With the evenings getting darker and the lakes getting chiller, this is the time most of us start thinking about heading out to train somewhere a little warmer.
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With this in mind, we snapped up the opportunity earlier in the year to check out the newly-built 50m competition pool and fitness facilities at the Occidental Lanzarote Mar hotel.
Situated just outside the holiday resort Costa Teguise, on the east coast, the hotel has long been a favourite for Brits looking for all-inclusive holidays in the sun. But with the growth of fitness tourism in recent years, the hotel are investing in new facilities designed to appeal to triathletes and tri clubs.
Island life
So why Lanza? Well, as the island is only 77km long, it’s perfect for triathletes to explore by bike. Roads are smooth and pothole-free (and largely traffic-free, as well!), while the Lanzarote climate is good for training all year round. January is the coldest month at 17 degrees C, while the sea temperature only drops to around 18 degrees C, making it perfect for open water training. It’s also popular with both pro and age-group triathletes because of the volcanic landscape, which gives a great pre-Kona training ground.
What does the Occidental Lanzarote Mar have to offer triathletes? Well, first up there’s that new heated Olympic pool, which offers 10 lanes overlooking the sea (above). For guests it costs from €2.50 to hire a shared lane (depending on time of day), or from €17 for a whole lane booking (maximum of 8 swimmers), making it perfect for clubs looking to hold training sessions.
When we visited, Alberto Lorrio, the resort’s Sports Manager, showed us round the purpose-built space next to the pool that is now home to Technogym aerobic and strength-training machines, as well as an indoor cycling room and a complete Cross training box. There’s also a cycling centre with bike hire, storage and mechanic services.
If you’re looking for something a bit special during your stay, the Occidental has some impressive athlete-focused bedrooms as well. When we visited there was one altitude room available (from €144pp/pn) which includes a unit that can be set so that you choose the altitude you sleep at and they plan to open two more. There are also six Sports Suites (from €168pp/pn and there will soon be nine) which include bike storage and your own hot tub for post-training relaxation. All sports rooms even include a special Ironman-branded mattress!
Thanks to the size of the resort, there is plenty available for bigger clubs or athletes on a budget as well, with rooms available to sleep up to six athletes (ideal for youth training camps). Prices vary depending the time of the year, for example a week for training in a double room, half board from the 10 to the 17th of December costs around €345 per person per week.
Healthy options
The size of the resort also means that they can accommodate the needs of athletes as well as holidaymakers. Ok, so you’ll probably want to dodge the all-you-can-eat burgers (and beers) at the poolside bar and the old-school evening entertainment aimed at the older package holiday market, but head to the main restaurant for lunch or dinner and there’s a wide selection of healthy options available and special diets can be catered for. There’s also a private dining room that can be booked by clubs if you want to avoid the holidaymakers, plus the hotel offer an athlete package that takes into consideration that fact that most athletes won’t be wanting any alcohol. The spa also offers sports massage.
With a chilly few months of training ahead of us now in the UK, we’ll certainly be heading back to Lanzarote to check out how the resort is developing as a fitness destination. If only for the chance to dive into that amazing pool again!
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EXCLUSIVE 220 TRIATHLON OFFER. Save 10% by using the code ‘BATHLETE’ when booking directly through the website www.barcelo.com This code is not valid for group reservations. Training camps should contact the Sports Department directly.
Entries are now open for The open water endurance swimming race Red Bull Neptune Steps at Maryhill Locks in Glasgow.
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This adventurous race combines a 420 metre sprint swim in icy-cold water with eight canal gates to clamber over (a total climb of 18 metres). Each canal gate features a different obstacle to climb up – including cargo net, ropes, wood ladder, rope ladders and a climbing wall.
In March this year, Glasgow played host to more than 300 brave competitors, traveling from as far afield as Canada, Switzerland and Lebanon to swim, climb and conquer Red Bull Neptune Steps. Now the 2018 event is aiming to double participation, as the world’s only uphill swimming race continues to grow taking to the canal waters for this it’s fourth edition.
The competitors will compete in heats throughout the day. The highest placed swimmers from each round will then move onto the semi-finals and eventually the final.
