Laura Marie Armstrong - From Beginner Triathlete to Age Group Champion in 12months

Laura Marie Armstrong has come a long way in a short time on Fluids Sprint triathlon program. The journey started with Laura completing a 6week Fluid Beginner Tri course in January 2015. From there Laura has flourished on the Sprint program, under the watchful eye of Sprint Coach Steve Davis.

In a short space of time Laura has improved to such an extent where she won her age group at The Yarrawonga Multisport Festival Standard distance race last weekend. Now Laura is setting herself to make the New Zealand team for ITU Worlds in Mexico at the qualifying race in NZ this January.

We took 5minutes to sit down with Laura and ask her about her meteoric rise so far.

Laura did you have an athletic background prior to starting Triathlon?

I have played sport my whole life, including a couple of different sports at representative level. One being netball which I still play and have done so since I was 5! I have also done a lot of running, including 2 marathons since moving to Australia.

What made you choose Triathlon for a sport and the Fluid program? 

A half ironman was something that I always wanted to do, and maybe eventually an ironman (but not anytime soon!). On returning to Aussie after an 8 month holiday I decided I would finally take the plunge as I had been wanting to get into triathlon for a while. One of the things that initially attracted me to the Fluid program was the number of face to face coached sessions, the location of trainings venues and their accessibility.

 

What do you think are your strengths and what’s your favourite discipline and why?

When I first started, running was my strength by far. And I knew having swum up to the age of 12 that it wouldn’t be long before I would some momentum in the pool. But after a consistent winter of training, cycling seems to be my strength looking back at Yarrawonga and the last Vic Duathlon race.

What area have you most improved in since starting training?

Definitely cycling. Starting out it was the one I hadn’t really done much of until I started commuting to work in August last year after finally getting a second hand road bike.

What the most important thing you have learnt while training on the Fluid program?

Consistency!! I could probably count on my hand how many trainings I missed over winter. But it has paid off. 

 

What’s the best thing about training with Fluid Movements?

the training atmosphere Fluid provides. Everyone is there to train but enjoy it at the same time. Plenty of social coffees and brunch post training!

Thanks Laura for your time and we look forward to checking in post race season to see how you went.

Coach Foz 

 

 

 

 

Duathlon World Championsips 2015 - Our Two New World Champions

Each year Fluid sets itself to have athletes representing their countries at the various World Championships, this year was no different with three of our athletes racing 70.3 Worlds in Austria, two racing Ironman Worlds in Hawaii and six racing Duathlon Worlds in Adelaide.
The race in Adelaide was the final event on the calendar, a week after Hawaii.

For the record, our Hawaii campaign was solid with Steve Guy coming home in 9:28hrs in a workmanlike performance, the 4th year in a row at Hawaii one of our squad has posted a sub 9:30hrs finishing time. We also had Stephen Natoli finish in 10:05hrs, a herculean effort from Nugget after crashing a few weeks before and sustaining a double fracture to his face. KUDOS.


Now to Adelaide, we had three athletes in the Sprint and three in the Standard event at Duathlon Worlds. This team was representing 5 different countries, quite a diverse group from Sweden, Japan, New Zealand, Team GB and 2 Aussies.

You know sometimes specific groups just gel with their training prep, and this was the case with the Duathlon crew. They trained consistently and relentlessly throughout the Winter, suffering through the coldest Melbourne Winter in 26yrs. There were no major disruptions with injury (except Kenny) and of course at times things got tough balancing time with work, training, motivation but each of them stuck at it and generally remained on top of their training and adapted well to the training I set.

Our lead up races went very well, Vanessa Jackson, Lesley West and Lyndsey Foster were consistently winning overall, the age group or top three at each of the local Tri Vic Duathlons. Lyndsey picked up 2 State Duathlon titles in the preparation, one in Queensland and the other in South Australia. Lesley also won the SA state title race for her age group. 

Things were humming along and you could see the Sprint training was working well. There was lots of race pace solo bike and run training and also hard bike to run brick sessions in our schedule. It was all about training fast and often, with minimal extended longer sustained sessions that would require too much recovery time post.

Finally race week came along, and you could tell in the final stages of the prep that the squad were well and truly ready for their tapers. It's pretty standard once an athlete hits the final full week pre taper they can see the finish line and just want it over and done with. This was the case with a few of our squad, so I knew they were ready and ripe to taper down.

Lyndsey (my wife) and I had flown in to Adelaide after watching the Hawaii Ironman squad compete, if it was a warm day it would suit the weather we had been training in in Kona.

The day before the race had arrived, and as usual for me its was all about letting the athletes get their check-ins and associated race responsibilities done, and making sure they stay off the feet and out of the sun as much as possible, with minimal stress.
We got the obligatory group photo, made sure that each of them knew the layout of the area, and then it was wrap them up in cotton wool time and make sure they can get a good rest the night before. 

