Toby is now back from his final tour support role for the year after a 5-week stint on the road with Triathlon.
It has been an enormous year again on the road with this role taking our treatment coverage back to Japan again for the Olympic test event, a small town in France near the Swiss border and then finishing the year in Lausanne in Switzerland for the World Triathlon Series Grand Final.
It’s been a great year this year, with some spectacular locations to work from.
It is back into the week to week routine again at the clinic now for the rest of the year until what is shaping up to be another huge year again in 2020.
For bookings for Sports Myotherapy, Sports Massage, Dry Needling or Remedial Massage, then please click through to our bookings page to check current availability here
It has continued to be a busy year supporting different Australian athletes both locally and abroad.
In July, I headed across to Canada with the Australian Paratriathlon team for a few of their races.
The first race was a world cup race in Magog, just a couple of hours away from Montreal. The second event was a World Paratriathlon Series (WPS) race in Edmonton, the top tier race for the Para Triathletes that runs alongside the able-bodied athlete’s World Triathlon Series (WTS) event.
I arrived at Magog a couple of days after the rest of the team as I had been in camp at the AIS in Canberra before leaving with Swimming Australia. So we had around half the team with us for this half of the trip, and the remainder would be joining us when we got into Edmonton.
On Friday after arriving I went to the race briefing as I would be working as a handler on race day so needed to make sure I knew the specifics for the day to make sure things went as smoothly as possible for Emily Tapp, the athlete I was going to be assisting. After a couple of short pre-event sports massage treatments, the team was set for the racing the following day.
On race day, the athletes were ready to go and took off in their various wave starts. Overall the team performed great with a few podium performances and some great learning opportunities for some newer members in their first international competition. The plan leading into this race was to give the athletes a chance to race and adapt after the travel from Australia in time for the more critical Edmonton WPS race coming up.
The Australian athletes that raced the first race of the tour in Magog, Quebec.
Over the next week, it was a matter of focussing on training and recovery to get ready for the travel to Edmonton and race ahead. I worked together with the athletes to provide treatment for various niggles and provided some of the newer members some guidance regarding some specific flexibility work. The training in Magog was excellent, having Lake Memphremagog a short walk from the hotel for Swimming, plenty of safe riding options and some good trails nice and close.
After another week, the team mechanic and I left early to meet the rest of the team and get everything sorted in Edmonton. The training around Edmonton was not quite as good as Magog as many the roads were under maintenance works whilst the snow was not present. However, the athletes could still hit some good sessions at the local university pool, trails close by and trainer sessions on the bike out of the hotel.
It was a busy couple of days of treatment, trying to see all the athletes before their race on the weekend. There was a great vibe around the race site and hotel, and it was clear that this was a big step up from the previous small town race in Magog.
Race day rolled around quickly once the whole team had arrived, and the athletes were looking forward to getting stuck into racing on a challenging course. The biggest challenge was the bike course which featured four laps with a sharp pinch of a hill. This created a real challenge for everyone on the team and allowed anyone who had good legs on the bike to put in some big time gaps.
Liam Twomey on the run leg in Edmonton.
The team had some quality results across the board on race day with one of our athletes Jonathan Goerlach getting his first WPS victory with guide Sam Douglas. It was awesome watching these two guys on the side of the bike course tearing through the field.
Once all the athletes were done on course, we had to get all the gear back to the hotel. A quick post-race check up with all the athletes and a post-event sports massage and our day was almost done.
We packed up Saturday night / Sunday morning and started taking different athletes to the airport before heading home myself.
The next stop for this group is to head home and prepare for the World Championships later in the year that we are hosting on the Gold Coast where we will be trying to claim some titles on home soil.
I have recently got back into work at the clinic in South Melbourne after a 6.5-week stint in Thailand with the VIS Triathlon program working with the athletes to manage their bodies through a heavy training block leading into two crucial races that played a part in world champs qualification later in the year in Cozumel.
