Andrew Tong | Triathlon coaching

Steyning Half Marathon – Maybe it is about the gear?

Tongy — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 09:41:57 +0000

After my bold statement last week (it’s not about the gear) with Ellen racing a trail half marathon without the specialist equipment and still winning, she decided to try racing with the right equipment and set off on Steyning half marathon at the weekend in her new trail running shoes.

All I can say is I think they must still be in pristine shop condition as she flew around the course, perhaps too scarred to get the new shoes dirty? One thing is for certain is she had a clean pair of heals as she again was the first female finisher and managed to smash the course record which had stood for the last 5 years by 10 minutes. Congratulations and well done Ellen

Endurance Life Half Marathon – It’s not about the gear

Tongy — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 10:13:44 +0000

I am pleased that I have recently increased my coaching numbers of which one of my newer members is Ellen who is training for the London Marathon and Norseman xtreme triathlon. Ellen completed her first event since our coaching began last weekend and has provided me with a blog (with a little coercion) of the training to date and her race report.

“The coaching programme from Trifocus does not leave much energy for such activities as blogging… The sessions have been structured and with very clear instructions, so I can’t say I have been able to use any excuse to avoid just getting on with them. Tongy might be in another hemisphere, but there’s no escaping the note of glee in the turbo instruction that after the first (long) set, there should be a second repeat ‘with no rest’. 1.30 hour endurance runs in to work do a lot to keep up demand for almost the entire annual production of Scotland’s porridge oats. Run sessions on the track have been a complete novelty for me, and it’s been invaluable to have Tongy’s guidance on pacing. Not that this does anything to lessen the embarrassment felt when struggling in close proximity to the gazelles who tend to turn up to Battersea track. I am beginning to see why one guy there calls us marathon runners ’zombies’. Luckily this was all forgotten last weekend when pounding the punishing terrain of the South Devon coastline in a half marathon trail race. Unfortunately the stunning views went largely unappreciated as we fixed our concentration on the ground ahead. Equipped with road shoes, I provided regular entertainment to all other participants in trail shoes while I aquaplaned where the mud was smooth and the hills steep, and almost left my shoes them behind in the deepest mud. However I wonder whether, after coming in first woman, this might be a technique to recommend?!’

Well done Ellen for a great performance, I do get a good chuckle picturing you running without any specialist trail gear, but still showing a clear pair of heels, no doubt you would have miffed a number of competitors, it just goes to show it is not about the gear!

Can Too Run

Tongy — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 06:03:20 +0000

The year is definitely flying by and I am wondering where the first 2 months have gone. To start my year off I have been contacted by a number of people with their new years resolution and I am now full up for one to one coaching.

I am also very pleased to say that I have commenced coaching for Can Too. Can Too is a charity based in Sydney raising money for cancer research in search of a cure (Can Too currently operates in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane). Can Too is unique to any other charity that I have come across in that Can Too takes an active interest in each particpants fund raising and provides proactive support and advise to assist people to achieve their target and they also provide the coaching and a training plan. The groups meet twice each week, for a track session and endurance run. this also helps develop a team atmosphere and ensures that all entrants have the best chance of achieving their goal. For more info on CanToo their web site is http://www.cantoo.org.au/

I am coaching the South West pod in Sydney, based in Liverpool, we are training towards the Sydney Morning Herald half marathon in May 2010 and are into our 4th week of training. I will blog our progress, currently we have seen improvements in speed work at the track and have developed our longer runs at just over the hour mark.

Marathon de La Rochelle

Tongy — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 03:40:37 +0000

Congratulations to Tarne who recently completed her first marathon at La Rochelle in just over the 4hr mark. This was Tarnes first crack at the distance and managed to keep to pace fairly even until the last few miles when fatigue set in. It wasn’t the easiest of days with cold winds and rain. Congratulations on finishing your first marathon on the back of a long season. I know we made some good advancements in fitness that we will capitalise on in 2010 and I am sure that there is a sub 4hr marathon waiting for you.

Parys Completes Year in Style

Tongy — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 11:12:23 +0000

This time Parys wasn’t racing. Huge congratulations to Parys who has been awarded the British Triathlon Female Age Group Triathlete of the Year 2009. It is always an honour to receive an award for which your peers have voted for. As usual Parys is very humble about this accomplishment. (see below)

At the same awards Ful-on Tri was awarded the British Triathlon Federation Club of the Year 2009, having been a member of the club I pass on my congratulations to all involved and think it is well deserved for a very friendly and vibrant triathlon club.

Parys say’s it was a complete surprise to get the award, but one which I am totally delighted with. My season had a fantastic start, but then ground to a halt due to injury and I missed a lot of races I would have loved to do. Hence I finished the season on a bit of a ‘downer’ despite making a decent comeback for Bala. With my injury still preventing me from running for 3 months, its taking its toll on my sanity, so when I received the award it was a great encouragement and helped me remember that the whole season wasn’t that bad despite ending in injury! I’m now excited about next season and even excited about getting back into training.

I can’t imagine what the last 2 years would have been like without help and great coaching from trifocus, everything changed for me when I started training with trifocus and I give you all the credit for helping me exceed my expectations and get the results and awards that I have in the last few years.

