The gorgeously feminine Susan tri top and Ellen shorts went through a rigorous testing at two running and triathlon events. First at a sprint triathlon where the suit demonstrated its ability to “shed water quickly” and provide full comfort for the triathlete in the saddle, achieving a maximum comfort rating of 10/10!

At the second test, a 10km road race in Barbados, which the tester won incidentally, the suit was highly commended for its unique mesh back with the tester explaining that the  “mesh back helps keep you cool on the run, wicking any sweat away quickly and effectively”.

Trifinder’s review tester could not have been more supportive of our clothing’s versatility, fit and comfort stating  -“I would recommend these female specific shorts and tank top and will definitely buy from this range again ”

To read the review in full please click on the following link.

Embracing the hills quite simply made me a better cyclist. Before I discovered the hills, I used to just go out and ride. Sometimes harder, sometimes easier. Occasionally I’d go and do intervals on the turbo or out on the cycle track. But it was fairly unstructured. It’s not that I didn’t know better, but my cycling was always fairly strong for a triathlete, so I wasn’t desperate to improve. My weekly hill reps did two things for me.

1)    It was easy to get motivated to stick to a structured interval program (Kona is pretty good for that!), and it kept me motivated when I was aiming for ‘one more rep than last week’ every week resulting in a measurable improvement.

2)    Not only did it improve my cycling-specific strength, it also forced me to do intervals at a higher intensity, because back then there was just no way I could climb that hill with an average heart rate below 150 with the gearing available on my bike.

In fact I was so impressed by how easy it was to improve on the bike, that even after netting the Kona slot I made hill reps an integral part of my cycle training. So the obvious reason for hill reps is getting better at exactly that – cycling up hills. But there are lots of other not so obvious reasons for this type of training:

- Safety! It’s hard to put out maximal efforts on the road and sticking to set timings while watching out for traffic. To me that kind of work belongs on the turbo trainer, with the exception being going up hills.

- You are less likely to cheat. How easy it is on a flat interval to just ease off a little when the going gets tough? Do that on a hill, and you either roll back down or fall off. Hills keep you honest.

- And lastly there is just something deeply satisfying about getting to the top.

While there are endless varieties to hill reps, I thought I´d share two of my staples.

Of course there are the Beacon reps. Just under a mile long, 10% average gradient, for me that is around 8 minutes up, 2 minutes to get back down. The twist: Start off in your lowest gear, and go one higher with every repeat until you can’t turn the pedals any longer.

The other one is short and sweet, but very effective. For standing hill reps you need a hill that is not too steep (think 4-6%, something that you can spin up seated) that takes you about 4 minutes to climb. Do 4-6 x 4 minutes ‘running on the pedals’, recover on the way back down. Watch out with this one, especially if you don’t normally lift off the saddle much, it’s a deceptive little session. And while a cycling session it’s probably the one that will help you’re running and core strength most, too.

While on the subject of core strength – you may have heard of climbing in the aerobars? Not a session as such, but I’m a big fan of this too. If I’m out on the TT bike, getting out of the aero-position is only an option if traffic conditions force it. The benefit of good aerodynamics may shrink at slower speeds, and you may actually be quicker up an incline if you sat up enabling you to engage your glute muscles more, but specificity is key, and in a race I’m most likely to spent >95% in the aerobars.

For me riding hills was something I set out to conquer as a means to an end, but it developed into so much more. Love the hills, and your cycling will go from strength to strength!

As the weeks progress into the New Year, motivation to keep on going starts to fade until you are no longer making an effort to do what you intended to do. Well, you are not alone … many people set goals for themselves, yet their efforts fade even when they start off with the best of intentions. Women in particular often experience ‘other priorities’ that come along that takes their focus away from their exercise and training. Family and childcare responsibilities often take precedence over their own personal training.

Yet, to help you maintain your motivation, regardless of what happens, is by creating big motivational magnets to keep you going.

Motivation stems from the reasons to pursue and achieve a particular goal. It is the reasons WHY you are doing something. It is the force that inspires you, excites you and creates the spark that makes you do what you do. Motivation provides the focus and direction of your actions and is the incentive to keep on moving forwards towards a desired outcome.

Taking some time to reflect upon the reasons WHY you want to pursue and achieve your goal will indeed make the difference to your preparation, to your motivation and to the results you achieve.

To help you explore your motivation and your reasons WHY for any goal, here are a few questions:

• What will it mean to me to achieve the goal? What is its significance?
• What will happen when I get it? How will it look like? How will it feel? What will I see or hear?
• How will achieving this goal affect other aspects of my life?
• In what way is the outcome worth the time, effort and energy?

