Track and Field Season gets off to a flying start at Royal Air Force Cosford

By Fg Off Charlie Todd

30 enthusiastic athletes, 7 coaches and a brace of excellent training facilities at Royal Air Force Cosford, made for a fantastic first Training and Standards weekend in the 2010 Track and Field Season!

The weekend kicked off with a lengthy round of introductions due to a variety of newcomers taking up the challenge of track and field for the first time and Flt Lt Nav Childs was announced as the new Men’s Team Manager. With the formalities out of the way Flt Lt Rob Barker Davies put everyone through their paces in a group warm up designed to pave the way for the hard work ahead.

Everyone then broke down into groups, each covering one of the athletic disciplines: Jumps, Throws and Sprints (the distance runners joined in with the sprinters to work on their technique). The Throwers drew the short straw as they were put through a tough circuit with one of our civilian coaches, Paul Wilson. Running drills awaited the Jumps and Sprints groups focusing on technique and correct form before splitting down again to work on event specific elements. The Jumpers talked through the theory behind the jump events before moving on to tackle a variety of rhythm and take off drills. The Sprinters focused on talking through potential training options and what their aims would be for the season, critical information to know at this early stage of the season. They benefited from the experience of Scottish International Cpl Stu Benson and Sprints coach Sgt Andy Hughes who were on hand throughout the weekend to offer advice and encouragement to all.

After a hearty lunch in the Junior Ranks Mess, the afternoon session started with the Association’s new Development Officer, Flight Sergeant Frank Chapman, giving a talk on the 7 S’s of Training:-

Skills, Speed, Strength, Stamina, Suppleness, Sustenance, Sleep

Emphasis was placed on incorporating all these elements to create productive and efficient training. This was hugely beneficial at this point in the season, enabling everyone to make informed choices as to how they can shape and phase their training towards competition- as well as providing a great forum to swap ideas and learn from each others experiences.

With lunch now a distant memory the groups formed once again to tackle the weights room. The focus was on learning specific free weights exercises pertinent to each discipline and also providing a chance for the more experienced athletes to refine and check their technique, therefore providing something for everyone.

The culmination of the day saw everyone come together for one of Paul’s famous ‘Abs & Core’ sessions. Always a good workout, and particularly challenging at the end of a full day, there was some serious shaking, squeezing, lifting and clenching before everyone collapsed happily!

Following a quick shower and a change of clothes a group of 25 athletes made the most of a lovely local pub to have a huge dinner in sumptuous surroundings! The perfect end to a very productive day!

Sunday morning saw Rudy Farquharson take the reigns and put everyone through a fantastic plyometric session on the track. Rudy is an ex RAF Flight Sergeant and top level coach currently working with a diverse range of athletes through the English Institute of Sport, many of which were competing in the Commonwealth Games in India. Throughout the session he taught us how to implement the exercises into our own training, in particular, how to phase in plyometrics without sustaining injury.

To end the weekend, everyone returned to the gym for a well deserved stretching session addressing the critical Suppleness element of Franks 7 S’s. All the athletes contributed a stretch to the session showing you don’t have to be an expert to bring something to these highly educational weekends.

The weekend was dynamic, fun and educational with the added benefit of welcoming many new faces, as well as old friends, to RAF Athletics. Thank you to everyone for giving up their weekend and making the event buzz! Special thanks must go to the coaches and management for all their hard work and time - Thank you all!

Pictures

Please join us at the next Training and Standards Weekend 20/21 Nov 10 at RAF Cosford.

If you want any of the training programs from the weekend or more details on our future weekends, send a Query to Fg Off Charlie Todd