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		<?xml version="1.0"?><rss version="2.0"><channel><title>Beginners - Tri247</title><link>http://www.tri247.com/index.html</link><description>Latest beginners articles from Tri247</description><item><title><![CDATA[March training camp Mallorca 2009]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3890.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[RG Active are pleased to announce their new training Camp for 2009. The camp will held in the town of Puerto Pollensa in the Spanish Island of Majorca from the 16th - 30th March 2009. 

Pollensa is a town 54km from the airport of Palma, and is one of the most attractive areas of the Northern side of the Island. 

The Camp aims to cater for all abilities across all three disciplines of triathlon. Swimming, cycling, and running. The main focus of the camp will centre around the cycling discipline making the most of the breathtaking scenery and the amazing roads that cover the entire Island. The roads are some of the best roads in the World for cycling and with flat and mountain routes available you will experience cycling like you have never experienced before. 

The sea and Hotel pool are on hand for swim training and open water swim practise (water temperature permitting) and run sessions will be held around the town and on the beach.

RG Active will have a number of coaches on hand to take sessions, answer any questions you might have and generally make your training camp an enjoyable and successful experience! 

Training Camp Prices vary from &pound;350-&pound;455 (depending on single or sharing room occupancy) for seven nights or &pound;700-&pound;910 for 14 nights. 

Prices DO include Breakfast and Dinner at the Hotel Pollensa but prices DO NOT include flights and airport transfers.

For more information go to: www.rgactive.com
]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Team Dillon training camp]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3878.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Double Olympican Michelle Dillon, has announced that she will be hosting the first Team Dillon training camp of the year. The camp will be over a two day period in Loughborough at the High Performance Centre and takes place on the 25th/26th of October. Athletes will stay in a comfortable Bed and Breakfast with all the training facilities just a stone throw away. Loughborough&rsquo;s High Performance Centre is a Sports Centre of Excellence, where you will not only find the UK&rsquo;s best triathletes training hard but athletes from a whole host of other sports too.
 
The cost of the camp will be &pound;350 which includes two nights accommodation/breakfast at a local Bed and Breakfast, pool entry, track use, indoor and outdoor, with ice-bath facilities for those who would like to learn about quicker recovery. 

If would like this opportunity to go through the motions of Swim, Bike and Run as well as transitional training with Team Dillon here is your opportunity to learn from the best. She will be joined on the camp by Stuart Hayes, one of the world&rsquo;s best triathletes.
 
You will also have the opportunity to meet other Team Dillon athletes and make friends and training partners.

What to Expect at the Camp:


Swim sessions
Group bike ride
Turbo to track running session
Ice baths for recovery
Transition practice and advice
One to one sessions with Michelle and Stuart
Nutritional advice
A question and answer session on everything and anything
Lots of fun


Places are limited and will be issued on a first come, first served basis. To confirm your place or for more information email: teamdillon@gmail.com 

]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Mission impossible]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3859.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Stelios Marcou is a budding Ironman, but he&#039;s got one major problem: his swim! After coming out of the swim in 739th place in Antwerp Ironman 70.3 a couple of weekends ago, he decided it was time to take stock, and once and for all, sort out the problem that&#039;s causing him to lose valuable time, and not to mention sleepless nights. Stelios is now under the expert wing of Dan Bullock at swimfortri, where for the next 12 weeks, he will diligently follow the training programs that are set for him and attend the one-on-one swim sessions in the hope of turning him into the next Michael Phelps. Ok, maybe that&#039;s a dream, but hopefully there will be a dramatic improvement in his Ironman swim time. Over the next couple of months Stelios will be bringing us regular installments on his progress.




