By Flt Lt Jacqui Smith

The first coaching weekend went well, with several athletes attending, both newcomers and also several familiar faces. A total of 20 athletes(some from as far as Leuchars), 4 coaches and the Ladies Team Manager made up the group.

We began the weekend with a discussion group looking at individuals' targets and goals for the forthcoming season. We then discussed in open forum how we would hope to attain these short-term and long term goals. This session was led by Sgt Andy Hughes and proved very useful enabling the athletes to learn how they could achieve these goals; it also enabled new individuals to gain knowledge from the more experienced athletes.

FS Mark Owen (O's) took the whole group through a dynamic warm up using small hurdles and SAQ kit. This was followed by a track session where the group split into 3 disciplines; distance, (timed efforts), sprints (pyramid work-lead by O's) and jumps (plyometrics - lead by Chris Berry). Ideally, it would have been very useful if there had of been a distance coach there as there were 5 distance athletes new to the team and they were all eager to gain some guidance on improving their discipline. I mentioned that I would try to get a distance coach there for the forthcoming weekend in Nov.

The whole group went out for a Chinese on the Sat evening.

On the Sun, Ruddy Farqhuarson took the whole group through basic conditioning work, explaining the importance of conditioning the body now, in particular the hips and ankles, to help prepare it and prevent injury on the track later in the season. He also demonstrated core stability exercises and explained the importance of strengthening this area. The session was finished with basic weights work, showing correct body positions when doing squats and knee raises on a box.

We finished with a wash up which included a discussion on nutrition and the use of food supplements, protein and carbohydrate intake, which was lead by Sgt Andy Huges.

For the future weekends, I would like to include more presentations such as sport psychology, exercise and sport physiology and nutrition, motivation etc. I firmly believe that including these basic educational elements, as well as technical and practical side to training, will provide individuals with the necessary tools to assist with their training and improve their performance.

If you have any suggestions or further questions regarding the weekends please submit a Query.

I big thank you to all the athletes who attended and the coaches who gave up their own time to help provide the support and advice which is vital to making the RAFAA a cohesive and stronger team.