Almost as soon as I land in Lanzarote my mind leaps into action. It is teeming with ideas and thoughts…indeed it becomes an inspired piece of thinking machinery!

 Why do we have places we visit that do that to us? I believe it is to do with the fact they are places that we associate with good times. Lanzarote is where I go to do all the things I love to do without the day to day business associated with being at home.

 I also believe it is important to have places we can retreat to in order to refresh and regenerate our minds and muscles. I am sure most of us can think of places that are special to us, places that give us a sense of freedom and peace.

 Obviously it is not always possible to visit these places when we need peace, refreshment or inspiration but it is possible to recreate that place within ourselves in order to get the same feelings and therefore the same benefits as if we were there.

 NLP or Neuro Linguistic Programming has provided us with the necessary tools and practices to enable us to do this very thing. It just requires and quiet and comfortable place.

 If you set yourself down somewhere comfortable and just think of that place that holds special memories and good feelings. Think of the time(s) you have spent there. Think about the things you would have seen there, the things you heard or said there and all the good feelings you have felt there. See if you can step back into that time/place in your mind and re experience it. Spend a few minutes in this state of being and harness all the feelings. Chances are that when you emerge from that state you will be feeling upbeat, energised and positive. Then use that positive energy!

 Having done this you can then re conjure all that positivity whenever you need it just by practising the above technique. There is strong evidence to suggest that the more we use techniques such as this, the more productive, effective and positive we can be. The beauty this technique is that we can apply it to all areas of life including our sport!

 Happy Training

 Paula

I am just back from a weekend of learning in Birmingham with a handful of British Triathlon Coaches.12 coaches have been invited and assembled to take part in and formulate a mentoring training scheme for BTF coaches.I am very excited to have been accepted onto this course as I have long felt and voiced my concerns that once we educate and certificate British Triathlon coaches, we set them off into tri world to coach but they then have little scope to receive direct support from their governing body.Whilst this scheme is very much a pilot at the moment, with much work to be done to ensure it is both viable and can be regulated, it is a very exciting development.This weekend we covered what mentoring means, the skills required to be a mentor,roles, responsibilities and much more. There was also alot of role playing!!I am looking forward to getting my teeth into my homework of building a mentee case study and hope that, by planning and commissioning this new role within British triathlon that top quality coaches will keep emerging; and if the coaches are supported then they can in turn support their athletes better too, and that surely is the pure aim of coaching.Happy TrainingPaula

This Tuesday I was frustrated as I discovered I had forgotten my heart rate monitor for my run session. This, whilst frustrating, was not really a problem as I know I can run to RPE (perceived rate of exertion) when necessary, and this is what I decided to do.

Whilst running I started to enjoy the freedom of just trusting my body and instincts to run at the intensities required for the session and this got me thinking about being tied into goals and sometimes losing sight of enjoying the process (on the way to the goals!).

On my thought path I recalled a radio programme about a group of walkers I had heard recently; it followed the walkers who combined their activity with producing art. Their normal routine was to go to a destination and create some artwork at that destination. On this particular day(of the broadcast) they came upon a field newly laid with snow(like a blank canvas) and the group leader told them that they were not going to do the usual thing of going to “somewhere” and then doing “something”, instead they were going to go on a journey with no end. He outlined the instructions which were to take 40 extremely slow exaggerated steps(ie like slo mo giant steps) in a circle and at some point in that circle they could stop and record artistically what they had encountered), and therefore enjoying the process of walking without being fixated on the end point.

The group of walkers all reported that, at first, they felt odd not knowing where they would stop(or where the end point was) but once they had overcome that, really enjoyed the slowness of the walk and also the freedom of choosing random points at which to stop.

Now, you are probably wondering what all this has to do with triathlon and the training run…

It occurred to me, that, in triathlon, we generally are a pretty goal orientated, self motivated and driven bunch of individuals…generally! I wonder sometimes if we get so fixated on our goals that we can lose hold of the fact that the process can be enjoyed and that sometimes we can just stop and enjoy the view. Now by this I don’t mean we  actually stop the training session and gaze adoringly at the hedges but rather enjoy the process of training and enjoy the fact that we can use our bodies in a fit and healthy way.

Obviously all the tools we use to monitor our progress are integral to reaching our goals but sometimes it can be fun to do a session without the “destination” overwhelming the joy of just doing  what we love.

I thought I would end with a quote from Coach Vern Gambetta, from his twitter feed last week - “Running, swimming, biking - human movement. Why do some people have to make it so complex? Keep it fundamental. More fun, less mental.”

Happy training!

