Mondays set the tone for the week, so get yourselves to swimming tonight and let’s make this a good one!

It’s the start of Build Week #1 and it’s really important for those ramping up for Race #1 of the 2XU Series to follow the program according.  This cycle build will lead you right into race day (Sunday 28 Nov), so no point slacking off now.  There’s still plenty of time to lift that intensity, refine your technique and brush up on the ever-important transition skills.  If the latter is you (come on...you know it's most of you!), best you make your way down to Elwood this Thursday night and Saturday morning to blow out the cobwebs!

Our TTT’s might be able to show you a thing or two!  If you’ve been around this week (or seen the socials), you would have noticed our group of very enthusiastic newbies.  They not only braved the bay on Thursday night but perfected the flying mount and dismount in the rain on Saturday.  Breeding them tough this season.  And rightly so, as a predicted 'wetter-than-normal summer' might see a couple of races with less-than-ideal conditions!

Great feedback from the coaches about the band warm-ups happening before each squad swim.  Don’t forget to bring them along and allow yourself that bit of extra time to get them done before jumping in.  And speaking of extra time, MSAC have advised there is a small event running at the same time as our swim session Monday night, so there might be a few more cars or foot traffic to negotiate on your arrival.

I hope you took some time to nurture yourself during recovery week and take in the message about staying out of the grey.  There should not be any athlete turning up tired at the start of build week, because you neglected you follow the plan.  Something we would like to encourage is for athletes to start training your minds.  Just like the muscles that help us swim, bike and run, our brain muscles need to be trained and developed, to perform when we want them to.  I’ve found a good article about one of our favourite sayings, Control the Controllable.  It’s an easy (quick) read and one of the best parts is that is provides a couple of quick exercises that help you recognise where to focus your attention and gives you a tangible action plan.

And as we prepare ourselves for race day, I’ve dug out one of the clips from the Tri-Alliance TV archives to help you check over your bike to make sure it’s race ready!

That’s a wrap on another edition of the Weekly Transition.  Next week we’ll have all the important links to get you set for Race #1 at Elwood. 
Until then, stay dry, work hard and shout out if you need anything!

With Race #1 of the 2XU series right around the corner, now would be a perfect time to check over your bike to make sure it is in tip-top shape for race day.

Head Coach Ollie Allan takes us through 5 important bike checks to ensure your bike is safe and ready to race.

This was a great (quick) article to read and to remind ourselves to stay focussed on those things which you can control.  I especially liked the list of exercises that can help you concentrate during competition.  It's good timing ahead of our upcoming races to think about where we should be directing our attention and when to let go. 

"Remember athletes who can focus on the task at hand and avoid distractions enjoys the greatest possibility of success. So invest your time and energy into things you can control such as attention. You are never going to be in complete control of everything so why not accept the unpredictability and enjoy what you can control." Written by Sidd Sampla for Believe Perform