March Madness!!

Hi Everyone,

Little to report this post other than some awesome training in the water and an anticipation of a successful summer season of swimming.

Welcome Maryanne!

Maryanne will be helping us out with practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She was a Royals swimmer for many years and has been a swimming instructor at Juan de Fuca for the past many years as well. She will be an asset to the coaching staff as she will bring her passion for swimming to each practice.

Note from coach T - Times Colonist 10 km Tips

We have twenty people signed up as part of the GVAS Jets / Royals Team for the 2010 Times Colonist 10 km April 25.

We have four weeks to prepare ourselves for the event. I will be posting weekly training guidelines for the different ages and abilities that will be participating as part of the team.

The first thing we must do is dertermine what our goals for the race are: Do you intend on running the whole thing, part of it, or walking it? Be sure to set realistic and attainable goals based on your current run / walk fitness - Ten kilometers can be a long hard way if you are striving for unrealistic goals.

I will break the weekly training into four categories:
1) Runners - I reccommend this category ONLY for those that have been runing over 30 min at least once per week for the last 6 weeks.
2) Run / Walkers - For those that have not been running in the past 6 weeks but are kean to do a little as part ofthe event.
3) Walkers
4) Kids! Those that are under the age of 10 and do not participate in activities involving running

After we have set some realistic goals and you have determined which category you fall into, here are some training guidlines for this week:

Runners - start incorporating a breathing rhythm into your run. A smooth, full breathing pattern can help you control your effort, pace and concentration throughout a running event. In your runs this week (that are 5 min longer than your usual run duration) time your breathing to your footsteps. See how many foot strikes you can get in a full exhalation and a full inhalation. You should be able to time your breathing (one inhalation or one exhalation) to a minimum of three footstrikes. If you can not achieve this, your breathing is too shallow and will cost you precious energy in you race.

Run / Walkers - Your biggest step this week will be determining how long you will be running and how long you will be walking during the event. My reccommendation is to start with two fourty minute run / walks this week that consist of 4 min of walking and one minute of running. Do this eight times and see how it feels.

Walkers - Try to complete two fourty minute walks this week. Try to think about your rhythm as well. Try to maintain your posture and footspeed regardless of undualtion and varried terrain.

Kids! Get Running! Engage in games at school and after that simply get you moving. Run every chance you get; to the car, in from lunch, out to the playground or around your backyard afterschool.

More tips next week - have a great week!

Coach T