Tuesday evening swim sessions now at 6.15pm

Dear Athletes

Please be advised that from Tuesday 23rd June onwards, our Tuesday evening swim session will now start at 6.15pm and finish at 7.15pm in order to allow you to use the showers and changerooms after finishing and to also feel like you're not being rushed out of there! Hopefully that all works for you!

Cheers

Paul

Saturday Ride & Cyclo Sportif

Dear Athletes

This Saturday we shall be taking a ride out into the Swan Valley to have a quick whizz around next weekend's Cyclo Sportif Swan Valley course. The 16km looped course itself is at http://www.mapmyride.com/route/au/herne%20hill/384124522890282539 (of which you will do either 4 or 5 laps) and we'll be riding out to the course (24.5km) following this route: http://www.mapmyride.com/route/au/perth/618124522953594156

Plan is to meet at the Bell Tower at 7.00am this week (note the slightly earlier start) and ride out steady as one group, then split up and do 1, 1.5 or loops of the Cyclo Sportif circuit in full team formation, before returning home. Total distance will therefore be in the 65 to 81km region as a guide.

The actual Swan Valley Cyclo Sportif event is next Sunday 28th June, usually around midday. You can enter and pay at http://www.cyclosportif.com.au/enter.htm

This is how it works:

You can either -

1) pay for this race as a one-off for $60.00 (this includes a one day race license valued at $15.00)

or 

2) pay for 12 months membership to Cyclo Sportif which includes 12 months in / out of racing cycling insurance (a bargain and highly recommended for anyone riding this year - it could just save your bacon). This costs $75.00. The race entry fee is then just $45.00 for this event and includes lunch.

We are hoping to enter 2 teams for the 64km and/or 78km events, with the recommendation being the 64km event for our first hit-out. These teams require 5 to 9 people in each to compete, so we really need to know ASAP if you wish to book a spot in our two teams. Team 1 will hope to average ~30 to 34km/h and Team 2 ~34 to 37km/h (weather dependent). To achieve these speeds riders will work together in a draft-legal formation. This is lots of fun and also great for your cycling skills. 

So please let me know if you wish to be considered for a team, even if you've mentioned it in passing over the past week or so.

Cheers

Paul

Party on!

Dear Athletes

I'd just like to say a quick thank you to all of you who were able to attend our Annual TEAM CORE party on Saturday night up at Hillary's. It was a great night enjoyed by all. Justin Palmer did us proud with the hire of Bar One Twenty and also provided a good amount of free drinks for all the crew - thanks mate, much appreciated!!

The night started off with a quick run-down of the year gone by - the first full season for the TEAM. Athletes were commended for really living up to our "three C motto" of "Commitment, Consistency and (most of all) Camaraderie" - demonstrating that it is not only possible for a wide range of abilities to train successfully together for a wide range of events, but that this process can be very enjoyable and some great new friendships can be made too. Well done all!

Winning the special awards this year were:

Dark Horse* (female) = Jess Huston for her outstanding performance at the recent Busselton Half Ironman in May.

Dark Horse* (male) = Mike Bowles for his outstanding return to the sport, also at the recent Busselton Half Ironman in May.

* the Dark Horse award is given each year to a quiet achiever who has either just returned to the sport after several years off, or whom shows real potential in their first year in the sport. 

Well done Jess and Mike!

The Captain's Award = Judi Clemie for her help and assistance throughout the year with those new to the sport and to TEAM CORE.

The (aptly named) Shepherd's Award = Glen Blackwell for his help and guidance with those new to the cycling sessions in particular.

The Top Coach Award = Adam Young for all his help and assistance on pool deck and behind the "scenes" over the past 6 months.

Michelle Newsome also received a special thank you for putting up with Paul for the last year whilst the TEAM CORE has been developed!

I'd just like to personally round off by saying a HUGE thank you to everyone who contributed to the very generous gifts for myself and Adam - we were simply blown away by your generosity and are very grateful indeed...enough to be "soft" on a couple of Fresh & Fruity Fridays??? Hmmm, grateful yes, soft no! Hahahaha!!! ;-)

Cheers

Paul

Its all happening on Saturday!