Lastly I must give credit to Ful-on tri, it’s a great club, and I know that it was the support of the club members that helped me get the Age Group award!

ITU World Champs Gold Coast 2009

Tongy — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 04:51:48 +0000

I was fortunate to go to the Gold Coast to watch the world champs, I have attached video clips of Alistair Brownlee and Emma Moffatt crossing the finish line to become World Champions.

Both races were exciting to watch with the World Champions putting the results beyond doubt by winning their final races of the series.

Jackie completes her first Standard Distance Tri

Tongy — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 01:59:14 +0000

I always get great satisfaction when an athlete achieves their targets. Some months ago Jackie advised me that she was contemplating increasing her race distance from sprint to standard but was uncertain about if she could do this and the time it would take her to complete the distance. I was naturally excited with the prospect of Jackie stepping up and had every confidence that she would do well. I also understood the nervousness as all triathletes at some stage have made a leap out of their comfort zone and pushed themselves further than in the past. This can be by entering your first triathlon or taking on a harder challenge.

Once I knew of Jackie’s desire to complete this distance I encouraged her to enter the race so that she was committed and adjusted her training accordingly. The initial goal for this race was to finish, in a time of around 3hrs, I quietly was targeting for Jackie to go sub 3hours and a stretch target of 2:45.

Jackie raced Tatton Park last Sunday and completed it in a time of 2:45, placing 7th in her age group, an excellent result for her first Standard Distance. I am not sure if Jackie’s feet have hit the ground yet, as she is ecstatic with this result. Well done Jackie.

Parys PB’s for Standard Distance

Tongy — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 12:06:08 +0000

For those that know Parys will not be surprised, but she has managed to PB at Bala Standard Distance this weekend, despite having minimal run training over the last 2months due to injury. This placed Parys 4th female overall and 2nd in her category. This great result has also ensured that Parys has booked a place to go the Athlone in 2010 to compete in the European Standard distance champs for Great Britain, which was the main objective of this race. Well Done Parys

Jackie PB’s for Sprint Distance

Tongy — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 12:04:58 +0000

A big congratulations to Jackie who recently achieved a new PB at Cotswold Sprint Triathlon taking a massive chunk off her previous sprint times, including a new PB for a 5k run (over 3 minute improvement). Jackie has been training with me for almost 6 months and diligently balances her training with a busy family life and work. Obviously with a faster time also sees Jackie getting closer to the leaders and being 8th in her age group.

Jackie is making the brave step up to the standard distance next weekend (Olympic) a distance that I have every confidence that she will do well in with much faster times ahead of her. Well done Jackie

UK Ironman on 11 weeks Training

Tongy — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:11:56 +0000

11 weeks training for an Ironman? This must sound crazy or impossible.

For most age groupers an Ironman race is generally the result of at least 9 – 12 months of meticulous training, preparation and planning. You can imagine my surprise when I was contacted by an athlete to see if I would coach them just over 11 weeks from race day. I discussed this request with Richard who had only entered this event 3 weeks earlier and had not completed much training over winter, oh and did I mention that in the middle of this he is getting married with a 3 week honeymoon. I placed general caveats on what can be achieved over such a short period of time and agreed to write a plan for Richard with the view of getting him around the course, i.e finishing, the time was irrelevant.

So I got about planning and Richard got about training and threw himself into the deep end. I can definitely say that I spent a lot of time worrying if this was attainable over such a short period of time and I was not the one racing. What I did remind myself was that Richard was taking an opportunity to partake in an Ironman and fulfill a sporting ambition and I am a firm believer that when an opportunity knocks you take it. The Ironman plan for my first race was only 16 weeks, I took an opportunity that whilst seemed crazy at the time, I finished it and have gone on to compete in many Ironman events and getting great enjoyment of this wonderful sport and event of Ironman. I wonder if I had not taken the first opportunity if I would have ever plunged into an Ironman. I was therefore happy with knowing that this is what Richard was doing, so as he continued training I monitored his progress and provided a weekly plan for him.

One aspect of coaching is not just issuing a plan but communicating with each athlete and we have had numerous emails, phone calls and skype video sessions as part of the plan.

Whilst I would have liked to be in Bolton in person, I was at home watching the results unfold online. After my last discussion with Richard prior to the race, we agreed he was in good physical and mental shape to get around the course and a time in the 13 hours would be a good result.

I was overjoyed as the times came through, swim was bang on target, the bike was a good 20 minutes quicker than the goal and then the run and whilst running is his strongest discipline, given this was his first marathon we set a target of 4 hours. Richard kept a strong steady pace for the entire run and despite stomach cramps, completed this leg in just over 3:40. A very respectable first marathon time and at the back end of an Ironman is even more impressive.

So as you can tell Richard has exceeded his initial goal with an overall time of 12:08 finishing in the top 25% of the field. Richard is extremely happy with his overall time as am I. I am still trying to work out when we crossed the line from just getting around and finishing to posting a competitive and very respectful time. The big question now is, having taken an opportunity to complete an Ironman, will he be content to stop at one?

Well done Richard.