2009-06 Triathlete

2009 SPECIAL SWIMSUIT EDITION GEAR >> TRAINING >> RACE SCENE >> LIFESTYLE

NO.302

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JUNE 2009

BODY IMAGE ARE TRIATHLETES

OBSESSED?

STACY K AMANO AMATEUR TRIATHLETE

10TOYS FOR A FASTER SWIM

MEET YOUR NEW FAVORITE

RUNNING SHOES SPECTATOR-FRIENDLY

TRI TRENDS triathletemag.com

AVIA, the Thunderbolt logo, are trademarks or registered trademarks of American Sporting Goods Corporation. Š2009 Avi-Lite Guide™ Patent Pending.

THE BOLT IS HERE. LIGHTNING FAST. RACE-READY FOR ALL DISTANCES.

the new BeSt In CLASS. running a marathon, competing in a 10K or simply challenging your own best effort demands physical and mental energy to go the distance. long, hard runs deplete the natural glycogen stores that your body needs for boosts of energy. toward the end of a distance race when those energy reserves are low, you can hit the wall. pro performance® Amp is GnC’s new line of advanced muscle performance products designed to help you break through that wall. for years, endurance athletes relied on carbo-loading to store up energy. However, clinical research now indicates that adding protein to the mix is essential to keep you strong. protein also

has the added benefit of replenishing your body with amino acids necessary for muscle rebuilding and recovery. pro performance® Amp is a complete line of supplements that gives endurance athletes an edge. it was developed through rigorous clinical trials to bring you the highest quality ingredients for the greatest possible benefits. itt includes several protein supplement options, as well as products that improve endurance and help sustain high energy levels. When training for your next competition, give yourself an advantage with pro performance® Amp.

Amplified WHey protein™ Get more bang for your buck with GnC’s fast-acting Amplified Whey protein™. it delivers 40 grams of technologically enhanced protein, which you need to build and repair muscle. And it’s proven to get more key amino acids into your blood better and 142% faster than ordinary whey protein.1 Because it’s all about fast.

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Amplified musCle iGniter 4x Amplify your training performance with this four-phase workout enhancer. it delivers 300% pre-workout calorie burn,3 improves physical and mental intensity, improves cardio endurance by five minutes4 and provides antioxidant protection. this metabolic modifier will help you get to the next level.

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In a randomized, double-blind, cross-over study of 16 healthy male volunteers, subjects experienced significantly higher maximum concentrations of total amino acids, branched chain amino acids and leucine one hour post-ingestion of the protein blend in GNC Pro Performance ® AMP Amplified Whey Protein™ relative to amino acid concentrations measured post-ingestion of whey protein concentrate. Significant differences for the rate of change of BCAA and leucine absorption were also observed relative to the control group.2 In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 50 healthy, untrained male volunteers were given Amplified Maxertion N.O.™ or a placebo. Each subject exercised on a cycle ergometer prior to receiving the supplement or placebo and again after the treatment period was finished. Those subjects supplemented with Amplified Maxertion N.O.™ had a 20% increase in PWCFT (physical working capacity at the fatigue threshold) after four weeks of supplementation relative to the placebo group.

3 In a clinical study, a group of 25 participants exercised on the treadmill on two occasions. On one occasion they used the calorie burn blend in Amplified Muscle Igniter 4X 60 minutes before exercise and on the second occasion, they took a placebo. Results showed a 300% increase in calorie burning before exercise when subjects consumed the calorie burn blend compared to results observed on placebo. 4 A study of 29 physically fit and healthy young adult male subjects averaging about four hours of exercise a week cycling to exhaustion at 80% VO2 max showed that these individuals were able to increase performance measured by time to exhaustion by nearly five minutes longer than when taking a placebo. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Call 1.800.477.4462 or visit gnc.com for the store nearest you. ©2009 General Nutrition Corporation. May not be available outside the U.S. 1

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*In a randomized, double-blind, cross-over study of 16 healthy male volunteers, subjects experienced significantly higher maximum concentrations of total amino acids, branched chain amino acids and leucine one hour post-ingestion of the protein blend in GNC Pro Performance ® AMP Amplified Whey Protein™ relative to amino acid concentrations measured post-ingestion of whey protein concentrate. Significant differences for the rate of change of BCAA and leucine absorption were also observed relative to the control group. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Call 1.800.477.4462 or visit gnc.com for the store nearest you. ©2009 General Nutrition Corporation. May not be available outside the U.S. Ad: Arnell Photo: Arnell

contents

No. 302

4 18

Check out Triathlete’s new column, Up Front, written by Andy Potts.

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JuNe 2009

DEPARTMENTS

coluMNS

16 Publisher’s Note

142 laNe liNes

20 startiNg liNes

145 big riNg

22 Mail Call

151 oN the ruN

By JohN DukE

By MiTch ThRowER

24 CheCkiNg iN IndusTRI; News Analysis; Pro Bike; Link of the Month; Fast Food Showdown; Recipe; Medically Speaking; Kona Q&A; Training Tip; Endurance Conspiracy; Get Leaner; Selection; Light Read

TRAiNiNG

By SARA MclARTy

By JASoN GolDBERG

By kEviN BEck

157 sPeed lab

By TiM MicklEBoRouGh, PhD

162 teCh suPPort

By chRiSToPhER kAuTz

165 doCtor’s orders

By w. chRiSToPhER wiNTER, MD

134 traiNiNg Feature 1: balaNCe the iMbalaNCe

168 NutritioN Q&a

138 traiNiNg Feature 2: big swiM sets

170 FuNdaMeNtals

By MARk AllEN

By PAul REGENSBuRG

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By PiP TAyloR

By iAN MuRRAy

triathlete’s garage 174 look 576

By JAy PRASuhN

176 trek wsd

By NAN kAPPElER

178 gear bag

By BRAD culP

180 Xterra ZoNe

By MElANiE McQuAiD

182 tiCket PuNCh

By SAMANThA McGloNE

184 uP FroNt

By ANDy PoTTS

208 tiNley talks

By ScoTT TiNlEy

193 at the raCes june 2009

8; <?HIJ$

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No. 302

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features

JuNe 2009

oN ThE covER Cover: Stacy Kamano • Photo by Tim Mantoani Spectator-Friendly Tri Trends 10 Toys for a Faster Swim Body Image: Are Triathletes Obsessed?

2009 Swimsuit Edition Your New Favorite Running Shoes

57 body iMage iN triathloN Are triathletes obsessed with their body image?

By ERiN BERESiNi

62 2009 swiMsuit guide 108 oN loCatioN at the ariZoNa biltMore

112 traiNiNg shoe guide

By T.J. MuRPhy

122 tauPo’s silver aNNiversary Adventure, beauty, danger and a 25-year-old race lure the masses to New Zealand.

By FRED DREiER

28 50 57 62 112

128 New to the gaMe—sort oF A perennial player in the tennis-and casual-shoe markets, K-Swiss is now making a place for itself in the crowded performance running-shoe realm.

By MATT FiTzGERAlD

A review of the hotel that hosted this year’s swimsuit photo shoot.

By ERiN BERESiNi 12

triathletemag.com

june 2009

Introducing miSOUL Tech interchangeable sole system for customized performance.

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See miSOUL Tech in action at KSWISS.COM

3X Ironman Champion CHRIS LIETO

First Wave

Chasing Waterfalls

BY RICH CRUSE Brit Jim McConnel carefully descends a waterfall at XTERRA Guam on April 4. The trail run at this unique event features very little trail at all, and instead forces athletes through lush jungle, creek passes and slippery falls. McConnel won the menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s race, while his countrywoman, Julie Dibens, took the womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s title.

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june 2009

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Publisher’s Note

Innovation.

V-1000 Xtreme Multi-Sport Goggle

Courtesy Tim Mantoani

Quality.

V-820 Selene Women’s Goggle

Performance.

V-130 Shinari Racing Goggle

Since 1952.

See what you’ve been missing buy a pair today! viewswimming.com

Optical Goggles

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SwimSuit hiStory

When I was given the opportunity to run Triathlete Magazine some 12 years ago, my dream came true. When the magazine was founded in 1983, I was already a passionate triathlete and had an extensive publishing background, so I couldn’t help but wonder, “Why didn’t I think of that?” I felt that I had missed the chance of a lifetime. Never in my wildest imagination did I think someone would hand me the keys to this wonderful vehicle.

After taking the reins of Triathlete, one of my first thoughts was, “We must do a swimsuit issue.” As a longtime triathlete, I felt that triathletes had some of the best physiques in sport, and what better way to celebrate that fact than to showcase these magnificent bodies with the swimsuits they wear? Our first swimsuit issue was a rudimentary effort. We took a camera to the pool, found a few good-looking triathletes and took some photos. Since we had nothing to measure it against we were very excited. When it came off the press, we could not wait to share that issue with our friends and colleagues, all of whom were excited too.

When the first negative letter came in it was like being sucker-punched. The last thing we expected was the criticism that we were being racy and inappropriate. The staff was pretty shocked by the level of emotion generated by a small but vocal minority. The

team in 1997 had only put out a few issues and already we were engaging our readers.

Out of obligation and with the most sincere intentions we ran the more strident letters without apologies. We thought we were sending ourselves to the doghouse. But then an amazing thing happened: Letters of support, far outnumbering the negatives, poured in to our defense. That shift made it clear that the swimsuit issue was here to stay.

This year I am sure we will get letters, and some readers will cancel their subscriptions.

To you, we apologize in advance. It was not our intention to outrage you, but hey, you can’t please all the people all of the time.

Look for those letters in the next issue, as they always stir a lively debate.

As someone who has been at every swimsuit shoot since its inception, I must say this year’s was one of the best. The photos speak for themselves, but having been there I can tell you the models were not only attractive but terrific, and the Biltmore and the city of Phoenix were incredibly accommodating. I recommend that our readers who live in the colder winter regions of the country consider Phoenix as a winter training and vacation spot. (And did I mention P.F. Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona Marathon and Half Marathon in January?)

Anyway, without further ado, enjoy (or maybe not) this special issue.

John Duke Publisher june 2009

I can’t believe how light Nanograms are. It’s like riding with the weight of one pedal instead of two. My foot is so close to the spindle, I can hold the gear better, and I have a real awareness that 100% of my power goes right into the bike.

– Chris McCormack – 2007 Ironman World Champion

®

www.speedplay.com

No. 302 | 2009 Publisher John Duke Associate Publisher Heather Gordon VP, Event Marketing Sean Watkins Editor Brad Culp, bculp@competitorgroup.com Managing Editor Somyr McLean Perry, sperry@competitorgroup.com Senior Editors Matt Fitzgerald, mfitzgerald@competitorgroup.com Jay Prasuhn, jprasuhn@competitorgroup.com Associate Editor Susan Grant sgrant@competitorgroup.com Online Coordinator Kurt Hoy khoy@competitorgroup.com Online Editor Liz Hichens lhichens@competitorgroup.com Editorial Intern Ashley Slaney, aslaney@competitorgroup.com Copyeditor Marilyn Iturri Photo Editor John Segesta jsegesta@competitorgroup.com Graphic Designer Oliver Baker, obaker@competitorgroup.com Medical Advisory Board Jordan Metzl, MD; Jeff Sankoff, MD VP, Production/Circulation Heather Gordon, hgordon@competitorgroup.com Senior Account Executive Sean Watkins, Cycling & Events swatkins@competitorgroup.com Senior Account Executive Lisa Bilotti, Nutrition, Apparel, Footwear & Auto lbilotti@competitorgroup.com Marketplace Sales Laura Agcaoili, lagcaoili@competitorgroup.com Ad Manager Deena Hancock, dhancock@competitorgroup.com Ad Coordinator Lisa McGinn, lmcginn@competitorgroup.com Accounting Vicky Trapp, vtrapp@competitorgroup.com Customer Service Linda Marlowe, Linda@pcspublink.com Nancy Pomeroy, Nancy@pcspublink.com Triathlete Magazine Offices 10179 Huennekens Street, Suite 100, San Diego, CA 92121 Phone: (858) 768-6805; Fax: (858) 768-6806 Triathlon.competitor.com Attention Retailers: To carry Triathlete in your store, call Retail Vision: (800) 381-1288 SUBSCRIPTIONS: Your satisfaction is important to us. For questions regarding your subscription call (800) 441-1666 or (760) 291-1562. Or, write to: Triathlete, P.O. Box 469055, Escondido, CA 92046. Or, e-mail: subs@triathletemag.com.

Back Issues available for $8 each. Send a check to Triathlete Magazine Back Issues, 10179 Huennekens Street, Suite 100, San Diego, CA 92121 and specify issues requested, or visit Triathlon.competitor.com.

Submission of material must carry the authors’/photographers’ guarantees that the material may be published without additional approval and that it does not infringe upon the rights of others. No responsibility is assumed for loss or damage to unsolicited manuscripts, art work or photographs. All editorial contributions should be accompanied by self-addressed, stamped envelopes.

Printed in the USA. Triathlete Magazine is a publication of the

David Moross Peter Englehart Scott P. Dickey Steve Gintowt John Duke John Smith Bruce Herring Dan Vaughan David O’Connell Rebecca McKinnon Sean Clottu

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Chairman President & CEO Chief Operating Officer/CMO Chief Financial Officer SVP, Group Publisher SVP, National Sales SVP, Events VP, Digital Media VP, Western Region Sales VP, Eastern Region Sales VP, Sales Development

june 2009

SPEED THAT HAS TO BE EXPERIENCED BUOYANCY YOU CAN FEEL

A COLLAR YOU WON’T FEEL

Our exclusive PT Buoyancy Panel is designed to keep your hips high and create a downhill swimming position.

Our UnCollar will make you forget that you even have a wetsuit on.

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Our giant 1.5mm ultra-high stretch Wingspan panel provides maximum mobility and encourages body roll and a fluid swim stroke.

Feel how our EasyOff superstretch calf panels allow the Frequency to pop off fast.

THE NINETEEN FREQUENCY PROJECT The Frequency Project began with the intention of rethinking the classic wetsuit challenge of flexibility vs. buoyancy.

The result is a ground breaking suit that is more flexible in the upper body and more buoyant in the hips and legs than any suit on the market. The Frequency delivers what you need where you need it.

Feel it for yourself at your local Nineteen retailer.

Austin Tri Cyclist Austin, TX (512) 494-9252

Running Away Chicago, IL (773) 395-2929

T TriSports.com Tucson, AZ (888) 293-3934

Running Free Markham, ON (905) 477-7871

Bonzai Sports Falls Church, VA (703) 280-2248

See Jane Run San Francisco, CA (888)-606-4394

TrySports Raleigh, SC (919) 785-2824

Speed Theory Vancouver, BC (604) 714-0171

Endurance House Middleton, WI (608) 836-9084

Speedy Reedy Seattle, WA (206) 632-9879

Cycle Logik Ottawa, ON (613) 722-2345

T Tri-It Calgary, AB (403) 270-7776

Fraser Bicycle Fraser, MI (586)-294-4070

Triathlete Sports Bangor, ME (800) 635-0528

Enduro Sport Toronto, ON (800) 448-4678

Way Past Fast Edmonton, AB (780) 448-0570

OneTri.com Santa Ana, CA (888) 289-1874

Tribe Multisport Scottsdale, AZ (480) 421-9442

Foot Tools Burlington, ON (905) 637-1888

www.nineteenwetsuits.com

Starting Lines

Are You ComfortAble in Your own Skin?

The topic of body image is one that many triathletes take very seriously. Not just because of how nice washboard abs look on top of two bulging quads, but because if we try to carry an extra 15 pounds for the 140.6 miles of an Ironman, each pound adds an exponential amount of stress and effort to our journey. Carrying extra weight through any race is a dramatic demonstration that our bodies want to live as efficiently as possible, all the time.

When black neoprene and nylon skinsuits first appeared at triathlons across the country, a friend told me he hated them. He said people train all year, sometimes for several years, to go to a triathlon and check each other out and show off their work—skinsuits hide the work.

So are triathletes obsessed with body image? This question reminds me of something that happened a few years ago. Someone approached me and said, “I don’t care what I have to do, but I want a triathlete’s body. I’m sick of being overweight.” Three years later, she was an age-group champion. She completely transformed her body into its ideal functioning shape. And that is the shape that, when fully engaged and in motion, looks the best.

In a sport where we run around halfnaked much of the time, our lives and our perceptions of ourselves must be rooted in something deeper and more meaningful than how much blubber we can pinch on our waist.

(By the way, that’s just skin.)

Recent studies of the brain show that your brain’s perception of your body is hardly objective. What you see in the mirror may be far from the truth. This isn’t just pop psychology fluff to raise your self-esteem.

The fact that your senses don’t always tell you the truth is grounded in hard science.

For starters, a lot of what your eyes perceive is invented by your brain. When your eyes shift their focus from one tiny spot to another, they are moving too quickly to simply perceive. Without your mind to process the information, you are effectively blind. The eyes take in a sporadic series of jumbled photos and mentally stitch them together into a perceivable flow. Your brain translates data from the optical nerve into a plausible kinesthetic script that fills in the gaps and puts everything in its logical place. Most of what you see at any given time is imagined by your brain.

Want proof of this weird phenomenon?

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SockGuy_april.indd 1

Illustration by Thomas Kimball

By Mitch thrower

We need to focus on the fact that our bodies—flaws and all—are the machines that allow us to do the sport we love so much.

Look at your eyes close up in a mirror, and shift your focus quickly back and forth from your left pupil to your right pupil. Your pupils aren’t moving noticeably, are they? Now have your friend do it while you watch. You’ll see what your brain failed to notice before. Your eyes are moving too quickly to register the motion, so they invent a movie of your pupils appearing motionless. Like this, a huge part of the movie of your life is imagined, edited and pieced together.

Here’s where many of us are vulnerable.

With certain unattainable ideals from models, movie stars and elite athletes, we tend to reject certain body types—often our own. But when you’re at any local triathlon, just look around. There are people with more rounded bodies striding along on the run, and they look great. If you look, you can really watch the whole package—body, spirit, mind and heart—in action.

As triathletes, we should focus on the fact that our bodies, flaws and all, are the machines that allow us to do the sport we love. The mere fact that your body can swim, bike and run its way through any triathlon and still remain standing at the end means, quite simply, that it’s perfect.

Make sure that your body image is held up only to your own standard, and make sure your standard is not warped. It’s fun to look at swimsuits on beautiful bodies; it’s inspirational even. But remember that we are more than our bodies and that our bodies are linked to a spirit that illuminates them.

Train Smart, Mitch june 2009

2/2/09 3:51:28 PM

Pro triAthletes Are not MeAn

I

t is 4 a.m., I have been up for a few hours due to a rare case of insomnia, and I’ve been catching up on my reading in Triathlete. I just finished Scott Tinley’s “Bedtime Stories” (April 2009). After finishing the article, I started to flip back through the magazine.

I could not help but notice a trend in marketing by your advertisers. It seems that many of them have adopted an “our sponsored athletes are tough” kind of mentality. Now maybe I am just tired, but most of these athletes are the ones at the finish line with huge smiles on their faces. It just seems that too many pro triathletes do not have a “tough guy” game face to give.

I love the competition in triathlon, but I also enjoy the approachable, friendly, “This is a group I would like to hang out with,” kind of spirit that triathlon brings to the table. I am just hoping that the recent trend in photos in our sport is not an indication of where the sport is heading.

Joe Kingston, Jr. Billerica, Mass.