Dear Athletes

3 fun events for you to enjoy this coming Saturday 13th June:

7.30am = ride from the Bell Tower out through Welshpool, up Welshpool Road to Kalamunda. Quick Cafe stop at the Paris-Brest Cafe at 22 Haynes Street. We will start off as a large group but split into 2 groups of ability as we start to climb. I will take the faster group on an added route of a further ~10km up a 2nd hill once at the top of Kalamunda before we meet with the rest of the group for coffee and ride back down the hill together. Check out the map here. This is the shorter of the 2 routes at ~ 63km. Remember, this is a FREE session.

1pm = squad swim session at Claremont Pool. Fun and frivolity developing your openwater swimming skills! A must for those with the need for speed!

8pm (sharp) = The TEAM CORE Annual Squad Party at Bar One Twenty, Hillarys Boat Harbour, Sorrento Quays. ALL invited - please come along with your partners for an evening of fun and merriment! Many thanks for TEAM CORE sponsor, Justin Palmer for having organized this again for us!

Cheers - better go off and polish my dancing shoes now!

Paul

Final Call for KIT!

Dear Athletes

Due to a slight delay with receiving some of the proofs for the new Winter Clothing, you have until midday today (Wednesday 10th June) to get in any final requests for our new Winter range of cycling and running gear. Full details / photos of the kit can be found at: http://theteamcore.blogspot.com/2009/05/end-of-season-party-team-kit.html

Also, we now have the last remaining pieces of summer gear left - if would like any of the following, please let me know asap - thanks!

Women's JERSEYS:

1 x S, 1 x M

Women's SHORTS:

1 x XS

Men's JERSEYS (ladies would find the Small / Mediums fit well - try if you wish!):

2 x S, 5 x M, 1 x L

Men's BIB-SHORTS:

2 x S, 2 x L, 2 x XXL

Men's SHORTS:

2 x L, 1 x XL, 2 x XXL

Cheers

Paul

Saturday's TEAM ride

Dear Athletes

Just a quick reminder that we will be meeting at 7.30am on Saturday (6th June) at the Bell Tower for a short ride down to our main sponsor's store (The Kitchen Warehouse) on Armadale Road in Cockburn. We will stop there for a quick coffee and a bite to eat before returning back to Perth. This will be a nice ride of ~45 km total to brush off the cobwebs and to have a nice social ride down the Freeway Bike Path. We'll average in the 26-28km/h range I would have thought, but the focus will be very much on fun. This will mark the start of our winter program, where you can expect to see some challenging hills rides on a Saturday morning from here on. Expect to be back in Perth ~10am (you can turn back sooner if you need to be back early). We'll look at formulating some teams as well for the upcoming Cyclo Sportif events.

Please wear your TEAM CORE cycle kit as we'll aim to get a couple of group photos outside the store.

Oh, and don't forget, next Saturday's TEAM CORE Annual Party at Bar One Twenty in Hillary's Boat Harbour from 8pm sharp. Please let us know if you will be attending!

Cheers

Paul

Winter Development Program

Dear Athletes

Myself and Adam have been talking and planning over the last 4 weeks about how best to cater for everyone's interests over the winter period (i.e. June to October). We want to be able to offer you a program which is fun and exciting and also offer a little variety from what you have been doing over the summer. We also realize that many of you are probably keen to just keep ticking over and maintain your fitness rather than engage in anything too serious. All of this is OK (obviously!). 

Many of you have now had 4 weeks off after the Busselton Half Ironman and are seeking inspiration and motivation for the short Auzzie winter ahead (!) and have kindly provided us with feedback of some of what you'd like to see over the next 3 to 4 months. In a nutshell, this is what we've rounded it down to and will be using as the base of our Winter Development Program:

