Winter Swim Coaching Weekend Reminder

The second Sligo City Tri Club winter coaching course kicks off tomorrow (Fri 27th) at 6pm in the Regional Sports Complex. The course will be given by Swim For Tri, a short promotional video on the course has been added to their website. The usual Friday swim club session has been postponed untill December.

TI Provisional 2010 Calendar

The provisional 2010 TI race calendar has been posted on the TI website. Note: The two local Sligo races have yet to be included but the calendar will be updated over the coming weeks.

Club Races for 2010

Following a meeting last Friday two races have been proposed for the 2010 season. They are both sprint distance triathlons (750m swim, 20k cycle, 5k run) and would be set to take place on the June and August bank holiday weekends. The June event would take place over a course centered around Hazelwood while the action would return to the traditional home of Sligo triathlon in Rosses Point for the August event. There will be a club meeting on Friday week (5th Dec), where event committees can be organised.

CALRY AC TURKEY TROT

The annual Calry AC 'guess your own time' 6k will take place on Saturday the 5th December. Register from 11am at the Marian hall in Calry. Race starts at 12pm, entry €10.

Closest guessed times win turkeys -no watches!

Fancy dress is optional but the fanciest will win a turkey.

Spot prizes and refreshments afterwards.

Contact: Zola Flynn 071 9143046 or John Elliott086 6286860

Weekend Round Up

Winter training continued this weekend with the Saturday bike training taking a group of ten men and women on loops taking in Ballygawley, Dromahair, Ballintogher around lough Gill. The weather was greatly improved on than the previous week with nice pleasant cycling conditions. The group split at the 2+ hour mark with some riders calling it a day and the majority of the group getting in an extra hour on the saddle.

Anybody interested in joining the group are encouraged to meet at Markievicz Park at 9 am SHARP and are advised to bring the appropriate clothing, gloves etc.

There is also training on Sunday morning (leaving at 9am from the same place), however this is at a higher tempo and and not really recommended for beginners or riders who have been out of the saddle for more than a few months.

The inagural Clarinbridge 10k took place on Sunday, with two Sligo City Tri Club members competing. The course covered a loop around Kilcornan woodland. The winner posted a time of 33:23 for the course while the Sligo contingent of Conal Sexton and Roy Kelly took 18th and 21st places respectively.

Changes to 'Swim for Tri' Coaching Course

The November coaching course times have changed slightly to the following:

Friday 27th: 6 - 9pm in Sligo Regional Sports Centre

Saturday 28th: 7:30am -4:30pm in Aavena Leisure, Ballysadare

Sunday 29th: 7am - 12:30pm in Avena Leisure, Ballysadare

The club coaching planned for Friday the 27th has been cancelled to facilitate this change -the pool has been booked for an extra week at the end of term instead.

2010 Club Races deadline next Friday

The deadline for submission of races to be included in the Triathlon Irealnd race calendar is the end of this month (click here for details). The club needs to decide on the date and type of events being run before the end on next week -Friday 20th. A mail will be circulated to members shortly outlining possible dates for events, details will also be posted here.

Friday Club Meeting

There will be a general club meeting in the Sports Complex at 6pm tomorrow. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss training and general club business, all welcome. Swim coaching will follow the meeting as usual.

Winter Swim Coaching, Part 1

This is the first part of a winter coaching feedback series, to accompany the winter swim sessions. Hopefully it will give novice swimmers, and anyone who has missed out on the coaching sessions, an idea of what swim training to be doing this time of year. As with any sport, if you’re coming back from a long period of inactivity take medical advice before training.


The following are the notes from the coaching session on Oct 30th. Thanks go to Shane O’Doherty (last summers Metalman Swim Series race director) for providing the feedback:


“We kicked off with an interesting set where the swimmers set off on what they thought was a simple 100 meter full out sprint. What they didn't know was that when they finished the sprint they were told to go immediately into a 250 meter 75% intensity swim. Everyone’s lungs were burning by the end of it since not knowing what was coming, they didn't hold back on the sprint. The purpose of that set was to reinforce the idea of the importance of pacing, set off to fast in a race and you will be exhausted very quickly and will loose time overall. The set's also a very good high intensity work out.