RACE MORNING
It had been a warm Saturday, and Sunday morning looked to be shaping up the same. Lyndsey and I did the 5min walk to the race venue, lots of Americans around, they had brought over a large team, and being patriotic they were all emblazoned in their stars and strips.
The carefully organised warm up times I had set the day before with the squad went out the window, as each of the crew had things still to do, so I turned into bag minder whilst they did their drill and strides on their own time pre race.
The two races were 30mins apart, the Sprint was first then the longer Standard Duathlon.

We had Vanessa Jackson (NZ), Marzia Cescon (Sweden) and Ken Murley (Aus) in the Sprint.
Vanessa had a ripper start and took off alone at the front of the first run and was flying, Marzia was in the same age group and was sitting top ten.

Kenny looked good as he started, straight into the lead on the first run, and being a 5x World Champ I knew if he got to the front, it would be hard to peg him back, even though he was carrying injuries in both feet and had some major seizures in the lead up that curtailed his preparation. They were onto the bike when the standard race started.

Lesley West (Great Britian), Lyndsey Foster (Aus) and Ryo Tsukui (Japan) were our athletes in the Standard race. Our athletes would need to have everything go right to finish high up in the standings. The first run was taken out fast and our girls were sitting top five, with Ryo a touch further back.
Watching both races simultaneously was a bit of a challenge and we had supporters acting as spotters to keep track of their progress.

Our Sprint squad seemed to be going very well coming onto the last run, with Vanessa and Ken both in the lead. Marzia was top ten and pushing hard.
In the final kilometre of the sprint race, we had positioned ourselves near the finish chute. Vanessa was the first to come into view, she was flying and as usual looked great with her style. We weren't sure with all of them how they were placed, but as Vanessa turned into the chute, the announcer said here is our winner, as we started to going nuts. I was standing with Nessie's parents and they were so proud, as they had come from New Zealand to watch her compete.

Marzia had a great race also, finishing 7th in the same age group.
Ken Murley then came into view with a few hundred metres to go. Teeth gritted, pushing for every bit of speed he could as only Ken can. Ken turned into the chute and again the announcer welcomed him in with the news he had won his 6th World title. I have never seen him look so spent on a finish line, he was a true champion and so looked up to by everyone who knows him. I was so lucky to get a pic with the champ on the finish line
I was so bloody proud, he was as hard as nails, no one would believe he was 70-74age group.

2 World Champions, WOW, we were all buzzing.

Now to the completion of the standard, we had time to get back to the bike course with our crew of family and spectators, and they were all riding strong and looking focused on the 40km loop of the bike.
Lap after lap went by and finally they were on their final loop and coming in for the run. We weren't aware, but Lesley had just been passed and was in 4th. As that happened, she dropped her chain, allowing the American girl to put some good time into Lesley coming onto the final run as Lesley had to stop and fix her chain.
We saw them all go out onto the final 5km run from the other side of the river, then they looped around past us with about 2.5km to go. Kim, one of our spectators informed me of the mechanical, and as the 3rd placed girl went past we started the clock to see the deficit to Lesley. The encouraging thing was that the American was dying and looked to be running slower than Lesley. As Lesley passed I screamed to her 54seconds to podium. She grit her teeth and went after her with everything she had.
We also saw Lyndsey and Ryo run past, both hanging tough in the final stages, then we ran back over the river to the finish line.
Lesley had buried herself in the final stage of the run to make up time but agonisingly fell 14sec short of the catch. Lesley finished 4th at Worlds, a remarkable effort at any rate.
Lyndsey was coming into the final few hundred metres and had given it everything, this was plain to see. Coming around and into the chute I was so proud of my wife who had left it all out there in her first World Championships. The day didn't go totally as planned, but Lyndsey did her absolute best with what she had on the day.
Ryo came through, finishing 25th in a strong field, a great effort from a runner who had just really picked up cycling for the event.
I was so proud, we had two new World Champions, a 4th, 5th, 7th and 25th at World level.
What a day for our sprint program, as a coach I was so proud of how our squad had done and I will remember this for a long time.

Also a special mention to one of our MTC club members Stephen Hadley who won a World Championship in the Standard distance Duathlon also

Finally I would just like to thank all of our athletes and the families that came over to cheer on our squad. Your support made a real difference. 

Coach Foz

Signals and Calls for bunch riding - SAFETY

Since its inception, Fluid Movements has always seen the benefits of outdoor cycling sessions and weekly bunch riding for our riders. This environment teaches many things that indoor and solo riding cannot.