So, when you are struggling with your motivation, remind yourself of these reasons why you are doing what you are doing and see the bigger picture and bigger benefits of doing what you are doing.

The next step is to set aside the time, in your busy life, to do the training you intend to do. We’ll cover that topic next month.

Until next month … go out, have fun and enjoy your training!

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About the author

Midgie Thompson of Bright Futures Coaching is a Mental Performance and Lifestyle Coach. She works with passionate and energetic individuals to help them develop the mental skills and strategies to be the best they can be while maintaining a healthy balance in their sporting, professional and personal lives. She is also a recreational marathoner and triathlete.

Using life coaching, Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) and hypnosis techniques, she coaches individuals (by telephone) in the sporting world from beginner level onwards as well as business people on performance and lifestyle issues.

For more information on how you can take your performances to greater heights, contact Midgie on (UK() +44 1273 906 216, (US) +1 704 557 0126 or www.brightfuturescoaching.com.

Planning a block of training can really determine your goals. But to be of much use they have got to be SMART. Some of you may already be bored now – yeah, yeah, we all know this, S for specific, M for measurable, A for achievable, R for relevant, and T for time-bound. But do you actually do it? I was most recently reminded of this concept when flicking through my notes from the BTF level 2 coaching course.

So in practise, does this actually work? At the beginning of the year I wrote on a piece of paper – amongst other things – by the end of July I want to have improved my 10 mile time trial PB to sub 23 minutes. Why is this a much better goal than ‘I want to get faster on the bike’?

Let’s start with S. What is faster on the bike? 1 second over 10 miles? 2 over 50 miles? Letting go off the brakes when descending and recording a new max speed? Quantifying things will keep you honest. Shooting at the target is rather difficult if you don’t know what it is.

Sub 23 for 10 is certainly measurable. There’s the distance, there’s the time. There’s no mistake on whether I have done it or not. No wiggling out of this one. The watch doesn’t lie.

My fastest 10 mile time trial in 2009 was 23:38. The question to ask yourself here is: How realistic am I when I say I want to improve this by 39 seconds or more? Am I already close to my potential, and improvements require a big new stimulus in my training? Or did I barely ride in training when I set that PB? In my case I was pretty fit, but the time trial was part of a training ride. I was also training for a 112 mile bike ride not a 10, and threw the 10 into my training plan for a little bit of fun. And given how easily I smashed my PB last week, it was probably a goal that I set slightly too low. However, chasing it kept me turning up at more time trials than I otherwise would have done, resulting in good training, and huge satisfaction when I rode 22.32 last week. What happens if a target is not realistic? An example from my academic career: Before I started my PhD in Brighton, I did a bit of work within a research group in Germany. It didn’t take long until I was pretty miserable and clearly demotivated to get on with the task I was set. And that was not because I wasn’t interested. It was because I didn’t get it. I was utterly lost, in other words the goal I had been set was totally unrealistic, and thus I lost my motivation. Goals have got to be challenging your current limits yet not to be outside of your possibilities.

Last year a 10mile time trial was not relevant. I was Ironman training. Riding 10 miles fast was fun, but it’s benefit to riding 112 miles at good pace in preparation for running a marathon is debatable. As this year was all about going faster – not longer – setting myself several targets over short distance events was a great way to keep motivated, and most certainly relevant to what I set out to achieve.

Lastly, why is it important to set a time frame for your goals? If it doesn’t matter when I achieve something, I normally find myself slacking off a little. Deadlines are so powerful in helping you getting the work done, be that at work, university, or within your sport.

How about your goals? Are you in track? If not, could the reason be that they are not SMART? We’re now coming up to the half-way mark of the triathlon season – perfect timing for some re-evaluation.

The superb quality and lightness of our Revolutional Gloss and Energy Materials as well as the thoughtful design is plainly evident from Triathlete’s World reviewer Cath Pye’s remarks;

- “The suit is well cut and there are no unnecessary seams or stitching.”

- “I’ve found other trisuits to be a bit tight in the chest and this was not the case with the Trigirl.

- “ I found the chamois comfortable on the bike and the run”

- “This was the lightest suit I’ve worn”

(Triathlete’s World, July Issue)

Made with Revolutional Gloss and Energy materials, this suit offers exceptional muscle support and increased water repellency for faster swim times.

This summer why not throw out the boring black and look radiant in Trigirl!

Selling at only £98.10 – Order now while stocks last!

With the weekend temperatures set to reach the mid 30s what better way to end the tri season than in Trigirl’s lightweight Yvette tri tankini in a striking ruby and white selling at only £49! There are also some fantastic offers on last season’s gear with up to 30% off on selected items. We look forward to seeing all our Trigirl supporters as we open up our doors to you nationwide this summer!