• Encourage athletes to choose one of the three disciplines to really concentrate on over the winter. Typically this will be your weakest discipline, but it doesn't necessarily have to be so. You might even like to split the next 16 weeks into 2 chunks - one where you focus on the bike, and one where you focus on the run. Our suggestion is that you seek to maintain your efficiency in the pool with some solid technique work as you'll find that this will have the least impact on the other two disciplines. Adam wrote an excellent article on this very topic which can be read at http://www.tritalk.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=21000 
• We have made some slight modifications to the Program to enable you to do this. Most notably is the cancellation of the Monday evening cycle wind trainer session, but replacing it with a Monday evening long continuous tempo run as requested by many of you. With the Thursday night run session, this now gives us 2 squad run sessions per week (Monday and Thursday nights) and 2 squad bike sessions per week (Wednesday and Saturday mornings). This new schedule can be seen at http://www.theteamcore.com/weeklyprogram.html and is effective from Monday 8th June 2009 onwards.
• Our suggestion is that if you choose to concentrate on the bike, that you complete 3 cycle sessions per week plus 1 run session for maintenance. This could be the Wednesday and Saturday morning rides with the squad plus one other with a cafe ride or similar. If you choose to concentrate on the run, you should attend the Monday and Thursday evening run sessions and do a long run by yourself on Saturday morning. We'd still recommend you one of the squad cycle sessions per week though to keep tabs with this discipline. This would probably be best done on Wednesday morning.
• The best news about these changes (for you guys at least!) is that until the 7th September, we have decided to make all 4 of those non-swim squad sessions entirely FREE! Yes, we know that's very generous, but here's why: 1) many of you will naturally have limited commitment over the winter and probably require limited feedback on a session-by-session basis for the bike and run disciplines - you just want a guide of what you should be doing and are happy enough to get on with things, enjoying the break from the "full structure" of the Busselton Program and saving the pennies in the process! You do however like training with your mates and so still want to be involved as much as you can. We think that's great and we want to continue to build the TEAM CORE's atmosphere even in these typically quieter months!; 2) in order to be most effective in my capacity as "coach" with respect to guiding effective group cycling techniques (a-la: http://www.cyclosportif.com.au/docs/bunchriding-article08.pdf) for the Cyclo Sportif events and even trying to push you guys along in the dark on some new running routes that we have lined up, I need to be out there with you. Not being too fit myself at present I will need to lift my fitness by training alongside you as one of your TEAM mates if I am going to be part of the TEAM at these events. As such, I have decided that for the next 12 weeks that these sessions will not incur any cost. Cool hey?! Post September 7th, we will go back to more of a "standard" coaching arrangement, and your support of this venture by attending the paid-for swim sessions would be much appreciated in the meantime and allow us to do this! Thanks.
• Use a variety of different events to test your growing "prowess" in your chosen discipline. We have prepared this excellent simple guide to what's on over the next 17 weeks with respect to events in WA, how to enter them, how much they cost and even a compilation of tips as well. Check it out here: http://www.theteamcore.com/documents/WinterDevelopment.pdf
• Each week we'll try and keep things as varied as possible - welcoming your feedback as we go. Surprisingly there was limited interest in the squad for learning and doing some of the other strokes, however, for those who were / are keen, we will run several "opt-in" sessions for those who want to, with a special lane for those guys trying the other strokes.
• Subject to ongoing interest, we will also look at running a mid-winter "Boot Camp" getaway, probably focusing on some off-road MTBing and X-Country running - watch this space! You can bet your last dollar though that it'll be a whole heap of fun!
• Those who have expressed an interest in training more "seriously" over the winter for events such as the World Long Course Championships, the City-2-Surf marathon and the Busselton Ironman have now approached me with respect to what you should be doing and how etc and we have spoken about options. You will still be encouraged to partake in the sessions on the new schedule as they will still be appropriate for you too - we just might make you run an extra 20km to get to the session in the first place! LOL! ;-)

SO, WHERE TO NOW?

So check out the Winter Development Plan and decide which discipline you feel like you'd benefit from by improving this winter whilst the "pressure" to perform is off a little bit. Look at the events that you would like to do to keep you interested and motivated. Check out the entry and cost information for these events. Sign up for a couple (the best way to commit you to getting out there when the weather is poor!). Let me know if you want to be part of one of The TEAM CORE's Cyclo Sportif teams and which races you can do. Finally, get along to some of those new sessions!

See you out there, its going to be a great winter!!

Cheers

Paul