Editor’s Note: Joe, I wouldn’t be too worried about pro triathletes taking on too much of a “tough guy” mentality. As you noted, most of these athletes are all smiles after the race. I think the rougher images used in our magazine are merely a depiction of the athletes’ focus and intensity while they’re on the race course. Three of our columnists—Andy Potts, Samantha McGlone and Tim DeBoom—are perfect examples. All three display laser-like focus while they race, but all three are also extremely approachable and friendly afterward.

races per season in addition to a number of events throughout the U.S. When I raced professionally, I was partially reimbursed for my travel to events like the duathlon worlds, but for all the rest I had to dig into my savings—just like everyone else.

After stepping back into amateur status last year, I am perched at a crossroads again.

That intersection is the money thing. Do I dig into shallow pockets hoping to find enough pocket change for another fabulous world-class event? Or is it time to fall back on strictly local events and sacrifice involvement with Team USA to save dough?

We all deserve to follow our passion, but at what cost? With all the cutbacks, companies are tight on sponsorship, even as entry fees and related costs escalate. Gone are the days of flying a bike for 40 bucks. I remember when United gave all USA Cycling members free bike vouchers. Great times indeed!

On another note, what happened to affordable entry fees? Next year there will be only one qualifying race for duathlon worlds.

Athletes will come from all over the U.S. to lay bets on one number: their own. Is it feasible to tote bike and body from Idaho to Richmond, Va., praying to not blow up or simply flat?

What happened to strategically placing race options in different regions so that more athletes could afford to participate?

Christine Knight Grangeville, Idaho

DollAr, DollAr Bills Y’All

H

McGlone’s AlternAte cAreer

I

just had to write after reading Samantha McGlone’s column in the April 2009 issue (Ticket Punch, page 208). That is one of the best articles I have ever read and not just because it was about a dog. I enjoyed the topic, style, composition and humor—I could go on for hours. Samantha has a gift and it’s not just multisport. Thanks so much. Samantha has a great alternate career ahead, if and when she retires from triathlon. Thanks to Samantha for saving a great dog at a shelter.

Gayle Minard Memphis, Tenn.

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ere I am reclining on my Alaska Airlines flight, soaking up the generous seat and legroom around me. Thank God for the surprise upgrade to first class on my flight from Phoenix. It’s my second gift of this nature in more than 20 years of traveling to races. This Average Jane cannot throw down extra bills for luxurious travel. When it drops my way, I’ll take it with grand appreciation and a spacious smile.

Such pampering comes at a time when I am quite sad about my future race agenda, or shall I say, lack thereof. For the past four years, I’ve attended two international june 2009

Jay Prasuhn

Mail Call

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ChECKING IN

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IndusTRI News Analysis Pro Bike Link of the Month Fast Food Showdown Recipe Medically Speaking Kona Q&A Training Tip Endurance Conspiracy Get Leaner Selection Light Read

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june 2009

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always first The new 2009 Helium Belts â&#x20AC;&#x201D; now available at your favorite specialty store. Support your local specialty run and multisport retailers.

Chrissie wellington 2008 Ironman World Champion

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wADA BAnS The USe of SUPPlemenTAl oxYgen The World Anti-Doping Agency has officially banned the use of canned or bottled oxygen in competition and training to combat blood doping. It based this ruling on section M1 of its code, which prohibits supplemental oxygen. This includes blood doping and use of perfluorocarbons and more commonly available products such as canned oxygen.

The WADA ruling targets synthetic oxygen carriers that increase the blood’s oxygencarrying capacity and says that tests to detect such doping have been in use since 2004. Its 2009 list of prohibited substances bans substances that “artificially enhance the uptake, transport or delivery of oxygen, including but not limited to perfluorocarbons, efaproxiral (RSR13) and modified hemoglobin products.”

Oxygen4Energy, a manufacturer of canned oxygen that markets to athletes in a variety of sports, challenges this ruling, saying that its product is safe and does not give users an unfair advantage in competition. It believes that the WADA ruling is too broad, grouping a safe sports supplement with hazardous doping methods.

“From a risk assessment standpoint alone, this comparison is very unreasonable,” states Oxygen4Energy. “Oxygen has been safely used in medical treatment for decades, whereas the other methods specifically cited by this rule are known to have potentially serious side effects.”

For more information about WADA, visit Wada-ama.org. For more information about Oxygen4Energy, visit Oxygen4energy.com.

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USAT nAmeS 2008 TriAThleTeS of The YeAr USA Triathlon has announced the winners of its Triathlete of the Year awards for 2008 as selected by the USAT Athlete Advisory Council. GPS manufacturer Garmin International sponsored the awards.

The ITU Triathletes of the Year are Matt Reed and Laura Bennett, both of whom competed for the U.S. at the 2008 Olympics. Reed won the U.S. Olympic Trials, and Bennett finished in fourth place at the Beijing Olympics.

The non-ITU Triathletes of the Year are new Triathlete columnist Andy Potts and Becky Lavelle.

Last year, Potts was the top American finisher at the Ironman World Championships and the Ironman 70.3 World Championships. Lavelle came in third at the Ironman 70.3 World Championships and was an alternate for the U.S. Olympic Team.

Daniel Bretscher, a rising star at the 70.3 distance, and Laurel Wassner, a strong performer in the 2008 IronGirl series, are the Rookie Triathletes of the Year.

The U23 awards went to Ethan Brown and Jasmine

Oeinck, and the Junior Athletes of the Year are Ben Steavenson and Kate Ross.

The Age Group Athletes of the Year for 2008 included 18 winners in nine categories. The awards honor the best male and female amateur multisport athletes in all age groups and the ParaTriathlete of the Year.

David Kahn and Brooke Davison are the overall Age Group Triathletes of the Year, while Chris Ganter and Suzanne Huelster won the same honors for duathlon.

Brian Bich and Ellen Hart are the Masters Triathletes of the Year, and Casey Williams and Julie Deary are the Masters duathletes for 2008. In the Grandmasters categories are Steve Smith and Ann Erickson in triathlon and Dennis Kasischke and Diane Proud.

Joe Welsh and Avery Visser are the Junior Triathletes of the Year, and Brian Register and Krystal Bemman are the Junior Duathletes of the Year. The ParaTriathletes of the Year are Jonathan Bik and Sandy Dukat.

For more information, visit Usatriathlon.org.

USAT AnnoUnceS 2009 TeAm, new ProgrAmS USA Triathlon recently released the roster for its 2009 Elite Team and two new athlete development projects: Project 2012 and Project 2016. Each program aims to support U.S. Olympians and promising athletes who are not yet competing at the National Team standard.

The 2009 Elite Team includes all six members of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team for triathlon, both of the alternates and an athlete who finished in the top four in the ITU women’s rankings last year. The roster includes Becky Lavelle, Laura Bennett, Sarah Groff, Julie Ertel, Sarah Haskins, Hunter Kemper, Matt Reed, Jarrod Shoemaker and Andy Potts. USAT gives these athletes financial support, performance services and staff support.

“I’m excited about the team we’ve put together for this year,” said USAT Sport Performance Director Scott Schnitzspahn. “Not only are they exceptional athletes, they are really quality people who are active in their communities and with a variety of charities.”

Project 2012 is a group of 10 promising athletes aiming for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team, including Triathlete columnist Sara McLarty. Likewise, Project 2016 is a group of six additional athletes that USAT will support as they aim for the 2016 Olympics.

USAT wants to develop these athletes so that they can compete at the National Team standard by their respective target years.

AViA welcomeS llAnoS BroTherS AnD Zeiger To iTS Pro TeAm Racing footwear manufacturer AVIA recently added Basque brothers Eneko and Hector Llanos and U.S. veteran Joanna Zeiger to its esteemed roster of professional triathletes.

Eneko Llanos came in second last year at Wildflower and the Ironman World Championship, and both brothers have been strong competitors on the XTERRA and ITU race circuits.

“The Llanos brothers are truly a welcomed addition to the AVIA family,” said Ed Goldman, vice president of marketing for AVIA. Zeiger has had an illustrious career,

including a fourth-place finish at the 2000 Olympics, a fifth-place finish at the Ironman World Championships that same year and a win at the Ironman 70.3 World Championships this past year, mounting a successful comeback after battling chronic back pain. She has continued to race well in 2009, starting with a win at the Great Escape Triathlon in Florida.

“Joanna has a passion for staying healthy, racing hard and enjoying life, and [is] one of the tri community’s finest public speakers,” said AVIA’s Goldman.

For more information about AVIA, visit Avia .com. For more information about Zeiger, visit Joanna-Zeiger.com.

june 2009

John Segesta/johnsegesta.com

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Ne w s A na l y si s

SPecTATor-frienDlY TriAThlonS foUr new TriAThlonS PoinT To A hoPefUl new TrenD in eVenT STAging.

By Matt Fitzgerald There are spectator sports and there are participatory sports. Football, basketball and auto racing are among the big spectator sports in the U.S. Soccer, running and triathlon are among the big participatory sports. No sport is strictly one or the other, though.

With a few exceptions (auto racing being one of them), spectator sports require a strong base of youth and adult amateur participants to develop future professional talent and create a knowledgeable fan base. And every participatory sport tries to recruit spectators and television viewers because there is money to be made in doing so successfully.

Triathlon is no exception in this regard.

In the very beginning, triathlon was actually a larger spectator sport than it was a participatory sport. Millions read Barry McDermott’s Sports Illustrated report on the second Hawaii Ironman in 1979 and watched ABC’s television coverage of the third Hawaii Ironman the following year, when those who called themselves triathletes numbered in the mere hundreds worldwide.

The early mass media coverage of triathlon fueled explosive growth in triathlon participation, but the growth in spectatorship did not keep pace after the novelty factor wore off.

Over the next 20 years, efforts to make triathlon a mainstream spectator sport met 28

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with little success. However, as the sport’s participatory ranks continued to swell, a potential base of triathlon fans developed internally.

Also, cable television and the Internet created new opportunities to disseminate race coverage. For example, 1 million people logged on for Ironman.com’s coverage of last year’s Ironman World Championship.

There are now signs of an emerging trend of triathlons that take spectator friendliness to a whole new level. The elements of these new events include criterium courses, transition area grandstands and video screens, live television broadcasts and Internet video streaming and larger professional prize purses.

The four events leading this trend are the Revolution3 Triathlon Race in Middlebury, Conn., the Dextro Energy Triathlon—ITU World Championship Series in Washington, D.C., the Hy-Vee Triathlon in West Des Moines, Iowa, and the Uberman Triathlon in Mercer County, N.J.

reV3 TriAThlon June 7, 2009 Middlebury, Conn.

The most impressive aspect of the Revolution3 Triathlon Race, which debuts in June, is surely its next-generation Internet coverage

platform, but for all its bells and whistles, this platform is perhaps trumped by the actual venue that hosts this half-iron-distance event: Quassy Amusement Park in Middlebury, Conn.

According to race director Charlie Patten, “Each athlete’s registration includes entry into the park for their family and friends— anybody that’s going to come with them.

They’re taken care of throughout the day.”

That means competitors’ support crew may ride all the attractions they want for free.

But really, the Web module is what makes Rev3 most unique. Internet surfers from Rhode Island to Rhodesia can log onto Rev3tri.com and watch the race live on six cameras. There will be a main feed with commentary, but individual viewers will have the choice to watch the action through whichever camera they prefer. They can even pause and rewind the footage.

Coolest of all is the GPS tracking element.

“We’re working with a product called Trackers,” says Patten. “It’s the debut of this GPS tracking technology. Athletes who are wearing this unit will be able to be tracked while they are competing. All of their stats—average speed, current speed, elevation, heart rate—are sent from these units over a cellular network to Internet kiosks that we’ll have set up and, for that matter, to any computer with an Internet connection.”

Adding excitement to the pro race for those who watch at the amusement park (where 17ft x 23ft video screens set up in the transition area will show all the action) and a $100,000 prize purse. Among the pros signed on to compete are co-race director Heather Gollnick, eight-time Ironman New Zealand winner Cameron Brown and 2007 Ironman 70.3 world champion Joanna Zeiger.

DexTro energY TriAThlon—iTU worlD chAmPionShiP SerieS wAShingTon, D.c.

June 21, 2009 Washington, D.C.

The new ITU World Championship Series is a good idea and this event is its first stop on U.S. soil. What’s the difference between a regular ITU World Cup event and a World Championship Series race?

“The major difference is more prize money and points for the elite athletes,” says co-race director Bill Burke.

The first six of the seven events in the series will offer $150,000, the finale in Gold Coast, Australia, will bump it up to $250,000, and the overall series winners will split another june 2009

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Ne w s A na l y sis Internet surfers from Rhode Island to Rhodesia can log onto Rev3tri.com and watch the race live on six cameras. $700,000.

“These seven events will truly highlight the best of the best Olympic-distance triathletes in the world,” Burke says.

“The Golden Group is a group of 15 men and 15 women who will race in all of the Dextro Energy events. They have to by contract. You will see the Emma Snowsills, the Vanessa Fernandezes, the Simon Whitfields.”

The U.S. members of the Golden Group are Sara Haskins, Laura Bennett and Hunter Kemper.

Featuring a multi-lap course and on-site grandstands and JumboTrons to entertain on-site spectators, the series will also be broadcast live on television throughout Europe and other parts of the world.

“We’re not sure what the network is going to be in the United States,” says Burke.

hY-Vee TriAThlon

June 28, 2009 West Des Moines, Iowa Bill Burke also directs the Hy-Vee Triathlon, now in its third year, a World Cup event that has all of the same spectator-friendly elements as his Washington, D.C., event, plus even more prize money.

New this year is an even more spectator-friendly element: the Hy-Vee ITU International Team Competition, which takes place the day after Saturday’s main event.

This relay race will feature eight four-person teams each with two men and two women from one country (specifically the top two male and female finishers from each country in the preceding day’s race).

The race consists of a 250m

swim, 7K bike and 1.8K run. Each athlete completes the full course once. A woman from each team is selected to complete the first leg. She hands off to a man from her team, and so forth.

“The entire event is over in about 70 minutes,” says Burke.

“It’s fast-paced, it’s high-energy, and practically the entire race is done in front of the stands. The IOC is actually looking at making this a possible additional triathlon event at the next Olympic Games in 2012. It’s a great opportunity to move this sport forward.”

UBermAn TriAThlon July 25, 2009 Mercer County, N.J.

The inaugural Uberman Triathlon, part of this year’s New Jersey State Triathlon, is even shorter and faster than the Hy-Vee ITU International Team Competition, and it promises to be just as fun to watch.

Ten pro and elite amateur men and 10 women will complete a 200-meter swim, a four-mile bike and a one-mile run. The whole thing will be over with in about 15 minutes, says Uberman representative Michele Redrow.

The race will take place at 4:00 p.m. on July 25, when the race venue will be packed with participants in the next day’s sprint and Olympic-distance triathlons and their families.

When asked how she and her colleagues came up with the Uberman concept, Redrow replies, “We’re always looking for a new way to keep people interested and get people involved.”

The organizers plan to take Uberman national next year, to both capitalize on and promote the trend toward making triathlon events more spectator-friendly.

“I think you will see more races try to go spectator-friendly, whether it’s the venue they choose, using technology or whatever,” says Redrow. “Anything that mainstreams it helps the sport grow. Today’s spectator is tomorrow’s participant.” june 2009

urphy.com

Photos: RobertM

TER rtant it is to be T1 TO Ton2unFdeArsS po tands how im

age of Blue Brent McMah taking advant to T2! After Triad to the fast from T1 take his new cles offer to n be faster ca Competition Cy rstands he t year, he unde faster, he h uc wind tunnel las the run. So m e energy for energy to gh and save mor ou e split with en ird fastest bik route to in logged the th champions veral Ironman leans.

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e Brent to win a 70.3 lik to be able to t. Anyone en You donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have nnel treatm ecial wind tu receive a ll wi get Blueâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sp e e Triad bicycl et pl m co a s too can go who purchase unnel, so they the A2 W indt free hour in like Brent. to T2. Just faster from T1

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saddle Fi’zi:k Arione

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John Segesta/johnsegesta.com

How can a guy that stands 6 feet 4 inches tall quietly take the fastest bike split at the Hawaii Ironman last year? Hell, how can one as big as the 204-pound Ain-Alar Juhanson do anything quietly?

As impressive as his 13th-place finish in Hawaii was last year, it’s his bike that is his ace-in-the-hole—the fastest in Kona in ’08, covering 112 miles in 4:26:14.

Juhanson runs a personal groupset blend: a SRAM derailleur and shifter set with a Shimano Dura-Ace SRM crankset with power and speed data fed to a Garmin Edge 705 head unit. Fi’zi:k also did a custom blue, white and black saddle to match his Estonian flag colors.

While Juhanson ran Hed Jet 60 clinchers in Hawaii, he has been using Hed’s new 23mm wide clincher rim as of late. He finds the wide rim on clinchers to be a more comfortable-riding wheel as well as more aerodynamic (since the tire bead now runs frontally flush with the rim).

You can find more on Juhanson at Ainalar.ee

june 2009

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By Brad CulP

C heC king in

Geckogo.com is the latest website to take advantage of the popularity of online social networking. It’s Frommer’s meets Facebook.

Geckogo provides user feedback on locations across the globe in an effort to help you plan the perfect trip. We think triathletes will find this site particularly useful, especially those who often take their families to events in obscure places.

For example, say you have Ironman 70.3 Kansas on your radar, but you’re worried that your spouse and kids will hate you forever if you drag them to Lawrence, Kan. It’s fair to say that most people would assume Lawrence is a boring town, and that’s where Geckogo comes in. After searching “Lawrence, Kansas,” you’ll discover that the University of Kansas offers a number of sports camps for kids during the race weekend (June 13-15), and that Lawrence has a top-notch music scene, in case you want to follow up the race with a concert.

Considering Geckogo is a relatively new site, we’re impressed with the amount of content it has already accumulated. Currently, the site is most useful if you’re going to a popular destination, since there’s much more feedback for cities like Los Angeles or Chicago.

Best of all, it’s free to use, and chances are, you’ll be able to find something a bit more stimulating than the tourist traps promoted in guidebooks.

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SECOND’S FASTER. Sure after less than 12 months we’re proud to be the number two choice specialist swimskin in the world for pool swimmers. But quite frankly it just makes us even more determined to be first.

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Kfc or mcDonAlD’S chicKen wrAPS

By Brad CulP We have to give credit to McDonald’s.

It has mastered the art of coming across as producing healthy foods, even though its most nutritious offerings will still take years off of your life. Its latest attempt at going healthy is the grilled chicken snack wrap. After the Golden Arches unveiled its wrap last year, KFC jumped on the bandwagon, releasing its toasted version of the snack wrap. We gave them both a try to see which fast-food wrap reigns supreme in taste and nutrition.

Neither of these are great options from a nutritional standpoint. They both have too much sodium and more fat than a triathlete needs in a snack. In a pure taste test, KFC takes the cake. Its chicken tastes a bit better and toasting the wrap makes for a nice texture.

But, factoring in each wrap’s nutritional value, we give the overall edge to the Golden Arches.

Mickey D’s wrap tastes decent enough, and the fact that it has 70 fewer calories and eight fewer grams of fat gives it the edge.

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Kfc

Price: $1.49 Size: 132g Calories: 340 Protein: 17g Fat: 18g (6g of saturated fat) Sodium: 880mg Pros: Toasting the entire wrap definitely makes the texture more appetizing. KFC’s all-white meat chicken tastes great and the price is reasonable.

Cons: The fact that it has more fat than protein makes it less than ideal for a serious athlete.

We’d like to see KFC hold the pepper mayo and instead use honey mustard or another low-fat sauce. We also feel 880mg of sodium is excessive for a snack.