We did some drills then did a Hypoxic set which meant breathing every five strokes instead of the three or two strokes that most of the group breathe on. The idea with the set is to train us to cope with reduced levels of oxygen while swimming. The reduced levels of oxygen also has the effect of making us swim smarter which in some cases you won't event realize you're doing it.

We did a simple exercise of doing some distance while breathing on the "wrong" side or side we're less comfortable on. A good open water swimmer needs to be able to breathe comfortably on either side to be able to see what's going on around them and in case of choppy conditions.

It's a good idea to try these sets out in your own time to see the full benefits.”

Club Swim Hats

For anyone who did not get one of the club swim hats at the last training, there will be more available on Friday. The hats are black silicone with the club logo on both sides, the cost is 5 euro. If you're interested in sporting one of these fashionable pieces of kit, chat to Shane before the training.

Weekend Round Up

The AGM took place on Friday night and a follow up meeting has been set for Friday 4th December, details to follow.

The weather took its toll on the Saturday morning bike training with just four hardy souls meeting at 9am for a two and a half hour session. The training took a route through Ballygawley, Ballintogher, Dromahair, Manorhamilton and back to Sligo. Bike training continues next Saturday at the same time, hopefully with a slight improvement in the weather, the group meets at Markevich Park.

Two club members were racing over the weekend. Roy Kelly managed a top 30 finish in the Crookstown Motorway 10k held on Saturday, finishing the course in 42:20. Meanwhile Conal Sexton joined a strong Sligo contingent in the Hollymount 10k Road Race yesterday, completing the course in 39:35.

Congratulations to Edel Carty on her 4th place in the novice section of the Connaught Cross Country held recently in Ballinamore, and also to Damien McSharry and Rose Tully -who finished sixth and seventh in their respective Masters categories under what was described as 'dire' conditions on the day.

Hollymount Road Race

The Hollymount International Road Race is on this Sunday (November 8th).
Women’s 3k at 1.30pm

2008 winner: Catherine Conway Mayo AC in a time of 10.53

Men’s 10k at 2pm

2008 winner: Martin Conroy Sligo AC in a time of 31.43

Entry €15, showers & refreshments afterwards.
Enter via RunIreland at: Hollymount Race

There is also a jogger/ walkers 10k at 2.20pm (Contact Race Director Sean Reilly 094 9540110 for further information)

Club AGM Reminder

The club AGM will be held this Friday (Nov 6th) at 8:15pm in the Sligo Park Hotel, all welcome.

November Swim Coaching Course

The second winter coaching course, set for 28th & 29th November is now open to non club members or members of other clubs who might be interested. The course will take place in Avena Leisure, Ballysadare and will cost €185. Anyone interested should mail club coach Colm Casey at: casey.colm@gmail.com. More information on the course is in the post below.

Friday Night Swim Coaching Full

The club swim session on Friday nights is now over subscibed. There is no space for anyone else to join the swim coaching this term (till Dec 19th). Unfortunately anyone new turning up at the session cannot be accomodated untill another session has been arranged.

This months Coaching Weekend

The second club winter coaching workshop will take place on the weekend of November 28st/29th. The course will be given by swimfortri, a London based tri coaching team. The head coach is Dan Bullock, who has completed a sub 16 minute 1500meter swim, and has been competing in triathlons since 1998 -although some club members have been competing in triathlons since the early 80's his experience includes a long career in competitive swimming that pre-dates triathlon. The team specialise in triathlon coaching and have recently won the 220 triathlon magazine coach of the year award.

The course breakdown is as follows:
Saturday:09:30 - 10:00 Welcome, course introduction, and swim theory.10:00 - 12:00 1st swim session - basic drills to restrict bad habits and introduce correct swim movements. Filming.
12:00 - 13:00 Break/food
13:00 - 14:00 Filming review and demonstrations
14:00 - 15:30 2nd swim session - advanced drills for those ready15:30 - 16:00 Session review.
Sunday:09:30 - 10:00 Arrival and preparation for session 10:00 - 12:00 3rd swim session
12:00 - 13:00 Break/food
13:00 - 14:30 4th swim session - advanced drills
14:30 - 15:00 Break 15:00 - 16:00 Filming review, session distribution with personal drills guidelines