It finally happened...

Dear Team

I thought this little story of my misfortune today might brighten up
your Friday afternoon!

My speciality area within the coaching world as many of you know is
1-2-1 Video Analysis and Stroke Correction. I love this opportunity to
spend some quality time with a single swimmer showing them what it is
they need to improve. Since we launched Mr Smooth last July, these
sessions are proving more and more popular and I'm currently fully
booked for the next 9 weeks. It's a real chance for me to draw upon
now 14 years of experience doing these sessions and helping people
enjoy their swimming more.

I'm often asked if I've ever fallen in the pool whilst concentrating
on the task of filming a variety of different angles above and below
the water. The answer is always a very proud "no". I'm sorry to say
though that as of the 11th February 2010 I can no longer make this
claim!

Talk about embarassing! There I was with a pool full of school kids,
the West Australian Junior Womens Synchro Squad and a client whom I've
never met before who was treated to the session as a Christmas
present. I had to use the water polo pool for the session as my usual
lane 8 had been allocated elsewhere. Using the polo pool poses some
additonal problems, namely the obstacle of the three diving boards and
fixings. So there I am merrily conducting my favourite session when
"whoops!" I clip my heel and experience that odd time-stopped
sensation where you know you cannot do anything to stop yourself
falling over! I made a spectacular splash into the pool, fully clothed
and with all my equipment, narrowly missing landing on top of the
swimmer! I think he was as shocked as I was! The synchro girls
obviously found it absolutely hilarious but of course I had to act
like nothing had happened - a tough task when you're soaking wet, have
no towel or change of clothes and are unfortunately wearing a pair of
white Capri pants (I like to think of them as sun-bleached-beige) over
black boxer shorts. I had no choice but to drip dry throughout the
whole session with no top or shoes on - nightmare! You have to laugh
though, right?

Luckily though the session went well and I'm hopeful that the only
thing damaged was my ego!

Have a fun weekend and stay away from the pool edge - dangerous place
that! ;-)

Paul

Training and Racing this Weekend

Dear TEAM

A humid change this week - quite nice this morning on the bike I have to say!

OK, looking ahead to this weekend, the big events are the Leighton 1.6km Swim Thru on Saturday, and the Hillary's Sprint Triathlon / the Herne Hill 40km Time Trial event. Highly recommend having a little bash at the 40k Time Trial if you are doing the Busselton Half Ironman. You can enter that here: www.atta.asn.au

OK, so training then:

THURSDAY:

6am = open water skills session at Cottesloe Beach - what better way to start a Thursday?!

6pm for a 6.15pm start = run session at Lake Monger (meeting at the Green Arrow)

FRIDAY:

5.30am & 6.30am = get Fresh & Fruit with us at Claremont Pool

9.30am = nice steady, technique session

4.30pm = Rotto SOLO (final Friday swim)...just do a really steady, continuous 3km roll-over-of-the-shoulders today!

SATURDAY:

7am = Rottnest SOLO, DUO AND TEAM swim session at Trigg Beach. Meeting at the Trigg SLSC at 7am for an in-the-water start at 7.15pm. Please bring a paddler if you have one. TEAM swimmers = 2km, DUOS = 4-6km, SOLOS = 6-8km...all VERY cruisey indeed! A bit of a social wind-down followed by breakie at the Trigg Island Cafe. May cut this shorter if people are looking tired etc.

NB. No official ride this week as my suggestion is to do the Time Trial on Sunday. If you don't fancy that, take a spin down the Freeway bike path and input 3 x 20' intervals at HIM pace on your tri bars with 5' easy between each. Total ride time ~3hrs. Try a short 10' run off the bike too!

1pm = Squad Swim at Claremont Pool - come and have some fun and get VERY fruity with our open water skills and drafting session - miss it, miss out!

SUNDAY:

Valentines Day - ladies, please don't forget to send me a card - LOL! ;-) Seriously, have a great, fun day with your loved one(s).

Cheers

Paul

Recommendations for the final run-up to Rottnest!

Dear Swimmers

If you are searching for inspiration and direction for your run-up to the Rottnest Channel Swim 2010, may I suggest you have a look at some of my suggestions from last year which are still current for this time around:

• http://theteamcore.blogspot.com/2009/02/taper-tactics-few-final-words-of.html - suggestions for next week's sessions.
• http://www.theteamcore.com/mentalfocus.html - get your head in the right mental space.
• Podcast # 2 on nutrition for endurance events: http://www.theteamcore.com/podcast.html - well worth a listen!
• Race Day Itinerary examples (from Hannah): http://www.theteamcore.com/images/MichaelA.pdf and http://www.theteamcore.com/images/HannahM.doc
• Nutrition suggestions: http://www.theteamcore.com/images/Placid.pdf and http://www.theteamcore.com/images/SDA_Nutrition.pdf

Above all though guys and girls, I think the big thing that came out of the Rottnest meeting last Friday at Suzanne's house was that a) you are all fighting fit and raring to go; b) you cannot get any fitter now, but you can over-cook it in these last few weeks which will be detrimental (now's the time to ease off); c) don't make any drastic changes - you have all survived (well) on the longer swims, so don't go making any drastic changes to your nutrition plans please (see the Placid.pdf document for some good Menu suggestions as discussed on Friday).