The verdict: McDonald’s wins by a hair.

mcDonAlD’S

Price: $1.39 Size: 122g Calories: 270 Protein: 18g Fat: 10g (4g of saturated fat) Sodium: 830mg Pros: It has roughly the same amount of calories as many protein bars, which is just right for a snack between meals. In addition to ranch dressing, McDonald’s also offers barbecue and honey mustard sauces, and we like all three more than the pepper mayo on KFC’s version. Its protein-to-fat ratio is also significantly better than KFC’s option.

Cons: Since it’s not toasted, the wrap tastes a little bland. As with KFC’s wrap, the McDonald’s version has almost half of your daily value of sodium.

june 2009

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Recipe

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BrYAn rhoDeS’ SPAgheTTi SqUASh wiTh moroccAn SPiceS New Zealand native and 2008 Ironman Canada winner Bryan Rhodes gave us this recipe for making the normally bland spaghetti squash into a spicy, flavorful, vegetarian-friendly dish. He notes that he tends to triple the amount of cilantro listed in the recipe to suit his personal taste.

—Compiled by Ashley Slaney

ingreDienTS One 3 1/2- to 4-pound spaghetti squash 1/2 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander or curry powder 1/8 teaspoon cayenne 3/4 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (or more to taste)

DirecTionS Pierce squash (about an inch deep) all over with a small, sharp knife to prevent bursting. Cook in an 800watt microwave oven on high power for six to seven minutes. Turn squash over and microwave until squash feels slightly soft when pressed, about eight to 10 minutes more. Cool squash for five minutes.

Meanwhile, melt butter in a small, heavy saucepan over moderately high heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring until golden, about one minute. Stir in spices and salt and remove from heat.

Carefully halve squash lengthwise (it will give off steam), and remove and discard seeds. Working over a bowl, scrape squash flesh with a fork, loosening and separating strands as you remove it from the skin. Toss with spiced butter and cilantro.

Serves four.

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june 2009

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BY STAYing wiThin YoUr limiTS

By Jordan d. Metzl, Md It’s almost summer, the best time of year for triathletes. It’s that all-too-brief window of opportunity, for those of us who don’t live in Florida, California or other places where it’s warm all the time, to “let it rip” in our training.

Jason is a 32-year-old newbie who came in to see me last month. Last year he signed up for his first triathlon, an Olympic-distance race, and like many of us, he was bitten by the tri bug. With the best of intentions, Jason decided that this year he wanted to tackle an Ironman as his next race. He signed up, hired a coach and started training.

So fAr, So gooD? YeS AnD no.

Jason’s enthusiasm is great—exactly what I like to see in triathletes who are just getting into the sport. What I tell my patients is to set a goal and work toward it. I generally find that it doesn’t matter what the sport or 40

triathletemag.com

level of athlete is: From triathlon to ballroom dancing, everyone needs a goal. Athletes who exercise just to exercise, without a specific goal in mind, are much less productive than those who set goals.

Too mUch, Too Soon, Too fAST He came into my office complaining of foot pain. “Dr. Metzl”, he said, “my foot is hurting and I’m having trouble running. It used to bug me only when I ran, but now I’m having some pain when I walk too.”

When I examined Jason’s foot, it was immediately clear that his pain was coming from the middle of his foot, the result of a stress fracture in his third metatarsal.

Stress fracture, an injury that comes from putting too much pressure on a bone, is caused by at least one of a few factors: poor biomechanics, low bone density or a rapid increase in activity that places loading forces on the bone

C heC king in that exceed its absorption capacity. Often, all three of these factors occur at once.

Among the most common biomechanical and structural issues leading to stress fractures are overpronation of the feet and weakness in the core muscles. Most women who suffer stress fractures have low bone density (osteopenia or osteoporosis), which predisposes the bone to injury.

With Jason, however, neither of these factors was the case. Jason’s stress fracture was volume-based. He had never really been much of a runner; he was a former college swimmer. Instead of spending his teen and collegiate years making his bones stronger through high-impact sports like soccer and basketball, Jason spent every waking hour in the pool.

The result was that he had good cardiac fitness, but his bones weren’t strong enough to withstand miles of run training.

While his great cardiac fitness enabled him to make a quick jump from Olympiclevel training to Ironman-distance training, his bones weren’t strong enough to hold up to the load of training he had taken on. In the words of a local triathlon coach, Jason made the mistake of the toos: too much, too soon, too fast.

To fix Jason, I had to stop him from running for about six weeks until the bone healed, and despite our best efforts, his healing rate wasn’t fast enough to allow him to do his race.

Jason would have to wait until next year.

increASe YoUr efforTS SlowlY In the summer, when the weather is good, you can find many athletes like Jason out training. They have been doing just a little training in the winter and quickly try to ramp up their activities.

Their enthusiasm is terrific: They want to go as fast and far as they can. I often see these people in my office, however, with overuse injuries such as Achilles tendonitis, shoulder impingement and stress fractures.

The moral of the story is to listen to your body and increase your efforts slowly. Only a few triathletes can successfully jump from Olympic to Ironman-distance races. Many more break down in their training. Advance your training slowly, however, and you will be great!

Jordan Metzl, MD, is a nationally recognized sports medicine physician at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. In addition to his medical practice, Dr. Metzl is a 27-time marathon runner and sixtime Ironman finisher. For more information, visit Drjordanmetzl.com. june 2009

John Segesta/johnsegesta.com

Medically Speaking

Kona Q&A

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Q: A: Q: A: Q:

Do you think he knew then what he was getting into?

No, no idea!

Could you beat him in a pushup contest?

I remember talking to you the day after you took third at last year’s Ironman Arizona. You were hiking the Grand Canyon with your family. Is that a normal “recovery” activity for you?

Well, it wasn’t strenuous hiking. My daughter [Jordan, age 12] has cerebral palsy, so it was about spending quality time together. But my recovery week and someone else’s are like night and day. Recovery to me means not swimming, biking or running. It’s taking my daughter to do this, taking my son to do that. I love triathlon, but I do look at it like work. So I look at recovery as a day off from work where I can do other activities, not a day off where I can lay on the couch. Most athletes I know, even the age-groupers I train with, finish training and go home to take a nap.

I’m like, “Let’s go play kickball!”

A: heATher gollnicK UBer-mom AnD UBer-Pro giVeS iT her All—AnD Then Some.

By holly Bennett

Q:

You’re a five-time Ironman champion, a mother of three, a triathlon coach and camp director, and most recently, one of a team of producers of the new Rev3 Triathlon. Do you ever just get really tired and cranky?

Maybe that’s a better question for my husband!

Actually, I wish there were a lot more than 24 hours in a day. I’m not even sure if 36 hours would be enough some days. It’s definitely been a challenge to balance it all. My personality is such that I want to do a good job at everything, and when I don’t feel like I’m doing my best, I get stressed.

A:

Q: A:

What are your tools for combating stress?

I try to let go and live in the moment. When training is done and work is done, it’s family time with the kids. I try not to be on the phone and doing work at the same time [that I’m spending time with the kids]. And I truly enjoy all my roles, which is sometimes a bad thing because I try to do too much. I know most people probably don’t see that side of me, but there are times when things get overwhelming.

Q:

Do you cook and clean? Do you make brownbag lunches for the kids? Or do you just drop to the floor at the end of the day and let Todd take care of the household chores?

Todd is really good at helping out—it’s crucial that we are on the same page. It’s just about balancing what works. The schools here are great, and right now the kids are in baseball, tennis and a variety of different activities. I like to be there as often as I can. So some days there may be a

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few things on my training schedule that I miss, but I usually get the key workouts done.

Q: A:

Has there ever been a time when you’ve had to put yourself first and therefore let your kids down in order to focus on triathlon?

I think honestly I miss them more than they miss me. If I go somewhere to train for a week or travel to a race, it kills me to be gone.

But my parents or Todd’s parents come and stay at the house with our kids, so they’re in their own house, with their friends, at their school, in their sports, with their toys—they don’t really miss a beat. They probably get to stay up a little later. We miss them, but they’re having a great time!

Q:

You obviously have a finely honed maternal instinct. But what about on the race course—do you ever feel that motherly compassion towards some of the younger athletes you’re racing against? Or do you pretty much just want to kick their butts?

Yeah, I don’t so much feel that way. When I’m racing, I’m a completely different person. It’s that very competitive nature that kicks in.

A:

Q:

Q: A:

Is there anything you’re afraid of?

Snakes? Actually, I’m very fortunate, in that my parents taught me to go for what I want, which is what we try to instill in our kids, especially Jordan. Go for whatever you want in life; don’t let a physical disability stop you from doing anything. So no, no fears.

Q:

Let’s play the “would you rather” game.

Would you rather win 100 percent of the time with 50 percent effort, or win 50 percent of the time with 100 percent effort?

Oh the second one for sure! I kind of feel that’s what I do. Besides Kona, the last 14 Ironmans I’ve raced I haven’t been out of the top three. I don’t think I’m necessarily the best athlete, but I think mentally I always give 110 percent.

A:

Tell me more about you and Todd. You were high school sweethearts, right?

What was your first date? Did you go to the Would you rather win Kona but miss your prom together? daughter’s prom night, or be there to help her We did go to the prom together! On our first get ready and sacrifice the Ironman crown? date, I was 14. My parents were strict, so I’d rather be at my daughter’s prom. That’s they wouldn’t allow me to actually go out with part of the problem, the sacrifice that would him. He was this older man—he was 16 and he go into winning Hawaii. But that’s a choice I make could drive. So I made him dinner. It was steak. because that’s where I find the balance.

It was the most disgusting thing ever. I burned half My recovery week and Would you rather always the stuff, but he was really lose or never play? someone else’s are polite and ate it all, and I wouldn’t do either. Because like night and day. my parents thought that if I always lost, I’d practice was pretty nice. enough until I won!

A:

Q: A:

Q: A:

june 2009

Brad Culp

Oh no way! He’s really strong.

The Timex Ironman Race Trainer digital heart rate system kit features the ANT+Sport interoperable platform.

Training Tip

STreTching mighT hUrT YoUr rUn

By Matt allyn Think twice before you do your next 10-second toe touch. A more flexible body isn’t a faster one. New research shows that having a greater range of motion is linked to less efficient running. Researchers at Nebraska Wesleyan University recruited eight of the school’s top distance runners and compared their flexibility with their running economy.

The athletes gauged their flexibility with a sit-and-reach test and then had their oxygen

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intake measured against their effort on a treadmill. Less flexible runners used the least amount of oxygen while running.

So, within a group of equal-ability runners, the least flexible will be the fastest. That’s because their muscles store more elastic energy, explains lead study author Tamra Trehearn, PhD. When you run, your muscles act like rubber bands. As each leg swings forward, your hamstrings lengthen beyond their normal resting length, which adds tension to them.

Then, when you pull that leg back, all the elastic energy you’ve built up releases and adds to your total muscle power.

But when you do a lot of stretching to increase your range of motion, your hamstrings lose some of that elastic recoil, so they contract with less force and generate less power. They’re like a rubber band that has been stretched to the limit over and over. It’s now longer than it used to be, but less elastic.

Having a shorter range of motion is a good thing for triathletes, says Michael Yessis, PhD, an exercise science expert and the author of Explosive Running. Also, by stretching muscles around a joint, you loosen it, making it harder for your muscles to protect the joint, says Yessis.

Before races and before run workouts are the most important times to avoid certain stretches. Recent research on the effect of pre-exercise stretches on performance has accumulated. These studies demonstrate that stretching hurts performance in shortduration, explosive efforts such as sprinting.

That means that when you’re hitting the weights or performing a speed workout, you shouldn’t stretch beforehand. Even in a race situation, stretching 20 to 30 minutes before the gun could give you a slower start.

However, not all stretches will slow you down or hurt you. The culprit we’re talking about here is static stretching—think reachand-hold exercises. Dynamic stretches can be a great way to warm up and reduce muscle tightness. Instead of simply pulling at muscles and ligaments, dynamic stretches engage muscles through your normal range of motion.

Holding a lunge position is an example of a static stretch for the hip flexors. The dynamic version of that stretch is a set of ten walking lunges. And there’s as much research supporting the effectiveness of dynamic stretching as a tool for priming the muscles to perform as there is research to dissuade you from doing that next 10-second toe touch.

june 2009

John Segesta/johnsegesta.com

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The eVolUTion of rAce APPArel By tiM deBooM The annual Triathlete swimsuit issue. Just those words can incite cheers, jeers and tears from readers. No other issue inspires more letters to the editor, heated forum discussions and cancellations of subscriptions than this one issue every year. And yet, we triathletes often run around in little more than our underwear, sweating, spitting, peeing in public and carrying our children across the finish line while doing so.

As embarrassing as it sounds, I actually look at what the models are wearing in this issue, as my wife owns a women’s apparel company. Triathlon wear has come a long way since I first started racing.

In the beginning, a swim brief for the men or a one-piece for the ladies (or a bikini if you remember Lori Bowden’s famous yellow two-piece), was all someone needed to race in a triathlon (or a duathlon if you were Kenny Souza). Almost all of my race photos from 1992 through 1998 show me racing in what nowadays would be considered small—even for undergarments. Most of the time, I did not 46

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them. Being able to wear a suit over what you would ride and run in brought about the next change in race apparel.

The tri apparel evolution continued with the introduction of the compression suit.

Paula-Newby Fraser and Heather Fuhr sported the DeSoto-made orange unitards in 1997, and Heather went on to win that year. Peter Reid raced in some custom compression shorts on his way to Hawaii victory in 1998, and I followed suit the next year to a breakthrough third place in Kona. I had become a believer in the new technologies.

This evolution signaled the beginning of the end of racing in just a brief. Many women still race in a swimsuit, but Faris Al-Sultan is one of the last ones holding out in the men’s field.

If you watch the athletes today, some expose hardly any skin at all. They swim in a full-legged speed suit, and they put on arm skins and knee-high compression socks for the ride and run. (Don’t get me started on the look of those socks.) When did we all get so modest?

I know there are many benefits to wearing these new technological wonders, and I embrace them all, even if I don’t use them. However, I also like to reminisce about the good ol’ days.

That’s why I started my own tradition several even wear a singlet. Just the Speedo and my race years ago called the “Old School Rule.” It simply number permanent-marked on my arm. states that once a year I have to do a race in just Racing an Ironman with this level of a skimpy little brief. I know that many races exposure was a little daunting, so I followed now require athletes to wear tops, but if you what the pros were doing during that time. I look hard enough, there are still some out there swam in my brief, put on a full cycling outfit that will allow you such freedom. or skinsuit for the ride and then changed My first time implementing The Rule was into traditional running shorts and a singlet actually at a pretty big event. I decided to kick for the run. The Europeans, of course, were it off big and race the Chicago Triathlon in just already comfortable walking around town my little Polo Sport swimsuit. I think I was in their briefs, so they were easily prepared the only pro in the field following The Rule, to complete an Ironman in the same thing. I but I felt great. I definitely put it all out there. think this is how wearing a brief and small top, Little did I know that I would end up on the even at Ironmans, became the norm. In short, cover of a magazine in that outfit. transition speed became important.

Since that first time, I have gone on At the 1995 Hawaii Ironman, I saw the first to race that way at least once a year. It is sign of what was to come in our sport. I was usually a small race that most of the time floating, waiting for the cannon to start, and qualifies as little more than a good training I noticed that Mark Allen was wearing what day. When planning my schedule, I always looked like a women’s swimsuit. He raced and find myself a little more excited about that won, in his usual Nike briefs chosen race. and top, but he swam in the I started my own tradiNow comes the time all-new Nike speedsuit. It when I want to put that tion several years ago was easy to peel off and challenge out there to all called the “Old School of you readers. Once a supposedly much faster than skin alone. I remember Rule.” It simply states year, put your modesty hearing Jurgen Zack call it and love of techno-fabrics the “girlie-man suit.” In that once a year I have aside for the day and fol1996, several companies to do a race in just a low the Old School Rule. made their own models, Faris, you just keep doing skimpy little brief. and many athletes raced in your thing. june 2009

Don Karle

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This the first installment of a new column, sponsored by Forze GPS, the first appetitemanagement tool designed especially for endurance athletes. Each month we will profile an age-group triathlete who serves as living proof that achieving a leaner body composition through proper diet and effective training is a powerful way to improve triathlon performance. In addition, look for a new weight-management tip from six-time Hawaii Ironman world champion Dave Scott each month.

Kristin Mayer is a typical triathlete in many ways. She is a 41-year-old wife, mother and successful career woman, running her own graphic design business out of her home in Encinitas, Calif. But she’s a little faster and a lot more experienced than most triathletes, having taken up the sport in 1994 and having won more age-group race titles than she can remember. “My goal is always to land on the podium in my age group, and I’d say 95 percent of the time I’m able to do that.”

Like a majority of triathletes, Mayer is keenly aware of the effect of body weight and body composition on triathlon performance and makes a conscious effort to stay lean. “I make healthy choices,” she says. “I don’t like fast food and fried food. I have a little bit of a sweet tooth but I indulge it in moderation.”

TM

When she breaks too many dietary rules or strays from the training habits that keep her lean and fast, Mayer’s body pays a price.

“If I get lazy about how I eat and train, I find that I lose muscle,” she explains. “I start to get a lot softer.” And as she gets softer, she gets slower. “I have to keep my weight within a very narrow range to feel as strong and fast as I can be,” she says.

Yet Mayer does not weigh herself often, choosing instead to pay more attention to signs of her body fat percentage, such as how her clothes fit. This is smart. While body weight is important to performance, body composition is even more important. Among the top ranks in triathlon, some athletes are a lot heavier than others, but all are very lean.

Aside from healthy food choices, Mayer relies on two dietary habits to stay lean: eating often and eating plenty of protein. In a typical day she eats five or six times. Research shows that frequent eating reduces appetite, resulting in less total food intake over the course of the day. To quell hunger between meals, Mayer snacks on nuts, which are especially potent hunger killers thanks to their long-chain fats and protein content. Mayer includes protein in each meal, to help her maintain muscle mass. Of course, all the protein in the world won’t build muscle mass without the right training, and Mayer does the right training to support her protein intake.

It’s not all hard work and sacrifice for Mayer. Each Sunday she and her husband go out for pizza and beer with a group of friends. Don’t call it cheating, though. “Call it carbo-loading!” she says.

DAVe ScoTT’S TiP Don’t make the mistake of trying to lose weight quickly by sharply reducing your food intake. A modest reduction of 200 to 300 calories per day is more effective. If you reduce your food intake too much, your muscles will not have enough fuel for workouts and your performance will suffer. Your post-workout recovery will be compromised as well. And there’s another problem: hunger. A recent study from the University of Alabama at Birmingham found that the more dieters reduced their food intake, the sooner they broke their diets. So remember, slow and steady wins the race of weight management!

Dave Scott is a six-time winner of the Hawaii Ironman World Championship.

june 2009

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By Courtney Johnson AqUAVee PorTABle Swim SYSTem $89.90 This portable system means no more missed swim workouts on the road.

No matter the shape, size or tile type, the high-pressure suction cups on the end of the V-attachment will connect to any pool in less than a minute. The inflatable belt keeps the body in a true horizontal swim position and allows the athlete to choose the proper buoyancy level. Different-sized clip-on bands allow resistance levels to be adjusted. Swim at your own pace and length without having to kick off the wall or do flip turns. The continuous workout allows you to focus on stroke technique and kicking while giving you the feel of open water. The system is also great for swim drills. Weighing only two pounds, this compact system can easily fit into a suitcase and comes in a mesh bag. aquaveeonline.com

finiS hYDro hiP $29.95

Need to improve your stroke efficiency and core strength? Then you should check out the Finis Hydro Hip. Forcing the swimmer to rotate her hips at the top of the stroke, the Hydro Hip has a fin placed on each hip to create the needed resistance to learn proper timing for engaging core muscles. It’s great for developing a powerful hip snap in both freestyle in backstroke while improving distance per stroke and efficiency. The adjustable waist strap results in a perfect fit whether you’re in base mode or race shape.

