Beginners and New-comers welcome to Galway Triathlon Club lecture series.
Galway Triathlon Club launches its lecture series this weekend, which is open to all athletes involved in the sports of swimming, cycling, running and triathlon. This series is designed to give you the best advice on how to prepare for the new race season, whether you are a seasoned athlete or a total beginner who is thinking about getting up off the couch.
The Series will begin with Galway Triathlon Club’s head coach Ray Glynn giving a lecture on planning out your triathlon year with an opportunity for prospective members and beginners to talk to existing club members about taking up the sport after the lecture.
This year the guest speaker is Karen Weekes, a sports psychologist and lecturer at Tralee Institute of Technology. Karen has trekked extensively all over the world, was part of the Irish K2 expedition and has sailed across the Atlantic twice. Karen will be describing how to maintain motivation for training and competition for endurance athletes (No Pain, No Gain?).
The complete series is as follows:
1) Triathlon Training plan (intermediate) & beginners/newcomers night.
The presentation covers a wide range of subjects from setting of triathlon goals, race selection and planning and broad training schedule. It will provide advice on how to structure your training and racing season. The lecture will be followed by a meet and greet session for beginners/newcomers and a Q&A session starting at 8.00pm.
- Speaker: Ray Glynn, Galway Tri Club Head Coach - Venue: Menlo Park Hotel, Mon 12th Jan, 7:30pm.
2) Heart Rate Monitor Training.
Learning to train effectively using the right amount of effort for each session is an important skill for any athlete beginner or elite. The presentation covered a wide range of subjects including basic physiology, Heart Rate Monitors, Heart Rate Range, Lactate Threshold Heart Rate and Heart Rate Zones.
- Speaker: Ray Glynn, Galway Tri Club Head Coach – Venue: Menlo Park Hotel, Mon 2nd Feb, 7:30pm.
3) New to Triathlon - Training and Preparation for your First Race (followed by a skills session).
A lecture for all who are new to triathlon or considering taking up the sport, followed by some practical workouts. All-comers welcome to the lecture (You must be a member of Triathlon Ireland to participate in the skills session). Participants should bring training gear and their bike to the practical session.
- Speaker: Deirdre Hassett, Galway Tri Club - Venue: NUIG Kingfisher Club, Sat 28th Feb, See website closer to date for confirmation of time.
4) Sports Psychology.
Karen Weekes, a sports psychologist who specialises in working with ultra-endurance athletes, will give an outline of sports psychology and its relation to sports performance and specifically to triathlons, including how to cognitively overcome pain, fatigue and boredom with some practical suggestions and also how to maintain motivation for training and competition. A must for all endurance athletes.
- Speaker: Karen Weekes, Sports Psychologist - Venue: Menlo Park Hotel, Mon 23rd Feb, 7:30pm.
5) Basic Bike Maintenance.
Well known local cyclist and Bike shop owner Nigel Forde will conduct a demonstration on basic bicycle maintenance for all levels of cyclist.
- Speaker: Nigel Forde – Venue: Nigel’s cycle store, Liosbaun. Check back on the website for further details of date and times
6) Nutrition, at home, training and racing.
‘You are what you eat’, great advice in this lecture for all types of athletes on nutritional plans and fitting it into your competitive calendar.
- Speaker: Ray Glynn, Galway Tri Club Head Coach. - Venue: Menlo Park Hotel, Mon 9th March Feb, 7:30pm.
7) Open water swimming.
The dynamics of swimming in a lake or the ocean are quite different from swimming in a pool. Open water swimming requires braving waves, current, seaweed, low water temperature, wearing a wetsuit and occasionally poor visibility. An important lecture for those leaving the pool and wishing to indulge in the wonderful amenities available for open water swimming in Galway
- Speaker: Reilly Dibner, Galway Tri Club Swim Coach - Venue: Menlo Park Hotel, Mon 27th April, 7:30pm.
8) Strength training for Superior Triathlon performance.
A Lecture explaining the rationale of Strength Training for triathletes. This talk will also include an outline of the importance of flexibility and stability in a strength programme.
- Speaker Sarah Thornton, Galway Tri Club and personal training coach – Venue: Check back on the website for further details of date and times
Cover charge for each lecture is €5 (or €20 for the series) and is open to all, members and non members alike. Some times and dates are yet to be confirmed but more information can be found by logging onto www.galwaytriathlonclub.com.