I've been meaning to drop something in writing for a while to say thanks for time and support making right choices buying a load of triathlon kit.

As a novice, faced with a lot of options of range and budget, I felt really well guided by experts with stacks of knowledge and more importantly: patience with me answering a host of detailed questions and testing of kit. Paul H helped me out for about an hour with practical advice for bikes and wetsuits. Testing in the pool was really useful before committing to spend and Gav took me right through a detailed fitting and test-runs on the bike, consistently prioritising importance of trying a few bikes and going for the one that felt right.

Really confident throughout that you guys were helping me make the right choice to match my level and budget as opposed to getting as much money as poss.!!

Couple of months into use now & pleased with the kit I ended up with (ex-demo Felt tri bike, preused helix wetsuit, trainers and other accessories!). So far, all seems to have been smart decisions, I'm enjoying using it all as I continue to increase my training and starting to see returns in result improvements.

1:1 Swim coaching's spot on too.  

 Regards, Matt Elliot

Just a short note to say I have now been using my Planet X carbon dura ace build for a week, and it has been truly worth the wait, thanks to everyone involved in getting me the model i wanted, and all the bits, on the bike to work scheme, especially to Gav whos patience over my phone calls was superb.

Martin Boddie

Club Secretary swims forever!

Thursday, 19 June 2008

Well ok so not really but I could have done if I had the stamina - that and if nobody else wanted to use TriCentral’s never ending training pool!! TriCentral emailed the club about advertising to members. After looking at their website I thought I’d go and give it a try. It sounded like just the thing I was after to try and improve my technique. A never ending pool with four video feeds capturing your every move. You even get to keep the footage when you’ve finished.

I found the place without any problems and walked through the door, straight into a retail area. I was expected because the bloke at the desk sent me straight to the changing room to get ready! I wasn’t quite sure what I was meant to do after that. I sneaked a look around the door at the other side of the changing room thinking that may lead to the pool but all I found was the shower and toilet. It appeared I’d have to go back the way I came, into the shop area (if you’d like to retain your modesty then wrap your towel around you until at the pool!).

Gavin, my coach and critic for the next 45 minutes introduced himself and I followed him to the back of the shop area where the pool was located. It was straight into the pool while he explained what would happen. A quick swim to get used to the pool then we’d do some recording to see what my current technique was like. Swimming in the pool was much easier than I anticipated; just wait at the back of the pool for the flow to be strong enough then start swimming into it! The rate was set at about the pace that I’d do 100m freestyle, for me that’s around 1m25s - except it felt like I was swimming for about 3 minutes that first go. I was exhausted when Gavin stopped the water to look at the video footage and wondered if I was going to manage a whole 45 minutes at that pace!!! Now I never deluded myself that I have a perfect freestyle stroke … but I was surprised at what the footage showed. Not quite mortifying but certainly worse than I’d thought!

Gavin certainly got quite wet that first 3 minutes!! We watched the video and Gavin explained what aspects of my stroke were not quite right. He gave me some specific drills to try and to improve bits one at a time. I swam the drill, we watched the footage, we tweaked and added another aspect, swam some more, watched the footage and so on. It was really constructive and I could feel things improving as we progressed through the session. About 15 minutes in I suddenly realised there were two mirrors under the water, one on the floor and one at an angle in front of me. These proved very useful for watching what I was doing in real time. Fortunately the flow pace for the drills was slower than that first 3 minutes and I survived the whole session without any problems.

I went to shower and change while Gavin burned all my video footage to a DVD for me to take away. Having somebody point out where your stroke could be improved is useful, but there is nothing like being able to see yourself on video to really appreciate your shortcomings! I was so enthused at knowing where I was going wrong and what I had to do improve that I went straight to my gym and did some more drills. The session has actually focused me - something I’ve been rather lacking in with my swimming. I’m now planning to practise a lot and hopefully return at the end of August to see if there has been any improvement.

For anyone looking for detailed feedback on their stroke, I’d recommend going along to TriCentral to get yourself on film! Pick up a leaflet from the desk on a Tuesday or Sunday!

Mikey
Club Secretary, Northern Wave

Thanks Rob - we enjoyed the session a lot! Have already had a go in the pool to practice!

Jane Fraser

Hi Rob,

Thanks for taking the time to try to impart so much knowledge to such a bike/tri numpty as me on Saturday. Would love to tell you how I got on at Tatton but with nothing to compare it to and carrying a virus it's hard to tell if I'm anywhere near being able to complete the half IM let alone Almere, one thing that will be much easier though is the bike leg. Thanks to the adjustments you made to my aero bars I was able to spend almost the entire ride on Sunday down on the aero bars with no ill effects whatsoever. A huge difference and worth every penny. Just wish I was close enough to take advantage of your coaching abilities/facilities though I think a crock such as myself would be a bit of a challenge!

Thanks again.

Julie Warner                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Rob, Gavin,

I've just completed an endless pool coached session with Gavin - just wanted to say it was great fun, and found it incredibly useful - I've realised that the flaws in my stroke are in a completely different area to those where I thought they were, which means i've been working on the wrong things - no wonder my times haven't been improving!  Seeing things on camera makes it so much easier to understand what / why you're doing things wrong.  I'm hoping to see my times dropping soon! I'll definitely be back for another one.  Gavin was superb!  Many thanks

Jonathan Dabbs 

Hiya

Helen Gillibrand

I’d discussed the possibility of having a coach with Rob at the end of my first season in the sport. If I’m honest I was a little nervous, even uncomfortable with the idea. I kept putting it off, but the fact was, I seemed to be adrift. The returns from my hours of training were not meeting my expectations.

Just to say a big thankyou to Paul who took me on a swim session in your endless pool yesterday (Fri 6th March). It was eye-opening being able to see my stroke, and the coaching was first class. I'll certainly be making the trip down from Cumbria again for more of Paul's Pearls of Wisdom!

Hi,

Just to say we thought yesterdays session was very informative and well worth travelling all the way up from Devon.

Emily was excited yet alittle nervous at the idea of being coached by Kim, but said she thoroughly enjoyed it and had a great time.

We made notes on Kims comments and tips and have watched through the video which we have alot of people who are eagerly waiting to see it.

Please thank Kim for us, we just wish we lived closer to be able to come more often.

 Once again Thanks
Tracy Abraham & Emily 8 (soon to be 9 & racing!!!)

I just wanted to say how delighted I am with my interaction with you and the fast delivery of my Zoot shoes. I called the store and got an extremely helpful man who found want I was looking for, took my payment and popped them in the post the next day and they were delivered first thing the next morning.

This was excellent service and I will definatly be using this store again for any other Tri stuff I purchase.