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STrechcorDZ wiTh leg STrAPS $39.95

For more than 20 years, StrechCordz products have been helping swimmers improve strength, stroke technique and endurance. The StretchCordz with leg straps can be used on dry land or in the water for leg adduction.

Attach the adjustable two inch-wide Velcro straps to your ankles, mount the loop onto a doorknob, pole or other sturdy object and go. Available in five resistance levels ranging from light to heavy. nzmfg.com 50

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h20 AUDio inTerVAl $79.99 Listen to your favorite tunes in the pool without creating drag with the H20 Audio Interval. With bass-amplified superior sound quality from the integrated in-ear headphones, you can take your iPod Shuffle underwater and sing your way through those 100m drills. The sleek, minimalistic case attaches easily to your goggles and is 100-percent waterproof, as tested in a pressure chamber. Available in five headphone sizes for individualized fit, you will have no problem keeping the headphones in your ears even when wearing a swim cap. Waterproof armband cases are available for other-sized iPods and iPhones. Check out its website and enter to win a free iPod and see what Olympian Natalie Coughlin has to say about one of her favorite training tools. H2oaudio.com

finiS SwimPS $149.99

Stay motivated by listening to music while you swim with the waterproof Finis SwiMPS. This sleek MP3 player has a control panel built into a side paddle for shuffle, volume and resume controls. Transmitting high-fidelity sound with Bone Conduction Technology, the player supports both MP3 and WMA files. With 256 megabytes of memory, it can hold around 60 songs. Attach it to your goggles and get up to eight hours of play with the rechargeable battery. Finisinc.com

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No more blaming foggy goggles for a bad swim! SBR Sports has developed individual, anti-fog cleansing towelettes you can take anywhere to remove residue, prevent fog and keep your goggles crystal clear.

Simple to use, each towelette comes in a sealed foil packet. Open the packet, wipe your goggles with Foggle and admire the clarity. Towelettes are also great for sunglasses, scuba masks and ski/snowboard goggles. tri-swim.com june 2009

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With strategically placed hydrodynamic fins on each side, the shoes add 20 percent to 30 percent more resistance to any aquatic exercise. A 100-percent sticky outsole prevents slips and the bungee lacing system insures a secure and snug fit. Drainage ports allow for quick drying while arch support helps stability.

Use it to build core strength, speed and quickness. aqxsports.com

SUPerSwimPro wiTh STAinleSS STeel in DecK BASe $199.99

Install the stainless steel deck base of the Superswimpro into the concrete surrounding your pool and get ready for an endless pool experience. Simply put on the adjustable belt, enter the water and begin to swim. As you stroke, the Superswim will pull back, creating resistance as you swim naturally. The harder you swim, the more resistance you feel, cutting your workout time by at least one third compared to working out in a regular lap pool.

Increase endurance, build strength and tone your body while not leaving the house. superswimpro.com

The eSSenTiAl TriAThlon Swimming DVD $37 or $57 wiTh comPleTe gUiDe To TriAThlon Swimming

If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re frustrated with your swim, master swim coach Kevin Koskella says not to give up yet. Check out the Essential Triathlon Swimming DVD in which Koskella helps swimmers ranging from beginners to advanced swimmers learn to enjoy the swim.

Guiding you through technique drills, workouts and open-water race strategies, this DVD gives you the tools you need to be successful. Above- and underwater footage, animations and footage from various races are included in the demonstrations throughout the DVD. If you want to finish the swim strong with energy to spare for the bike and run, check out this DVD. triswimcoach.com

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For the serious athlete, coach and racer, the Chrono 100 is the best product you can find for recording multiple lap times, whether youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re swimming or running. With a 100 individual lap recall, lap number and split-time display, and hands-free operation, the Chrono is the perfect tool to use in the pool. Recall your fastest, slowest, average and total lap times while being able to pause time without throwing your stats off. Water-resistant to 50 meters and accurate to one hundredth of a second, you can count on the SportCount Chrono to give you all the information you need to track and improve your swim times. sportcount.com 52

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june 2009

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By JeF Mallett Sometime between the first Mission Bay Triathlon in San Diego and the first Ironman in Hawaii, I was sitting on a sand dune in Michigan, listening to my hang gliding instructor tell a half-dozen of us how to fly. He had already spent most of the lesson teaching us how to land, which you have to admit is a good deal more important than flying. And, in theory, more complicated.

Flying when you’ve never flown before has a way of over-stimulating the brain. So our instructor, Dave (pronounced “Daaaaaaave”), emphasized that we needed to remember one thing above all else: Look where you want to go because you’re going to go where you’re looking.

Human beings are like Smart Bombs, and that makes us stupid. Road cyclists ride straight into potholes. Skiers run into trees.

Pilots do what Pete did.

Pete shouldered his kite, watched the wind, recognized his moment and started to jog down the dune. The sand dropped away at a slightly steeper angle than Pete’s flyer wanted to glide, and the kite floated off his shoulders. A second later, Pete’s feet were stirring air.

Pete was flying. In a straight line, just as Daaaaaaave said the glider wanted to, for about 60 yards. The glider dipped its wingtip and banked gracefully and irrevocably to the left. Pete the Smart Bomb had found a new target, and none of us could quite blame him.

We were all looking at her too, the girl with

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the bronze two-piece and even bronzer skin, displayed in a most appealing ratio. And if she looked nice standing there, she looked even better at full, frantic gallop, her legs churning, her breasts bouncing and her long, blonde hair dimming in the growing shadow of Pete’s flyer.

I’d like to say we all learned something from Pete’s experience, but I think the only ones who did were the girl in the swimsuit and Daaaaaaave. Scott and Rick nosed back into the ground as soon as they left it, Marc scared another spectator, Mike flared out and stalled, and I crashed into Pete’s glider while he was carrying it back up the dune. And Daaaaaaave was teaching windsurfing by the end of the summer. I did learn, eventually, and I found the lesson to be as portable as it was useful.

I don’t fly anymore, but I know the value of having a target and a flight plan.

Training is my flight plan, and races are my target. I think that’s what makes me a triathlete instead of just another guy who rides when he can fit it in or forgets how to swim and wakes up 10 years later wondering what the hell happened.

What I know now is that flight plans can be altered. I won’t be crashing. My distraction is now my target. I’m staying in control, I’m altering my destination, and I’m doing it on my terms.

Pete never let go of his original destination, so he wasn’t in control as he swooped down on his new one. Swimsuit Girl was a potentially worthwhile new destination. She certainly had more going for her than the giant bulls-eye Daaaaaaave scuffed into the sand with his heel.

And Daaaaaaave’s target would still be there for Pete’s next flight, whether things worked out with Swimsuit Girl or not. june 2009

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Andrew St. Clair, 25 1x Pinchot Triathlon

Andrew McKinnon, 43 3x Lake Placid Ironman 4x Eagleman 2x NYC Triathlon 1x Timberman

Ryan Huxta, 29 1x Philadelphia Marathon 1x Half Ironman 1x Stone Harbor Triathlon

Rich Campbell, 47 1x Malibu Tri 1x Lava Man Triathlon 1x CA Half Vineman/Half Ironman

Chris Marschka, 28 1x Capital City Challenge 1x Hempfield Tri for Kids

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THERE’S NOTHING WRONG WITH BEING PROUD OF YOUR HARDENED, TRI-SPECIFIC PHYSIQUE, BUT IF LOWERING YOUR BMI BECOMES YOUR PRIMARY MOTIVATION TO TRAIN, THERE MAY BE CAUSE FOR CONCERN.

BY ERIN BERESINI

John Segesta/johnsegesta.com

TRIATHLETES ARE HOT. AND WE KNOW IT. It’s no secret that triathletes—age-groupers and pros—like to strut their stuff. In fact, it could be said that preening is the requisite fifth element of triathlon, after swimming, biking, running and nutrition.

Case in point: As legend has it, triathletes are responsible for the name of the tiny stretch of sand next to Kona’s Kailua Pier: Dig Me Beach.

Instead of finding the beach intimidating, Ironman champion Heather Gollnick says it’s what makes the Ironman so much fun.

“Everyone is checking everyone else out to see who’s fit and who’s fitter.

At Dig Me Beach, you see guys checking out the competition just as much as they check out the women.”

“That’s true,” says pro triathlete T.J. Tollakson. “You’ve got your body lean and mean and you’re ready to go, and showing off at that beach is just more of a confirmation that you’re ready to race.”

Is there no end to our bodily pride? Does participating in triathlon really help every triathlete achieve such a perfectly healthy (some might say beyond healthy) body image?

Triathlon’s apparent emphasis on physical appearance doesn’t seem to detract from the sport’s growth. In fact, triathlon empowers participants in a way that keeps them coming back for more.

Triathlete swimsuit model Robyn Cagan says she felt out of touch with her body after giving birth to her son three years ago. “Triathlon has made me feel like, ‘Wait a sec, my body is strong; my body looks good,’ and it’s kind of given me back the power to say that and feel good about it,” she says.

Model Ryann Fraser says she “really missed my Ironman body a lot” after completing Ironman Canada at the age of 18. She hasn’t been training lately, so her physique isn’t as defined as it was when she was training. “It was so weirdly muscular, and I’d never experienced that before,” Fraser says.

“It was kind of empowering, like you were just confident all around.”

As a coach, Heather Gollnick has seen triathlon empower new triathletes as well. “Some beginners start with a low self-esteem because they just haven’t been doing sports, so they aren’t in shape,” she says. “But through triathlon they get more fit and more confident and you see it not only in their relationships, but in their jobs. It carries through to life.”

TRI TURNS UGLY However, triathlon doesn’t always hand out self-acceptance, happiness and sunshine (unless you’re in Tucson, Ariz.) to all who participate. june 2009

“Triathlon is a tricky sport for anyone who’s had issues with body image,” says Carmichael Training Systems senior coach and exercise addiction expert Abby Ruby, PhD. “Because you participate in a bathing suit, you take all of your clothes off and you go out and run around.”

A 2002 study in the Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal found that, “Body size dissatisfaction was observed among most female triathletes. However, the largest amount of body size dissatisfaction occurred among the sprint-distance competitors and those who reported themselves as beginners in the sport.” It would seem that sticking with the sport and achieving fitness goals, as Gollnick has witnessed as a coach, might improve a participant’s body image over time.

Triathlon tends to attract perfectionists, though, many of whom struggle to achieve what they perceive to be the ideal body type for the sport. “They’re just skinny and [have] muscles,” Fraser says. “When you see all the pros, that’s what it is.”

Tollakson realized he would have to shed some muscle mass to have what he calls an “endurance-style body type” and become an elite triathlete. He feels he’s one of the bigger pros in the sport but isn’t about to waste his time trying to fit into an elusive ideal form. “Being lean is a triathletemag.com

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“I DEFINITELY KNOW THAT THE GUYS AT THE TOP OF THIS SPORT ARE OBSESSED. I THINK THE GUYS BECOME MORE OBSESSIVE THAN THE GIRLS DO. IT IS A BIG PART OF BEING A MALE ENDURANCE ATHLETE IN GENERAL.” that that’s where I belonged.”

Or, as 38-year-old age-grouper Jason Kikugawa says, “Maybe it’s the spandex or the countless hours you spend cross training, but I think I have a more complete body image doing triathlon. It’s been a plus for me mentally and physically.”

TRY A THONG pretty big advantage when you’re looking at doing long runs and trying to carry your body on a marathon, but at the same time, you have to play your strengths,” he says. “One of my favorite quotes is from [British pro] Spencer Smith, who said, ‘My strength is my strength.’”

Unfortunately, not all athletes have equally healthy attitudes toward their bodies.

“I definitely know that the guys at the top of this sport are obsessed,” Tollakson says. “I think the guys become more obsessive than the girls do. It is a big part of being a male endurance athlete in general.”

Who could forget when Peter Reid said to documentary filmmakers in the 2006 film “What it Takes” that he basically has an eating disorder during the months leading up to racing in Kona? Or when Dave Scott described in the 2008 film “Beauty Mark” how he did bench presses with his hospital bed after he was admitted for exhaustion because he could not stand to miss a workout?

At least triathletes are no worse than other endurance athletes in this regard--and might be better.“Triathletes,” says Ruby, “claim that they’re healthier because they’re more well-balanced than elite runners—there’s not one body type out there for successful triathletes versus for runners or cyclists.”

There has been some research to back up this claim. In a 1996 Journal of Sport Behavior article, researchers found that, “Triathletes had slightly healthier attitudes toward eating than runners.”

Score one for triathletes.

Perhaps that’s because we know we have to swim to get to the run, and swimming, says Becci Twombley, UCLA’s director of sports nutrition, is the one discipline in which extra body fat is actually helpful. “It makes you more buoyant,” Twombley says. “So if you’re talking about long distances, having a little more body fat is going to help you float a little bit better and keep your body in better alignment and position.”

Score one for chocolate cake; wetsuits be damned.

Perhaps combining all three sports in various distances really does give triathletes more confidence in their bodies, as does knowing that competitors with a wide range of body types have been successful. Every triathlete can find an event that plays to his or her strengths.

“I was always the skinny kid on the swim team,” says age-grouper Jimmy Wills. “But I was more muscular than the kids that beat me in track and cross country; so when I found out about triathlon, I knew 58

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Still feel a little body-conscious in your Lycra tri-top? Ruby has some advice for you: “Concentrate on the race. Don’t look at everyone around you. It doesn’t matter what they look like; the most unsuspecting competitors may pass you on the way to the finish line. Don’t count anybody out.”

Seriously, for all the preening and flaunting inherent in the culture of our sport, simply looking hot is not going to get you to the finish line faster.

Lewis Elliot, pro triathlete and Triathlete swimsuit model, never counts anybody out. “There are a lot of fast guys who don’t look like they would be that fast,” he says. “But they are, so you know when you’ve been beaten enough times by guys who don’t look that fast to not make that error.”

It is important to keep in mind that perhaps your envisioned ideal race weight isn’t actually ideal for your performance. “Two seasons ago, I actually lost weight,” says Gollnick. “I wanted to get thinner, and I actually got slower. I wasn’t as strong. I was tired all the time. It wasn’t the ideal weight for me.”

How do you know when you’ve found your magic number? “That ideal weight for each person is where they’re going to hit peak performance but also where they’re most comfortable,” Gollnick explains.

“And where they feel comfortable with themselves.”

You may not be as svelte as our swimsuit models at your ideal weight, but you just might kick their butts.

Tollakson tells others to remember that it’s a process. “You have to spend the time going through the process,” he says. “You can help achieve your body image goals, but in the meantime, you can’t be shy about going out and participating.”

PIECE OF MEAT Perhaps what makes triathletes so hot is not simply our bodies but our dedication. Our perseverance. Our never-ending drive for selfimprovement and adventure. Our carpe diem way of life. And knowing that because of our drive to succeed in the sport, our bodies are strong and capable—and fun. It’s refreshing to see people enjoying their bodies despite living in a culture that does not promote such self-acceptance.

This month, Triathlete celebrates the triathlete’s form, the by-product of some very sexy attributes all triathletes possess. So take a minute to admire what our models have achieved through sport. Then, as Tollakson advises, “Go out confidently, put on some spandex and do a race.” june 2009

John Segesta/johnsegesta.com

—T.J. Tollakson

When the world’s best solo-effort athletes line-up they demand the world’s best equipment. The 2009 Felt DA with all-new Bayonet 2 steering system – the world’s fastest UCI legal TT/Tri bike – is the choice of champions.

Felt Professional Triathletes : Fraser Cartmell, Tim DeBoom, Jan Frodeno, Michellie Jones, Becky Gibbs-Lavelle, Emma Snowsill, David Thompson Garmin / Slipstream Pro Cycling Team including TT specialists : David Millar, Svein Tuft, Christian Vande Velde, Bradley Wiggins, David Zabriskie

TRIATHLETE ’S 2009 PHOTOS BY TIM MANTOANI • STYLING BY NATALIE BOHLIN

It gets damn hot in the Arizona desert, making it the perfect location for this year’s swimsuit issue photo shoot. The natural beauty of the Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa in Phoenix provided the canvas for our athletes to show off the newest fashion trends from tri-industry leaders.

OAKLEY Reverse Tri Top $38 Reverse Bikini Bottom $35 Oakley.com 62

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Ryann Fraser Ryann attends the University of Colorado at Boulder and is a skier, surfer and runner. She competed in Ironman Canada in 2007 at the age of 18. june 2009

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CAMARO Oahu Blue Neckholder Bikini* â&#x201A;Ź44.95 *Camaro suits only sold in Europe

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Bimala Figueiredo Bimala lives in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, Calif., and owns her own jewelry design company. She is an avid yoga and fitness devotee. june 2009

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SPLITS 59 Parker Sports Bra $45, Jessie Short $75 Splits59.com 66

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Stacy Kamano Stacy was born and raised in Honolulu and starred on the television series â&#x20AC;&#x153;Baywatch Hawaiiâ&#x20AC;&#x153; in 2000. She surfs, runs and has competed in several triathlons. june 2009

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Kirsten Hansen Kirsten lives in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, Calif., and heads up national community outreach for Lululemon Athletica Inc. She teaches yoga, surf paddles and competes in triathlons. june 2009

DESOTO Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s QTKini top $40 and QTKini Bottom $40 Desotosport.com

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SLS3 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; FX Race Suit $150 Slstri.com 72

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Lewis Elliot Lewis is a professional triathlete who lives in Scottsdale, Ariz. When he isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t racing triathlons, he skis and plays basketball. june 2009

SPLISH Custom Crossback Bikini Top and Bikini Bottom starting at $59.95 Splish.com 74

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Robyn Cagan Robyn lives in Chicago and is a stay-at-home mother. She has competed in several triathlons and is planning on doing her second Ironman this year. june 2009

TYR Solid Crossback Poly Workout Bikini $64 TYR.com 76

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OOMPH! – Women’s Spirit Top $48, Transition Race Brief $36, Men’s Vortex Tri Top $58, Kahuna Race Short $75 Oomphsports.com 78

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LULULEMON ATHLETICA Streamline Top $44, Streamline Trunk $44 Lululemon.com

OAKLEY GLASSES â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Embrace Lavender Tortoise Sunglasses $170 Oakley.com 80

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ZSU ZSI â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Sportkini, starting at $110 Zswimwear.com 82

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2XU – Women’s Comp Tri Top $54.95, Women’s Hipster Tri Short $69.95 2XU.com 84

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ZOOT Swimfit Splash Racerback Top $50, Swimfit Splash Bikini Bottom $55 Zootsports.com 86

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JAGGAD Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Jaggad Iron Suit $170 Jaggad.com

OAKLEY GLASSES Dangerous Global Black $170 Oakley.com 88

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LOUIS GARNEAU – Women’s X Pro Top, $64.99, Women’s Pro Tri Bottom $74.99, Men’s Shark Power Tank $74.99, Men’s Shark Power Short $94.99 Louisgarneau.com 90

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PROFILE DESIGN â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Elite Tri Tank $64.99 Profile-design.com 92

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AQUA SPHERE â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Lady Aqua Skin Swimsuit $99 Aquasphereswim.com

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Kestrel Talon

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The Talon steps it up a notch. A bike that not only looks fast–it is fast with the latest carbon lay-up.

