Physiomed Triathlon by Natasha Marshall

6th February 2011 at QE2 Christchurch

It was the third event of the Physiomed series, the biggest of the three, with a 250m swim 20km bike and a 5km run. Not a huge event with too many people but for me it was going to be a huge challenge. I had been training over the Christmas break while everyone was relaxing and getting in the Christmas spirit, I would be hitting the pavements or splashing in the sea to keep up my level of fitness while away on holiday and not too many wines or Christmas treats.

The morning arrived gear was packed and nerves had hit as well as heat wave of 29 degrees at 7am.  Arrived at QE2 with the men getting ready for their race which started at 8am, already complaining about the heat, so off to transition to set up the bike etc, I was already sweating and hadn’t even raced yet!  Lots of nervous women hanging around fighting to find shade until 9.30am start time, temperature rising now 32 degrees!

Lined up at the pool thinking we are the lucky ones going to have a dip to cool off unlike our duathlon counterparts who had to 1.5 km run in the heat.  The hooter went and we were off swimming 5 lengths of the pool, trying to remember all the techniques from bootcamp Craig had taught me in the pool, (slow arms, strongkick, relax the shoulders, bilateral breathing), well it all went out the window but I managed to make it to the end. 
 

I checked my watch and to my surprise only  5.15 minutes had past and I was out of the pool and running to transition, WHAM straight into the heat of 37 degrees!  Into transition; found my bike, rushed to put shoes on, quick sip of water and don’t forget the helmet.  Approx 2 minutes later (very slow in Craig’s standards) I was out of transition and on the 20 km bike ride and flying down marine parade, yippee tail wind not looking forward to head wind back and the HEAT did I mention the HEAT?  I must be mad.  Before I knew I was at the turn around point and slogging it back in the head wind, mouth dry passing people giving as much encouragement as you can thinking when will this end.

Approximately 45 minutes later I was back into transition thinking another one down I am alive and still standing but how am I going to run 5 km in this heat, not much left in the reserve.  But as you do off come the bike shoes and on went the runners and don’t forget to take your helmet off. People cheering you on so I knew I could finish it.  Out of transition legs like lead and running like I was going nowhere, I set off to finish the race.  It was getter hotter and hotter people were walking and stopping, the water at each drink station would just melt off you like an egg frying in a pan.  One lap down saw my hubby and said got nothing left,
he said you can do it, you are doing awesome, you haven’t done all this training to quit now!  So I dug it in and determined to finish I made it to the finish line with heaps of cheers and a shower of water waiting to cool avery dehydrated body.
 

With a big smile on my face I finished in a time of 1.24.02 I completed the series and in extreme conditions. All I can say it is very character building. If asked would I do it again YOU BET I have the tri bug.

Natasha Marshall (Boot Camp Graduate)

Swimming Technique

"I struggle to breathe, my shoulders are sore, when I swim I feel like I'm getting nowhere!", sound familiar?  The problem with swimming is that its about 90% technique, and if you've never been taught to swim then generally your technique needs work.  I see a lot of people swimming that are not relaxed because they panic about breathing, and people who lose momentum because they are not using the correct swimming stroke.  These factors and many more can cause our swimming to be frustrating and also waste precious energy.

So how do you correct these?  Obviously the easiest way is to get swimming lessons, or join swimming sessions with a qualified coach who can help correct your stroke.  However to help those of you who aren't able to do this I've listed four points below to focus on.

1. Body Balance - this is a major part of swimming and is the starting point of many stroke issues.  To be balanced in the water you should have four points of contact with the surface, your head, shoulders, hips and heels.  When you are swimming think of your lungs as being a buoy and you are swimming over the buoy.  If your legs are dragging in the water then they act as an anchor, therefore your head is too high and needs to be lower in the water (but not completely submerged!) to raise your hips.

2. Kicking - Yes the dreaded kick!  What I've noticed in most swimmers is that they kick with a scissor type action or kick with a lot of knee bending.  Stop it!  We point our toes and kick from our hips with a whip like action.  The knee bend should be about 10 to 15 degrees, if you kick with more knee bend than this you'll be pulling water towards you and slowing down (you want to kick water away to push you forward).  The best way to practice kick is vertically in deep water holding onto a kick board across your chest.  Kick from the hips with a whip like action (think of how a dolphin flicks its tail), and make sure your legs are not too far apart.

3. Breathing - First thing is don't lift your head forward before turning to breathe, your hips will drop and this makes breathing more difficult.  Turn your head to the side with your arm stroke and breathe into the pocket that is created by your 'bow' wave, you should be looking directly at the side of the pool when you breathe (not at the ceiling or behind you!).  Most importantly breathe out in the water (blowing bubbles) and don't hold your breath and then try to breathe out and in when you turn your head to breathe.  This is snatching breath and you won't get enough oxygen.

4. Arm Stroke - Once you have all of the above working then its time to start on arm stroke.  There are four elements to your arm stroke, catch, pull, push and recovery.  Catch happens just after the hand enters the water, pull occurs as the arm moves from a 45 to 90 degree point with the body , push occurs by your hips and recovery is when your arm is out of the water.  At all times throughout the stroke your hand should be lower than your elbow.

• Catch - I encourage people not to stretch forward parallel with the surface as you enter your hand into the water, this causes the elbow to drop and immediately weakens your stroke.  Instead think of pushing your hand down into the water as it enters, like an archer.
• Pull - Keep your hand deep and fingers pointing to the bottom of the pool, elbows bent.
• Push - This is the power element of the stroke and where all your focus should be, push the water behind you to drive you forward.
• Recovery - lift from the elbow and arc the hand around to re-enter the water.  Above all you must be relaxed, that's way its called recovery :o)
• So you have a few things to get you thinking, my advice to you is only think of one element at a time.  If you try to think of everything at once then it generally all goes wrong.  

I'm taking some morning swim sessions on a Thursday at Amberley Pool, if you need help with your stroke come along and we'll get it sorted!

Outdoor Fitness

I’ve had plenty of time to think over the Christmas break, which is sometimes bad news for my Tri-Planet athletes, but after too many bowls of Christmas pudding and too much beer I’ve come up with a training programme to work off those Christmas mince pies! The Outdoor Fitness programme is designed for people of all abilities and is ideal for anyone wanting to lose some weight or get back into fitness after an extended period of inactivity. It’s also a good way to start getting your fitness up to speed for the winter sporting season. Unlike the triathlon programme this course requires nothing other than a drink, shoes and some cloths to exercise in, although when the sun is out make sure you bring your cool sunglasses.
 

This programme involves a variety of training techniques and principals that will involve resistance training, circuits, running/walking, plyometric and more all done outside (rain or shine). These are designed to get you fit, lose weight and build some core strength, however I do advise that if you have not done any exercise for quite some time then please check with your doctor first to make sure all is in good working order. Furthermore I’m going to organising a few social outings along the way to add some fun to all the training.

Nutrition is an important part of any training so as part of the programme I will also provide you with some basic nutrition information to help you get the right food into your system, the right fuel = more energy and a healthier body. It will also aid muscle recovery after exercise and helps with weight loss. For professional nutrition advice I recommend you go to NutriFit and purchase the ebooks, they provide excellent in-depth nutrition advice and nutrition plans.

The programme will be run in Dudley park, Rangiora for 8 weeks and will involve 3 training sessions a week, for more information or to book go to the Outdoor Fitness programme. If you have any questions feel free to contact me here: https://coachcraigmoore.com/contact/