I am often asked or probed on who is your Best athlete which often by association in many peoples minds make them also you favourite athlete. Probably what isnt so clear is the criteria that I would use to rank such athletes. They are qualities that lay deeper than just a performance. In no particular order 1. Train hard appropriately to tasks set both physically and technically 2. Train as much as possible 3. Listen to their coach 4. Help team mates 5. Honest and trustworthy 6. Want to maximise the... Continue reading ...
A study to look into the positive effects of superstition comes up with some interesting findings. Click here to find out more and potentially give yourself an edge ! Continue reading ...
Another well worth reading blog from Chuckie V on time management for anyone working and training, just training or at school or university and training. He looks at finding 11% of your weekly time to train. Doesnt sound a lot but in his case it camounts to 18 hours per week ! Click here to read more. Continue reading ...
Having seen the movie a few times it is great to see the article on this link about the Real Deal a real life Fat Boy running fast and no ones even told him he is white as well ! Click here to read more. Continue reading ...
Posted by GC on Wednesday, December 2, 2009,
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Food for thought
Does this guy not realise that we already have this social experiment taking place at Team Bodyworks xtc ! Click here to find out more. Continue reading ...
Posted by GC on Monday, November 30, 2009,
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Food for thought
An interesting article comparing the development of Distance runners in the USA and Japan from 18-22 year olds.Click here to read more on some interesting stats on development pathways of both countries with their young distance runners in pursuit of breaking down the African dominance. It would be interesting to see the British Stats in there as well. Continue reading ...
Posted by GC on Monday, November 16, 2009,
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Food for thought
She is young, she is talented and she has been successful so far yet nowt he dilema for one of our young athletic protogies is even greater as she heads towards 2012. To read more Click here Continue reading ...
Posted by GC on Saturday, November 14, 2009,
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Food for thought
Today is the World 70.3 Championships the old money Half Ironman Distance equivalent. The clasic meeting distance for the Ironman athletes and the Olympic Distance athletes (non drafting)along with the Middle Distance specialists. It is a true World Championships just as Hawaii Ironman and the WCS for Olympic Distance drafting. They are all worthy components of a great sport Triathlon along with some other derivatives such as Xterra. For other disciplines perhaps there are question marks over ... Continue reading ...
Posted by GC on Thursday, October 15, 2009,
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Food for thought
An interesting article that includes challenging the fact that Usain Bolt is the fastest human ever. Click here to read more. Looking at one definition of manhood in this article then I certainly will never be reaching such a pinnacle ! Continue reading ...
Posted by GC on Saturday, October 3, 2009,
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Food for thought
Always looking to be at the cutting edge of advancements in technique. Some new ideas on increasing momentum whilst lessening the physical cost have come to my attention. We have had the POSE method a few years ago now we have something far richer.Suitable for all speeds even those reduced to a walk in Ironman.
Posted by GC on Friday, September 18, 2009,
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Food for thought
An interesting link to the diet change being used with sled Dogs to increase their performance Click here. The dogs who race for long durations arent dissimilar in their perfomance task to endurance athletes. Continue reading ...
Posted by GC on Monday, September 7, 2009,
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Food for thought
This past week the number of 5km athletes who have run sub 13.00mins and are white has doubled with two US athletes achieving the mark in Zurich and Brussels this week. In races dominated by the African athletes the US athletes have been in a position to take advantage of the pace and achieve a lofty status. More importantly both athletes recognise the journey has taken time to develop that ability and the journey is still very much in progress. Continue reading ...
Posted by GC on Friday, September 4, 2009,
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Food for thought
Interesting to look at some stats from previous Olympic Games cycles relating to the ITU World Rankings. In 2001 and 2005 those athletes ranked in the top 5 and where they were at the Olympic Games in 2004 and 2008 respectively. For example Mens 2001 ITU Rankings 1. Chris Hill 2, Craig Watson 3. Andrew Johns 4. Dimitri Gaag 5. Chis McCormack Athletes ranked in top 10 who were medallists in 2004 Hamish Carter (6th)
Women 1. Siri Lindley 2. Loretta Harrop 3. Barb Lundquist 4. Michelle Jones 5. Rina Hill At... Continue reading ...
An interesting article from Steve Cram on the Worlds athletics Championships highlighting in its depths where the British Gold Medal success from Jessica Ennis and Phillips Idowu came from. Click here to find out more. Furthermore Steve Crams plea to the powers that be.
Adversity comes in many guises and is a potent ingrediant in performances of the highest personal order if those performances are at our realistic maximal level. It acts as a switch to enhance that litlle extra which remains untapped on a race by race basis. Adversity comes in various forms both from the present time and from an individuals past. It can be directly related to the sport or something else from a physical ar mental emmotional nature. The way that adversity is harnessed and delive... Continue reading ...
Posted by GC on Saturday, August 22, 2009,
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Food for thought
As a club looking at the feasability of adopting the new South African Athletics Association Talent Identification programme. A phenominal run by the Young 18 year old South African Girl. However she was made to look even better by the poor standard otherwise. Without Jelimo from Kenya in the field and athletes such as the stature of Mutola from a couple of years ago the race would have been much closer. Its appalling to see how she has been treated both as an athlete and a human being. Anoth... Continue reading ...
You would think the Centre of London location for the 2012 Olympic Games Triathlon would be a great venue for the British Junior and Youth Triathlon Championships. On trawling the internet for a day and costing a relatively short trip due to the race start times it looks as though a weekend in the South of France would have been both cheaper and easier to coordinate (even if I had chosen easy Jet as my airline of preference). May be some will be forced to question the cost involved. Hopefully ... Continue reading ...