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TYR â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Belmont Plaid Reversible WOB Top $46, Belmont Plaid Reversible WOB Bottom $42 TYR.com 98

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ORCA – Women’s Killa Race Suit $285 Men’s Killa Race Suit $249 Orca.com 100

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SUGOI â&#x20AC;&#x201C; K-Scope Swim Racer $70 Sugoi.com 102

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The Best has been chosen.

Triathletes require bikes designed for non-draft racing, and CEEPO has responded by designing pure triathlon bikes. With a triathleteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s needs in mind, we have chosen to build bikes with the thinnest down tubes and the highest airfoil aspect ratios in the industry, providing some of the best wind tunnel results as compared to the competition.

CEEPO bikes are thin and sleek, yet strong. Our brand new EPS (Ethyl, Poly, Styrene) carbon molding system allows us to create the lightest and stiffest bikes to provide maximum energy transfer. CEEPOâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s optimal geometries assure extended time power output, a stable ride and maximum comfort, offering athletes the transition to a solid run after the long ride. CEEPO, dedicated for triathletes like you with the same goal as ours - to be the very best.

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CRAFT Elite Tri Singlet $129.99 Elite Tri Short $134.99 Craft-usa.com 104

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2009 Triathlon Wetsuits at Triathlete Sports!

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WAshington, DC JUNE 21, 2009

DC Mayor Adrian Fenty (M35-39): All out all the time in races and leading Washington, DC

WorlD ChAMpions. pros. You. thE WorlD CoMEs to WAshington – JunE 21, 2009 Amateurs & Professionals race back to back on Pennsylvania Avenue, America‘s main street

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at the arizona Biltmore resort and spa

By Erin BErEsini â&#x20AC;˘ Photos By roBErt murPhy

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I

t’s tough work lying by the Arizona Biltmore’s Catalina pool—one of Marilyn Monroe’s favorites, according to the resort—on a perfectly sunny, 80-degree day in February. Irving Berlin would agree: He was hard at work here as well, penning the classic song “White Christmas” by this very pool in 1939. He explained to the Arizona Republic at the time, “When I’m working, the sunshine is vital to me.”

We couldn’t agree more.

Of course some people come to the Biltmore, which opened in 1929, to relax and play, or maybe to admire the Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired design, or to gawk at the lobby ceiling, which was recorded in 1929 as the world’s second largest interior gold-leaf ceiling, after India’s Taj Mahal.

Every president since Herbert Hoover (except Barack Obama, yet!) has stayed here. Clark Gable and Carole Lombard honeymooned here. june 2009

So did Ronald and Nancy Reagan. Heck, if you were at the resort in 1988, you might have witnessed an impromptu piano concert late at night performed by none other than Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Liza Minelli.

As if those endorsements aren’t enough, here’s some more contemporary celebrity name-dropping: Tom Cruise, George Clooney, Steven Spielberg, Sharon Stone, Elton John, U2 and Michael Jordan have all wined and dined at the Biltmore.

Should you tire of endless celebrity sightings, enjoying healthy spa cuisine by one of eight pools or studying the resort’s unique architecture, there are two 18-hole PGA golf courses, seven tennis courts, life-size lawn chess, basketball courts and an 18-hole putting course at your disposal. triathletemag.com

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The Arizona Biltmore is located near some of the most awesome hiking, mountain biking and trail running in the world.

Do you find making contact with a tiny ball impossibly challenging?

(As a triathlete, it could happen.) Check out the 22,000-square-foot day spa that uses only chemical-free, organic and vegan products. The attached fitness center has all of the machines you need to stay on top of your training schedule and offers classes including yoga and Qi Gong.

Of course, you might want to take advantage of the sunshine (Phoenix averages 325 sunny days a year) and warm temperatures (the year-round average is 72.6 degrees) instead of working out indoors.

The Arizona Biltmore is located near some of the most awesome hiking, mountain biking and trail running in the world. You can go it alone or get a Biltmore guide to take you mountain biking, horseback riding in the Phoenix Mountain Preserve or hiking up Camelback Mountain.

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Want to really earn your resort stay? You could compete in Ironman Arizona in November or the PF Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon in January, then return victorious to your private suite (one of 739 accommodations ranging from 400 to 1,600 square feet), ready for an in-room massage and a fantastic meal at one of six on-site restaurants.

Best of all? The Biltmore is easy to get to. It’s a straight, six-mile shot up 24th street from Phoenix’s Sky Harbor Airport, which is served by every major American airline. Just 15 minutes after retrieving your bags, you can be relaxing in paradise, sipping a tequila sunrise (which was invented at the Biltmore). We mean, um, working very hard.

For more information, visit Arizonabiltmore.com or call 800-950-0086. june 2009

The Legend

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Speed for everyone

Running Shoe Guide Within the bumper crop of 2009 running shoes, minimalism is in.

By T.J. Murphy

T

he father of modern distance running, the late Arthur Lydiard, was not a fan of the modern running shoe industry. The New Zealander fiercely believed that the gadgetry and design being marketed to runners did more harm than good.

In his book Running to the Top, (Meyer & Meyer Sport, 1997), Lydiard, a former shoe cobbler, contended that less is more when it comes to running shoes. “If you told the average person of any age to take off his shoes and run down the hallway, you would almost always discover that the foot action contains no hint of pronation or supination,” he wrote. Lydiard then argued that the construction of certain shoes disrupts the natural movement of the feet and creates stress points that can cause injury. “So we need a shoe that is very flexible and little more than a layer of skin, if that is possible,” he concluded.

As Matt Fitzgerald reported in Triathlete (“When Less is More,” April 2009), there are experts, including Peter Bruggerman at the German Sport University of Cologne, with fundamentally the same view as Lydiard’s, believing that shoe technology is the root cause of today’s high injury rates. Wrote Fitzgerald, “Bruggerman blames the high, cushioned heel of today’s running shoes, which causes a variety of subtle changes in running mechanics that throw various joints out of their natural movement patterns, creating tissue strain and injuries.”

On the other side of the debate, Fitzgerald noted, are experts like Ross Tucker, PhD, at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, who believe that the make-up of runners in 2009 differs vastly from

that of 30 years ago (we have a lot more six-hour marathoners than we did in 1980), and a comparison of injury-rate data between then and now actually supports the more robust contemporary running shoe designs.

Perhaps the most valuable nugget one can take away from Fitzgerald’s story is the observation that sports science has yet to thoroughly investigate the subject or align itself with any particular theory of what the best running shoe choice is for the various categories of runners.

I worked in a technical running shoe store for a decade. I noticed that one of the best ways to assist a customer is to go through a process of trial and error. You shuttle back and forth from the storage room to the floor of the store and have the customer try on as many different models of shoes as they have time for. When something clicks with the runner—meaning that he instantly loves it—you have something.

This wasn’t just my experience; all the people I worked with ultimately used this process as well. Fitzgerald points to research that actually supports this method of trying to play Cupid between a triathlete and a new pair of trainers. Which is perhaps the best advice we can give: Become your own scientist and don’t dismiss what your instincts and experience communicate to you. What your feet tell you they like may be the most valuable advice available.

To help you get an idea of what is out there, here is our 2009 training shoe guide. One thing you’ll find is that the major running shoe companies seem to be gravitating toward Lydiard’s philosophy, introducing more light and simple designs.

Nike LunarTrainer+

$100 Nike.com

Adidas Adizero Boston $90 Adidas.com

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PURPOSE: A lightweight trainer that delivers space-age cushion.

UPPER: Mesh reinforced by internal bands.

MIDSOLE: Phylon is Nike’s standard EVA midsole foam. However, the heart of the Lunar shoe is a foam core compound called Lunarlite, a material that weighs 30 percent less than Phylon and gives the shoe a signature bounce.

COMMENT: Triathletes living and dying for stability features in a shoe won’t find them in the LunarTrainer. However, Nike has truly delivered a tangibly new experience with this shoe. The cushion, both forefoot and rearfoot, is amazingly thorough despite the lean weight.

PURPOSE: Lightweight trainer (that can double as a racer) for intermediate and advanced triathletes.

UPPER: Ventilated mesh and non-slip lining.

MIDSOLE: Light, spongy foam with the torsion system for a bit of additional control. To further strip down the weight, the Boston employs a blown rubber outsole material in the areas least likely to wear down.

COMMENT: Simple in design and high on comfort, fit and responsiveness. Fast and fun to run in.

june 2009

Under Armour Spectre

PURPOSE: Lightweight trainer for neutral-footed, high-arched runners.

UPPER: A footsleeve within the ventilated mesh upper wraps the shoe firmly around the foot.

MIDFOOT: Beefy foam cushion in the forefoot and rearfoot, with structural integrity provided from the heel through the arch by an embedded cradle.

COMMENT: Swift and responsive, a quality entry into the lightweight running shoe category.

PURPOSE: Lightweight performance trainer for the neutral-footed runner.

UPPER: Ventilated air mesh.

MIDSOLE: Foam cushion midsole supplemented with wave technology and a full-length platform, embedded in the midsole, that adds to the shoe’s responsiveness.

COMMENT: The Precision 9 is one of the few technical cushion shoes that don’t sit you up on a massive pile of foam like a golf ball on a tee. The low profile and overall lightness of the shoe (9.9 ounces in a men’s size 9) offer a better feel for the propulsion coming off the footstrike. The upper cinches nicely around the foot, lending an extra degree of comfort to this excellent high-performance shoe.

$90 Underarmour.com

Mizuno Wave Precision 9 $90 Mizunousa.com

PURPOSE: Lightweight, high-performance stability trainer.

UPPER: Air mesh and microfiber materials with a lacing system that interconnects with overlays to secure the shoe snugly around the foot.

MIDSOLE: Plush EVA foam forefoot to rearfoot. A cantilever system works with a beveled heel to provide a crash landing pad for heel strikers.

COMMENT: At 10.4 ounces, the well-crafted Rhythm performs well in all forms of run training, from track intervals to long runs.

Avia Rhythm

PURPOSE: A stable, high-mileage training shoe designed for triathletes.

UPPER: A comfortable mesh engineered for maximum protection from water retention and lined with materials that facilitate sockless training and racing. Quick-lace system for fast transitions.

MIDSOLE: Two-density foam midsole with mild to medium antipronation support.

COMMENT: A fast training shoe with a nice snap to it; the triathlonspecific features are similar to those in Zoot racing shoes, but the additional cushioning makes the Advantage a stellar choice for long-distance tris.

Zoot Advantage

PURPOSE: A high-tech, streamlined trainer designed with triathletes in mind.

UPPER: Lined for sockless running and with a suction-cup fit.

MIDSOLE: A sheath of springy carbon fiber in the insole.

COMMENT: Similar to the Advantage, but Zoot has implanted a small carbon insert in the sole for an additional display of its reverence for performance technology.

Zoot Ultra Tempo+ 2.0

june 2009

$110 Avia.com

$100 Zootsports.com

$135 Zootsports.com

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K-Swiss Keahou $90 Kswiss.com

New Balance 904

PURPOSE: Super-lightweight stability shoe for speed training and race day.

UPPER: Breathable and quick-drying.

MIDSOLE: Exceptionally flexible in the forefoot, the 904’s primary stabilizing element is a firm wedge of foam rising along and into the arch.

COMMENT: The feel and weight of the 904 are like the feel and weight of a marathon-racing shoe. (It also shares the visual panache.) For those wanting to enhance the stability of the design, you can remove the sockliner and pop in an orthotic or over-the-counter insert.

Brooks Defyance 2

PURPOSE: Ample, soft cushioning in a light-as-a-cloud shoe.

UPPER: Element mesh that’s suitable for a variety of weather conditions.

MIDSOLE: Low-density foam.

COMMENT: What’s immediately noticeable in running in the Defyance is how surprisingly light it feels while delivering a plush, soft ride.

Nike Free 5.0

PURPOSE: To rekindle a natural, powerful stride through a shoe design based on the mechanics of barefoot running.

UPPER: Exceptionally soft upper materials and minimal stitching.

MIDSOLE: Super-light phylite foam molded into a deep-cut waffle grid for off-the-charts flexibility.

COMMENTS: Arthur Lydiard would have loved this shoe: A bare-minimum design that promotes running on pavement as one might run barefoot across a plush lawn. However, it’s a tremendous departure from a standard running shoe and may require a significant adjustment period for safe use. In fact, Nike sends you a pamphlet with recommendations on how to ease yourself into using the Free, starting off with a day of just walking around in them in the house, patiently introducing them to the muscles of the feet. Just popping them on fresh out of the box and launching into a hard 10-mile run could prove damaging.

$110 Newbalance.com

$100 Brooksrunning.com

$85 Nike.com

Adidas adiStar Salvation $140 Adidas.com

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PURPOSE: Lightweight trainer for neutral runners.

UPPER: Lightweight mesh and an especially plush tongue.

MIDSOLE: The core-stabilizing element of the Keahou is the K-Swiss Guideglide, a full-length insert that cradles the foot, sandwiched

by Superfoam.

COMMENT: The Keahou delivers a really nice “pop” upon footstrike.

A shoe targeted to triathletes who spike their run training with tempo and interval work.

PURPOSE: A high-end stability trainer with deep protection for the over-pronating foot.

UPPER: Seamless interior design and ventilated fabric.

MIDSOLE: Formotion guidance system implanted in a beefy foam midsole.

COMMENT: A very comfortable high-mileage trainer. Exceptionally protective on long runs on hard roads.

june 2009

boulder, colorado

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Brooks Glycerin 7 $125 Brooksrunning.com

Pearl Izumi syncroFloat III $115 Pearlizumi.com

PURPOSE: Stability trainer for the mild to moderate overpronator.

UPPER: One thing you’ll find in all of the New Balance shoes within this guide is a true and enjoyable wonder: its trademarked laces, designed to eradicate those bothersome moments when you’re happily running along and then have to stop because your laces are flopping around untied.

MIDSOLE: The two-density midsole is remarkably light, bolstered by a footbridge to counter the twisting forces of an overpronating foot.

COMMENT: The 769 is a strong representative of the relatively new category of lightweight stability shoes. Triathletes who abhor excess weight but want anti-pronation technology will like these.

K-Swiss Konejo

PURPOSE: Stability trainer with strong anti-pronation credentials.

UPPER: Overlays play an important part in securing the foot when laced up.

MIDSOLE: Two-density foam buffeted by a mid-foot stability bridge.

COMMENT: The Konejo is a solid, sturdy workhorse representing the classic stability category.

Under Armour Apparition

PURPOSE: Flagship cushioned shoe for runners and triathletes wanting big shock absorption.

UPPER: A footsleeve with the ventilated mesh upper wraps the shoe firmly around the foot.

MIDSOLE: Ample foam cushioning throughout the foot. The ArmourGuide cradle, implanted in the rear half of the shoe, bolsters protection for the heel strike and works to enhance the efficiency of the transition to push-off.

COMMENT: An excellent choice for long training runs on hard pavement.

$95 Kswiss.com

$110 Underarmour.com

triathletemag.com

PURPOSE: Balanced cushioning and light stability in a cushioned, mid-weight trainer.

UPPER: Sock-like and seamless, it has the same great attention to detail that has been paid to the upper throughout Pearl Izumi’s line. The mesh material and lacing system distribute pressure equally across and around the foot.

MIDSOLE: This shoe combines medium-density foam with its stabilizing frame technology.

COMMENT: Pearl Izumi continues to do a masterful job in creating the uppers of its running shoes, combined with a midsole that delivers long-lasting cushioning.

New Balance 769 $100 Newbalance.com

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PURPOSE: Provides the neutral-footed runner with plentiful shock absorption.

UPPER: Element mesh technology designed to be good in bad weather.

MIDSOLE: Not one, but two layers of low-density foam cushioning in the heel.

COMMENT: As with all of its top-end models, Brooks does a terrific job in cutting the shape for a seamless fit. This is especially evident in the Glycerin and is one of the reasons it’s a shoe that will sell itself in the running shoe store the instant it’s first slipped on. The cushioning is softer and more immediately noticeable in this model compared to the Brooks Infiniti. The Glycerin is an appealing choice for long runs on hard roads. Also a good shoe for Clydesdales and Athenas wanting maximum cushioning.

june 2009

Matty “Boom Boom” Reed debuted his new Fuji D-6 Signature bike in style winning the Miami International Triathlon.

The win makes it two in a row in Miami for Reed. Matt is primed and ready to take the remainder of 2009 by storm as he sets his sights on the 2012 London Olympics.

Helping him along the way is his new Fuji D-6 Matty Reed Signature Edition triathlon / time trial bike. Featuring innovative rear brake housing, integrated front brake cable routing and versatile independent adjust seat clamp system, it’s got as much boom as the Big Man himself.

fujibikes.com

Ecco BIOM A and BIOM B

PURPOSE: Offers serious runners and triathletes the advantages of the natural motion of the foot through the biomechanics of a new technology in shoe engineering.

UPPER: A choice between resilient Yak leather and more conventional textile material uppers is offered.

MIDSOLE: Composed of injected polyurethane, a material that typically provides longer-lasting cushioning and midsole integrity than EVA foam. There is nothing resembling the materials and bridges often used to brace the arch in the name of anti-pronation—this is in part a reflection of the BIOM line of thinking.

COMMENT: Triathlete and super-tech-geek Torbjorn Sindballe was central to the development of the BIOM running shoes. Ecco says that the main idea is allow the feet to move through their natural, preferred pathway.

But Ecco clearly states that this requires patience and adherence to a process of adaptation, not unlike the Nike Free. With your purchase of the shoes you’ll receive a recommended six-week plan that gradually guides you into using the BIOM shoes for more and more of your running.

The central difference between the A and B versions of the shoe is the ability of the runner that each is designed for. The As are for the faster running crowd and experienced marathoners and triathletes. The B version is more for the general fitness crowd, or perhaps the serious runner who is by nature cautious.

New Balance 1063

PURPOSE: A big-cushion shoe for neutral runners.

UPPER: Lightweight, breathable mesh.

MIDSOLE: Bountiful EVA foam layered upon a semi-curved, sliplasted shoe.

COMMENT: The cushion of the 1063 will comfortably accommodate the big-guy runner putting in big mileage and work equally well for lighter triathletes who love cushion. Another accommodating feature New Balance offers is a selection of widths.

K-Swiss Run One MiSoul Tech

PURPOSE: A convertible running shoe that allows the user to change the midsole for different types of runs.

UPPER: Mesh combined with a moisture-wicking fabric for breathability.

MIDSOLE: Generally speaking, the removable sockliners that come with most running shoes are exactly that: liners that offer a thin sheet of protective matter that makes up either a slip-last, board-last or combination last. K-Swiss has broken new ground by transferring substantial cushioning elements from the midsole into the sockliner and by offering the runner multiple options: a lightweight insole for speed days and a more robust insole (additional cushioning and an arch support) for medium to long days.

COMMENT: Although K-Swiss is a newbie to the running shoe market, it’s already making top-quality shoes and delivering valuable innovations. Triathletes can rejoice in that its designs are targeted specifically toward them.

Asics Gel Cumulus 11

PURPOSE: Designed for neutral-footed cushion freaks.

UPPER: The tongue construction in the new edition of the popular Cumulus uses a lateral attachment and additional foam for more comfort. Attention has also been paid to improving the fit of the heel collar to reduce strain on the Achilles tendon during footstrike.

MIDSOLE: Asics has sought to reduce the weight by using a foam that is lighter than the standard EVA yet improves overall cushioning value and durability.

COMMENT: You know a shoe works well for its intended user when it’s in its 11th version.