How many times have I heard the following? &ldquo;The swim is just a warm up before I get on the bike&rdquo; or &ldquo; I am a land based mammal, I am not supposed to be in the water.&rdquo; Well I am tired of hearing these excuses. I am even more tired of coming out of the water to rows and rows of empty racks with my trusty steed being one of only a few bikes remaining in transition. Yes, some say at least I have no problem in actually finding my bike when I get to T1, or that I am really strong on the bike so it must be a lot of fun hunting wheels down, and yes sometimes it is fun. To give you an idea, a couple of weeks ago in Antwerp I swam 1.9k in 39mins and came out of the water a lowly positioned 739th. Over the course of 90k I proceeded to overtake 324 riders, I would have counted more scalps had a storm not kicked in which resulted in me backing off the power.
 
Although I will never stop having fun with racing triathlons, I need to get a little more serious if I want to finish higher up in the ranks. To be a good triathlete you need be strong in all three disciplines and my swim is seriously lagging behind the other two. A good performance in the water will mentally and physically set you up for a fine race. I am racing Ironman Florida in 12 weeks time and I really want to improve on the effort of 1:25 that I put in for IM France in June, earlier this year. My logic is that there is an obvious time gain to be made here but one that will need a serious amount of work over the coming months.

SwimforTri is based in London and is a swim technique and coaching concept brought to you by the brother and sister team of Dan and Keeley Bullock. They share over 30 years experience of competitive swimming, coaching, teaching swim lessons and direct involvement with the sport of Triathlon as competitors and coaches. Recent accolades include the 220 Tri Coach of the year and London Region Tri Coach of the year awards.

Keeley, a former National standard swimmer, holds teaching qualifications with the Amateur Swimming Association. Dan Bullock, after a long career as a competitive swimmer moved to triathlon in 1998. Highlights of a nice year Tri career include racing two age-group World Championships with top five swim exits, a placing of 14th out of the water at the 2003 US National Ironman Champs in Lake Placid and fastest swim leg over 1900m at the Vitruvian Triathlon, September 2004. More recently at the age of 38 a finely tuned technique helped Dan post a sub-50 minute swim at Ironman South Africa 2008 to be 13th out of the water.

After meeting with Dan at The London Triathlon and explaining my dilemma he has laid down the gauntlet and claims with an intensive 12 week coaching programme from SwimforTri we can slice at least 11 minutes off my IM swim time.

Dan being the professional that he is has devised a demanding and structured training programme which will see me swimming four times a week over the next three months, with the aim to refine and build a strong and efficient stroke that will ultimately increase my &lsquo;Critical Swim Speed&rsquo;. By the sounds of the programme it may even see me morphing gills and fins a la Michael Phelps!
 
The programme will consist of an initial consultation whereby my current stroke will be analysed. This is a one-on-one session in one of their state of the art Endless Pools where Dan&rsquo;s trained eye will analyse my stroke from four different camera perspectives - they also have the facility that with each swim you receive a DVD of yourself swimming to help speed the learning process.

From this session I will receive a personal weekly On-Your-Own (O-Y-O) training plan which will incorporate predominately technique drills to develop and hone a smooth and efficient freestyle stroke. One-on-one guidance will be given during a further five endless pool sessions over the 12 week period with three of these being fitness rather than technique based sessions where I will be swimming against a set water pressure which will hopefully be increasing over the weeks as my stroke improves.

Further development will incorporate me attending one of their weekly fitness sessions in Kensington which are aimed at the improving triathlete and is a pure coaching session laid on for triathletes just needing a more high quality swim. Weekends will see me down at their open water clinics at Roydon lake in Hertfordshire to practise open water technique and generally become more comfortable in swimming in these conditions.

The whole programme will be tied together with an online progress sheet which both myself and coach have access to and where testing results and coaching notes can be uploaded.

I will be reporting back in a few weeks with how it&rsquo;s all going but if you to want to get your stroke looked or to get your own training programme in place you can reach the experts at: www.swimfortri.com 
]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Adidas Eyewear Triathlon Training Camp in October 2008]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3850.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Adidas eyewear and Neilson Active Holidays are pleased to announce that they are once again hosting their unique triathlon training programme at the Beachplus resort of Sivota, Greece. The bi-annual triathlon training camps next edition will be held at the beautiful and aptly named Retreat from the 12th &ndash; 19th October 2008. With tiny coves, green hills and secluded beaches it is the idyllic spot for triathletes of all abilities to go and develop skills in triathlon or simply take part in fun activities outdoors.

