in the pool much over the last few months!). We’re in two separate teams – Helen and myself have joined with Janet and Keira Macfarlane (she of the there and back Rotto crossing in some crazy fast time), and Carl and Rob are joining two guys we don’t know so well called Brett and Dave from Perth’s southern suburbs. The course we’ll be following is a secret until Friday evening when we’ll receive our course maps and handbooks. There are four people in each team but only three have to do each leg so there is always someone sitting out helping our support crew (Judy Young and Sarah Kepert – names you know well). Apparently you can get updates on our progress over the weekend at http://www.rapidascent.com.au/asp/Main.aspx And if you can keep your fingers crossed for the ocean to be calmer than the 3m+ swells they’re predicting for Sunday – we’d be most appreciative! Hopefully we’ll all return in one piece and you’ll see us back in the pool late next week (well, Helen will be in the UK but hopefully I’ll be back in the pool next Friday).

Polite Reminder!

paul@swimsmooth.com (PaulNewsome) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 17:42:37 PDT

Dear Athletes

Another chilly one this morning down at Cottesloe, but a few more faces. This session will really get cranking in a few weeks time so please try and get down if you can.

Just a quick (and polite) one today. Please, please, please can I just request that you all make a real effort to have your PAYG session cards with you at EVERY applicable session. 95% of you are great at this and I thank you in advance for your support on this front. With the addition of several new coaches who will start to be involved with the various squad sessions, it is absolutely imperative that each of you have your cards with you at every session as it becomes an increasingly difficult administrative task to keep a track on who owes a couple of ticks on their cards here and there.

You know me, I'm usually like "yeah, no worries!" but now with the larger numbers there's only so much my poor old memory cells can take without resorting to using a more formal register which then detracts from the quality of the coaching due to time wasted.

Sorry to be a pain, but if you could ensure that you have your cards with you and ready to be ticked BEFORE each session, that would be much appreciated!

Anyone needing a new card can order one here: http://www.theteamcore.com/shop.html

Cheers

Paul

Final Call for 10k Relay Swimmers

paul@swimsmooth.com (PaulNewsome) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 05:32:12 PDT

Dear Swimmers

I'm loving the sunshine this week - top stuff - finally!!

This is just a quick "final call" for any teams keen on entering next Sunday (18th October) 10km Relay Challenge at Claremont Pool. Swimmers can compete in teams of 4 to 8 and can rotate as often or as little as they like (in multiples of 100m) with not every swimmer in the team needing to cover as much distance as the others. It is designed to be a fun, social event for a range of abilities. We have a couple of solo swimmers whom have entered the event and there are still places available in this discipline as well.

Cost = $150 for teams inc. a post-race BBQ and $25 for solo swimmers. Registration will be from 9.30am with the start at 10.00am. I do hope you can make it. Anyone keen on joining a "Coaches Team" with myself and Adam, please let me know (you don't need to be a coach!!). Entries can be made at http://www.theteamcore.com/relay.html Closing date is Wednesday 14th October at 5pm.

Also, this was emailed to me by Paul Downie - well worth a listen for those of you into your ocean swimming this season:

http://www.smh.com.au/multimedia/sport/bloodied-and-bruised-ocean-swimmers-on-why-they-do-it/20091006-gkxq.html

Finally, I am still working hard on trying to get out some training templates for those of you doing the Rottnest DUO and SOLO swims including guidelines on progressive distances etc and also for those of you new to triathlon wondering how best to structure your week. We hope to return to some more structured bike and run sessions also over the next couple of weeks now that the weather is getting better and now that we've successfully run our Coaches Training Day. Thanks for your patience during this busy planning period!

Cheers

Paul