“On entering the grounds of Blenheim palace I was overwhelmed by the jaw-dropping beauty of the lush green countryside and the regality of the palace. Over 5,900 people filed in to the fields surrounding the competitor village and yet it was the most calm and collected registration I have ever come across! With the family in tow we were all directed in to the transition area, set within the pebbled courtyard in the centre of the palace and suitably carpeted for the event. Pumping music blared from surrounding speakers which filled everyone with excitement. I racked up my bike and soon it was time for us all to gather at the race start where we were greeted by a jovial race organizer who welcomed us to the arena. Jumping in to the cool lake of Blenheim I felt immediately revived from the sweltering heat of the day and my wave of female sprint girls were all busy chatting away which outshone their competitive spirits.

Three.. Two.. One.. Honk! We were off. Soon enough everyone dispersed in to their own race lines and somewhat orderly made their way around the swim course. Rhythm achieved I was racing at full speed down the course with my head bobbing up and down to check my line. The end became clear as I turned at the red beacon and saw the race marshals signaling directions at the bank. If there was one downside to Blenheim Tri it was T1, which had to be done as more of a power run for fear of sliding down the steep banks before the palace. I could hear cheers from within the palace walls and I strided through in to transition tearing off my wetsuit in what felt like a superhero fashion but from official race photos was clearly less of a gallant display.

Quads burning from the first climb of the bike course I was already dreading the next two laps, but spurred on by my cheerleaders and having reached a good momentum around the first lap the undulating course became much easier. On the final lap I found myself being overtaken by one of the girls I spotted from my wave and feeling a competitive streak I miraculously summed up the energy to speed through her, finishing my third lap just ahead. I clambered off the bike and headed in for T2, a quick change of shoes and slug of water and I was back on the road. The run was definitely the hardest part of the course for me, with my legs feeling like jelly for most of the way around! But on gaining a steady pace I made my way along the 5k stretch which encircled a beautifully still lake. I knew my supporters would be there to see me at the end which gave me enough energy for a sprint down to the finish line! I heard my name on the tanoid and finished the race feeling victorious!

I would definitely recommend this tri event at Blenheim Palace. Organised by IMG World, every race detail was well planned and executed for both competitors and spectators. I was elated to gain a new PB for the sprint distance and delighted to be able to share the day with my family and friends in such a stunning setting. A truly memorable day out!”

“Hooray! I did my first ever half Ironman last Sunday at Challenge Kraichgau. It was really tough but amazingly fun too!

I really enjoyed the swim completing it in 45min, which is a good time for me. It also helped that the water was a temperate twenty degrees and surprisingly clean! I was really impressed that I wasn’t the last one out of my wave to exit the water!

The bike route was incredible. Undulating hills through quaint little villages and a huge amount of support from lines of spectators. The High-5 drinks and gels that Beate had given me made me a lot happier during this part but I almost cried every time I saw someone cheering – especially my parents! It started to get pretty hot towards the end of my ride and I lost power during the last 20 k which was made up of  three evil hill climbs. The other big problem was that my bike shoes started to hurt on both feet a lot, so pedaling was really painful. I finished the bike in 3 hours and 40 minutes, which I was pleased with as it put me ahead of my 7 hour target time.

My hope at that point was that once I got into my running shoes my feet would be fine. Sadly, not the case. The first 7 k lap was pure agony and I really thought I had incurred a stress fracture in my left foot. Plus I felt a bit sick from all the energy gels and drinks – I had to walk on and off for 2k! Somehow the pain subsided at the end of the lap and I was able to run, well… lets say jog. It was a sweltering 32 degrees by this point and there was hardly any shade. Fortunately there were lots of drinks and cold water sponges provided by the organisers and many locals sat outside their houses with hosepipes to spray the runners, so I never felt the heat too much, although numerous people collapsed. Lap two and three were almost enjoyable as I wasn’t in any pain, just very tired. I knew that the run was going to be very tough due to lack of running training because of a foot injury earlier in the year, but I finished the run in 2 h 40 and just made my 7 hour target!

It was a great experience thanks to a great location, great organisation and 40,000 spectators supporting the athletes all the way through the day. I really recommend this event! Other athletes told me that it’s quite a tough bike course, with 650m vertical climbs and some tight corners compared to some other events, but I think it’s worth it!”

Jill tells Trigirl that some of the super sprint events in Spain are for women only and are great for beginners with the event in Madrid being “a lovely friendly event and extremely well organized, with some incredible support from the locals”. Jill would like to encourage more women to take up the sport of triathlon saying; “the Super Sprint is a perfectly manageable distance and there’s nothing like the thrill of putting all 3 disciplines together”.

So there you have it girls! Just go for it!