The week long training camp is now the sixth one to be held by Adidas eyewear and Neilson Active Holidays and has been developed and designed to provide first class training facilities, taking advantage of the dramatic mountain scenery and the beautiful Ionian Sea, the Camp provides one of the most amazing settings that an athlete will ever train in. There is the opportunity to train alongside world class athletes like elite triathlete and coach Richard Allen who designs the week long training programme for both newcomers and experienced athletes. Sessions focus on running, swimming, cycling, equipment choice, preparation, diet and the all important transitions. Alongside world-class athletes is top physiotherapist Ali Rose and a bike mechanic.  

Robbie MacNab, who has been to the training camp at the Sivota resort three times, comments; &ldquo;When I first went to the camp I was a complete novice simply with an interest in getting involved in the sport. The camp spurred on my interest as well as my knowledge and developed my skills with the expert advice I received. It is also a great break away in the sun and a fantastic setting to learn more with people of all abilities. I have now completed a half Ironman and will be returning to the &lsquo;Retreat&rsquo; to participate and see old friends in the future.&rdquo;

The week at the camp is split between the opportunity to train hard with expert advice and to relax and enjoy the resort with family or friends who may accompany you to the resort. The Retreat is one of Neilson&rsquo;s luxurious Beachplus Club resorts, offering four-star accommodation with spectacular sea views and delicious cuisine. There is a swimming pool, two floodlit tennis courts with tuition included, children&rsquo;s clubs for all ages (pre-bookable), and a terraced bar area making it perfect for athletes and their partners and friends to enjoy. There&rsquo;s also a chance to enjoy a whole range of inclusive activities with tuition such as sailing, windsurfing, waterskiing and mountain biking.

Ben Ashlin, sports marketing manager at Adidas eyewear, comments, &ldquo;This is a fantastic and unique opportunity to get inspiration and expert advice from the very highest calibre of athletes and coaches, while at the same time enjoying the camaraderie of training with like-minded individuals. Combined with the superb setting, it is perfect for your partner to come and enjoy the setting and whole host of amenities the resort offers, making it easy to fit in a busy training schedule around family time, a unique training camp not to be missed!&rdquo;

The camp is priced from &pound;685 per triathlete and &pound;485 for guests flying from Gatwick airport. The supplement for triathletes includes bike carriage on the flights. For further information and details of the training schedule, visit www.neilson.co.uk or call 0870 333 3356.
]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[JLO prepares for triathlon debut]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3847.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Way back in March we talked about the announcement from Jennifer Lopez that she was going to take part in a triathlon less than a year after giving birth to twins. True to her word Lopez will take part, along with her husband Marc Anthony, in the 22nd Annual Malibu Triathlon which takes place on the 13th and 14th September.

]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[All women's training camp]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3792.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[The fourth training camp for novice female triathletes will take place over the weekend of 8th and 9th November at Tidworth Leisure Centre in Wiltshire. The weekend will be lead by BTF Coach Janet Whiting, together with the expert coaching team of Nadia Saba, Pam Ellison and Linda Pearce; all bringing their many experiences and vast knowledge to the camp. 

Throughout the weekend there will be various talks and practical sessions in all disciplines designed to motivate, and inspire novice/ potential female triathletes or those who are still very new to the sport. The practical sessions will be mainly technique and skills based. There will be plenty of advice on winter training, kit, alternative training, injury prevention etc. 

