Calling All Winter Triathletes

Hi Keith, let's get some facts down straight away. What will the winter triathlon consist of in the upcoming championships?

I've proposed concentrating on the world championships in Austria, which are a week after the Euros. There's going to be a 4.5k cross-country run, then 7.5k cross-country on the mountain bike and then six kilometers of cross-country skiing.

How many athletes will Team GB be taking and what are the chances of a medal?

Last year we took 17 athletes and won one gold, a silver and two bronzes across the various age groups. This year I'm looking to take around 30 athletes, which would make us one of the biggest team there, and I'm targeting a bigger medal haul. Our main rivals will, of course, be the Scandinavian countries, plus Germany, Austria and Italy. In addition to trying to work with one elite female and two elite males, I'm recruiting for athletes now, actually, so if anyone fancies their chances they could drop me a line at keithsnell@britishtriathlon.org

Have you had much of a response so far? Are there many winter triathletes in the UK?

Yes there are. It's a very new sport but it's growing rapidly, so much so that I heard it's going to be added to the Olympics, which is only right seeing as how the summer triathlon is already an Olympic sport. The people who won medals for us last year were all in the military like me, and the army encourages us to ski if we're somewhere suitable. But there is a lot of civilian Nordic skiing clubs in the UK and I'm open to anybody. Like swimming in the summer triathlon, skiing is the most technical event in the winter version so it's the one most people find toughest.

Presumably anyone who is based in the UK is at a disadvantage when it comes to preparing for a cross-country ski, what with there not being much snow about in Blighty.

I've already had a few athletes get in touch with me and say they'd like to take part but have never skied on snow before. Instead they've done roller-skiing, which is basically like using giant roller blades but is actually quite similar to skiing on the snow. So I'm not ruling those people out; obviously there's a selection criteria and I have to make sure our people will be able to get around the course, but I'm open to bringing people in and nurturing them through the years.

How can you prepare for running in the snow if it's not snowing where you live?

Find somewhere muddy and with a lot of small hills and just keep going up and down. Same for the mountain biking. A good slippery wooded track could also give a similar feel.

You do summer triathlons as well as winter ones. How hard is it to switch between the two?

In the summer version you swim first, then cycle and finish with the run. In the winter version you run first, then cycle and then ski, so you have to adapt your training to get practice at coming off a run and getting straight on to your bike. Most people think the muscle groups are the same, but they're actually fundamentally different. The cycling is mainly a pulling motion whereas running is a more a driving motion so the muscles need to get used to switching between the two.

How should you adapt your training?

Make it shorter and sharper. You don't even have to do it on the road, it can be done in the gym. Just make sure you go running for 10-15 minutes and then on to the bike for 10-15 minutes, then back to the running, then back to the bike and so on. That way you build up muscle memory of the changeover.

As well as managing the team, you'll be competing in the championships after missing out last year with illness. What's your training schedule like at the moment?

I train about two hours a day because, of course, you have to balance training with work and family. That's actually one of the most common questions you see in triathlon magazines: how can I best achieve what I want with minimal training? The answer is that you try to incorporate your training into your daily routine. For example, I live about four kilometers from work but I cycle there every morning in a loop so that the journey is 10-15k. Similarly, ask yourself what you do at lunch time: should you sit and eat for an hour or go for a 45-minute run? At the weekend I go skiing if there's snow, or else, during the summer, I roller ski.