October 5, 2021
A Coached Triathlon
The Coached Triathlon happened on 25 September 2021. Here’s why we hosted the event and how it went down.
It’s been a long time since many of our triathletes could participate in a real triathlon.
While some races are now happening worldwide, and we recently had athletes participating in Ironman events in Spain, the UK and the USA, there are no significant race opportunities for our athletes here in Singapore to tackle.
That’s a shame, so we decided to host a small triathlon for the triathletes we coach. We’ve been hosting small running events for our runners since Covid started, and we thought, why not do one for the triathletes?
The Details
Distance
Half Ironman: 1,900 m swim, 90 km ride, 21.1 km run.
Half Half: 1,000 m swim, 45 km ride, 10.5 km run.
Start Time
7:00 am
Location
East Coast Park, Singapore
The Focus
A Sense Of Purpose
With no events to target, many of our athletes have been struggling for motivation. Despite its tiny stature, this event was enough to offer some athletes a purpose to focus on and structure their training towards.
Cut Race Times, Not Corners.
Racing at your potential and enjoying training is easy when you’re following the right programme.
The Skill Of Racing
Racing is a skill, and like any skill, it takes practice to master. While this was a low-key ‘race’, it still required our athletes to go through the racing process, and we tried to instil a small race vibe to the event.
Practice Pacing
The ability to pace yourself correctly in each discipline – swim, bike and run – is critical for any athlete looking to perform at the highest level of their competency. Push too hard too early, and your race performance will suffer. You’ll recover more slowly too.
This triathlon was a chance to practice the skill of pacing.
Practice Fueling
To achieve the best outcome in any race, you need to fuel correctly throughout the event. Training is a great place to practice fueling, but a low-key event like this one is an even better opportunity to determine a race fuelling strategy and practice it at race intensity.
This triathlon was a chance to practice the skill of fueling.
Practice Mental Skills
Swimming, cycling and running at race intensity, especially for hours, is challenging, requiring mental skill and resilience.
This triathlon was a chance to practice the skills of focus, grit and resilience.
Practice Technical Skills
We made each course a short loop, and athletes swam, cycled, and ran multiple loops. We did this for several reasons, like safety, and for athletes to practise their technical skills. Loop courses have more turns and to manage them well, you must practise.
This triathlon was a chance to practice technical skills in each of the disciplines.
Community
While the government social distancing rules certainly limited us, it was still an opportunity to participate alongside teammates and interact with each other.
Athletes always thrive in the company of their peers, and it was nice to see our team supporting and pushing each other to do their best.
Conclusion
We’re wrapped with how the event went, and judging by the feedback we got from our athletes, they were too.
With the success of this triathlon under our belt, we’re planning more for our athletes in the coming months.
Ben Pulham