&ldquo;The camps get better each time and the coaches always look for ways to improve. Tidworth is a great venue as we attract participants from all over the country, the facilities are ideal; we are well catered for as far as local accommodation goes, and are accessible by major routes and rail links.&quot; 

Here are just a few comments from the ladies who took part in the April camp:

Amanda - Leicestershire: The camp was a great way to learn the different disciplines in a friendly environment. The coaches were able to focus on a large amount of individuals with varying abilities.
Caroline &ndash; Rutland: I have thoroughly enjoyed the course. I feel I have learnt a great deal and picked up some very useful tips/hints/pointers regarding training and competing.
Nikki &ndash; London: I thought the course was excellent and very informative. Thoroughly enjoyable.
Karen &ndash; Devon: The coaches were absolutely fantastic and informative. They didn&rsquo;t mind talking about anything &amp; everything! All areas of expertise were available to talk about.
Emma &ndash; Salisbury: Thank you so much for a brilliant weekend. Learnt a huge amount and feel inspired.
Suzanne &ndash; Kent: Thank you for a fabulous weekend &ndash; it was so well organised and although I have an incredible amount to learn, I feel a lot more prepared for what is ahead.
Alex &ndash; Southampton: Thanks to you and your team for an excellent weekend. It was very informative and my first triathlon of the season went well if slow. I certainly felt much more confident especially on the bike. I look forward to another of your courses and would recommend it to friends. 

Spaces are limited to just 25 and the camps always fill very quickly. For more information please contact Janet Whiting: 07773 705776 or email: jan@whiting1.plus.com


]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[British success at The London Mazda Triathlon]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3783.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[After winning their first medals in Beijing, Britain&rsquo;s athletes had further reason to celebrate this weekend after some fantastic results at the Mazda London Triathlon. The pick of the British bunch was Julie Dibens, who won the Female Elite race in a time of 1:59:03. Germany&rsquo;s Maik Petzold took the top prize in the Men&rsquo;s Elite, finishing in an impressive 01:47:20. Julia said of her first ever win in London, &quot;Wow, that was a surprise&quot;, she continued, &quot;I&#039;m really happy it&#039;s one of my best victories ever.&quot; 

Nearly 45,000 spectators descended on the ExCeL Centre across Saturday and Sunday to see nearly 10,000 competitors swim-bike-run their way around London&rsquo;s Docklands. The event attracted its strongest international elite field yet, with athletes from Brazil, Australia, America and throughout Europe all taking part. Dibens, the 2007 Xterra World Champ, beat off competition from Germany&rsquo;s Joelle Franzmann and fellow Brit and former London winner Jodie Swallow, to win the Mazda London Triathlon for the first time. 

A fantastic finish in the men&rsquo;s race saw Petzold hold off the challenge from three-times ITU World Champion Peter Robertson from Australia who finished second and Londoner Stuart Hayes, who came third. The win was a fantastic way for Petzold to mark his first experience of the London Triathlon.

This year&rsquo;s race also gave a great opportunity to spot potential stars of the 2012 Olympic Games. British hopeful Camilla Freeman, younger sister of Olympic hopeful Olly Freeman, won the Youth Super Sprint on Saturday to give a glimpse of what the home fans could expect in four years&rsquo; time.

The weekend wasn&rsquo;t just for the serious competitors though, as a couple of familiar faces joined thousands of others to help raise over &pound;3 million for good causes. Television presenters Kate Silverton and Dermot Murnaghan both raced for their favourite charity. Kate secured her fastest ever time after being challenged by Matt Dawson, who has now promised to race her next year at the event. It wasn&rsquo;t all old hands as 50 per cent of this year&rsquo;s competitors were experiencing triathlon for the first time, demonstrating why it is now the UK&rsquo;s fastest growing mass participation sport.

