Yesterday- Sunday 2nd March- Sarah and I made a last minute decision to visit the 2014 TRI SHOW in Esher and I'm SO glad we did!
We arrived at 1100 and paid £12 on the door which is a standard price at these kind of exhibitions. The 10km morning run was just finishing - which neither of us fancied at the time as I am nursing a cold and she had just come off a night shift on the tracks dealing with locomotives. It would have been and extra £4 to enter the run which is pretty good going.
We spent 6 hours there and I feel even that wasn't enough, especially if you're going to take advantage of the guest speakers. We heard Terry Laughlin, the founder of Total Immersion swimming, talk about his thing; being calm in the water; having emotional control when entering an open water swim and so on.
Here is a demonstration of him swimming http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hC8ZZZhabp4
Sarah asked me about this style of swimming a good 6 months ago, I hadn't heard of it so looked it up and to me, it looked like how front crawl should look- not a new stroke as she had thought. I don't blame her confusion. The way Total Immersion is presented, it does sound like this revolutionary way of swimming yet throughout my research 6 months ago and even throughout that 60 minute talk sitting IN FRONT of Terry, I was struggling to get a handle on WHAT it actually was and what it meant. My initial thought was that front crawlers should be swimming like this anyway and a good teacher will teach you this way. I think I was looking for something obviously PHYSICAL about the stroke that set it apart as TOTAL IMMERSION. What I surmise now, after the show, is that it's more of a psychological approach than a physiological approach to swimming. Terry promoted staying calm, working WITH the physics of the water, keeping the head down and the body aligned with each stroke, stretching long and gliding far. However, I STILL feel this is everything a "standard" swim coach should be advocating and do not see the specialised niche for 'Total Immersion'. All I can say is I guess this "brand" works for Terry and his coaches and those that are coached because of the angle of approach; the emphasis on making the water work for you.
Looking at the programme which was thrust upon us as we entered, I would have liked to have gone for the entire weekend. You could spend a half a day or more JUST looking at the products and gadgets (which left me £200 poorer) LET ALONE attending the talks on the timetable:
Insights from world champions
Nutrition advice
Chi running (what the hell is that?!)
Run biomechanics - now THAT would have been interesting and useful.
Choosing the right bike for you
And the list goes on... the fountain of useful tips help and information was endless, especially for a novice triathlete.
Downstairs was filled with samples of gels, protein shakes, protein bars, energy flapjacks, energy powder. All the flavours of the magical Bertie Botts. I must say though, I did really like the flavour of toRQ http://www.torqfitness.co.uk/acatalog/torq_energy_gels.html raspberry ripple which as the guy said, really DOES taste like the ice cream. I am sceptical of using these isotonic powders, energy gels and whey proteins as they do nothing natural food wouldn't do yet are charging 4 times as much. (I'll go more in depth in another post.)
Two things I did find particularly useful were the WATT BIKE and the VASA ERGOMETER SWIMBENCH. Both of these pieces of equipment allow you to assess your cycle and swim technique respectively.
There is actually a Watt Bike at work which I had been on but was oblivious as to how I could use it's technology to my advantage. The thing I loved about the computer on the bike was the graph that assess the power output of the entire revolution of then pedal stroke. For example, how much emphasis is on the down stroke, are you using the hamstrings to pull on the up stroke? I was pleased to see that my pedal graph produced a fuller rounded shape which meant that when I put my mind to it, I was maintaining momentum and pulling and pushing with even force throughout each cycle.
The shapes are explained here on page 87/88 of the training guide http://wattbike.com/uk/guide
Now, the Vasa Swimbench... this is COOL. Rod Hart, the lead guy of Swimmergy www.swimmergy.com, took me for a few laps on this land-based swim machine and MAN he worked me hard. It was GREAT! I could feel my lats working hard, my triceps were burning, all the right parts were driving my stroke forward. I must say, I did have a little trouble getting the co-ordination right as it's not like pool swimming but it DID make me realise that I am just NOT working my muscles hard enough when I swim. It too, of course, has a small computer which assesses power and stroke rate, distance etc... so a perfect tool for analysing stroke.
I applied the feeling of the Vasa Ergometer to my swim workout the next day, engaging all the right parts of the body, plus the spanking new Speedo hand paddles I'd bought at the show and went hard in the pool.
There's much more I could write about this show, but for me, these things were the highlights of my 6 hours there. I am now looking forward to sifting through the snow storm of leaflets that scatter the sofa to find my perfect getaway - a triathlon training holiday abroad in the sun!
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