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Sussex hosted a popular Endurance Training Day recently.  Despite the wintry conditions the event attracted over 30 coaches from Sussex, Surrey and Hampshire, including 6 coaches from the Local Coach Development Programme and 5 coaches on the Area Coach Development Programme.  County Endurance Coach Chris Marsden was delighted that so many athletes and coaches didn’t let their Christmas shopping interfere with what was an excellent training session around the scenic grounds of Ardingly College deep in the heart of Sussex.

Keeping Hydrated was one of the topics discussed - the athletes worked hard and had the opportunity to undertake a pre and post training hydration test and later in the morning they went on to learn the benefits of maintaining good levels of hydration even in the cold.  The Nutrition and Hydration talk given by Matt Furber - a local athlete from Crawley AC who works for Lucozade - was a practical lesson for the athletes concerned; Matt joined in the repetition session on the grass with the athletes and then went on to give the lecture on the benefits of keeping hydrated.  He had tested some of the athletes and was able to show the effect of the training session on their hydration levels.
 
Area Coach Mentor Neville Taylor invited one of his mentee coaches, Noel Stoddart, to give a fascinating talk of his experience with working with some of the top Kenyan runners at their training camp in Eldoret.  Noel shed light on the Kenyans' lifestyles and training regimes which gave the listening athletes and coaches food for thought.   John Clements, an endurance coach from Brighton & Hove AC and one of the coaches on the Local Coach Development Programme commented,“it was enlightening to learn about the factors which led to the huge numbers of successful Kenyan athletes.  I think the athletes were surprised to find out exactly how much running these athletes do and the coaches learned that what they do is not complicated. It’s get togethers like these which allow coaches to gather information and pick up new ideas which are not in books or videos.”




The positive feedback and comments from the coaches and athletes has encouraged the Sussex Athletics Network to build more of these training days into their calendar - there will be another chance to get together for the next Coach & Athlete Development Day on February 21st at Lewes.

For more information, contact Sussex Athletics Network Coordinator Zoe McKinnon zoe.mckinnon@dorothy-stringer.co.uk or Club & Coach Support Officer Elspeth Turner eturner@englandathletics.org

• Sussex Athletics Network website