2008 was a big year for triathlon with the launch of an exciting new UK triathlon series; the British Triathlon Grand Prix, combining the most prestigious and elite triathlon events in the country for the first time. Nick Rusling, Managing Director of IMG Mass Participation Sports, which organises the race said: &ldquo;We are absolutely delighted with this year&rsquo;s event, which demonstrated why the Mazda London Triathlon such a flagship triathlon event. It&rsquo;s been another record-breaking year with more competitors then ever before. In addition, people have relished the opportunity to come and get a taste of what the 2012 Olympic Games will be like &ndash; top sporting action with the best international athletes on their doorstep.&rdquo; 

The London Triathlon are publishing the provisional results of all of the weekend racing on their results website (www.triathlonresults.co.uk).

]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Gower Peninsula Triathlon report]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3765.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Race organiser Scott Powell reports on the first running of the Gower Peninsula Triathlon, which proved to be a huge success and will hopefully be the first of many to be held at this new venue.



The Rapid Grid Gower Triathlon turned out to be an outstanding success in it&#039;s first time of running on the 2nd August. Tri Harder Triathlon Club had pulled out all the stops to put on an event that had a real professional feel to it. The race was run out of the village of Port Eynon, Gower, Wales. The weather turned out to be perfect and plenty of numbers turned out to support all of the athletes.



The swim was started in a single wave from deep water. After negotiating a clockwise swim of 750m the early leader out of the water was Richard Haines who extended his lead on the 24km bike leg. Deborah Evans was first female out of the water, and similarly was able to extend her lead. Haines and Evans held on to take the wins in their categories but further back it was a fine battle for second and third.



There were fine performances in the veteran category too with experienced athlete Stuart Dinwoodie winning his category but also holding on to second position overall. Female veteran Bridget Heath was also in good form holding a lead of 14 minutes over her closest rival. Full results here. 
]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[How to succeed at: The Mazda London Triathlon]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_2312.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Vital facts

  
    Race dates
    August 9th and August 10th 2008
  
  
    Future dates
    2009 TBC
  
  
    Website
    http://www.thelondontriathlon.com
  
  
    Location
    ExCeL, London Docklands 
  
  
    Race distances (advertised):
    Standard, Sprint and Super Sprint distances plus Team Relays 
  
  
    Competitor numbers 
    Largest triathlon in the world, over 13,000 entrants 
  


Background
The Mazda London Triathlon takes place at the ExCeL Exhibition Centre in London&#039;s Docklands and is the largest triathlon in the world with over 13,000 competitors expected to participate in one or other of the events over a two-day period. While the fact that it&#039;s the biggest means that there going to be an awful lot of people there, it doesn&#039;t mean that everyone goes at the same time! There are 16 waves on the Saturday and 20 on the Sunday and there&#039;s a choice of distances from super sprint through to standard distance together with dedicated corporate waves.
Around a third of the competitors will be first-timers, a staggering statistic in itself. In fact, this whole event is all about mass-participation and it has grown steadily year on year with a major focus being on fund-raising for charity, the official ones are Leukaemia Research and DebRA. For the experienced triathlete there is the option of a sub-2:30 wave which tracks the elite route into central London or a slightly shorter loop that goes to Tower Bridge and back twice. 
Because of the sheer size and complexity of the London Triathlon the single most important piece of advice that we can give is the READ THE RACE PACK!!! Unlike the page or two of A4 that most organisers provide this is a massively comprehensive multi-page document that answers pretty much every question that you might ask.
So, why are we doing a &#039;How to succeed...&#039; feature? Well, because there are other little tips and tricks that can help you through London that are more than just a line or two in the race instructions!