An interesting idea for Triathlon. At various stages during the event the last athlete or set number of athletes at a certain stage are eliminated from the race. An extra addition to the primes that exist in events at present. This may help to spice up some of the racing and encourage more interest from Television as another area of the event to look for from an action perspective. Continue reading ...
Posted by Glenn Cook on Friday, June 26, 2009,
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Food for thought
Its good to see some real racing going on in the WCS races so far this year and in the World Cups. Its been a long time since the swim has had a role to play in the sport on a regular level for many years. Now the chasers are passing around the andrex and not liking the thought of some guys busting a gut out front. Its always someone elses fault that the chasing group cant get organised, never anyone one taking personal responsibility. At present the chasing group only appears to have a limit ... Continue reading ...
Commitment to a race session or particular action is different from merely participating. Its like "Bacon and eggs" where the pig is committed to the process a the bacon as opposed to the Chicken who merely participates in the process by providing the eggs. As athletes there is also a big difference between being the pig and the chicken. There is nothing wrong with participation and without it we wouldnt have bacon and eggs. But its important that we are clear in which we are looking to be met... Continue reading ...
Adversity what is it where does it come from does it hold a key in the DNA to athletic success. MMMmmmmmm... perhaps. Adversity comes in differing forms either from the past or present, it can be physical or mental, it can be directly related to performance or from another area of life. It can be ongoing or it can be from a specific moment in time. Each individual is unique with regards to their DNA and also the specific DNA for adversity. I am officially becoming the first Adversity counseller... Continue reading ...
Now there is an idea for the new selection criteria for our Olympic Triathlon team for London 2012. The selection panel of Simon Cowell,Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan will whittle down the competitors (applicants) then combined with a viewers vote the Final team will be chosen. Benefits of Television exposure and advertising along with revenue from the phone in votes would go a long way to financiallly supporting the development of the sport after 2012. There could be a model here that needs wo... Continue reading ...
Here is an interesting discussion who which animal would win over a race of 100m in water followed by 100m on land ? I think O have the answer. Here is some of the discussion so far.... Click here Continue reading ...
As athletes much is said and written about how to emulate African distance running in particular the success of Kenyan and Ethiopian runners who dominate the arena. We talk about where they live and what they eat and many other issues involved around their lives. Im sure that if over the next five to ten years the western world clubbed together the balance could be easily redressed. Firstly we invest heavily in fast food chains in every village that we know in Africa that has had World Class ... Continue reading ...
On Saturday the Grand National produced a 100-1 winner the longest odds in over 40 years since Foinaven won in the 60s. Thats probably to be fair like Aston Villa winning the League or Israel Qualifying for the World Cup Finals. So how did they beat the odds. Good preparation, some luck, being ready for the opportunity when it arose and making the most of it. The odds suggest that not many thought it was going to happen but obviously there was belief from the parties involved. Will they ever h... Continue reading ...
Monday morning and the sun is shining. The clocks have made their move and summer is coming. Busy and exciting times with athletes at a multitude of events and a miriad of abilites and levels. The logistics of being everywhere and nowhere are limitless. This weekend alone the Sussex Primary Schools xc championships, City of Sheffield Swim Club Open meet and the South East Regional Biathlon Championships along with the regular weekend training programme. Next weekend its the Club Aquathon, ITU ... Continue reading ...
The time is coming the season is getting close. Sea swims, bike races, track sessions, bike runs and swim bikes are just around the corner. Light evenings and mornings to lengthen out the days. What else could you want. Its what its all about - Race season. Continue reading ...
Posted by GC on Thursday, February 26, 2009,
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Food for thought
This morning during our swim set one of the athletes who shall remain nameless ( he is however from foreign shores) took great interest in the phrase "the sky is the limit" . His excitement could not be contained which was given away by the frantic gesticulation with his hands a sure sign for him of verbal overload. I would add at this time to you all it is much better rather than using the sky as a limit to "shoot for the stars". Aternatively simply Click here for all the answers to your pr... Continue reading ...
Posted by GC on Monday, February 23, 2009,
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Food for thought
The relentless pursuit of improvement is only dull and over bearing for those who lack ambition, desire, focus and drive. Its simple and a formula that works. No ifs, buts or maybes in this world. Continue reading ...
Posted by GC on Wednesday, February 18, 2009,
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Food for thought
Luckily for most of us we do it naturally for our whole lives. Our life is determined by our ability to breathe. We fortunately dont have to continually think about the process as its able to flow in the back ground whilst we get on with life. However in sport it has a far greater role to play in our athletic performance than we may think. Our understanding of this and the patterns of breathing we observe on the different disciplines becomes key to us maximising performance. With breathing th...
Ivan Rana unfortunately didnt have the start that he would have wished for in his new adventure into the world of cycling Click here to find out more. Continue reading ...
Here is an interview with Sheila Tarmoania who represented the USA at three different Olympic Games in three different sports. Firstly Swimming in 1996 , no mean achievement in itself,secondly Triathlon in 2004 and thirdly Modern Pentathlon in 2008 Click here to read more about this exceptional woman. Continue reading ...
Posted by GC on Wednesday, February 4, 2009,
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Food for thought
"It is a mistake to look too far ahead. The chain of destiny can only be grasped one link at a time."
Sir Winston Churhill
Simple words but very apt. The essence of staying in the now and I suggest making each of those links as strong as possible as you add them so that the chain has a greater opportunity of holding together as it becomes longer and the stresses on it become greater. Continue reading ...
Posted by GC on Tuesday, January 27, 2009,
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Food for thought
Having seen this article it opens up the horizons for achievements of an athletic nature Click here that we could be training for. Continue reading ...
Whilst trawling around this morning I came across an interesting question. "If swimming is so good for your figure, how do you explain whales?" Continue reading ...
