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Top Tip: Midland Triathlon & Triathlon Ireland Membership explained As you will see from some of my posts, MTC will be organising a number of training sessions and events during the year that are free for MTC members. As a non-member, you can attend three of these sessions for free, so that you can see if you want to join the club. After this you will not be allowed to attend an MTC organised training session or event. These rules come from our governing body Triathlon Ireland (TI) and we must adhere to them in order to protect the club, its members and committee. In order to continue to participate after your three trial sessions, you must have TI and MTC membership. There are a number of different types of TI membership that you can find in the membership link below but we would recommend that you take out a race licence. The most important reason to join TI is for insurance cover. This level of membership covers you and the club for our official training sessions and events, and for racing TI sanctioned events. The membership is €75 for adults for a race licence. By joining MTC for €25, you will get a €10 discount, so the total fee for the year is €90. You should note that if you decide not to join, but continue to train towards a triathlon without membership, you will have to pay a €25 One Day Licence (ODL) fee on top of the race entry fee for insurance. This is compulsory and you will not be allowed to race without it. This must be paid for each race that you enter, so you will quickly find that you will have paid over the fee of €90 quite quickly. There are other benefits to joining TI which you will be able to find on their website. To joint MTC and TI, click on this link... https://www.triathlonireland.com/Get-Involved/Become-A-Member/ Info on insurance cover and ODLs. https://triathlonireland.com/Resources/Insurance/ https://triathlonireland.com/Get-Involved/One-Day-Membership/

Top Tip: Turbo Training & MTC sessions. A turbo is a device that you mount your bike on so that it acts like a stationary bicycle. The back wheel is clamped to the steel framed trainer using a quick release skewer, and you ride as normal, with the rear wheel being ‘resisted’ by the turbo’s roller; usually via magnetic resistance or a fluid filled system. Some turbo trainers have handle-mounted controls, which allow you to change the resistance against the rear wheel, others require you to get off to adjust the resistance, though you can use your gears to up or downshift. You can use a turbo all year round, but is particularly useful for getting cycles in during the cold, dark, wet winter months. As you are stationary, you can work to you own ability and never get left behind, and you can have a chat with your neighbour during your recovery periods. You can practice some techniques like getting into a good position, or drinking while cycling, without having to worry about traffic. MTC’s turbo session takes place at 7pm in Lakeside Wheelers Clubhouse in the Army Barracks on Friday nights, beginning back this Friday. It is ran by club member Mossie who is a long-standing member of MTC & Lakeside Wheelers & is a wealth of information about cycling. All you have to bring with you is your cycle shorts and t-shirt (it gets very warm doing this), your bike, a bottle of water (or two), towel and bike shoes/runners. If you have a turbo please bring it but don’t worry if you don’t. MTC has a small number that we can lend to you on the night. If you intend coming & need to borrow a turbo please let us know each week so that we can try to have a turbo for everybody. This session is free to club members.

Dates for your diary: Run Drills & advice: 12th January @ 10AM in Mullingar Harriers. Free to members. Super Sprint: 13th January. This is a mini-duathlon suitable for anybody who is doing some running and cycling already. If consists of a 2KM run, 14KM bike, 2KM run. If you do not feel up to this yet, please come along anyway to experience what a duathlon is like and to meet club members. Registration takes place at 10:30 AM in Lilliput Adventure Centre. Free to members. Swim Block: If you wish to join the club swimming session in Mullingar Town Pool, text Bridget for details on how to sign up. Bike Maintenance (including how to change a tire and road safety): dates TBC Turbo session (your own bike put on indoor trainer which we can loan you to try out): Friday 7pm in Lakeside Wheelers Clubhouse in the army barracks. Free to members. Note: non-members can attend 3 training sessions without membership if they sign a form prior to the training session. After this you must become a member to continue partaking in these training sessions.

So what’s the plan this week? 1) If you have not exercised recently and/or have any heart, breathing or musculosketetal injuries, you should contact your GP prior to beginning an exercise programme. 2) Get your training gear ready to go. Here are the basic requirements (don’t be afraid to borrow equipment to start off) Swimming: Swim cap, swimming togs, goggles. Your goggle selection is a personal choice. You should try on a number of pairs before you decide to purchase. To test the fit, lean your head forwards, gently press the goggle to your eye sockets. If the goggles stay in place for a couple of seconds without the strap, this suggests they are a good fit for your face. Cycling: Correct fitting helmet, Roadworthy bike, high vis winter jacket, lights, bicycle shorts/leggings. If you wish to check if your helmet or bike are roadworthy, you should bring them to your local bike shop for advice. Running: Good fit runners, high vis top & lights if running on the roads in the dark. Other: Water bottle, basic stop watch. As you become more proficient at triathlons, you may decide to buy more expensive or specialised equipment but this is all you should require to get you started on your training programme. 3) Start training! If you are joining this group it is likely that you have not done any training before or recently so we’re going to start off very gently this week with just one training session of each discipline. This will allow you to stretch the legs and try out the equipment you have just gotten ready. Day 1: Swim 15 minutes Day 2: Bike 30mins Day 3: Run 20 minutes. If you are unable to run for 20 minutes continuously, try to run for 90 secs, walk for 30 secs, run for 90 seconds, walk for 30secs etc

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