The swim
The swim at London takes place in a dock so there&#039;s no current but, because the water is contained in a tank, there can be a fair amount of chop once the event gets going. It&#039;s a deep water start and you need to be at the marshalling point at least 20 minutes before your wave. Because of the sheer size of the ExCeL building it could take you ten minutes to get there and there are always people who leave it too late. Remember, you collect your swim cap at the marshalling point, don&#039;t go worrying that you left it behind or someone forgot to put it in your race pack, and then enter the water to swim across the dock to the start line.
The swim course itself is an &#039;out and back&#039;. You swim down the dock to the appropriate buoy  and then make a 180&amp;deg; turn to the left to swim back towards the start, before turning right to swim in to the exit ramp. The exit ramp is part submerged so you can swim right onto it before finding your feet.
If you are an inexperienced open water swimmer then do try to remember to kick your legs a bit before you get to the ramp to get the blood circulating again so you don&#039;t get that dizzy feeling when you stand up. Another unusual feature of London is that you get to take your wetsuit off straight away and stuff it into a plastic bag that you then carry to transition. Why? Well, imagine just how slippery all that flooring would get after a few thousand athletes had dripped a litre or so of water over it! And the first bit of floor you get to go across is a set of stairs... 

The transition to bike 
It&#039;s a long way to pretty much anywhere in transition and because the four access points are in the four corners of transition to ensure that the distances are equal you will run in off the swim in the top left corner of a wide rectangular area. Bikes are racked in marked rows by wave and it really is essential to have taken the time to walk round the area and establish where you are relative to the entry and exit points. Marking your transition spot is not allowed but there are legal ways to assist you - a brightly coloured or distinctive pattern on your transition towel could mean the difference between finding your bike after the swim and running around wasting valuable minutes. Balloons, flags and talc on the floor are definitely not allowed!

The bike exit is in the bottom right corner of the transition and there is a clearly defined flow so, again, do take the time to establish the correct way through the racking. If you&#039;ve ever seen the transition at Windsor and thought that was big then be prepared for a major upgrade - we are talking double and then some!




The bike
Each of the events has its own bike route, we&#039;ll concentrate on the two routes that go into central London on the Sunday. All of the morning races, that&#039;s the 2,200 age groupers, those capable of sub 2:30 plus the elite men and women get to race this course. It consists of a short loop to Canary Wharf and back followed by a longer loop all the way along the Embankment to Big Ben and back. Note, the elite athletes do these two loops in the reverse order - they do the Big Ben loop first. The afternoon races do two loops to Tower Bridge and back. The whole route is closed to traffic and there is massive support along the way.

Anyone who has raced at London before and is assuming things will all be the same as the last time need to be aware that at the start of the bike section as you go around the back of ExCeL there is a new building which means that the first roundabout is now a single rather than a double. That said, given that it&#039;s a completely closed circuit, there really should be no reason for you to go wrong as the signs are are plentiful and clear. 

Oddly, the trickiest part of the entire route is the transition from the ExCeL building to the ground level. Not only do you change from indoors to outdoors and from a slick floor to concrete but you go from artificial to natural light and it may take a few moments for your eyes to become adjusted. The problem is that at the same time you are going down a ramp with several bends... Much better to wait until you are safely at ground level before putting the hammer down! Also, this is a natural area for spectators to congregate and there is a temptation to wave at your loved ones. This is NOT a good idea - you need both hands on the bars at this point...

The transition to run
The bike in actually moves from the morning to the afternoon races but it is always located at the bottom left corner of the currently active transiton section. The flow lines are clearly set out and you&#039;ll need to navigate back to your bike. Again, we cannot stress too strongly that it is so worth taking the time to figure things out in advance because it is easily possible to waste minutes of time running up and down the wrong row looking for your slot.

Once changed you will head for the run exit which is in the top right corner of the  transition which means you might have to run the whole length to get there and then run all the way back on the outside of the transition cage to join the start of the run.
Notice that the flow lines work the diagonals - there is always the possibility of having someone going on the opposite diagonal so do keep your eyes open and be aware that others are racing and have just as much &#039;right of way&#039; as you do. Listen to the marshals and stay alert. 
The run
Saturday&#039;s runs for the races that stay within Docklands are all multi-lap affairs on the ExCeL side of the dock. Sunday&#039;s runs extend to a turn point on the opposite side of the dock to ExCeL. There are a significant number of turns on the course and at the end of each lap the run returns up the ramp and back into the ExCel building for a right-hand loop in front of the crowds before merging with the run-out channel and then back out into the daylight again.