$220 YAK leather; $195 textile upper Eccousa.com

$125 Newbalance.com

$125 Kswiss.com

$100 Asicsamerica.com

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PURPOSE: Provides a firm, protective ride in a mid-weight shoe.

UPPER: Mesh with synthetic overlays provides a comfortable interior and a tough, resilient exterior.

MIDSOLE: The midsole material is ample and dense, providing excellent cushioning in both the rearfoot and forefoot. Brooks proudly states that its new low-density (BioMoGo) foam provides the same long-lasting cushion but includes an additive that allows the midsole to decompose when it finds its resting place in a landfill.

COMMENT: Eco-friendly runners should find the creation of BioMoGo a relief from guilty feelings that may have built up from the thought of dead running shoes plaguing the environment for eons.

As for the shoe itself, it’s a workhorse. The cushioning is of the firmer variety (as opposed to the goose down kind) and relatively long-lasting, and the last and upper give you a nice, snug fit.

Newton Stability and Neutral Trainers $175 Newtonrunning.com

THE BOLT IS HERE. LIGHTNING FAST. RACE-READY FOR ALL DISTANCES.

PURPOSE: Newton’s unique lugs underneath the forefoot are designed to simulate barefoot running by forcing the foot to strike the ground in a more natural position.

UPPER: The open-air mesh makes the upper extremely breathable and keeps your feet dry on hot days.

MIDSOLE: Both of Newton’s trainers are extremely light, and the high-end rubber makes the sole a bit more durable than those of many minimalist shoes.

COMMENT: We’ve found that most people either love them or hate them, which means they’re certainly worth a try. If you slip on a pair and immediately feel faster and more efficient, then you’ll know they’re right for you.

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june 2009 4/2/09 9:55 AM

Register Now @ www.captextri.com

CapTex Triathlon - Monday May 25, 2009 Austin, Texas

ADVENTURE, BEAUTY, DANGER AND A 25-YEAR-OLD RACE LURE THE MASSES TO NEW ZEALAND.

BY FRED DREIER Two nights before the 25th anniversary of Ironman New Zealand, event director Jane Patterson took the stage at the pre-race meeting to remind participants of the significance of their upcoming challenge.

Courtesy Ian Hepenstall

“In completing this race, you are joining a piece of its history,” said the pixie-haired Kiwi. “And it’s our history that makes this race so special.”

Indeed, the New Zealand race is second only to the Hawaii when it comes to age. But in its 25 years, the southern-most Ironman has seen drama that rivals anything seen in Kona. The most famous of these moments happened in the waning feet of the 1990 edition, when, after slugging it out the entire day, American Ken Glah and Finland’s Pauli Kiuru sprinted for the line. Kiuru bolted onto a footpath, dodged spectators and leapt over a barrier for the win. A perfectly timed photograph immortalized the moment. It’s still the closest finish in Ironman history, as Glah lost by a margin no wider than his ponytail.

The second memorable moment isn’t nearly as celebrated. In 2006

a freak wind and rainstorm whipped Lake Taupo into a frothy stew.

After much deliberation, organizers called off the swim and halved the bike and run for safety reasons. The decision came to the chagrin of the competitors who showed up, many of whom had traveled thousands of miles. Some predicted the decision might stamp out the race’s popularity among foreign athletes for good.

It didn’t. Not even close. In fact, in 2009, the race boasted 1,495 entrants—its biggest-ever field. Kiwis dominated the field, but Australians and Americans showed in big numbers as well. And the numbers came in the wake of a stumbling global economy and a falling Kiwi dollar.

“We didn’t think we’d be down this year, but we didn’t predict the kind of increase that we got,” said Ian Hepenstall, the race’s longtime spokesperson. “We’re 100 [individuals] up on the biggest field we’ve ever had, and there are 180 more New Zealanders here than we’ve ever seen. The growth of the sport in New Zealand is to blame for that.”

Economics, strangely, also helped. In the weeks leading up to the race, Air New Zealand cut its rates for a round-trip ticket from the States to below $800 USD hoping to woo off-season travelers. The price was far

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june 2009

Rich Cruse

Kiw i Cam Bro wn picked up his eighth title at the 2009 Ironman New Zealand and set a new course record of 8:18:04 along the way.

june 2009

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123

Courtesy of Fred Dreier

below peak-season rates, which are near $1,500 USD. And the struggling Kiwi dollar—roughly 48 cents on the U.S. dollar—made New Zealand an affordable holiday destination for Europeans and Americans.

But foreigners and locals alike wouldn’t show if the race didn’t hold a strong reputation as a must-do destination Ironman. Much of that is because of its magical locale, Taupo. Eleven years ago, organizers swapped the busy venue just outside Auckland for the small town of 22,000, which sits on the edge of the enormous volcanic lake that shares its name.

I’m not going to lie—putting my own mark on Ironman New Zealand’s history had little to do with my decision to arrive in Taupo, wetsuit and bike case in hand. In 2006 I covered an assignment in nearby Rotorua, and since then I have longed to return to New Zealand.

The land that gave us Lord of the Rings and Flight of the Conchords is the world’s Mecca for adventure tourism. Credit New Zealand’s lax liability laws for allowing hazardous (but unquestionably fun) activities such as bungee jumping, paragliding and jet boating to abound. I had my sights set on doing something dangerous that I’d only dream about doing Stateside.

Taupo is also in the cultural heart of the Maori, New Zealand’s original Polynesian settlers. Rotorua culture can be seen throughout the town, in local artisan shops and restaurants. Maori flavor also 124

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permeates the race itself, as a local troop of dancers welcomes athletes at the pre-race meeting, and performs a good-luck ritual minutes before the swim start.

While New Zealand holds a culturally British feel, it’s towns—Taupo included—feel much like rural America. The automobile is the preferred mode of transportation. Busses and shuttles make the three-hour drive from Auckland regularly, but unless you are lodging in downtown Taupo, renting a car is recommended. Much of the lodging is located a short walk from the race’s staging and transition areas, but a few of the hotels, are further out.

As for the race, I guarantee that the swim in Lake Taupo is unique to the Ironman world. The water is unquestionably cold, but generally without a spec of sediment. We racers could see each other as well as the lake bottom for the entire 2.4-mile swim. And to the delight of spectators, the rectangle-shaped swim course follows the shoreline, and even skirts past an aqua-golf driving range.

After the chilly dip, we sprung onto our bikes for the double outand-back bike leg. The course gains altitude once leaving downtown Taupo, and clouds, wind and a cold rain greeted us. Temperatures were in the low 50s, and I regretted not bringing my vest and arm warmers.

But the bumpiness of the road soon took my mind off of the cold. New Zealand is infamous for its rough roads, which are predominantly topped june 2009

official supplement sponsor

Rich Cruse

with unpolished, gravely chip seal. The constant rattling for 112 miles can loosen your bike’s bolts and screws, as well as your mind.

Pavement aside, the bike course provided another stunning view of New Zealand. The trip to the turnaround point in Reparoa undulated by pine forests, rolling green farmland and steam-spewing geothermal vents. And the thousands of sheep grazing alongside the road made for odd spectator viewing.

It was crowds of people, not sheep, that lined the marathon course, which winds a double out-and-back route alongside the lake. Kiwi spectators are not shy—they enjoy reading your first name off of your race number and screaming it as you plod by. And as yours truly gradually lost steam in the waning miles of the run, it was the constant verbal support that kept my attitude in check. It’s surprisingly difficult to get down on yourself when hundreds of gorgeous Kiwi girls are screaming your name.

The post-race exodus that follows every Ironman felt especially extreme in Taupo—the town emptied out in the days following the race. As for picking a tour, I consulted Glah, who now runs Endurance Sports Travel (EST), for his preferred Kiwi activities. Each year EST brings 100 to 150 customers to Taupo, and offers day trips to the nearby Kiwi House and Waitomo Caves in its package. Glah leads a group to nearby Rotorua. The town’s highlight is a place called the Agrodome, which includes the full spectrum of zany Kiwi tourism—bungee, jet boating, something called a free-fall and zorbing. I tried the latter in 2006 and had a blast—you climb into a giant inflatable hamster ball 126

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and then bounce your way down a hill. Check out Zorb.com if you want a clearer picture of just how not-safe this activity is.

On this trip, however, I chose to go canyoneering with the Aucklandbased outfitter Canyonz.co.nz. After meeting up with some college friends, we drove two hours north to the town of Thames on the Coromandel peninsula. Our target was the Sleeping God Canyon—our guides informed us that more people have stood atop Everest than traversed this canyon.

The five-hour tour cost me $115 USD and was worth every penny.

What, exactly, is canyoneering? Aside from labeling it the most sketchy, dangerous and unquestionably fun thing I have ever done, it’s a bit challenging to describe. We hiked 45 minutes to the top of a series of wispy, tall waterfalls. Our guides fixed ropes into bolts atop each waterfall, and then we hooked on the line and simply rappelled down through the water. One drop was more than 300 feet. Another was so sheer that we had to unclip midway down and fall 40 feet into a pool. A few of the waterfalls were short enough to simply jump off into the pools, and one created a natural waterslide that puts any Six Flags theme park to shame.

That evening as I sat in the back of a beat-up Toyota drying the canyon water out of my hair—my friends speeding me to the Auckland airport to make my flight—it hit me that only days before I had raced for 140.6 miles. I found it easy to get caught up in New Zealand’s endless outdoor activities and forget the real reason I came to Taupo. The entire experience, from swimming in Lake Taupo to rappelling down a canyon, is now a shining gem in my own personal history. june 2009

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NeW to the Game...

Sort of A perenniAl plAyer in the tennis- And cAsuAl-shoe mArkets, k-swiss is now mAking A plAce for itself in the crowded performAnce running-shoe reAlm.

By Matt Fitzgerald

W

hen you walk into the lobby of the corporate headquarters, the first things you see are a large poster of a well-known professional triathlete running in the company’s shoes and a collage of photos from a large, company-sponsored running event that took place recently in Taiwan. As you tour through the second-floor offices, you pass wall-mounted displays of company-manufactured running shoes and high-performance bicycles leaning against walls and desks. Among the employees you meet are a 10:40 Ironman and a former Olympic Trials marathoner.

K-Swiss, whose world headquarters is in Westlake Village, Calif., has made performance tennis shoes for more than 40 years, casual shoes for almost as long and running shoes for barely two years, already looks and feels like a real running company. I visited K-Swiss recently to find out why a company would enter the overcrowded running-footwear market today and how it plans to buck the perceived odds and succeed.

At first blush, the odds of success would seem small. There are already 20 established players in the running shoe market: Adidas, Asics, Avia, Brooks, Diadora, Ecco, Etonic, Fila, Karhu, Merrell, Nike, New Balance, Newton, North Face, Pearl Izumi, Puma, Ryka, Saucony, 128

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Spira and Under Armour. While running shoes are by far the largest category in the athletic footwear market, sales have been flat recently.

Thus, with the recent entry of new brands into this space, such as Ecco and Pearl Izumi, more players than ever are competing for a piece of the same old pie.

“It’s a bloated environment,” says Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst for the NDP Group.

Market analysts such as Cohen do not expect all of these brands to survive in this space, especially given the current ailing state of the American—and indeed the global—economy. “This industry is not immune to the fallout that a recession is going to create,” Cohen says.

Indeed, the predicted shakeout may have already begun, as Reebok, one of the world’s largest and most venerable running brands, recently announced that it would no longer produce performance running shoes.

If Reebok, a subsidiary of the world’s second largest athletic footwear manufacturer, Adidas, can’t make it, how can K-Swiss?

For starters, as a much smaller company, K-Swiss does not have to sell as many running shoes as Reebok to turn a profit. “They’re going to lose money in the short term, but in the long term it can be a profitable june 2009

business,” says Brady Lemos, a market analyst for Morningstar. And more than some other new players in the running shoe market, K-Swiss can afford to wait a while for profitability.

“The timetable is different,” says Erik Vervloet, K-Swiss director of sports marketing and the 10:40 Ironman finisher mentioned above.

“Because of the fiscal health of our company, we can ride this thing out.

We have zero debt and a nice little deposit in the bank. We can not sell a single shoe for three years and still be very viable as a company.”

Yet K-Swiss probably would not be in the running shoe business at all now if the company were as healthy today as it was just a few years ago. In the 1990s, the brand got a huge and unexpected boost when it became an icon of hip-hop culture and subsequently—like all iconic hip-hop brands—became popular among youth everywhere. Chris Lieto’s selling power pales in comparison to that of 50 Cent. By 2007 K-Swiss was a $500 million business. But the urban chic trend passed, and then the world economy imploded. According to Lemos, projected top-line revenue for K-Swiss in 2009 are just $210 to $250 million.

Two years ago the company hired David Bond to put K-Swiss back on the path of growth by reviving its performance footwear business. Bond had previously worked as head of innovation at Nike and as head of all U.S. sports at Adidas. He looked first to tennis, the company’s original core market, for new opportunities but soon realized that K-Swiss would have to reach beyond tennis to get where it wanted to go. Running quickly suggested itself as the best new market.

“One of the strongest, healthiest categories in our industry is running,” he explains. “It covers both genders and all ages. It crosses over from function to fashion pretty easily. And it’s not as marketingintensive [as other sports]. In basketball, for example, you can’t enter without an expensive star athlete. But running is reliant on innovation, quality and performance. That we can do.”

And there were other reasons to move into running. Importantly, market research revealed that runners did not hate K-Swiss. Says Vervloet, “We found that if you ask a 35- or 40-year-old runner about K-Swiss, he’ll say, ‘Oh, yeah, I used to wear K-Swiss shoes when I was a kid.’ We had no brand baggage with that consumer.”

Equally important, Bond felt that making running shoes was something that the company’s employees could get excited about.

“There are people here who run,” he says. “I’m a big believer in the idea that your brand should be an extension of your [corporate] culture. It’s easier to make product types that you use and love. So we decided to test the waters and see if we could make a good running shoe.”

The first step was to figure out a way to take something new to the running market. As Marshal Cohen explains, “You have to establish some kind of differentiation. What’s the benefit of this shoe versus every other shoe? It could be fit. It could be comfort. It could be technology.

It could be performance. It could be anything. It doesn’t matter what it is, as long as it’s credible.”

This process led Bond and Vervloet, whom Bond brought on board shortly after his own hiring, to target triathlon. Using triathlon as a point of entry to the running market made sense for two reasons.

First, it fit the new brand identity that Bond and Vervloet wanted to establish for K-Swiss. “Our brand goal is to be a California sports brand,” Bond says. “We want to invest in and promote the sports that

are indigenous to this area and make California special. California is a very progressive, creative, fun, healthy culture.” Triathlon was born in California and remains the center of the sport’s universe.

Bond also felt that K-Swiss was just the right size for triathlon. “We’re a big enough company to make some things happen [in triathlon] and small enough to care about making them happen,” says Vervloet.

As his colleague spoke during an interview in his spacious corner office, Bond chimed in with a personal memory. “As a triathlete myself,” he said, “and having worked for Nike and Adidas, I realized that those big companies couldn’t care less about triathlon. I remember working with Mark Allen at Nike years ago at the height of his career and it was so frustrating to me to get an appointment with upper management and do something special with him.” By contrast, members of K-Swiss’ impressive and growing roster of sponsored professional triathletes regularly enjoy extended homestays with Bond and Vervloet. For example, Australia’s Luke McKenzie, winner of this year’s Ironman Malaysia, spent 4.5 months in Bond’s home —Erik Vervloet last summer.

The next big challenge Bond and Vervloet faced was getting the rest of the company on board with their plan. “Convincing the rest of the company to do something new—radically new—took a little time,” Bond recalls.

“There are a lot of people who have been here for 20 years and who didn’t think this was the direction we should go.”

The watershed moment that inspired many in the company to rally behind the two was not one that they planned for that purpose.

Mere weeks after deciding to dip the company’s toes into the running market and long before K-Swiss built its first running shoe, Vervloet signed professional triathlete Chris Lieto—the athlete pictured in that large poster in the lobby of the K-Swiss corporate office—to a sponsorship contract. Over the next six months Lieto and K-Swiss’ design and prototyping teams, led by newly hired running footwear director Mark Sheehan, a veteran of Puma, Nike and Reebok, worked at a frenetic pace to create a shoe he could wear at the 2007 Hawaii Ironman World Championship. When the day came, Lieto led the race for several hours wearing a big K-Swiss logo on his chest and wore the first pair of K-Swiss running shoes in the marathon.

“When they saw an athlete running down Ali’i drive in our product, they started to believe,” says Bond of his fellow K-Swiss executives.

Lieto proved to be valuable to the company for other reasons. Bond and Vervloet knew that the success of their venture required that they produce running shoes that were at least as good as any other brand’s, and Lieto helped them meet this goal by extensively wear-testing prototypes and providing detailed, brutally honest feedback.

“Having him work on three or four rounds of prototypes and fix the functional details led to the perfecting of our original shoe and almost our entire range,” says Bond.

“His attention to detail is as good as any athlete I’ve ever seen,” adds Vervloet.

But Lieto’s exactingness was not exercised without cost. “We scrapped a whole set of molds that we had probably invested a quarter of a million dollars in based on his feedback,” Vervloet recalls, wincing at the memory.

“But you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression, and we wanted to start off right.”

The first fruit of the collaboration was the K-Ona (K-Swiss + Kona

We found that if you “ ask a 35- or 40-year-old

runner about K-Swiss, he’ll say, ‘Oh, yeah, I used to wear K-Swiss shoes when I was a kid.’ We had no brand baggage with that consumer.

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HIP&LOWER BACK

ACHES & PAINS

= K-Ona), whose triathlon-specific features include its light weight (nine ounces in men’s size 9), a seamless upper to prevent blistering when worn without socks, and a Flow Cool system that channels air through the shoe for cooling and moisture management.

Now the goal is to make K-Swiss running shoes better and better by maintaining strict quality standards and placing a heavy emphasis on innovation.

Most reviewers agree that it is meeting this goal. The Running Network recently named the K-Swiss Run One miSoul Tech the best new running shoe of Spring 2009.

K-Swiss recognizes that making high-quality shoes is necessary but not sufficient to gain a share of the triathlon market. The company must also persuade triathletes to accept K-Swiss as an authentic triathlon brand. The challenge here is that each of these requirements is prerequisite to the other. Triathletes must try the shoes and experience their quality to accept K-Swiss as an authentic triathlon brand. But they must already accept the K-Swiss brand to some degree if they are to be persuaded to try the shoes in the first place.

In nurturing brand acceptance, K-Swiss must avoid creating the impression that it is opening up a large pocketbook and attempting to buy its way into the sport—a mistake that other companies have made. For example, the sudden appearance of numerous big-name professional triathletes wearing K-Swiss shoes (including Matt Reed, Belinda Granger, Bjorn Andersson, Heather Gollnick and Katya Meyers) could be misinterpreted as such an attempt by the sport’s more skeptical consumers. In fact, says Vervloet, “We’re not paying any of our athletes enough to wear something they don’t like,” and he notes that many of his athlete deals offer product-only compensation.

The company’s new licensing deal with Ironman, making K-Swiss the official performance running shoe of Ironman, which was signed on the day of my visit, could also be thus interpreted. While the Ironman brand is very strong, the World Triathlon Corporation has come under fire in the past for allowing it to be associated with inferior products.

Bond and Vervloet vow to place the Ironman logo only on shoes that live up to that brand,

and if they do, as they did with the superb pair of K-Onas that I walked out of K-Swiss headquarters in, the partnership promises to pay huge dividends.

