The Training Weekend - Updates

1. The Weather
As you all know, it always rains in Limerick. At the moment it looks like it might be wet tomorrow, though not as wet and wild as Portlaoise today. Sunday looks to be drier again, but both days will be cold. See 2 below.

2. What to bring
Bring plenty of spare clothes. You need to have a full kit for two cycles, two runs and two swims. There will not be anywhere to wash or dry out clothes used on Saturday for re-use on Sunday. You are likely to need all the clothes you bring due to the weather forecast. See 1 above.

You will also need some leisure / loose clothes for the workshop sessions, and maybe some casual gear if we head out for grub on Saturday night.

Besides clothing, don't forget your bike, helmet, cycle shoes (with overshoes) and if you have them two sets of runners. Spare tubes and tools to remove your tyre, and some kind of food for the bike is advised. Not everyone needs a pump, but if you have one, please take it along - we all might need it. For the pool remember your goggles and cap, tri-suit / swimsuit / speedos.

Finally, you will need money for all your meals. Accomodation, pool entry, instruction and a little gift is all included.

3. Meeting time
There has been some suggestions that Finnegans do a fine breakfast. Well they do, but only after 9am. So on Saturday we will be meeting up at 7:30 / 7:45 in Kilmurray Lodge Hotel for breakfast. They offer porridge, cereals and everything else up to and including the full Irish.

Breakfast on Sunday will be at the same place, same time.

We still meet at UL for 9 - if you decide against breakfast, make your way straight to UL where we will all meet up.

4. Change to the Schedule
We have had to move things around a little on Sunday. I will let you know more at briefing on Saturday (see details here also). There is room for a recovery run on Sunday (optional), or a longer lunch, and we will be finishing the day in the pool. You can expect to be ready to leave at 5pm, and if anyone is interested we might break the journey for dinner on the way home.

5. Two Rules

The first is Be Safe, Learn Lots and have Fun. The second is no cutting the weekend short!

Trilogy Membership

Guys,

I have processed all of the membership forms completed and returned for this year, and it only totals just over 40. I know we have more members than this, so any of you who have not filled one out, please do so and get the form to me ASAP.

The form can be downloaded here.

Any problems, just send me a mail at roy@trilogy.ie or text me.

Thanks.

Roy.

Last call for calendars

If you are still looking for a calendar, please head over to the shop and make your purchase. I will be ordering a small final quantity of these this week, and when they are gone, they'll be gone.

Final chance for the training weekend.

I will be cancelling any spare places at the accomodation Tueday at 5pm. So far there are 11 names down for the weekend, please let me know by Tuesday if you are thinking of coming. The stories below have links to the weekend details.

Triathlon Ireland Membership

Hi Guys,

Triathlon Ireland have opened for renewal of memberships.
New memberships can be processed from Monday.
Due to their new system, it is impossible for us to register on your behalf like last year.
All members need to be registered by Monday 2nd February wether you are full or associate. Once registered, please text me your TI number, along with your name.
From that date on, only registered members will receive text messages.

The TI web site is here

While joining please ensure that you select Trilogy as your club, as this allows us to verify your details, and the club will get allocated the correct membership numbers.

My mobile number is 087 2936215

Heres to another year of great competing!

Weekend 1 - Details of Camp

Details of the camp are now online. Click hereto view. Any enquiries to Karl.

Coming on the Weekend?

The first Weekend Training Camp is on 31 January and 1 February. Accomodation and Coaching through the weekend is included in the Winter Training Packages for Gladiators, Q4Bs can take either this weekend, or the one planned for the end of March. Please note: Food is not included.

If you are neither Gladiator or Q4B and are interested in coming, places are available for €110.

Already confirmed: Alison Wellwood, Willie Fitzpatrick, Sandra Furney, Simon Tsang, Trish Nicholls, Sinead Wearen, Paul Brennan

For more details of the weekend see below and watch this space!

Weekend Camp No. 1 Arrangements

Just a quick note about the upcoming training camp at the end of January. I am finalising a couple of small details, and so I can't give you a full update for now. What I can tell you is:

The course is being led by Padraig Marrey. Padraig is a well-known and highly-respected cyclist and coach, some of you will remember him working on a Laois Cycling Club day in 2007. Padraig will lead a cycle session on Saturday and Sunday, and will also be doing some classwork between sessions.

The training will be centred around UL Sports Arena, i.e. we will be swimming in the 50m pool and using the run track for one of our run sessions. Classes will also be nearby.

Accomodation is at the Travelodge, unfortunately on the other side of Limerick, but not more than a short drive away. I have booked twin rooms for Saturday night.

I would hope to be able to put up a full timetable in a couple of days time, at the moment, the details are that you will need to be in Limerick for 8:30am on Saturday 31January - i.e. hit the road from Portlaoise at around 7:00am. The course should be finished up before 4:30pm on Sunday, getting you home for tea.

I recommend if you are planning to travel together that there is room to lock two bikes in your car. We won't have a base for the bikes, the safest place will be inside your boot / back-seat.

Portlaoise Try-athlon News

Portlaoise Try-athlon has proven very popular, with overe 150 entries received so far. Already 11 Juniors have entered, making the Junior heat an occassion in its own right.

Kevin and I have held back a small number of places under the Women in Sport initiative. These are for ladies from Laois gearing up for either their first triathlon, or a return to sport. Not only are they entitled to a rare space in the race, they can also avail of free ladies only swim lessons, they can benefit from our other club sessions, and they will also receive a special commemorative prize for crossing the line on 11 April.

So how can you help? Well, if you know a women in sport candidate, please put her in touch with Sinead or Kevin. Also, Trilogy will be starting a poster campaign across Laois this week, and we need you guys to put the posters out there. I hope to have these ready to hand out after swimming on Thursday.

Reminder - Ref training course

Just a reminder that the referee training course is on in Portlaoise this weekend (Saturday, 9:30am) at the new pool (ground floor meeting room). Places are held for the following people:

Kevin Bracken, Simon Tsang, Mick Farrell, Willie Fitzpatrick, Alan Phelan, Karl McCann and Trish Nichols.

Others are welcome to come along too - get in touch with Karl for more info.

Advance Notice - Trilogy Training Weekend Camp 1

The first training camp will be on 31 January / 1 February. The 2009 calendar has this printed as the 24/25 January - please note this is incorrect.

I am finalising venue and trainer details, keep an eye on this space for more.

If you remember the training camps are included in certain training packages. Gladiators will be able to attend both the January & March camps; Q4Bs can attend either January or March as part of their package, and non Gladiators / Q4Bs can come along (but will need to pay for the weekend).

There will be a text in the next week or so to confirm numbers for the weekend.

Portlaoise Try-athlon Filling Fast

On Monday, we will be starting a campaign to promote the Portlaoise Try-athlon (Sprint distance, 11 April). The race is particularly suited to newcomers to the sport, and we will also have a ladies-only heat.

Important - This race is the first of the season, and places are limited. Already places are going with no promotion, so the race could sell out very quickly from monday on. Please register this weekend to secure your place!

As we have two local races this year, we are asking members who race one to marshal the other. So if you enter this race, we will be hoping you can help out with the Laois Heritage Challenge in August (and vice versa).

Click this link to register.