In addition to the triathletes from the VIS, we also had some athletes from the National Talent Academy (NTA) in Queensland visit for some training after their first race in Gamagori, Japan.
There could be worse views than poolside at Thanyapura!
Overall it was a fairly consistent routine for the group, with the training & treatment following a pretty typical routine for the athletes each week. In addition to the swim, bike & run training, there are typically three sessions a week in the gym focussing on various areas of weakness that have been determined to be of importance for that athlete back at home by their strength & conditioning screenings.
Dry needling on the lower legs following a tough days training.
My role in Thailand was to ensure the boys were recovering well and helping to prepare them for upcoming training. A combination of hands-on treatment including various massage techniques, joint mobilisation, assisted stretching & dry needling was typically used and depending on the athlete, the squad would normally get between 1 & 3 sessions of some type of treatment per week with variation in treatment lengths, sometimes requiring a more extended session while other times just focussing on some mobilisation of a specific joint / region before a training session.
Race pace efforts on the road in training.
As I knew the group quite well, having treated the squad for six months before leaving Melbourne, the injury management process was relatively straightforward compared to travelling abroad with a substantially larger number of unknown athletes like in 2014 & 2015.
Overall it was a great experience to assist the group in Thailand. It was awesome to see that all three qualification slots for Australia have since been filled from within the training group, a great effort from all athletes, coaches & support staff involved to seal all three spots for the U23 division.
Hopefully, some more big results to come from the group later in the year at Cozumel for the World Champs!
Group shot on departure with some of the regular staff from our time at the hotel.
I will be on tour with the VIS Triathlon program from 29/5/2016 through to 13/7/2016 providing tour support from their heat acclimatisation training base in Thailand.
Over this period, there will be no bookings taken at SportsMyo in South Melbourne.
If you require treatment for a specific injury or some maintenance work to coincide with a heavy training block or the lead into a race, I will still be contactable via email and can put you in touch with another suitable allied health professional from my network and will get in touch with them to bring them up to speed with your treatment at the clinic at SportsMyo.
Note: The picture above is highly unlikely to be the actual accommodation for the tour.
Upon returning to Australia in July, I will be opening up the Monday afternoon at the clinic for the remainder of 2016.
Bookings are still available up till departure, so feel free to book online here for the coming weeks; otherwise, if you have any questions, feel free to shoot me an email at toby@sportsmyo.com.au
Thanks for taking some time out to join me for a quick chat Marcel.
I am sure that many Triathletes that come through the clinic’s doors at SportsMyo will hopefully find it an interesting read and give them some excellent insights as to what an elite Olympic distance triathlete is doing every week to put themselves at the pointy end of their races.
For those of you reading that don’t know Marcel, he is the newly crowned Australian champion living in Melbourne training and racing with the Victorian Institute of Sport’s Triathlon Program.
We might kick things off by telling us a little bit about your race schedule so far for the year and what’s in store for the remainder of 2016?
Thanks Toby. Yeah, the race season started for me with just a local Gatorade race down in St Kilda. We VIS boys usually use these races as training and for a good hit out. So we used this race to prepare for our first main race, the Australian Olympic Distance Champs. Here I was lucky enough to take the win and also secure myself a spot on the u/23 world’s team for later this year in Cozumel, Mexico. Following this race, I had an Oceania Cup race in Takapuna, New Zealand. Here I finished second.
Just last weekend, I had a World Cup race in Mooloolaba, where I finished in 20th place. Wasn’t too bad of a result for me, considering that the field was quite strong.
It sounds like it has been a busy couple of months! Where are you at with your training at the moment, and what would a typical week involve for you across the three disciplines?
At the moment, I am in the middle of the race season. So training has basically been recovering from races and preparing for the upcoming races.
However, when in full training, a typical week would usually involve about 25km of swimming, 300km of riding and around 90km of running.