These include:

• Building a riders confidence through exposure to varied terrain, traffic and climatic conditions.
• Increased bike handling skills through experience and constant skill refinement.
• Develops awareness of how to stay safe and ride defensively on public roads.
• How to dose rider effort when training and racing in wind, heat and rain.

 

The importance of staying safe when training this way brings us to cycling etiquette and pack riding.

 

To ride safely in a bunch requires a number of important factors including – matched rider experience and ability within a bunch, constant rider communication through clear and universally understood signals and riders being consistent and predictable with their riding behaviour.

 

If these rules are not followed, riders can put themselves and others in the bunch at risk of injury. Here are some basic calls that everyone should know.

 

Riders back or riders
 

When you are approaching riders let them know you are passing by calling ‘riders’ in advance of the pass. If you are at the rear of the bunch and you are calling that riders are passing the bunch then you call ‘riders back.’

 

Car up or car back
 

When you are approaching a parked car and you are going to deviate right and change direction to pass, call ‘car up’ and motion with your left hand coming behind your back. If you are at the rear of the bunch and a car is approaching in your lane, call ‘car back.’

 

Pot holes and debris (Glass)
 

If you are approaching a pot hole, the lead rider points out the hole by possibly calling ‘hole’ and signalling with a pointed left or right depending on which side they are passing. For glass, definitely yell out ‘glass and point it out on the left or right

Stopping for lights
 

Ideally, in this instance think of the bunch as one vehicle.  The leaders will decide if the bunch stops at the light or goes through.  As soon as the light turns Amber, the leaders will call out loudly “STOPPING” or “LIGHTS” if they are bringing the group to a halt.  If they decide there is not enough space to stop the group safely, they will call out “ROLLING” and the whole group goes through.
 

A few very important considerations:

• The call the leaders make applies to the whole group.  If they call STOPPING and someone three wheels back calls ROLLING you can imagine what could happen.  Likewise, if they call ROLLING but someone in the middle of the group makes a unilateral decision to stop, everyone behind doing the right thing will crash into the back of them.  The call BY the leaders is all that matters.

• The leaders might make a call that doesn’t make sense to you, but they can see more than you can, so do what they say.  The only thing you can do wrong as a leader is make no call.  If you’re in a bunch and you’re not happy with the leadership of it you should always pull out.

• If you deem it unsafe to stop based on the proximity to the orange lights and the speed of the bunch, then call out ‘rolling’, and accelerate reasonably through the lights. If it’s a sizable bunch, then riders down the line must eventually decide to stop the bunch once it has been orange for a time or becomes red and is dangerous to proceed. The riders that went through should wait or soft pedal on the other side of the lights to allow the rest of the bunch to catch up, depending on the ride type.

When you need to call ‘Single’ file

When the road narrows or there is an approaching obstruction, the lead rider sometimes must call single file. This requires the bunch to form a single line to maintain safety due to the circumstance. This is done by the lead rider raising one arm above their head and calling ‘Single’. Normally the left hand rider maintains the lead and pace, and the rider on the right will slow and fall in behind. This is mirrored down the line

 

For more info on Fluid Movements Riding etiquette, go to http://www.fluidmovements.com/articlesdetails.php?nid=22&action=vew

Coach Foz

 

Types of Fluid Movements Training Rides

Choosing your bunch
Usually there are a couple of options for the bunch rides. Put yourself with the bunch that closest resembles your ability. This will make your ride more effective and enjoyable. If unsure ask the supervising coach.

The nature of bunch riding

Triathletes can sometimes struggle with changes of pace in bunch rides. Being generally TT riders, when riding solo at midweek sessions holding a prescribed intensity is the norm. The nature of bunch riding is that you have moments when bunches inevitably surge when passing, on lumpier terrain, or from the concertina effect when you are further back in the bunch.  This is all part of bunch riding, and as long as the surges are reasonable and not sustained, and don’t go against the ride objectives then this is ok and to be expected.

The only time when there is very stringent monitoring of this is when the bunch ride range of intensity is very narrow. This is when the bunch is doing an aerobic recovery or a social (no drop) ride. As a rule this type of ride happens infrequently but would be clearly called pre ride.

NOTE: Fluid Movements weekly Long Bunch Rides are generally aerobic conditioning intensity and often have scheduled tempo efforts following the control period at the beginning.

 

TYPES
Social (No Drop) bunch ride
Aerobic recovery intensity where heart rate is low and riders go as easily as they can. If the riders are well matched then they should not be dropped. Intensity should stay below 70-75%mhr if on a flat course

Aerobic conditioning bunch ride

This ride is similar to the majority of long bunch rides Fluid Movements does. Intensity should stay between 70-80%mhr and be easy to moderate in aerobic intensity. Unless there is an efforts schedule set pre ride, this intensity is maintained to develop aerobic fitness and condition.