The event launched in 2015 as the first ever fully supervised swimming event to take place in a Scottish canal.
Local swimmer Mark Deans has fought off some serious competition in recent years including Olympic swimmers and triathletes, accomplished Commonwealth Games competitors, and experienced adventure racers to string together 5 successive Red Bull Neptune Steps victories with wins in Glasgow and in Sweden. The Scottish champion swimmer recently smashed the world record for swimming 28.5 miles around Manhattan in what is considered to be one of the greatest challenges in endurance swimming, setting a new time of 6 and a half hours as part of the 20 Bridges marathon swimming event on July 23. Now, the 22 year old is relishing the prospect of defending his Red Bull Neptune Steps title following a nail-biting finale earlier this year. Looking ahead to the event Mark said:
“I’m aiming to continue my unbeaten record, and keep on winning this event for as long as I possibly can. Each year, the competition gets tougher and tougher, but I’m up for the challenge of defending my title for sure. In this sport, there’s no other event quite like it”
Red Bull Neptune Steps will take place on Saturday March 10 at Maryhill Locks in Glasgow. Entries open Tuesday 24 Oct, 10am at redbull.co.uk/neptunesteps
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For more information on watching the event or taking part please visit www.redbull.co.uk/neptunesteps
Entries are now open for The open water endurance swimming race Red Bull Neptune Steps at Maryhill Locks in Glasgow.
Advertisement
This adventurous race combines a 420 metre sprint swim in icy-cold water with eight canal gates to clamber over (a total climb of 18 metres). Each canal gate features a different obstacle to climb up – including cargo net, ropes, wood ladder, rope ladders and a climbing wall.
In March this year, Glasgow played host to more than 300 brave competitors, traveling from as far afield as Canada, Switzerland and Lebanon to swim, climb and conquer Red Bull Neptune Steps. Now the 2018 event is aiming to double participation, as the world’s only uphill swimming race continues to grow taking to the canal waters for this it’s fourth edition.
The competitors will compete in heats throughout the day. The highest placed swimmers from each round will then move onto the semi-finals and eventually the final.
The event launched in 2015 as the first ever fully supervised swimming event to take place in a Scottish canal.
Local swimmer Mark Deans has fought off some serious competition in recent years including Olympic swimmers and triathletes, accomplished Commonwealth Games competitors, and experienced adventure racers to string together 5 successive Red Bull Neptune Steps victories with wins in Glasgow and in Sweden. The Scottish champion swimmer recently smashed the world record for swimming 28.5 miles around Manhattan in what is considered to be one of the greatest challenges in endurance swimming, setting a new time of 6 and a half hours as part of the 20 Bridges marathon swimming event on July 23. Now, the 22 year old is relishing the prospect of defending his Red Bull Neptune Steps title following a nail-biting finale earlier this year. Looking ahead to the event Mark said:
“I’m aiming to continue my unbeaten record, and keep on winning this event for as long as I possibly can. Each year, the competition gets tougher and tougher, but I’m up for the challenge of defending my title for sure. In this sport, there’s no other event quite like it”
Red Bull Neptune Steps will take place on Saturday March 10 at Maryhill Locks in Glasgow. Entries open Tuesday 24 Oct, 10am at redbull.co.uk/neptunesteps
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For more information on watching the event or taking part please visit www.redbull.co.uk/neptunesteps
38km of swimming. 1,800km of biking. 422km of running. Over 10 days. No matter how many times we read them, the numbers of Deca UK continue to astound.
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Launched by Brutal Events’ Claire Smith last year (whose Brutal is one of the toughest irons in the world) and making its debut in October 2017, the inaugural race took over Eton’s Dorney Lake – usually a beginner-triathlon honeypot – and attracted some of the most hardcore triathletes from around the globe, with the UK’s 100+ iron finisher, Anthony Gerundini, naturally on the start line.
Are these the 7 hardest triathlons in the world?
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But after 158:09:04 hours of racing, it would be Ireland’s Gerard Predergast who took the honours, and in the process becoming only the second-ever Irish person to complete a deca tri in 10 days.
