May 2017 Newsletter

With Byron Bay Triathlon signalling the end of the short course season and Cairns Ironman less than 4 weeks away our training focus starts to change. If you’ve been training hard all season Winter is a good time to refresh a bit, perhaps even take a week or two off training completely.

The off season is very short in Queensland. Those looking towards the Sunshine Coast 70.3 will already have started preparation whereas those with their sights on Noosa Triathlon will need to be thinking about starting training around mid-June.

We have some upcoming changes to the timetable for winter starting next week:
* Monday swim changes to one session from 5:15am-6:45am. Please ensure you are in the pool by 5:15am at the latest.
* Thursday cycling will take a break over the winter months.
* Friday running will start up again. 5:30-6:30am meeting at the main gate of New Farm Park. Coffee afterwards at Cafe63.

Please also be mindful of the start time of the sessions and ensure you are arriving on time. You should be at the session ready to start at least 5 minutes prior to the start time. Punctuality has been dropping of late and being on time helps ensure the coach can run an effective session.

To help all of our 35+ Cairns athletes prepare we’ll be putting up a series of posts on the Facebook page between now and race day to help everyone maximize their race day performance.

First off is the all important mental preparation and spending some time until race day on what you want the race to be like. By that I mean visualizing yourself swimming, riding and running strongly and “digging” in during all the different times it becomes hard.

So what does that mean and how does it become part of your routine. It’s pretty simple really in that every day spend 5-10 minutes having quiet time. Just be still whether that is sitting or lying and breathe. Once you have switched off from everything and your relaxed spend a few minutes visualizing how good you’re going to feel across the race;

Strong and relaxed swim, good legs in the bike and enjoying the spectacular bike leg that is the IM Cairns bike course. Finally on the run, again having good legs and in the last 10-15km hanging tough and being able to run through the discomfort before the feeling of elation as you come into the finish line.

Ignore this side of your training at your peril as numerous studies have established that visualization works in improving race day performance. And from my own personal experiences I know how powerful it can be and how it does work.

One final tip it would be great if race day gives us a picture like that above of the swim course but the last 3 years it has been anything but like that. So don’t visualize the weather as it is one of the things you can’t control.

This year we will have an afternoon event at Saint Lucy’s at UQ. We’ll kick off at 12pm with antipasti platters and drinks followed by lunch, speeches, awards and celebrations.

Partners and kids are encouraged to attend. There is room for the little ones to run around on the grass. There is an option to purchase children’s meals and special dietary requirements can be catered for.

Cost is $60 per adult which includes lunch, dessert, tea, espresso coffee and wine/beer to start. Children meals suitable for ages 3-12 can be purchased for $15.

Payment can be made direct into bank account:
Tri Nation
BSB 014 696
Account 2114 76308
For all bank account payments please email suz@tri-nation.com.au with the number of tickets purchased and ages of any children.

Alternatively you can make payment online at http://tri-nation.com.au/end-of-season-party-payment/ with a small card surcharge.

In 2018 the World Triathlon Championships will be held on the Gold Coast.The selection races to qualify for the Australian Age Group World Championship Teams has just been announced and can be viewed online.

If you are interested in trying out for the Sprint or Olympic distance team we will have a meeting in the next month to discuss what is involved and what races Tri Nation will target as qualifiers.

The Tri Nation timetable for Cairns is as follows:
* Thursday 5:00pm
Easy run meeting at Ironman finish line.
* Friday 12:30pm
Lunch in Cairns.
* Saturday 7:00am
45-60 minute cycle in Cairns
* Monday 3:00pm
After party at The Pier

A reminder that you can hire windtrainers for the Tuesday morning session.

The cost of hireage is $5 and bookings need to be made by 5pm on the Monday night prior to the session to ensure that a windtrainer is brought in.

Bookings can be made via the website shop or through the TeamApp.

Upcoming events that Tri Nation will be at in the next three months are:

• Cairns IM/70.3 – 11th June.
• Gold Coast Marathon Festival – 1st/2nd July.