ELITE triathlete Vanessa Raw took time out from her hectic training schedule to help coach more than 50 keen cyclists, swimmers and runners in a day-long event aimed at encouraging people to take up triathlons.
The 28-year-old from Kingston-upon-Thames was a special guest at St Albans based Active Training World’s ‘Train’athlon’ at Bushey, Hertfordshire.
Vanessa said: “Triathlon is a fantastic sport and it was great to see so many newcomers getting hooked on it. The participants were really keen to learn new techniques and pick up tips on how to train for a triathlon.”
Former elite triathlete Tanja Slater and St Albans based Sydney Olympian Sian Brice were also among the eight coaches helping to train would-be sporting champions.
Leda Cox, one of Britain’s most experienced cycling professionals from the last decade, helped participants to master dismounting at speed and riding in a group. The former British peloton rider has raced for teams in Holland, Belgium, Italy, France and America and chalked up 30 wins including two international stage races, three national medals on both track and road, 24 Great Britain team caps and prestigious wins in the Coupe de France and Tour of Tucson, Arizona in 2008.
Cox said: “Taking part in a triathlon takes a lot of skill and stamina. Once people reach a certain level of fitness it’s the small things which make the difference, like dismounting at speed and reducing your time in the transition period.”
Participants were also shown how to take proper care of their bikes by St Albans bike maintenance specialist Chris Morris and how to avoid injuries by Adam Meakins from PerformForSport.
James Shipley, founder of Active Training World, and a keen triathlete for nearly 20 years, said there had been a new-found demand for triathlon training after Britain’s Olympic success.
Brownlee brothers Alistair and Jonathan, won gold and bronze medals respectively at the 2012 Games, instantly raising the profile of triathlon.
Shipley said: “We’ve seen an increase in traffic to our website since the summer, it seems more than ever, people want to access our free running training plans, in particular, our triathlon training plans. The training day was the first one I’ve put on and it was a great success.”
Shipley hopes the training day will be the first of many and he plans to roll them out across the UK. The next one will be held in Bushey on April 13.
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