“We’re not trying to buy our way into the sport,” Vervloet insists. “We’re supporting the sport. We want to be part of the fabric of triathlon.” But Bond understands that it’s not enough for KSwiss to say this—the company must show it. “It’s going to take time for the broader triathlon community and running community to believe us,” he says. “That will come through consistency of being there and —Erik Vervloet through making great products.”

Another way in which K-Swiss must exercise patience to develop brand credibility in the triathlon space is by resisting the temptation to make its shoes available everywhere. “Triathletes don’t shop at Foot Locker,” says Vervloet. “We have purposely not opened any big box accounts. We are dedicated to the small retailer, where the core runners and triathletes shop.

We could be triple the size in running if we wanted to be at this point.” But they would also have zero credibility among serious triathletes.

Despite (or perhaps because of) its restraint, K-Swiss has made a good start in the running shoe market. Its initial goal was to make running shoe sales account for 10 percent of its business. In the fourth quarter of 2008, they accounted for 22 percent of total revenue. And what’s especially encouraging for K-Swiss is that almost all of these sales have been made to triathletes, who influence each other’s purchasing decisions more powerfully than elite athlete sponsorships and licensing agreements could ever do. “If they like something, they will tell everybody,” says Bond of his fellow triathletes. “And if they don’t like it, they’ll also tell everybody.”

Chris Lieto is confident that the word-ofmouth will be positive and will help establish K-Swiss as not only a viable running shoe brand but as a major brand. “The loyalty is going to be there as long as it follows through,” he says. “I see it crossing over successfully into mainstream running. I think you’re going to see K-Swiss shoes on the shelves in every running store in the next couple of years because the shoes are that good.”

We’re a big “ enough company to

make some things happen [in triathlon] and small enough to care about making them happen.

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T R A INING

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TRAINING FEATURES 1. BALANCE 134 2. BIG SWIM SETS

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Balance the Imbalance

By Mark allen

W

e have all seen what happens to the first swimmers out of the water in Kona: They enjoy a brief moment of glory off the front of the field on their bikes and then get swallowed up and disappear.

With few exceptions, athletes with a fairly balanced diet of swim, bike and run skills turn in the best performances. Of course there will always be exceptions, but rarely is one extraordinary strength enough to make up for weaknesses in the other disciplines. Some might be lightning-fast on the bike but can barely hang on during the run. And that, as we all know, is not a satisfying experience.

Every athlete has both strengths and weaknesses. The trick in training is to figure out how to maintain your strengths while improving in your weaker sports. There are many ways to look at this situation. A good swimmer might spend hours working on his or her strength 134

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but leave the donkey tied to the barn when he exits the water because he didn’t bring his bike and run to match the strong swim.

What if we could maintain our strengths and also bring our weaker events up to their fullest potential? Here are six strategies to do just that.

1. Mechanics Proficiency in any sport is part fitness and part efficient biomechanics. We all know how that works. You can take a world-class runner and throw him in the pool and that person will sink. Start with the mechanics. Build your efficiency of motion in each sport separately so that the training you undertake has a chance of being 100 percent effective.

Swim Mechanics. There are a few keys to think about in each and every swim stroke you take. First, power is generated through the roll of your hips from side to side and not specifically by pulling hard with the arms.

You can gain a physical understanding of this concept by using only one arm for a length and then using the other one when you come back. The only way you will do more than a flop across the pool is if you generate power

by rolling or whipping the hips as you pull underwater.

The next consideration is the position of the arms relative to each other at the beginning of the pull. Today’s top swimmers are doing what is called a half-catch-up stroke. In this, you leave your extended hand out in front until the hand of the recovering arm is about in line with your head. At that point the pulling arm goes into action.

If this is a tough skill for you to master, you can get it by first doing a complete catchup stroke where you do not start your pull until the recovery arm taps your extended hand. From there you can gradually reduce the amount of time you wait until you figure out the half-catch-up.

Pull efficiency. What happens underwater is the most important element affecting swim efficiency. Dropping your elbows or creating bubbles around your hands leads to a pull that just doesn’t generate much power. To supercharge your underwater efficiency, do a few laps with your hands clenched in fists. At first you will feel as if you are swimming with an infant’s arms attached to your body, but you will eventually get the hang of it. And then, when you open your hands again … watch out, Michael Phelps!

Bike Mechanics. Nothing develops your pedaling mechanics and spin efficiency like spending time on a stationary trainer. Make sure you use your tri bike with aerobars and a trainer with resistance.

Start with your normal warm-up and then get into the aero position. Gradually increase the gears while keeping your cadence at the ideal training cadence of 90 to 95 rpm. If you don’t have a cadence monitor on your bike, get one. This can help you improve your efficiency more than any other device you could put on your bike. Raise the gears every five minutes, but keep your cadence constant until you cannot go into a bigger gear without the cadence falling. And don’t feel bad when your cadence does fall: The big gear always wins!

After 15 to 30 minutes of regular riding, it’s time for your real efficiency drill. Pedal with one leg at a time for five to 10 minutes. Stabilize your other foot on a box or chair. Do this drill in the aero position. If you have big issues with your pedal stroke, they will come up here but will also get corrected. Make sure to pedal normally for five to 10 minutes with both legs at the end to remind your brain that you have two sides that need to work in tandem.

Running Mechanics. Triathletes as a whole are over-striders. In short, fast races, this issue may not show up visually. But in a longer race, when fatigue really sets in, each time your foot june 2009

John Segesta/johnsegesta.com

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T R A INING 3. GettinG hits the ground heel first, All three sports have strOnGer it’s like your body’s brakes ranges of motion your are put on until your Overcoming a sport center of gravity moves weakness is sometimes as body needs to go through simple as just strengthforward of the midfoot to create your swim ening the muscles that and you can finally hit the gas again. stroke, bike pedal stroke are used most in your There is an easy way weakest discipline. and full running stride. to correct this problem: If your weak disRun barefoot.

Efficiency comes when cipline is swimming, Go to a track, take you should work your your flexibility matches lats, traps and triceps. your shoes and socks off and run a lap or two. You those ranges of motion. For biking, some good will immediately notice quad work should do that you land right about the trick. And for runat your midfoot, which is ideal. You will also feel ning, you should work your hamstrings and how you land lighter on your feet and spend calves; and for longer races your quads are less time on the ground, getting off your foot also important. more quickly. When you put your shoes back The one area that is used in all three sports, on, try to recall these sensations and run the if your speed and power are generated correctly, same way with your shoes on. is your core. Abdominal work and other core You can practice this drill a couple of times and balance work will really go a long way a week until the correct stride and foot-strike toward helping you find new speed in the placement become second nature. same old body.

2. OvercOMpensatiOn

4. cOre MOveMent

Overcompensation means that you devote more time and effort to your weaker sport. In other words, add a few extra workouts. These should not be considered true hardcore training workouts but more like putting time into your athletic bank account. Part of what creates efficiency and ultimately speed is developing the pathways between your brain and the rest of your body, doing a specific motion over and over until it becomes second nature. It’s like deepening a groove.

When you add an extra workout into your training, it should be short to moderate in length with an easy to moderate intensity.

The key to reaping the benefits of this session is making sure that the entire workout is done with the utmost attention placed on your mechanics. That means that you should use the best form possible for this additional session.

Make sure that swim strokes, running and cycling cadences, and bike positioning are executed as closely as possible to how you would execute them in a race. The speed doesn’t have to be race pace, but everything else should be race-like. So even if you are, for example, biking at a slow speed, keep your cadence at 90 to 95 rpm. If you train at slow paces with slow turnover, that is the pattern that you will fall into automatically. But that is not what you want.

Use your added sessions to develop the high cadence and efficient movement patterns you need on race day.

All of the most powerful movements originate from your core. The least effective way to generate force is from your extremities.

Whether you are trying to catch someone’s feet in the swim, hang on over the top of a hill on the bike, or pull away from a competitor on the run, if you have learned to generate power and speed from your core, your body will be better able to do what you ask of it in races.

You probably engage your core already when you are working in your strongest sport, and that is why you are good at it. But if you watch someone who has a noticeably weak sport, you will probably observe that the athlete moves more from the extremities than from the core of the body.

There are lots of ways to actively move from your core. Pilates is one of the best tools to strengthen your core, and doing core work with a trainer is also helpful. But you can just as easily develop an awareness of the area that begins inside your abs and extends downward to your glutes (for cycling especially) and up to just below your ribcage (the roll in your swim) on your own.

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5. pOsitive iMaGe Just because you may not have been proficient in a specific sport in the past doesn’t mean that you can never become good at it.

Make a shift in self-image. Replace negative statements with positive ones. Instead of, “I can’t run like a runner” believe that, “I can run like a runner.” Also tell yourself, “I can swim in

even the roughest water. I can cut through the wind and still be strong on the bike.” Whatever you may have believed that you were not, it’s time to put that in the Dumpster and become comfortable with a new and more positive experience of your abilities.

Take the time to reinforce your belief in your abilities over and over again. Old habits die hard, so it will most likely take more than one day of telling yourself that you can run strong through the entire race for it to become who you are on a consistent basis. Thought precedes form. Right now is the moment to begin making that shift and start the transformation from weakness to proficiency.

6. pacinG There is one strategy that tends to get the lion’s share of attention from those who are quite strong in one sport but weak in another.

They tend to really push their strength, feeling they have to make up as much time as possible in their key discipline to compensate for a weakness that might cost them the place or time they are hoping to achieve.

One classic example is strong cyclists who are weak runners. They tend to push the bike leg way beyond what would be considered smart pacing in order to have a head start on the run. But they do this simply because they don’t believe that conserving some energy on the bike will afford them a better run.

Instead, try this strategy: Hold back just a little bit of your effort in your strongest discipline so that you can maximize a weaker sport that may follow. Holding back 1 percent to 3 percent on the bike may result in your running 10 percent to 15 percent better.

Use your strength to conserve energy rather than use all the energy that you have and then hang on with only hope in the tank.

When you do hold back just a bit, you may find that the weakness wasn’t really so much a weakness but rather a poor choice in pacing the earlier legs.

There you have it: seven keys to bringing all three sports up to the same level.

Mark Allen is the six-time winner of the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii and is available for speaking engagements worldwide. For further information about Mark’s speaking availability, please call 1-800-994-5306.

Based in Santa Cruz, Calif., Mark has a state-of-the-art online triathlon training program at www.markallenonline .com. In addition, Mark co-teaches a workshop titled Fit Soul, Fit Body with Brant Secunda, a shaman, healer and ceremonial leader in the Huichol Indian tradition. They have recently released a book by this same name that you can find at bookstores near you or on Amazon.com (Fit Soul, Fit Body-9 Keys to a Healthier, Happier You). june 2009

John Segesta/johnsegesta.com

T R A INING

Keep It Simple Short Warm-UpS and Big SetS for faSter SWimming

By Paul RegensBuRg

S

o you only have 45 minutes to swim at lunch? Is the pool closing early? Do you have to pick up your kids in an hour?

When your time is tight and you want to make the most of your swim workout, do not fear! A time-efficient aerobic power set is the answer. You can effectively warm up in half the time, select big main sets to increase your fitness, and use long-distance swim training methods to maximize the benefits.

Short Warm-UpS The physiological benefits of a good warmup are a critical part of any good athletic per138

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formance, but a shorter warm-up can be just as effective as a longer one and simulate the same opportunities that you might have on race day to get ready. Traditional swim clubs and some Masters workouts promote long warm-ups, sometimes for even as much as 2,000 yards or 45 minutes. These long warm-ups come from swim team coaches accustomed to giving lengthy main sets to high-level swimmers who can cover the prescribed warm-up distance in a relatively short period of time.

Swimmers are also accustomed to swim meets that allow for extended warm-ups well in advance of the competition in a controlled

environment. Triathlon competitions are a somewhat chaotic environment that normally only allows for a limited warm-up time, so incorporating some short, effective warm-ups before longer sets in training serves as a great rehearsal. Experiment, practice and memorize a 10- to 15-minute routine that you can also transfer to an open-water situation. Include these components, in this order: 1. Dry-land drills 2. Relaxed swimming 3. Drill work 4. Activation 5. Flush

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T R A INING 4x50m as 25m of a choice drill/25m free (Choose two drills and alternate.)

6x50m as 25m fast/25m easy 100m easy flush, alternating 25m free/25m back

in open Water, thiS Set coUld look like thiS: Two to three minutes of arm circles and light stretching on shore Five minutes of relaxed swimming with mixed stroke to loosen up 4x30 strokes of drill (try fists only and pause drills) and 20 strokes of freestyle 6x20 vigorous strokes for activation and 20 strokes of smooth, easy freestyle Two minutes of easy swimming to flush

Big, time-eFFicient SetS A long, continuous set with a short rest period will be the most efficient use of your time and very effective for building aerobic power. This energy system is beneficial for triathlon swimming and a good way to complement a Masters swim program that usually does not focus on this type of swimming.

You won’t be spending too much time at the wall recovering, but you will be out of the pool in a hurry and on your way to realizing the training benefits. Try the following sets based on the amount of time you have after your warm-up.

the 30-minUte main Set Continuous Base Swim Thirty-minute, continuous swim broken in to three sections: 10 minutes base (65 percent to 70 percent effort; focus on form and efficiency) 10 minutes steady state (75 percent to 80 percent effort; below race effort but good rhythm) 10 minutes tempo/race pace (85 percent to 90 percent effort; at race effort or just 140

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slightly below) Keep a record of the distance you cover in the 30 minutes

the 45-minUte main Set Pace Set Two or three intervals of a straight 1,000 meters at goal race pace Three minutes recovery after each Evenly split each interval (the second 500m in the same amount of time as the first 500m) Check heart rate at end to ensure that you are working hard enough

the 60-minUte main Set Aerobic Power Set 600m moderate-intensity with 60 seconds recovery 6x100m fast with 10 seconds recovery 4x50m easy with 10 seconds recovery 400m moderate with 45 seconds recovery 4x100m fast with 10 seconds recovery 4x50m easy with 10 seconds recovery 200m moderate with 30 seconds recovery 2x100m fast with 10 seconds recovery 4x50m fast with 20 seconds recovery 1x100m moderate with 30 seconds recovery 1x100m fast with 10 seconds recovery 4x50m easy with 10 seconds recovery Keep this set always moving— utilize the easy 50m sets for recovery This set can be adjusted down to start with a 400-meter set instead of 600 meters.

Paul Regensburg is a senior coach at LifeSport, the “Official Coaches of Ironman.”

He has coached athletes from beginner to elites at all distances, including Olympic, Pan Am Games and Ironman. For more information, visit LifeSportCoaching.com or e-mail coach@lifesportcoaching.com

StrategieS For long SWim intervalS Incorporate these concepts to get the most out of your long swim intervals:

1. rhythm Finding a great rhythm is the key to success in all endurance sports. Because your biomechanics and physiology all tend to move in some type of consistent, repeating pattern, it only makes sense to align each of your body parts into a cohesive unit. Find a consistent rhythm to your stroke, breathing and timing.

2. go long If you have the option, find a long-course pool. It better simulates open water, and you can cut down on all those turns you have to make in a smaller pool. If you are lucky enough to have access to open water, your longer pool intervals can easily be converted from distance to time for use outdoors.

Landmarks such as trees, docks and buoys can also be used to use to mark distances. Open-water swimming is a great way to supplement your pool swim training. Most triathletes do not spend enough time in open water, so including open-water sessions like the ones listed above at least once per week will lead to better swim performances at the races.

strength and efficiency by slowing down your stroke rate. Swim metronomes are perfect for use in open water when you are not likely to count your strokes.

5. eFFort Swimmers can become complacent in longer sets. Routinely check your heart rate at the end of each interval to see if you are hitting your desired zones and effort. You can keep you heart rate monitor on the edge of the deck (you will have to lift your torso out of the water) or take a 10-second count from the clock while counting your pulse.

6. check the clock Always know the time on the clock when you start your interval and your total time when it is completed.

Position yourself to keep an eye on the pace clock while swimming so you can see your times. This is easier than you might think. You will soon be able to know your pace and calculate whether you are where you want to be within a few seconds.

7. Break it into pieceS

Try drafting with a swim partner on your long inter vals, ideally someone who is slightly faster than you. You can do this easily in the pool, and you will be surprised at how the set flies by when you are focusing on staying in a draft. Take turns at the front, side and back of your pack.

Segmenting is a brilliant strategy for any endurance sport. Breaking the overall interval into smaller pieces and setting a goal for each will keep you motivated, on track and maintain your mental focus. You also have a much better chance of remembering how much distance you have covered.

For example, breaking a 1,500m swim in to 3 x 500s or 5 x 300s is a very common approach of good long-distance swimmers.

4. Stroke!

8. hold yoUr Breath

Long sets are the perfect opportunity to focus on your stroke rate. Increasing turnover is a key way to increase speed as long as you maintain your efficiency. Take sample stroke rate counts per length from time to time or use a swim metronome such as a Tempo Trainer to measure and increase your stroke rate. Alternatively, distance per stroke sets can be used for

Another way to benefit from a longer swim is to include a hypoxic breathing component. In other words, breathe less often in order to force your body to still perform with less oxygen. This also promotes rhythmic breathing. Common hypoxic breathing patterns include breaths every three, five or seven strokes, often changing the pattern after each 100 meters.

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Open-Water Training in The Pool

By Sara McLarty

live in Lake County, Fla. That’s a dead giveaway for how easy it is for me to train in open water. I literally have a lake in my front yard, one in my backyard and one on each side of my house. I can find a friend, bring a kayak and pick a different lake to swim in each weekend.

Most triathletes don’t have such easy access to open water for training. It could be because of cold winter temperatures and frozen water, polluted or unsafe conditions, heavy motorboat traffic or just a lack of nearby options for open-water training. Instead of settling for being ill prepared for race season or endangering yourself by trying to train in unsuitable waters, try some of these training tips during your next swim. You can practice all of these open-water swimming drills at your neighborhood pool: Flip at the t: During a normal swim set, every wall is a chance to rest, relax and recover before the next lap. However, there are no walls every 25 or 50 meters in the open water. One way to prepare yourself is by doing a long swim (500 to 1000 meters) without touching the wall. Instead of turning at the wall and pushing off with your legs, flip at the T, or five feet before the wall. You will lose all of your

forward momentum and be forced to use your arms and legs to get moving again. Caution: This can be stressful on your shoulders. As with all activities, don’t overdo it.

Sight Your CoaCh: During my first few months as a swim coach, I discovered why coaches always pace along the pool deck. Usually it is to communicate with swimmers in other lanes, but sometimes it’s just to keep warm or for personal entertainment. Use this random movement to your advantage: Pretend your coach is a big, orange inflated buoy. Practice sighting for your coach during a drill set. Lift your head forward, scan the horizon for the coach/buoy, turn your head to the side for a breath and then continue swimming. Do this no more than five times per lap (25 yards).

Water polo Drill: Water polo players never seem to have a hard time swimming with their heads out of the water—it’s part of the sport.

So, let’s take a page out of their book and train with our heads out of the water. There are many reasons you might need to do this in a real open-water situation (cold temperatures, feet in your face or hard-to-find buoys). Swim the entire lap with you head up (for example, 6x25m). Don’t turn your head to the side to breathe; that’s cheating. This is a great way

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Robert Murphy/bluecreekphotography.com

l a ne l Ines

l a ne l Ines to build strength in your neck and make you aware of how your lower body sinks when your head is raised.

Dolphin Dive: Along with having access to more lakes than I know what to do with, I also train at a pool that has a zero-entry end.

