TRAINING DAYS

I've become an occasional blogger, mainly because things have been busy for the PTC. I'm not as bad as some however (coughadriancough), and I'll get back to regular posting this week. There's a lot of events, results, and news to report on, so I'll try to catch up on that through the week.

I'll start with Training Days. As I've said before, I'd love to see more 'training day' opportunities across the province for youth and junior triathletes. I think we run a good training day program at the PTC, but in order to grow as a sport and increase the skill level and fitness of our young triathletes, we need more opportunities for athletes to come together for a day of triathlon training on a regular basis, under the guidance of certified triathlon coaches. We also need these opportunities to be available in different parts of the province, so that more athletes can easily access them. So I'm very happy to promote two additional training day opportunities (below), hosted by two very good youth/junior triathlon programs.

NOTE: If there are other clubs or coaches out there who also offer this type of programming, let me know, and I'll post the info. My only requirements are: 1) Targeted to youth/junior triathletes; 2) NCCP certified triathlon coach(es); 3) Club or program sanctioned by OAT.

NOTE 2: If there are coaches out there who are considering offering a training day program in their community, but need some help in getting it organized, please feel free to drop by our PTC training days here in Guelph to observe. Hopefully we'll have some good ideas for you.

From the Hamilton Hammerheads triathlon club:

Just a quick note with more information on the training days that are coming up:

Dates: Sunday, November 30 and Sunday, December 21

Time: 8AM – 3:30 PM

Schedule:
Swim: 8 – 9:30 AM
Swim session will include lots of work on technique and underwater video analysis

Run: 10 – 11:30
Run session will include special work on technique and drills.

Lunch: 11:30 – 12:30

Seminars(12:30 – 1:30):
We’ll split the group into a number of groups and spend some time on topics of interest to the group. (Please send in suggestions of topics if you have any.)

Circuit and Cycling: 1:30 – 3:30
Athletes need to bring their own windtrainers to the session. Emphasis will be placed on pedaling and spinning technique.

The cost for the training days will be $5 for Hammerhead athletes and $10 for non-Hammerhead athletes (Note from CT: Great Deal!). OAT membership is required for all participants.

These sessions are probably best geared for children 10 years and older. We’ll be very careful to make sure we keep the training at an age-appropriate level for all the children.

Please drop me a line or give me a call if you’re planning to attend, or if you have any questions, at kevin@ironnman.com or (905) 973 0884.

Thanks!

Kevin

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Greg Kealey, head coach of the Bytown Storm also offers training days. I've actually missed the first training day (last weekend; sorry Greg), but there will be more in the future. If you're in the Ottawa area, this is a great program, and I highly recommend it.

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Last but not least, the next PTC Training Day will be Sunday November 30th (it's becoming painfully apparent that we need a PTC logo). I'll put up a separate post for the PTC Training Day, but I'd like to reiterate one important point:

For those athletes who are fortunate enough to have great local coaching, especially if they are in a triathlon club, the best thing they can do is train CONSISTENTLY with that club. Your coach(es) know you best, and are able to provide you with a program that ensures technical, tactical and physiological continuity. It's difficult to overemphasize that point. We are always happy to welcome athletes to the PTC training days, and we love having athletes from different communities come together for a great day of training, but we've always envisioned the program as a way to work with athletes who didn't have access to triathlon coaching in their own community. 'Home grown' is almost always the best option. In fact, the PTC training days, Hammerhead training days and ByTown Storm training days are very similar (they should be, after all of the ideas I've stolen from Kevin & Sharon Mackinnon, Greg Pace, and Greg Kealey).

The bottom line is that we are growing our capacity in terms of training opportunities for our younger triathletes in Ontario, and this more than anything will raise our performances across the board in years to come. Ultimately, I'd like to see training days (and later, youth triathlon programs) in each geographical area of Ontario.

A big thanks to the coaches out there offering these opportunities. If there are other programs running, and they meet the requirements I've listed above, drop me a line and I'll put the info on the blog

Train Smart. Have Fun.