The winner of the first DecaUK is @jrbootcamp Gerard Prendergast in 158:09:04
38km of swimming. 1,800km of biking. 422km of running. Over 10 days. No matter how many times we read them, the numbers of Deca UK continue to astound.
Advertisement
Launched by Brutal Events’ Claire Smith last year (whose Brutal is one of the toughest irons in the world) and making its debut in October 2017, the inaugural race took over Eton’s Dorney Lake – usually a beginner-triathlon honeypot – and attracted some of the most hardcore triathletes from around the globe, with the UK’s 100+ iron finisher, Anthony Gerundini, naturally on the start line.
Are these the 7 hardest triathlons in the world?
Advertisement
But after 158:09:04 hours of racing, it would be Ireland’s Gerard Predergast who took the honours, and in the process becoming only the second-ever Irish person to complete a deca tri in 10 days.
The winner of the first DecaUK is @jrbootcamp Gerard Prendergast in 158:09:04
Taking place 9-11 August, the European Championships features the Elite Standard Distance, Elite Mixed Relay and age-group ETU Sprint Distance Triathlon European Championships, and qualified athletes are encouraged to fully understand the process and implications of random drug testing. It is advised they access free Clean Sport training webinars in the lead up to the championships.
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Age-group drug testing has already been taking place at international events, but this will be the first time that it will operate at an international event in Britain. A successful pilot testing scheme, run by UK Anti-Doping (UKAD), took place at the British Triathlon Age-Group Team qualification event at Thorpe Park in September with the aim of familiarising more athletes with the testing process.
Fifty-seven athletes were randomly selected to attend a mock test and education session at the event last month. Additional athletes voluntarily engaged with clean sport trainers, and the process was met with excellent feedback from those who took part.
Ian Howard, British Triathlon President, said: “There have been a number of age-group anti-doping rule violations in other countries, some of which may have been inadvertent, so we have a duty of care to ensure that our athletes are educated about clean sport. This has been in our plans for some time in line with our objective of ensuring a level playing field for all competitors.”
British Triathlon is supporting the ETU’s decision to increase the amount of in-competition drug testing for age-group athletes at international events and will look to roll out their anti-doping education programme across the wider triathlon community in forthcoming months.
There will be an educational workshop at the upcoming British Triathlon and Triathlon England AGM and Workshop day on 11 November in Loughborough for those interested to learn more. Spaces on the free course are limited, so book early to secure a spot
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Therapeutic use exemption drugs and their place in performance medicine
TUEs and their use in sport
Taking place 9-11 August, the European Championships features the Elite Standard Distance, Elite Mixed Relay and age-group ETU Sprint Distance Triathlon European Championships, and qualified athletes are encouraged to fully understand the process and implications of random drug testing. It is advised they access free Clean Sport training webinars in the lead up to the championships.
Advertisement
Age-group drug testing has already been taking place at international events, but this will be the first time that it will operate at an international event in Britain. A successful pilot testing scheme, run by UK Anti-Doping (UKAD), took place at the British Triathlon Age-Group Team qualification event at Thorpe Park in September with the aim of familiarising more athletes with the testing process.
Fifty-seven athletes were randomly selected to attend a mock test and education session at the event last month. Additional athletes voluntarily engaged with clean sport trainers, and the process was met with excellent feedback from those who took part.
Ian Howard, British Triathlon President, said: “There have been a number of age-group anti-doping rule violations in other countries, some of which may have been inadvertent, so we have a duty of care to ensure that our athletes are educated about clean sport. This has been in our plans for some time in line with our objective of ensuring a level playing field for all competitors.”
British Triathlon is supporting the ETU’s decision to increase the amount of in-competition drug testing for age-group athletes at international events and will look to roll out their anti-doping education programme across the wider triathlon community in forthcoming months.
There will be an educational workshop at the upcoming British Triathlon and Triathlon England AGM and Workshop day on 11 November in Loughborough for those interested to learn more. Spaces on the free course are limited, so book early to secure a spot
Related
Advertisement
Therapeutic use exemption drugs and their place in performance medicine
TUEs and their use in sport
With this win, Duffy joins Xterra Hall of Famer Conrad Stoltz as the only other elite to win four titles, and is the only elite to win four straight.