While the majority of the run is flat the ramp does offer a significant change of grade and and can come as an unpleasant shock! Worse, as the ramp comes in the last 200m of the race it can catch you a bit unawares and those who can move fast uphill can often pick up a few places.

The finish chute is a distinct left-hand turn away from the natural curve of the loop - there&#039;s no chance of &#039;accidentally&#039; running through the finish.
Other information
The biggest triathlon Expo of the year takes place alongside the race and, as it&#039;s getting well into the second half of the season, there will be lots of bargains there for those in need of retail therapy. It&#039;s also a safety net for those who manage to lose, forget or break vital bits of kit - we&#039;ve even heard of people buying their wetsuits and bikes for the race at the Expo.

Travel to ExCeL needs careful planning as a lot of the access roads are closed off for the bike course. The best route in is on the A13 via Canning Town or Prince Regents Lane which will bring you into the complex from the East. For spectators, however, the DLR is the most direct connection to the venue with links into central London and both the Underground and regular rail services.

Unlike in previous years, BICYCLES ARE NOT PERMITTED ON THE DOCKLANDS LIGHT RAILWAY. ExCeL London is connected to the Jubilee line at Canning Town via a three minute DLR journey. The JUBILEE LINE will be CLOSED between North Greenwich to Stratford (Saturday 9th August) and between Canary Wharf to Stratford (Sunday 10th August) due to essential engineering works. Visitors are advised use the following alternatives for the best access to ExCeL from Central London: 


Take the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) from Bank and change at Canning Town for a Beckton bound service &ndash; then alight at Custom
House for ExCeL (two stops after Canning Town)
Take the Jubilee Line to Canary Wharf, change onto the DLR service. Take the first Stratford bound train and change at Poplar onto a Beckton bound DLR train and alight at Custom House for ExCeL. Nearest Train stations are: Stratford 3.5 miles from ExCeL. West Ham 1.8 miles from ExCeL.


We strongly advise competitors to arrive at the venue using private transport although the DLR remains open for spectator use.
For information about travelling on public transport with a bicycle or to select a bike route, refer to Transport for London www.tfl.gov.uk or London Cycling Campaign www.lcc.org.uk

There is plenty of catering on-site with a wide choice of outlets in the central spine of the building plus a couple of restaurants and bars in the immediate area. There are a lot of new hotels but expect most to be fully booked for the event. The floating hotel moored in the dock next to ExCeL is a great, if expensive, location. 
]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Gatorade Video Tips, Day Six - Race day]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.tri247.com/article_3721.html]]></link><description><![CDATA[Gatorade, sponsors of the UK&rsquo;s leading triathlon events such as the Mazda London Triathlon and Ironman UK, have produced a series of triathlon training tip vodcasts in conjunction with the Junior Elite World Champions triathlon coach Jack Maitland. 
Topics covered in the series include essential equipment for triathlon, open-water swimming, transitions, biking for triathlon, running for triathlon and a general overview of top tips for triathlon.

Split into manageable, bite-size chunks, the short films are bursting with helpful tips designed to encourage and fuel triathletes to success. The commentary by pro triathlete coach Jack Maitland, who coaches up-and-coming Gatorade triathlon stars Jonathon and Alistair Brownlee, carefully describes each stage of a triathlon with each vodcast focusing on different techniques.
 
Jack Maitland said, &ldquo;The Gatorade Triathlon Training series will be useful for athletes trying to improve their technique. Being able to see exactly how experienced triathletes perform some of the moves is very beneficial and will allow them to introduce these to their own training.&quot; The tips will help both beginners and experienced athletes alike in preparation for some of this summer&rsquo;s top triathlon events including The Mazda London Triathlon and the Fun2Tri series.

Day Six - Top tips for race day



Why not check out the other videos in this series: 
Equipment
  Swim
  Bike
  Run
  Transitions]]></description></item></channel></rss>