Windrush Summer 2016 Training Survey Feedback

Windrush summer 2016 training survey feedback

Headlines:

-New mid week swim session, trialling slightly later start time.

-New weekly swim sets to do by yourself

-Still hoping to launch a strength and conditioning class once we find a venue

-Weekly velodrome, run and Friday swim, plus XC league back for the winter

-Filmed swim sessions available on Sundays

-New member organised endurance runs at the weekend

Can you help with any of the following:

Windrush is entirely run by volunteers. If you want to see something happen/change within the club please think about being the person (or working with others) to help make it happen. You could either join the committee (look out for notices about the AGM shortly) or help with one of the following (see full details below):

-Kicking off/ coordinating long runs at the weekend (point 2)

-Male and female lead for the road bike racing leagues (point 5)

-Lead bike rides (any distance) at the weekend (point 6 j / k)

-Organise/ lead cycling time trials (club organised routes rather than entering organised TTs) and chain gang cycling

Full feedback:

1. Please select which of the following coached sessions you would plan to regularly attend

Swim – endurance and coached (91%)
Spin (65%)
Velodrome (62%)
Pilates (56%)

Strength and conditioning (56%)

In recognition of the popularity of swim we are adding a new mid-week evening swim. We will also hopefully be posting a weekly swim set (including iron distance) for people to do themselves or potentially to get together (self organised rather than a booked lane) to do. Watch this space for more details.

Spin will continue and velodrome goes back to weekly (we’d love it to stay weekly year round, but we can only get a fortnightly booking in the summer).

56% of members would attend a strength and conditioning class – we’re really keen to offer this session but haven’t been able to find a suitable venue. We’re still looking, or if you have any suggestions (that won’t be fully booked at the sort of times we’d want them) please let Lucy know.

2. Please select which of the following uncoached sessions you would plan to regularly attend

Most popular is Shepperton and 2-4 hour bike rides (76% each), followed by 5-8 hour bike rides and endurance runs (52%).

Most of these already happen. In terms of kicking off the endurance runs, these would be member organised (as per the rides) but we’re happy to facilitate. The idea would be that those who are planning a longer run would post the details on the website, with idea of distance and pace, and meeting point/ end point.

To try and make this work, ideally we need someone to give it a bit of a boost, if you’d be interested, please contact Lucy.

3 & 4. Locations and times

Most locations were seen to be fairly evenly accessible. The proposed times were fairly equally popular, and as a result we’re trialling a later 8pm start for the new swim session.

5. Which of the following leagues/competitions you would be interested in entering

The cross country running leagues continue to be popular (48% for men’s and 31% for women’s) - we have entered teams for the last few years and plan to continue.

There was interest in road bike racing leagues. The survey shows more interest in the men’s leagues (44%), but I think this reflects the gender of those filling in the survey more than anything.

> To drive this forwards, ideally we need a male and a female lead who is keen to enter these leagues and happy to try and coordinate Windrush entries. Please contact Charles (bike captain) or Lucy if you’re potentially interested.

Look out for updates from AineCassidy and Paul Connor who will coordinate the winter cross country teams Surrey league teams. See details of the women’s races here [

There was some limited interest in cyclocross, presuming that Herne Hill continue to offer beginners sessions there, we’ll let you know when they come up.

6. Further feedback from open question:

a)More strength/ conditioning/ core work sessions

Unfortunately our BTF coaching insurance (currently) doesn’t cover BTFcoaches for any strength and conditioning work at present, so for now this type of training will be limited to pilates and specific S&C sessions where the coaches hold additional qualifications. We’re still trying to find a venue for an S&C session – watch this space.

b)More club participation in run events over varying terrain

Hopefully this is addressed in the winter through the cross country league. Feel free to post if you have ideas of other events or races you’d like to take part in.

c)Sessions in Peckham, Camberwell, Tooting, Crystal Palace…

We looked into various locations for the new swim session and went with the most popular/at a time that fitted with coaches and the rest of the schedule. We will continue to review the venues we use to ensure they continue to offer us quality and value for money, but many sessions are determined by where we can find the facilities we need. It’s also important tomaintain our identity as a Brixton based club and to continue building a social network by basing ourselves in a distinct area (and for example wouldn’t run a session in CP as there’s already a tri club there).

d)Training on weekends, after 7.30pm, after 8pm…

The main issue with weekend sessions is finding a coach who can regularly commit to the sessions and finding venues that are availablebut we hope to support more member-led weekend activities (cycle league, XC league, velodrome track sessions etc). We are offering a new 8pm swim session for those who want a later start.

e)Help members put training sessions together to bring structure to winter training

Look out for upcoming seminar on planning your training calendar

f)Want to know who is coaching each session

We plan to name the lead coach for each session and have short biogs for all coaches on the website.

g)Videoed swim analysis

We’ve looked into this quite a few times but most pools have very strict registrations on filming. Audrey (coaches Friday night swim) will be offering this at the Sunday swim session – see here [ NB please note this is not a club organised session.

h)I am very interested in the club defining what the clubs stands for

I agree and hope this will follow soon.

i)Provide measurable performance improvement

A lot of the sessions have measurable ways to track progress and ensure training is properly targeted (e.g. CSS for swim, FTP for bike) but this is more for individual members rather than more widely shared. As a club we don’t want to just celebrate those who win races but also those who are making improvements at any level. We welcome suggestions in this area.

j)Want a regular long ride on a Saturday

Weekend rides depend on members volunteering to lead them, so please feel free to post details on the website, there’s no rule on them only being on Sunday, or on the ride length.

k)Want to set up a long distance training squad, longer swim sessions,

In terms of the cycle side of things, the velodrome session and spin will both change to 90 mins for the winter (not IM distance but it all helps!).

Beyond that we’d really welcome members volunteering to lead longer rides or runs (and making sure they post details on the website!). Let us know if we can do anything to help here.

And do remember that, whilst there is no getting around the need for time in saddle/ out running when training for longer distance, most of the training we offer is interval based, meaning that you don’t need to cover the whole distance/ time you would in a race, as you are training at a higher intensity.

In terms of swim, with the new booking we’d hoped to be able to book a pool that would allow you to continue swimming after the main session had ended (with session plan) but unfortunately could only get later bookings. However we hope to include an IM training session within the new online swim sessions.

l)Cycling time trials (club organised routes rather than entering organised TTs) and chain gang cycling

We have experimented with chain gang sessions before with limited take up, it’s something we may explore again in the summer (I think rain and lack of mudguards were quite a factor in it ending last time!). Our insurance doesn’t allow us to offer coached chain gang (except on the Velodrome) or time trial sessions, but we would strongly encourage members to suggest these types of activities for member led rides, and if there’s demand could look at formalising it e.g. TT on first Sunday of the month, chain gang on the second etc.

Any member who would be interested in leading or helping to organise these activities, please post below or contact Charles Barclay – bike captain.

m)Try other sports on a beginner basis some time eg canoeing, climbing, diving?

Think this is a bit beyond our capacity, sorry!

n)Let’s have velodrome every week!

Done!