Within that volume, there is a fair bit of intensity. So, for instance, a hard swim session that we do might be 6-8x400m on 5:00 cycle coming in around 4:30. Or a hard run session for us could be 3x10min efforts at around 3:10 pace.
Marcel undergoing some pre-season testing in the exercise physiology lab at the VIS.
It sounds like a solid amount of training! What about outside of the swimming, riding and running? Do you incorporate any strength & conditioning?
Most certainly. Gym is one of those things that I have always considered a necessity with training. During the week, I would do three gym sessions per week. My gym program (designed by Harry Brennan from VIS) has a lot of stretching, mostly hips/quads/hamstrings/calves. I also do some weight exercises as well to strengthen my calves, glutes and core.
I enjoy doing gym a lot since it is one of the things where you are able to see your progress, whether it be lifting additional weight or being able to get more range in the stretches.
Nice, I think that will give some of my other athletes back at the clinic some good insights into what you typically do outside of the three triathlon disciplines to keep you performing at your best and allow your body to handle those sorts of training workloads.
What do you try to tick off when it comes to recovery around training, and do you have set times that you like to do these around training & racing?
Some of my recovery is incorporated into my gym sessions, for instance, the stretching aspect. As well as this, I would try to keep hydrated, especially leading into a race. I do this by drinking a lot of water and also having some sports drinks. Ice baths are one of the ones which I find hard because it hurts so much. But I would usually do it after a hard run session to cool off.
Another recovery method is also getting the massages. I try to get at least one per week, maybe more if I feel that my body needs it. I think it is a vital part of keeping your body in shape. Some weeks I don’t even feel that I need the massage, but it is always good to get it just to be sure that the body is in top shape.
That is a fair point you make. However, I don’t think I have come across an athlete who has not found ice baths a bit of a mental hurdle. So what has your favourite race been to date so far?
This is a tough one. There are a lot of countries that I have been to, and that itself has made the racing experience very enjoyable. But for the combination of favourite race and city, it would have to be Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic. The city there is absolutely stunning, so picturesque and beautiful. Then the race is really interesting; the swim is done in a lake, the ride over some steep hills through the city and then the run winding through the city streets. It is a really tough race since we ride up a 20+% steep gradient hill. However, it is so enjoyable at the same time.
Running around Albert Park Lake with regular training partner Declan Wilson.
Here is a random one for you. What is the most annoying habit of one of your training partners? Feel free to name and shame.
This is an interesting one. Because I spend so much time around the others, there are actually a few things which piss me off a little. We spend that much time together at training and overseas that we basically get sick of each other by the end of the year before our break (when we actually get to spend time away from each other!). However, one thing that does somewhat annoy me is when someone jumps in my lane to swim. We have set swim lanes that we have each designated ourselves at the VIS. I have the inside lane and have had it for the past three years now. So if someone tries to take my lane, I won’t be getting into another lane. They will just have to put up with swimming next to me.
Haha, that is an interesting one that someone could just go and claim your lane in the pool like that, an absolutely disgraceful performance. Before we wrap things up for the interview, is there anyone you would like to give a mention to?
Well, apart from the torture you sometimes give me with the massage and needling, your treatments are pretty handy! Additionally, coaches that I currently work with, Danielle Stefano and Harry Brennan, plus the other staff at the VIS. They certainly work well as a team and have helped a lot with my development as an athlete.
Also, my sponsors, Swift Carbon bikes and Brooks Running. It is their help to supply me with racing and training gear that I appreciate so much. It also means that I get to exercise in style and comfort!
No worries at all. Thanks for joining me to have a quick chat before heading out to New Zealand tomorrow for the Oceania Champs this weekend. Hopefully, the run of good form can continue!
For anyone interested in following Marcel’s progress, you can follow him on his social media accounts below.
I caught up with Jody Gilchrist after her PB performance at Ironman Melbourne recently.
