If you follow triathlon you won’t have missed the superb race performance of Marc Austin at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. April 5th 2018 was a great day for the sport in Scotland. It’s been lovely to see the buzz it created and especially witness the inspiration delivered to the kids in the sport. Since then I’ve received a fair few communications both congratulating me as Marc’s coach and also asking what I do that has allowed him to step up. REALITY CHECK – I’M NOT MARC’S COACH!! I do however perform consultancy work for Marc, so if you need to categorise me you could call me his Performance Consultant. Marc is officially self coached and based in Glasgow when not training or racing abroad….

Located 110km north of alicante airport, Denia is one of the most accessible / cheapest venues to reach from Scotland. It has over 325 days of sunshine per year, is one of the driest parts of europe with warm temperatures through March and April but not excessive heat. It is well known as one of the best cycling destinations in Europe and a regular haunt of pro teams. This spring Camp brings together the amazing training opportunities in this region using the local pool and athletics facilities alongside top quality coaching to create the optimum environment to learn and progress as a Triathlete. Running between 24th March and 7th April, there are two 7 day camp options, individual needs can also be discussed. Training will…

Mention time trials and training session numbers often drop dramatically, don’t mention time trials and athletes complain that they couldn’t prepare properly… A pattern that is no doubt echoed through all sports, and at all levels. So, if it has such a detrimental short term effect on training, why do coaches persist with it? Long term athlete development is our main purpose; educate and develop athletes to perform at a higher level. Perhaps understanding more about what can be gained from testing will help get rid of those jitters, and encourage a few more to test their capabilities. Types of testing Testing can be done in various ways, and of course in different conditions/ situations. These can include; Straight out time trial Lactate testing/ lab…

The Missing Component – A blog from Crawford. I’m writing this off the back of delivering a very successful triathlon training camp, focusing primarily on strength and technical application. Incorporating strength work into your programme with the correct balance and intensity can take your performance to the next level. Our camp had 2 main strength sessions, with a different focus for each session. The first focused predominantly on functional ability; which can be more simply described as flexibility, balance and control of movement. The second session was a higher intensity circuit session that used a blend of functional movements as well as explosive strength and power exercises. Getting a balance of both of these elements into your programme can really benefit all 3 sports, and…

John’s October blog!! As a coach some of my key skills are observation and feedback.   In the simplest form this might be observing an element of technique and providing feedback to aid correction and improvement.  Other forms of feedback might include identifying when an athlete at a session needs the content of the session changed, maybe due to fatigue or failing to meet objectives and subtle (or not so subtle) changes are needed.  That’s why if you attend a group session I coach there are often many mini sessions going on at the same time with people completing things optimised for their improvement.  These are very important skills for a good coach and if you look around it’s not often done very much or done…

The 2016 Warm Weather Camp is filling fast. Multiple options available for all abilities including twin share, single occupancy 7 or 10 days camp.   The highest quality camp you can attend Details and booking here.