As for this week, SOLO swimmers should swim as normal, doing the double on Tuesday (today) - normal Wednesday, Thursday and then just a single session on Friday. I will send out details of this Saturday's swim later on in the week, but it'll be at Trigg Beach at 7.00am and we'll do a ~6-8km swim on this day (cruisey) depending on how you're feeling.

And, if I can give you one final tip, let it be this - keep hydrated and plenty of early nights!!! ;-)

Cheers

Paul

Have your say!

Dear Swimmers,

After the highly successful (but brutally challenging!) 50 x 50m swim
set this morning sprinting any lap number divisible by 3 or 5, I've
happened upon a bit of an idea and I hope you're going to like it...

Today's set was actually put forward by James Forbes in lane 3
(5.30am) with a couple of minor tweaks by myself. I thought it worked
really well and added a bit of variety to the program. It certainly
kept me and Adam busy on the pool deck trying to keep you all pumped
up and you all succeeded very well with the challenge. Well done!

This leads me onto the idea. On the first Friday of every month I will
be accepting session ideas from within the squad. You can put forward
a session idea (main set) any time during the month (just email it
please) and we will review them all, pick one, add a sprinkle of Swim
Smooth MAGIC and serve it up for you to all enjoy!

So, get your thinking caps on, be creative and let us know what you'd
like to do. Can I suggest that the longest interval should be no more
than 300m given that this is supposed to be a speed orientated session.

Have a great weekend!

Paul

Training this Weekend

Dear TEAM

Please be advised of the next few day's worth of training:

Thursday AM = meet at just before 6am at Cottesloe Beach for a super-fun openwater skills session - must be able to swim 200m continuously, but above that we cater for a large range of ability.

Thursday PM = meet at the toilet block shown here in the car park to the north side of Lake Monger for an interval run session at 6pm for a 6.15pm w/up start (easy access off the Freeway north at Powis Street). Need to assess numbers and interest for this session, so if you're keen, please pop along! This is a paid-for session using your PAYG card.

Friday AM = 5.30am, 6.30am and 9.30am sessions all running as normal.

Friday PM = for the 4.30pm SOLO swimmers, if you can make it, we're going to do a fun rough water swim at Trigg Beach. Please meet at the Trigg SLSC tower at 4.30pm for a 4.45pm start. If you get there a little late, run down the beach and find us...we'll be swimming south into a screaming sou-westerly with any luck! We'll then see you for the BBQ in Floreat from 6.30pm.

Saturday AM = HIM athletes should do route # 1 from the program up into the Kalamunda Hills. Meet at 6.30am from the Bell Tower if you can make it.

Rottnest swimmers should enter the Cottesloe to Swanbourne 2.2km swim which starts at 8am prompt and registration is from 7-7.45am. The SOLO / DUOS should then swim back as well (cruisey). My favourite open water race of the season!

Saturday PM = 1pm pool squad session = openwater skills and drills in the pool that are bound to get you pumped! ;-)

Sunday = Busselton jetty swim anyone?

Cheers

Paul

P.S A massive congratulations to Renee Baker who raced awesomely well last weekend at the Perth Olympic Distance triathlon and qualified for the World Championships in Hungary next year - top notch! I didn't get down there unfortunately (computer woes sadly enough!) so if anyone else raced and would like to let me know how they went, please do so!

P.P.S If you were at the briefing for the Rottnest Channel Swim event on Tuesday night you would have received the handbook to the event. I am very proud to say that Adam's photograph of me swimming past the 10km mark in last year's SOLO event made the front cover - thank goodness you can't see how much I'm hurting! ;-)

Canada / UK Photos

Dear TEAM

Hope you are all doing well this fine Wednesday afternoon!

I realise that our family photos may have no interest to you whatsoever and I apologise if this email is one extra for your inbox that you didn't really need on an afternoon! If this is you, please accept my sincere apologies.

However, quite a large number of you suffered my "travel babble" whilst I was away and said you enjoyed wincing at some of the incidents, reading about what it was like to travel with a new baby and so I thought you might be keen to view some of the photos from the trip and to also "hear" Jackson's side of the story in his own little Blog which we've been running since he was born as a nice way to keep friends and family over-seas posted on our "progress" over here in Perth.

Here's the link to the Blog...there's 800 photos there (!), but for my fellow Poms I think you'll be amazed to see just how much snow there was in the 2nd webpage album.

Enjoy, or please just delete (making sure you have read the note about the Rottnest BBQ this Friday first - below). Thanks!

Paul & Jackson

Rottnest Solo and Duo informal social BBQ this Friday in Floreat!

Dear Swimmers

If you've been training with the squad for the Rottnest SOLO or DUO events and have endured all the miles along the way etc, please be invited to an informal social BBQ this Friday evening 5th February from 6.30pm. Suzanne has kindly offered to host the BBQ which will be held at 85 Newry Street, Floreat. Please bring meats and drinks (yes, alcohol IS allowed!) and we'll get some salads etc organised.

This will be an excellent chance to discuss "tactics", ask any final coaching and nutritional questions and to basically get you pumped up for the event - we might even watch "Rocky 2" and all chant "Eye of The Tiger" or some such daft thing! LOL!

Please let me know if you and your husband / wife / partner etc plan to come along - it'd be great to see you there!

Cheers

Paul