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More than 800 endurance athletes – including six physically challenged athletes – from 52 countries competed in the event, which started with a one-mile rough water swim at D.T. Fleming Beach, followed by a 20-mile mountain bike ride that traversed the West Maui Mountains, and finished with a tough 6.5-mile trail run in the hot sun. In total there was more than 4,000-feet of combined climbing on the technical bike and run courses.
However the women’s race was all about Flora Duffy. She led the swim, the bike, and the run for the women by a remarkable lead. By mile 15 on the bike, Duffy had an almost six-minute lead on runner up Barbara Riveros from Chile.
“I did my first XTERRA World Championship in 2013, and I can vividly remember almost falling over running on that beach down there,” said Duffy.
“So, to be here today after winning four in a row is pretty unbelievable and pretty crazy to think about where I started. It’s a very special day for me, and what made it even cooler was that Bradley Weiss – Bad Brad I like to call him – won his first world title [men’s elite race]. We’ve done a lot of training together over the years. He helped me in my final prep to Rotterdam and I would like to think I helped him today.”
The 2017 Xterra Chile Champion, Barbara Riveros was in second place for most of the race after a solid swim. She finished in 2:56:11, about eight minutes behind Duffy. Laura Philipp was third in 2:57:24.
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“On the bike, Flora was on another level, we all know that,” said Riveros, a three-time Olympian, who missed the last two years at Maui because of injury. “I’m very happy to be at the finish in one piece and I’m happy to be back. I definitely need to spend more time on the mountain bike to get to the next level.”
With this win, Duffy joins Xterra Hall of Famer Conrad Stoltz as the only other elite to win four titles, and is the only elite to win four straight.
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More than 800 endurance athletes – including six physically challenged athletes – from 52 countries competed in the event, which started with a one-mile rough water swim at D.T. Fleming Beach, followed by a 20-mile mountain bike ride that traversed the West Maui Mountains, and finished with a tough 6.5-mile trail run in the hot sun. In total there was more than 4,000-feet of combined climbing on the technical bike and run courses.
However the women’s race was all about Flora Duffy. She led the swim, the bike, and the run for the women by a remarkable lead. By mile 15 on the bike, Duffy had an almost six-minute lead on runner up Barbara Riveros from Chile.
“I did my first XTERRA World Championship in 2013, and I can vividly remember almost falling over running on that beach down there,” said Duffy.
“So, to be here today after winning four in a row is pretty unbelievable and pretty crazy to think about where I started. It’s a very special day for me, and what made it even cooler was that Bradley Weiss – Bad Brad I like to call him – won his first world title [men’s elite race]. We’ve done a lot of training together over the years. He helped me in my final prep to Rotterdam and I would like to think I helped him today.”
The 2017 Xterra Chile Champion, Barbara Riveros was in second place for most of the race after a solid swim. She finished in 2:56:11, about eight minutes behind Duffy. Laura Philipp was third in 2:57:24.
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“On the bike, Flora was on another level, we all know that,” said Riveros, a three-time Olympian, who missed the last two years at Maui because of injury. “I’m very happy to be at the finish in one piece and I’m happy to be back. I definitely need to spend more time on the mountain bike to get to the next level.”
To celebrate the launch of her new book To The Finish Line, four time Ironman World Champ Chrissie Wellington is giving a talk in Bristol on Monday 27 November.
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Written in conjunction with 220, the book offers advice on everything, from planning your race season and fitting triathlon training into everyday life, to race nutrition strategies and coping with pre-race nerves, to exercising during pregnancy and how to budget for a triathlon.
Drawing on Chrissie’s own training and race experiences – both good and bad – and packed full of extras, such as recipes, a typical weekly training programme and pearls of wisdom from some of Chrissie’s own advisors, including her former coach and fellow Ironman legend, 220 Triathlon columnist Dave Scott
Chrissie told 220: “The book is something I have wanted to do for a long time and has been a labour of love. I wanted to give something back to the sport I love, which has given me so much, and inspire others to push that bar a little bit higher to see what they could achieve.
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Tickets to the event are free and you can register for the event here