Tempo bunch ride

Usually this ride has a specific intensity above 78-85%mhr, and riders in the bunch should be very evenly matched. Smaller bunches of 3-5riders are suited to this type of ride, often with rolling turns or pace line formations used. Intensity should be from moderate to hard sustainable.

Solo weekend ride

Often after a designated period as a bunch at the start of the ride, riders will be asked to split off and ride solo off the wheel following their effort schedule for the rest of the ride in the aero position. It’s very important as triathletes to have this solo time in the aero especially as riders move into their specific training phases.

Solo weekday ride
The majority of midweek training should be done solo and off the wheel as per the rider’s individual training program. Intensity and duration is very specific, so bunch riding isn’t appropriate unless warming up or cooling down.

Commuting
Commuting IS training, so riders must account for it when planning or reviewing their weekly ride mileage. All commuting should be done at an easy aerobic intensity. 

For the complete Fluid Movements manual go to http://www.fluidmovements.com/articlesdetails.php?nid=22&action=vew

Coach Foz

Why’s it better to have a Triathlon Coach who coaches you for all three disciplines

I was coaching my Fluid Movements squad at the pool this morning, and an athlete’s question reminded me why it is important to have a tri coach who coaches you for all three disciplines, being swim, bike and run.

The athlete asked can we use fins (speed assisted) for the final set of 4 x 25m f/s sprints?! In response I said no, as I knew what the athletes had done the night before, a strong sustained run on a cross country course, which I coached them for at Fluid Movements squad training 12hours earlier.

If I had of said yes, it’s likely with the extra resistance of the fins under load that some of the athletes would have cramped due to the fatigued state their calves were in from the run.

It’s very important in a balanced triathlon training program to manage the weekly load over all sessions. Your coach in my view should have an awareness of the state of fatigue that you turn up to your session in, and program the session accordingly. Only a tri coach who coaches you for all disciplines would intimately know that.

Sessions across week of a triathlon squad program MUST be complimentary, it’s one sport with 3 disciplines not 3 separate sports remember…

I have held this view and practised this for the last 20years as a coach, it was instilled into me when I was a coached and it still rings true today.

My 2cents…

Coach Foz

 

How to make your Lactate Threshold training most effective

When you are doing a lactate threshold (La.t) set (85-92%mhr), be it in the water or on the track it’s important to hit and hold your intensity just below La.T for as many reps of the set as possible.  This will ensure the effectiveness of the session

For example – 10 x 400m at La.T on the track with a 200m recovery.

A great way to ensure this happens is to take note of the pace you hold for the 3^rd repetition of the set. This pace or interval time is likely to be the most attainable pace you can hold for the final 7reps of the set.

Usually the 1^st and to a lesser extent the 2^nd rep where you are the freshest isn’t sustainable, but by the 3^rd rep you are likely to have hit your hardest sustainable rhythm that you can hold for the rest if giving it your all.   

Challenge yourself by using a pace and striving to hit the mark every time. You will be amazed at how deep you can go into the set whilst still hitting the mark.

Coach Foz

*For more info on training with Coach Foz visit www.fluidmovements.com

Critical Swim Speed Testing & Training

As our swimmers move into a more specific swim phase next week, I took them through a Critical Swim Speed (CSS) test on Tuesday with a 400 and a 200m Swim TT. This test looks at the relationship between the speeds of the 2 TT’s and gives a swimmer their current distance per second at threshold intensity.

This morning being 48hours later we set a quality set of 200’s with short rests at each swimmers 100m CSS split based on the Tuesday test

CSS testing effectively finds what your threshold pace in the pool, and sets a 100m split to work off. This time can be used for subsequent threshold sets from 100m to 400m reps or so. Rests between are usually short and between 10-30sec. This set works to increases your anaerobic threshold and aerobic capacity, with the short rests ensuring HR doesn’t drop and HR averages remain high for the entire set

It’s a perfect set for this time of year for our Fluid Movements swimmers.

Variables in CSS

One thing that I have noticed over the years is CSS sets generally favour swimmers with more endurance than swimmers who are naturally powerful but with less endurance (or unfit). They have the ability to hold their CSS pace over longer sets a little more easily.

So when I am watching my swimmers do the set, it can give me an indication of a few things.

1.       Their natural speed and endurance in the water.

2.       Their current fitness and ability to hold speed (speed end) at that time.

Something to Aim for

The exercise of doing CSS testing gives the swimmers a 100m split speed to aim for using the pace clock at the pool. It gives them a mark to strive for that’s based on their current form, and I find that it really motivates them to push the whole set.

Try it out and see what you think

Can’t wait to get stuck into the next 12week block.

 

*For more info on Fluid Movements swimming you can contact Coach Foz at www.fluidmovements.com