Piranha NS Strategy – Race 2

Piranha National Series Strategy – Race 2                

The second race on the Club Calendar has arrived!!   Saturday, 21st June sees 64 Piranha’s participate in By Hook or by Crook in Dunmore East, Co. Waterford.   Not only is this our Club Championships – but also we are planning a “Face Off’ with our arch rivals Belpark Tri.  Every Piranha racing will contribute to the Face Off – it is going to be great fun. Read more below.

This note has the following sections:

• Who’s racing?
• Belpark Piranha Face Off
• Car Pooling – how to arrange a lift
• Getting there
• Post Race Dinner and Party in Dublin
• Pre-race day training and race day warm-up

Who’s Racing?

 Belpark Piranha Face Off

Belpark are also holding their Club Championships at By Hook or by Crook.   To add a little spice to the event,   we are going to have a competition between the two clubs.    The winning club will be the winner on the ‘Best of 7 Competitions’ as set-out below:

1. First woman to finish
2. First man to finish
3. Average NS points for all club participants
4. Average NS points for all women
5. Average NS points for all men
6. Average NS points for top 30% of all club participants
7. Average NS points for bottom 30% of all club participants

Getting There

I recommend that Piranha’s should get to Dunmore East for 9.00am, leaving Dublin about 7.00am.  

The majority of the parking is at the harbour – about 1k from the Spinnaker Bar where registration is taking place.  If you arrive a 9.00am, you should park at the harbour, get your bike / transition bag ready, cycle with gear back to the Spinnaker Bar to register and the go straight to Transition (0.5k further back from the Spinnaker).    Transition does not have assigned spaces,  so the earlier we are there the easier it will be for Piranhas to register our bikes together.

With only 2 waves (11.00 men under 40, 11.15 everybody else) we really can do a group-warm-up on the bike (say at 10.15am) and hopefully, psyche Belpark out at the sight of 60 Piranhas working as a team before the race.   

The link below will give you directions to Dunmore East.  It assumes that you are leaving from O’Connell Street.   Essentially head down the N7 (to Nass) which you can access from the M50 – and follow the driving instructions from there.

Dublin to Dunmore East – Driving Instructions

Post Race Dinner and Party in Dublin

The Club Championship Dinner and Party will be held at 8.30pm at Odessa, 14 Dame Court (opposite the Stag’s Head).     Thanks to the generous sponsorship of the Piranha Committee,  dinner will be fixed at €20.00 per person.  We will retire (I mean Party!!!) upstairs to Odessa Club after the dinner.    Piranha members who are not able to join us for dinner will be able to come to Odessa Club.  

Please note that although the race is in Dunmore East, Co. Waterford the dinner and party are back in Dublin.  The 8.30pm starts give all 60+ Piranha members time to get back from Waterford to Dublin for dinner and the party.

Details of Odessa can be found here:  Odessa

It is ESSENTIAL that Piranha’s indicate whether they are intending to attend the dinner.   This can be done through the spreadsheet on the attached link.   Already we have 45 Piranha’s who have confirmed they are attending the dinner.   We have resesrvations for 60 for dinner at Odessa,  and we will have to reduce the booking by Friday, 13th June.    So please promptly indicate your intention to attend, or not, as the case may be.

Club Championship Dinner Reservation Form

Pre race-day training and Race-Day warm-ups  

(compliments of Dig Deep’s Shannon Connolly)

 Pre-race day drills:

 Swimming:       If swimming in open water:

• 10 minutes aerobic front crawl swimming- focus on open water skills- sighting/turning around buoy-
• 4 x 20 seconds hard with 30 seconds recovery
• Another 5-10 minutes very easy swim (Mixture of front and back crawl)
• Stretch

or

If using pool, 20 minutes easy swim to include,

• Warm up: 200m as 50m front/50m back easy
• Main set: Include 4 x 25m at higher intensity with 30 seconds recovery between each 25.
• Cool down: 5-10 minutes easy front or back crawl

Bike:                 30 minutes easy cycle, with 3 x15 seconds at zone 4 Hr (effort 8/10) in the middle of the session- separate each of these efforts with 90 seconds easy spinning. Keep to a flat route today, and focus on maintaining high cadence.

Run:                 5 minutes easy run with 3 x 7 second strides at increased intensity at the end.

Tip 1:                Particularly for the longer distances, do these sessions early on Friday, and then keep off your feet to get recovery before Saturday morning

Tip 2:                Focus on hydrating by sipping water throughout day

Tip 3:                If doing swim in open water (recommended if possible)- Hang your wetsuit out to dry early. A dry wetsuit will be a lot more comfortable in the 15 minutes before race start.

Race day warm up

 Suggested times to meet-up for Group Bike-Warm-up.   Watch-out for further posts to let you know who will lead the cycle warm-up and the rendezvous:

• Double Olympic: 7.30am (30 minutes before race briefing)
• Olympic: 9.00am (30 minutes before race briefing)
• Sprint / Tri-a Tri: 15.50 (40 / 30 minutes before race briefing) 

Cycle:               Before you rack bike try to get 10-15 minutes easy cycle- this will give you a feel for you race position, changing gears and pedaling technique. Keep this cycle at easy intensity- This can be a couple of hours before the race start and the purpose is to give you a feel for the bike (Use run/swim as warm up before race)

 When racking your bike:   Do a couple of jogs through the transition and visualise where you have to enter and exit for T1 & T2. Know actually where your bike is – memorise how to get to your bike quickly.

Run:                 After racking your bike and setting up your transition completely- I’d recommend to do run warm up next- complete 10-15 minutes jog with 5x 10 strides seconds at intensity of 7/10 (see link below)- try to be finishing the run warm up approximately 20-25 minutes of starting your race – then get wetsuit on for swim warm up below.

Strides Warm-up Video

Swim:               I would recommend dynamic movements of your arms and shoulder e.g. circling your arms and practicing the swim motion then get into the water for at least 5-10 minutes if possible for swim. Start with some aerobic swimming and add 4 x20 seconds at race intensity, with 1 minute easy between each.

Any questions then please contact me on the numbers below.

Happy racing,

Bernard Hanratty
National Series Coordinator
M: 087 231 5086 | PM: Bernard | Email: ber.hanratty@gmail.com