First of all, Jody, I’d like to say well done on such a cracking race and qualifying for the 2nd time in 2 years for the World Championships in Kona in October (in the 50-54 year age group). You must be ecstatic?
Thank you. Ecstatic for sure, but mostly relieved. This preparation started 16 months ago under the guidance of Xavier Coppock of TEAM Tri Coaching and it has been quite a roller coaster ride of emotions. After my surprise qualification last year in Cairns I really felt the weight of expectation to back it up here in Melbourne.
What did you expect going into the race at Melbourne? Did you feel like you had such a strong performance in you in the lead-up to the event?
My expectation was to have the race we had worked hard for and hopefully I would qualify for Kona again. About 2 weeks before race day Coach Xavier gave me my race plan which always includes splits. The goal for the day was 10 hours 30 minutes (Swim 1:15/Bike 5:30/Run 3:40). He knows my capability better than anybody (including myself). I really wanted these times but to achieve this it would be 30 minutes faster than I have ever gone. And hopefully quick enough on the day to qualify. I had a lead in race at Auckland 70.3 late January which I did 5.25 with a puncture. This was a PB so I knew I was in good shape and if everything went to plan it was possible. I did 10:33 (Swim 1:09/Bike 5:29/ Run 3:45) I need to work on my transitions!
What were the main changes you made in training this time around that you felt paid off come race day?
I have always been a consistent trainer so I knew I had to make small changes to many things to get a faster time. As the cliché goes it’s the 1% improvements that equal success.
1. My swim is my weakness and I had fallen into the classic Ironman mindset of it’s the smallest part of the race just get through it so you can get on the bike and start racing. I had one on one sessions with Team Tri Coaching’s swim guru Michael Harvey. I have a habit of over thinking so he had me concentrating weekly on just 1-2 small changes. This way I could focus on them for the week and make them a habit. And it worked, 6 min pb swim and out of the water in 6th place in my age group.
2. My bike has gradually been improving and as you know quality time in the saddle is key. This preparation Xavier had me doing a lot more cycling and it was paid back to me on race day with a 23 min improvement. I also got off the roadie and onto a TT bike 6 weeks before race day.
3. Preventative treatments also played a very important role. I embarked on weekly Myotherapy treatments with yourself. I also included Pilates once a week and a couple of daily strength exercises for my calf’s and hamstring’s.
Now you had a calf strain take you out of racing to the line at Kona (the world champs) last year, and this year have recovered well to handle such a high training load. Do you think this is because of some tweaks to your training schedule or more preventative treatment or a combination of all of the above?
Definitely all of the above. The weekly treatments from you kept the niggles under control and injuries at bay. Running has always been my strength so Xavier and I didn’t want it compromised again. My Sports Doctor had me on a greatly reduced running program that took me 4 weeks to get to 20 minutes of running continuously. No double run days, never 2 days in a row, no hills, no speed work and plenty of deep water running. This took a lot of discipline and faith but guaranteed me getting to the start line in one piece and able to race. Xavier embraced the changes and my double run days turned into double ride days.
Now that you are done with Melbourne Ironman and have until October for the World Champs, what will be your focus for the next couple of months?
I will have a few weeks off to let the mind and body recover. A holiday with my partner then start the Kona campaign in earnest. The body maintenance will continue, so save me a spot on the massage table each week, please. I’m also really excited to be part of TEAM Tri Coaching and about to embark on a Coaching role. I have learnt so much from Xavier, Michael and Justin and can’t wait to share that and my own experience and knowledge to the next generation of triathletes.
Thanks for catching up with me for a quick chat post-Ironman. I look forward to hearing more of your journey leading into the big one in October, which I’m sure will be a completely different race for you this year.
Thanks again Toby. Look forward to seeing you weekly and keeping me in tip top shape.
For those of you wanting to follow Jody’s progress in her training and lead up to the world championships, feel free to follow her on Twitter @gilly30jan