Our head coach (Paula Dewar) has made it through to the last 7 for the “220 Triathlon Coach of the year award”. We are very proud of Paula’s achievements as a coach. She has helped many athletes with there triathlon goals including Ironman, 1/2 Ironman, Age Group World Championships for both Olympic and Sprint distances and has helped many novice triathletes complete there first triathlon. To help Paula win please register your vote…

http://www.220triathlon.com/webform/220-triathlon-awards-2010-stage-2

As I sat on the turbo for my first winter session there I got to thinking about a few things.It is good at this time of year to be thinking about the way the next season’s racing will shape up and look and when at what the peak or A race will be. It is also a good time of year to be taking things a little easier (unless you have a very early race abroad or an early duathlon or marathon goal). Generally, however, if your main racing is next summer you might want to be thinking about technical aspects of the event. You might want to think about what you want to work on(based on those race reports).Most of you will probably be looking at events leading up to the main race(s) and working out how they will assist you towards your main goals for the season.In the water you may be thinking about specific drills to make the stroke more efficient. at our club we did a survey on what our guys wanted to improve and we have run a series of technical sessions based on what they wanted to work on.Equally on the bike and with your running you may want to include drills to help improve technique or develope new good habits. Cadence on the bike and with the run can be a good starting point back to look at technique for both.Maybe you have some lifestyle changes you wish to change. Now is a good time to test out new things with kit, nutrition,training regimes ie when suits you best to train and how it fits into the rest of your life.As a coach and as an athlete I love the planning process…it is like putting the beginnings of a jigsaw together, working out what things work together and where the various components all fit.Most importantly this time of year is the time to sort all those niggles out and to work on eliminating any injuries incurred from the previous season. I would thoroughly recommend regular sports massage (as the budget allows) in conjunction with some structure in the training to keep the risk of injury to a minimum.Happy training!

Hello,

You will be receiving this newsletter as part of our database, made up from attendees of camps and clinics, competition entrants or clients. We only send out newsletters when we have lots of news and do not believe in clogging up email boxes when we don’t need to!

Here it goes….

Bike Skills course
We are hosting a 6 week course aimed at the post novice to intermediate cyclist/triathlete with the objective of developing a wide variety of skills. We will be coaching skills such as how to use your gears, how to corner, climb and how to ride in a group. Sessions are at our base (The Walled Garden, Hildenborough) and are every Saturday starting 14th November at 10.30. Spaces are limited to 12 and the course cost £50. Please contact Paula to book your place, this is filling fast! paula@vo2maximum.com

New coach joins VO2 Maximum
We always aim to offer coaching of the highest standard using the most current coaching methods. The VO2 coached team has grown to a size where we have needed to bring in more coaches.This is great news and so joining our team is new coach James Stewart.
James has a long history in triathlon and a background in Ironman racing. He is currently a BTA Level 2 coach and is continuing his personal development as he develops his coaching.

2010 Camps
We are about to publish our 2010 training camp dates so keep an eye out for our next newsletter or please visit our website. It is going to be a great year for your training with camps including, swim clinics, ladies days, running courses and our pre season warm weather training camp for you to choose from.

VO2 Cycling
In the summer we launched our sister company VO2 Cycling. It is a bike brand with the ultimate goal to provide great products with great services. It is already showing to be a huge success and the bikes are getting some great feedback. To promote the bikes and to give riders a chance to see them we hosted  The VO2 Sportive in September. It proved to be a really good day and will now become a regular event on the sportive calender. Next sportive event for your diary is on 28th March  at The walled Garden in Hildenborough.
Check out the site www.vo2cycling.co.uk

Prepare for 2010
Many athletes are coming to us now to talk about their 2010 season. It is a great time to start with a coach if you want to achieve your goal next season. Starting structured training at this time of year gives you time to plan your training in a way that will bring you to your peak just at the right time ie race time! Contact us to talk about your plans and how we can help.

Till next time, enjoy training!

Awake 2:29(hrmmph). So lay there and visualised the race, all the scenarios,how I want to be feeling at each point and what to do if I am not feeling that way. Made decisions about shoes on the bike for T1 or not depending on how close the first hill out is.Rest days before a competition are the strangest things…you know you need it and it is necessary but at the same time you kind of think that you should really be doing something. It is especially tough here as I sat and watched other athletes doing their thing whilst I did…nothing!The day has had the desired effect of a. giving me a good recovery and rest day physically and mentally and b. I am absolutely itching to do some exercise!Started the day with a great brekkie at Lava Java of porridge,bananas and other fruit - really good stuff then a wander to the expo to get some kit - some new compression socks and some reflective bands(for on the run at dusk). By chance Leanda Cave, one of my triathlon heroes, was standing behind me in the queue so had a brief chat with her and she very kindly gave me a couple of tips for the race. A very cool moment for me.Came back for some feet up time and listened to IM talk podcast where they interviewed “Macca” a couple of days ago. A very cool interview with one of triathlons’ greats. I recommend IM talk podcast, full of top tips and info presented in a very relaxed and humorous way.Got some fresh air in a little bay up the road  and have to say the ocean looked very tempting!I am looking forward to having a dip on Sunday just to splash about!Back to the hotel and a short walk along the front followed by a dip in the hotel pool to cool the limbs then back upstairs and compression tights back on! I have finished the Mark Cavendish autobiography and thoroughly enjoyed it. It gives a very frank insight into the Tour and he is extremely blunt but very honest. I know he gets some odd press at times but he goes to pains to present his side and whatever you may think of the guy you cannot take away the fact he is an awesome sprinter.At present I am sat on the balcony typing having just had the first rain since we have been here, very refreshing and we all got treated to an amazing rainbow…Going in search of spag bol tonight then onto the race briefing at 8pm…tomorrow will be busy again with pre race brick session, bike racking and bag racking so I am glad I have made the most of today!

Evening standard artical

Our lastest artical was published in the evening standard on the 17th February. We have more articals coming out soon in other publications.