Primed Coaching Triathlon Camp
Triathlon Camp Weekend
Oliver Harkin of Primed Coaching made it down from Newry to our little corner of the country last Friday for what turned out to be a very enjoyable weekend. We based the triathlon training camp out of Fenit Parish Hall with the swim sessions taking place in Tralee Sports Complex.
Friday
Oliver started with an introductory talk and showed us how even the professionals make the odd mistake in transition every now and again. Then it was straight into a body weight strength and conditioning class. It was tough going given the short recovery intervals. Let’s just there was a lot of huffing and puffing and maybe even a bit of effing at the end.
It was donuts for all at the end of the night when Annie arrived in with goodies from the French Bakery. It was going to be a long weekend. Best to get the calories in now 🙂
Saturday
We started our day at 9:30 am with a classroom session on race planning and then some instruction on group riding and cycle gear and we were ready to head out. Thankfully the weather broke in our favour and we made our to Fenit Beach carpark after what proved to be the last hail shower of the day. Everyone was nicely layered up and we dove straight into bike handling skills. Not too many people fell off their bikes and for once Stephen Reidy was the slowest ot the bunch.
Then it was off to Churchill for some hill repeats and a pleasant spin back by the coast road. That followed up by a short run and then lunch.
Following lunch it was back into the classroom for a talk on swim technique, training zones and nutrition. Think we’ll have have to replicate race conditions as suggested, maybe use hurleys ?
The day ended with an hour in the pool with a joint coaching session with Florence O’ Meara of Killarney Swim. Oliver videoed the session for analysis the following day.
Sunday
10:30am start this morning. Oliver gathered us at the pool and gave an overview of drafting and it’s merits. Basically if you’re not in the lead then you should be drafting. We went through a warm up and stretching routine and then we were put through our paces. Kicking drills, building sets, open water sighting drills, breathing drills, open water race starts.
Then it was back to Fenit Parish Hall for some sustenance. Oliver discussed swim technique and showed us some video of how the pros do it. Only to be followed up with video of people, namely us, doing all the wrong things except for Cathy ‘Popeye’ Fisher. To be fair it was a very informative video analysis session where Oliver explained common faults with technique, what effect that had on your swim and how to correct it.
schadenfreude
ˈʃɑːd(ə)nˌfrɔɪdə,German ˈʃɑːdənˌfrɔydə/
Our running coach Maria O’Keefe McCarthy then joined Oliver for a joint training session. The conditions were challenging but that didn’t stop our club members rising to the occassion. We were really put through our paces for the last session of the weekend. Thanks to Fenit Sapphires GAA club for the use of their training pitch for our run technique session.
The feedback from all of the attendees was entirely positive. A very enjoyable and informative weekend was had by all. Oliver is back in May for another triathlon training camp for our club members. At that stage we should be just taking our first tentative steps into the open water. I can hardly wait 🙂


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