A coach friend who has trained with us to NZIM in the past and is now a gymnastics coach, sent me the article below.
It’s part of a larger article talking about how many countries in the world have “High Performance” programs in place. Governments around the world have spents millions of dollars on these programs to produce winners.
The winners still seem to come along by many different paths. The coach who has produced more triathlon World champions and Hawaii Ironman winners is not part of a “High Performance Program”.
It seems …

Every week when I read the weekly reports from the athletes on my training programs, I want the details of performance, health, feelings etc. The news is not always good. Every workout or every big weekend of training is not going to produce PBs, or even good experiences. The road to the top is not a straight line, there are a few dips along the way, but the general trend is upward.
It’s good to be triathletes and not wild west gunfighters. The gunfighter who has a bad day doesn’t get …

A couple of months ago I got a Power Tap wheel from Pedals Plus. I felt the best way for me to optimise my training and to be able to test squad members occasionally was to have a power measuring device which could be swapped from bike to bike.
I have trained with a power measuring device for several years. This has been in the form of a Cateye mag trainer. This has been great to keep a record of my training progress and I have been able to put athletes …

When you’ve been around nearly sixty years you’ve had a lot of time to do a lot of different things. Hopefully you’ve learned from each of these experiences.
In my early twenties I practiced karate for a few years. It’s amazing how close to triathlon training, martial arts training really is. Thousands of repetitions of each movement, done perfectly until all the body knows is perfect technique. The end result is that under pressure, you don’t have to think what to do or how to do it. You just do it. …

Today I heard an interview with a doctor on the radio. She reported the recent findings pointing to the stronger immune systems in children who attended child care centres compared to children who stayed at home in more isolated conditions.
Apparantly the children exposed to lots of different germs developed a greater resistance to them. Us paranoid athletes who avoid all contact with others just before major races may not be doing ourselves any favours. Fearing illness is a sure fire way of attracting it into your life.
Last year about this time …

I have often said, “I’m not a details person, I’m a big picture man”
That’s not entirely correct. I hope I haven’t mislead too many. I really don’t care whether you have a carbon, an aluminium or a titanium bike. As long as you’re set up pretty right and you ride it hard. I don’t care if your shoes are 20gms less than another brand as long as you don’t walk in the marathon, I’m happy.

Anyone who has raced an Ironman race well will agree it’s done with the mind.
That’s true, but no matter how mentally prepared you might be, if the fuel is not getting through to the legs, it’s not going to be as good as it could be.
So we’re about to set out on a mission where we have to have a stomach in top working order. Not a sack into which we toss whatever the hot-box has sitting in it ready to go. Save all the fast food options for after the …

We often hate to be told what to do. We want to chart our own path in life. Anyone who has raised teenagers knows how they resist direction, even though they know it’s in their best interests.
I’ve found young guys might rebel against discipline but once they realise that there are definite boundaries, they settle down and actually feel more comfortable focussing on their chosen direction.   

This is a subject which I have covered many times in newsletter articles. I have to revisit it about every six months. Usually when we get a few new squad members who “just don’t get it”.
Endurance training is best done at a pace which stimulates the development of the athlete’s “fat burning system”. This pace is fairly easy. Lots of hours at 50-70%HR. Training at this pace usually means that when the workout is over, the athlete can take the kids/dog for a walk. Mow the lawn or vacuum the …

For you and I to have the most productive relationship we have to be working in the same direction.
Of all the athletes who I have coached over the years, about 75% were truly working with me. I feel I have been lucky to have that many who have connected. Because with any squad there are folks who come along for a while because their mates do. And they really don’t know what they’re searching for, I guess they think they might find it here.
When I was a young landscape contractor, …