The bottom of the pool gradually slopes up to the deck, just like a beach. Here, I have the opportunity to practice dolphin diving. You can use the shallow end or the kiddy pool. Caution: Make sure you are familiar with the depth of the whole area you are using, and always lead with your hands as you dive to the bottom to protect your head and neck. hYpoxiC Breathing: The importance of lung capacity is often overlooked. Open water can seem much less intimidating if you can hold your breath for a long period of time or are comfortable not taking in air every three strokes. Situations like cold-water shock, chop and splash, or dunking at the buoy are common during an event. Working on a hypoxic breathing-pattern set, or gradually increasing the number of strokes you take between breaths, is a great way to prepare for some of these situations. An example is a 5x100m set in which you breathe every three strokes the first lap, every five strokes on the second, every

june 2009

seven strokes on the third 400s, and put swimOpen water can seem or and every nine strokes on mers of similar abilities much less intimidating in the same lanes. Each the last lap. turn in the MiDDle: should start if you can hold your swimmer Rarely will a triathlon or one second apart, basibreath for a long period cally one after another, open-water swim have a 180-degree turn on the of time or are comfort- and try to stay right on course, as sending swimmers the leader’s feet. Don’t able not taking in air forget to alternate who head-on toward competitors is not the best idea. Thus, leads the lane after each every three strokes.

90-degree turns are the interval. norm. Pretend there is a These fun and chalbuoy in the middle of your lane, swim towards lenging drills can be incorporated into a regular it and make a U-turn around it. You can use swim practice. After a while, training in the a teammate as a buoy, bring an inflated buoy, pool can get a bit repetitive (especially after use a mark on the bottom of the pool or just 20 years) and anything to mix up the tedium your imagination. The point is: Practice your is a welcome change. Not only will these drills turns! Do some 180-degree turns as well—it give you a little mental boost, they will also can’t hurt to be over-prepared! prepare you for your first, second or 100th three WiDe: Most swimming lanes are triathlon. two to three meters wide. This is just enough Be creative, original and inventive with space to cram you and a pair of teammates your drills. These are just some guidelines side by side. Do 6x25m sets fast, where you to inspire your own training ideas. Combine alternate which position each person starts multiple drills (like three-wide and water polo) in. The middle slot is the most fun and should to make another day at the pool more enjoyable. be fought over.

Remember, the most important thing is to feel DraFting: Here’s where the fun starts. confident and prepared when you are on the Take advantage of a long set, like repeat 300s starting line.

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What the Hell is Yaw? Aero-obsessed compAnies like cervelo, Zipp And Hed spent countless Hours reseArcHing yAw Angles in tHe wind tunnel, but one question is seldom Addressed: do triAtHletes reAlly need to worry About AppArent wind direction?

By Jason GoldBerG

M

any triathletes have never heard of yaw angles. Others have heard of them but have no idea what they are. Still others may think they understand yaw angles, but really donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t. Whatever the current status of your yaw-angle knowledge, this article will make you a yaw expert able to dazzle your friends and training buddies with knowledge of what a side wind might mean to them in their next triathlon, as well as what impact it might have on their strategy in the race, choice of equipment (especially wheels), mental preparation and physical training.

To understand yaw angles, which are june 2009

apparent wind angles, we will look at the relationships linking bike speed, wind speed and wind angles.

Apparent wind angles affect how an athlete, bike and wheel perform. There are actually two types of wind. The most commonly discussed type is meteorological wind. This is the wind created by the movement of air in a given direction and at a certain speed. Apparent wind, or yaw, is what you get when you factor your bike velocity and bearing into the existing meteorological wind. Yaw angle is the relationship between the meteorological wind and the apparent wind. Bike velocity

increases the weightiness of apparent wind in this relationship. In mathematical terms, the greater your bike velocity is, the shallower the yaw angle becomes (i.e., the yaw angle becomes more and more a straight-on headwind).

It is the yaw angle, not the true wind, that acts on your wheels, and that is why it is so important to understand how it behaves and why bike and wheel engineers obsess over these angles.

Many companies perform wind tunnel testing on their products to gauge performance. Companies such as Cervelo, Hed, Scott, Specialized, Ridley, Quintana Roo and Zipp triathletemag.com

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big r ing have been using yaw angles to test their equipment for years, if not decades. They measure the drag coefficient of each wheel or frame at various degrees of yaw starting at zero (head-on) and going as high as 30 degrees.

There are several key features in wheel designs that can increase or decrease your drag, and these features will play with or against yaw angles. The same goes for frame designs. A very narrow tube shapes with an extremely sharp trailing edge performs very well at the lower yaw angles, but as the yaw angles get steeper, the frame’s “stall point” becomes evident. Manipulating the frame’s trailing edges so that they’re sharp across a range of yaw angles can fix that problem.

Some wheel manufacturers use open molds to create their wheels. An open-mold wheel is a commercially available, generic mold that any company can purchase and then put its label or logo on. These companies might go to a wind tunnel only as a marketing ploy instead of for developmental reasons. They preach how fast their wheels are but test only at a zero degree yaw or a head-on wind and take really nice photographs of the test.

The problem with such testing is that you never see a zero-degree yaw angle when riding. It just doesn’t happen—not even for Pro Tour riders moving damn near 30 mph. Generally speaking, the data published on generic-mold wheels is somewhat deceptive, because it does not represent how the wheel performs outside the wind tunnel.

Most wheel manufacturers design wheel shapes and depths to be optimal at a yaw angle of eight to 12 degrees. A rider traveling at 20 mph with an east northeast wind (60-degree angle on the rider) of 8 mph will see a yaw angle of 12 degrees, while riders sustaining slower speeds will be subjected to higher yaw angles.

Also, the higher the meteorological wind speed is and the more extreme the wind angle in relation to the bike, the steeper 146

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yAw Angle

apparent wind (rider’s velocity) = 20mph at 0º 12º 0º

meteorological wind = 8mph at 60º

yaw = 12º

june 2009

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the yaw angle becomes. Our same 20 mph rider with an east southeast wind (150-degree angle on the rider) will now see a yaw angle of 19 degrees. Some wheels, such as a mid-V wheel, which is designed to have a shallow side profile and a deeper frontal profile, can save you time in some conditions and cost you time in others.

Making a wheel perform better at higher yaw angle is done efficiently by manipulating rim shape first and depth second. This approach is seen in the selections offered by several wheel manufacturers, ranging from 58mm to 60mm of rim depth. Then there are wheels (often from the same manufacturers) that have rim depths ranging from 90mm to 100mm and composite multi-spoke wheels, such as the popular Hed 3c tri-spoke. These deeper wheels often outperform their shallower cousins as the yaw angles get steeper. Carbon tri-spoke wheels, such as the tried and true Hed 3c, get faster as the yaw angles go up. In other words, the same wheel can be “slow” at shallow yaw angles and “fast” at steep angles.

Each wheel manufacturer publishes data on its wheels, and it is up to the customer to weigh in performance, quality and value to best suit his or her needs. While it’s true that a disc in back and a tri-spoke or 80mm to 120mm wheel up front is the fastest setup in perfect conditions, this doesn’t mean it’s always the best race-day setup.

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If you’ve ever tried riding with a disc wheel against powerful crosswinds, you’ve learned this the hard way. High winds can create extreme yaw angles, so using wheels with a shallower profile will prevent your bike from turning into a sail in these conditions.

If you’re uncertain about your wheel selection before an event, try the yaw calculator on Hedcycling.com. With this tool and a check of the local weather forecast, even the most novice athletes can approximate the yaw angles they will face on course.

While having an understanding of these angles will not make or break your race, it can get you a bit of free speed and prevent you from being blown off the race course.

Remember, a zero-degree headwind just does not occur in the real world, but 10 degree to 20 degree and higher yaw angles do, and your understanding of how yaw angles affect equipment selection can help you obtain your next personal best.

Jason Goldberg is the director of operations for FIT Multisports, a professional coaching, management and marketing company. FIT Multisports uses cuttingedge scientific modalities such as wind tunnel testing and surrounds itself with industry leaders to achieve optimal results for professional athletes such as Bjorn Andersson, Richie Cunningham and Bryan Rhodes as well as age-groupers. For more information, visit Fitmultisports.com. june 2009

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on t he run

overcoming Mental obstacles in training

By Kevin BecK

L

int is a runner and triathlete with all the enthusiasm in the world, but at times his vigor is his own worst enemy. He sits at work and broods idly over the afternoon’s mile repeats, but then he fails to hit his target times and skips the june 2009

last one or two reps. He sometimes rationalizes knocking a few miles off a planned 20-miler when he’s speeding along halfway through, figuring a fast 17- or 18-miler offers the same benefits as a slower, longer run. But on marathon

morning, Lint finds himself suddenly attaching great importance to these “missing” miles, and he often slows down markedly in the latter stages of his races even when feeling physically and mentally up to the task. His tune-up races generally suggest that his goals are well within his reach, but he hasn’t yet attained them. He recognizes that he’s far better in competition than in practice, but something has long been missing from his repertoire.

Contrast this portrait with the experience of Colleen. When Colleen began training for triathletemag.com

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on t he run her first half-marathon, she knew her biggest challenge would be completing the longest run of her life in South Florida’s boggy heat.

Recognizing she’d have difficulty doing this by herself, she joined a club and was soon running group 10-milers most mornings. Her apprehension quickly yielded to confidence, and the race itself went swimmingly.

“At first I thought I wasn’t doing enough speed work,” Colleen says. “But I’d always been too heavy on track repeats, which I enjoy, and deficient in basic endurance stuff. Now, the half is my favorite distance.”

The different outcomes of these two scenarios are no accident. Lint got most of his miles and workouts in but habitually talked himself out of any chance to get the most out of his key sessions. Colleen applied an established race-preparation tool—visualization and rehearsal—to her training before focusing on the race. “Doing two-hour runs in the humidity not only got me in shape but convinced me I could actually race 13 miles,” she says. “But the biggest thing was spending a lot of time during the week thinking about those runs, and, after I’d done a couple, picturing them going well.”

According to sports psychologists, the process that Newton instinctively grasped— which in its simplest form can be represented as “see the training; do the training; see the race; do the race”—may be essential to top performance. Therefore, learning how to dip into your mental-skills arsenal on a daily basis is critically important.

“One of the major errors athletes make is using mental skills, such as mental imagery and self-talk, only immediately before and during competition,” says Nicole Kulikov, PhD, a 2:45 marathoner and fitness professor at Holyoke Community College who specializes in sports psychology. “Like any form of physical training, it needs to start in practice sessions.”

So while many runners understand the value of visualizing a positive race result, few appreciate the need to make this habit a part of enhancing and guiding their training, especially the parts they fear outright or for whatever reason shy away from. As a result, many fall short of their expectations, owing not to inadequate motivation or sloppy schedules but to a failure to mentally prepare for workouts they find vexing.

For example, Kulikov says, if you have an especially long run planned for the weekend, during the week you imagine that run going well, feeling yourself running smooth and relaxed and finishing strong, hearing your breath152

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Don’t Wait to think

on t he run

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“One of the major errors athletes make is using mental skills, such as mental imagery and self-talk, only immediately before and during competition.”

—Nicole Kulikov, PhD ing as rhythmic and controlled.

You use key words during this imagery session (e.g., “smooth and loose,”) that become your self-talk during the run itself.

In addition to enhancing training in general, mental strategies can also dissolve the specific psychological impediments we all confront in the same way doing workouts in specific pace ranges can maximize our physiological readiness.

As Pete Pfitzinger, a two-time Olympic marathoner and exercise physiologist says, “In terms of overcoming weaknesses, there’s great potential for visualization.

Someone who is a weak uphill runner or a slow and awkward downhill runner should definitely benefit from visualizing himself or herself doing those things well and really feeling it.”

Pfitzinger emphasizes the importance of tying the visualization of a successful race to smooth training; during a run, after all, is the best time to internalize the various sensations of a race.

“The greatest benefit comes not from visualizing the race outcome but from visualizing the various steps in the process of the race going well,” he says. “For example, I would picture myself flowing along at the 18-mile mark of the marathon, running smoothly and feeling strong.”

From minD to matter To put training visualization to use, you must first identify your biggest training bugaboos.

One way to do this is to make a list of the various types of run workouts you do (long run, short intervals, long intervals, hill repetitions, etc.) and rank them in order of how much you enjoy (or conversely, dread) them.

Dreading certain workouts isn’t the only thing that can impede an athlete’s training progress. Often, external constraints, such as a lack of free time and bad weather, pose equally daunting challenges. This is where visualization and planning intersect.

If you know that you might have difficulty notching fast long runs without company, for example, don’t merely see yourself getting them done—imagine how they should unfold with your ideal training partner alongside for support. Then do everything in your power to make sure it actually happens.

If you anticipate doing track workouts on cold winter evenings, see yourself relaxing on the backstretch even as high winds threaten to take your breath away; internalize the power you unleash when you get one of these challenging sessions in the books, even if your repetition times don’t reflect the gallantry of your toiling.

Finally, Pfitzinger cautions against overzealous or indiscriminate use of mental imaging, especially on those inevitably bad days. “I would not do visualization if I wasn’t feeling good in training because I wouldn’t want to reinforce the negative experience,” he says.

Kulikov delivers the takehome message: “The key to successful use of mental skills is implementing them in practice,” she says. The more attuned you are to your strengths and weaknesses, the more capably you can allot your mental energies in both training and racing situations and the more complete your training and racing will become.

Kevin Beck is a 2:24 marathoner and editor of Run Strong (Human Kinetics, 2006). june 2009

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John Segesta/johnsegesta.com

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Is there an accurate do-ityourself method I can use to determine my lactate threshold for cycling and/or running using a power meter or GPS device?

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When tracking fitness changes during the season it is important to conduct regular physiological testing. Access to a human performance laboratory is optimal and can yield important information, such as power and heart rate (for cycling) and pace and heart rate (for running) at the lactate threshold.

It is important to understand what lactate and the lactate threshold (LT) are before we proceed with the different types of tests available to the athlete for determining LT. The blood lactate level measured at rest or at any point during exercise represents a balance between its rate of production and release into blood and its subsequent removal from the bloodstream. This balance is referred to as the lactate turnover rate, and it determines the baseline lactate concentration june 2009

in the blood. An untrained individual will typically have a blood lactate level of 4 to 15 mg/dl (0.44 to 1.7 mmol/L). On the other hand, trained endurance athletes typically have a lactate level of around 3 to 5 mg/dl (0.3 to 0.6 mmol/L). Hard training sessions or a period of overtraining can elevate these levels.

There exists an effort level termed the maximal lactate steady state (MLSS), which an athlete can continue to work at for an hour or even longer. If an athlete maintains this effort level, her blood lactate level will remain relatively stable. However, even a small increase in effort level above the MLSS can elevate an athlete’s blood lactate and eventually force her to stop.

It is important to note that above the MLSS there are no more steady states, just the inevitable progression to exhaustion. This effort level above the MLSS has a few names, but the most common are the LT, the anaerobic threshold or the onset of blood lactate accumulation (OBLA).

Both the MLSS and LT are the

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spe e d l A b No matter how you choose to test yourself, the most important aspect is to be consistent between tests. best indicators of endurance performance. In fact, power output at LT is the best predictor of performance at race distances from a few minutes to several hours.

Therefore, improvements in either the MLSS or LT are almost always accompanied by improvements in race performance.

Frequent LT testing (every four to six weeks) is usually the best indicator of potential race performance for endurance events. Endurance training shifts the LT to a higher percentage of VO2 max (maximal oxygen consumption).

In the laboratory, the LT can be assessed by indirect calorimetry, using increasing exercise workloads (on a cycle ergometer or treadmill) to study ventilation and gas exchange and correlate the LT to a particular heart rate and/or power output, or a certain percentage of these quantities.

However, athletes can determine their cycling and running AT without a laboratory.

Portable lactate analyzers are becoming cheaper, but let’s assume that an athlete does not have an analyzer.

In cycling, researchers showed two decades ago that LT is highly correlated with one-hour maximal cycling power,1 and in running, another study proved that a 10K flat run performed at a high effort level will get you close to MLSS and LT.2 However, both of these field tests require an athlete to have a power meter for the bike and a GPS tracking/accelerometer device (e.g. Garmin) for the run.

Using these devices to determine cycling and running LT has been described well in a variety of very good training books.3,4,5,6 The most important aspect is to be consistent between tests.

Perform the test in exactly the same manner each time and on the same indoor trainer or course june 2009

and under the same environmental conditions.

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Determining Lt with a Power meter The LT is significantly correlated to one-hour maximal cycling power output.1 Does this mean that you have to ride for one hour for your LT test? The answer is no—one method is to determine your critical power at LT,3 and the other is to determine your functional threshold power (FTP) at LT.5 Critical power and FTP at LT are essentially the same thing.

Critical power is a method of comparing work capacity for different periods of time in order to determine the power an athlete can maintain for a long time. To determine one’s critical power, an athlete performs an all-out interval lasting three minutes.

On the following day, the athlete will perform an all-out interval lasting 20 minutes. She can then calculate critical power using the data from those two intervals. For example, let’s assume that the athlete managed an average of 350 watts (W) for the three-minute test and 250W for the 20-minute test.

To calculate critical power, you multiply the average power by the number of seconds in the interval (350W x 180 seconds (sec) = 63,000 joules for the short interval; 250W x 1200 sec = 300,000 joules for the long interval). Now divide the difference in joules [(300,00063,000)/(1200-180)=232.4 W] to find the critical power at LT.3, 5 An alternative is to determine your FTP, also known as CP60, which is the power you can maintain for one hour. The easiest way to determine your FTP is to do a 20- or 30-minute time trial in which you put out a strong, steady effort for the entire duration. It is important not to go out too

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hard, as you will not be able to produce your true MLSS; the goal is to produce the highest average watts over the entire period.

After you complete the test, download the power data and subtract 5 percent from the average power for the entire 20- or 30-minute test—this is the FTP at LT. Subtracting 5 percent from the average power results in a power value that would be very close to a 60-minute power value5.

For running, there are a variety of methods you can use to determine your running LT with the help of a GPS device. One method is to run a 10K race and determine your average pace (min/mile) and heart rate for the entire race—this will produce a fairly accurate estimation of running LT. An alternate method is to run hard for 20 to 30 minutes on a moderately flat course and again monitor your heart rate and pace. Pay particular attention to your breathing. When it becomes labored for the first time, you have most likely reached your LT. There are additional tests for running that can be performed on a track to determine LT.4 With more athletes now using power meters and GPS devices, the need has clearly arisen for power-based cycling and runningpaced training programs similar to those used with heart rate monitors.

Software packages offered june 2009

by TrainingPeaks WKO+ and RaceDay Software are excellent desktop analysis software packages for power meters, heart rate monitors and GPS devices, and both programs compute training zones based on power and running pace.

Dr. Mickleborough is an associate professor of exercise physiology at Indiana University and may be contacted at speedlab@juno.com. He is a former elite-level athlete who placed 18th overall (08:55:38) and second in the run (02:52:13) in the 1994 Hawaii Ironman World Championship.

RefeRences 1. Coyle, E.F., A.R. Coggan and M.K. Hopper. (1988). “Determinants of Endurance in Well-Trained Cyclists.” Journal of Applied Physiology 64.6 (1988): 2622-2630.

2. Jones, A. and J. Doust. (1998). “The Validity of the Lactate Minimum Test for the Determination of the Maximal Lactate Steady State.” Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 30.8 (1998): 1304-1313.

3. Skiba, P.F. The Triathlete’s Guide to Training with Power. Tinton Falls, NJ: PhysFarm, 2008.

4. Friel, J. The Triathlete’s Training Bible. 3rd Ed. Boulder, CO: VeloPress, 2008.

5. Allen, H. and A. Coggan. Training and Racing with a Power Meter. Boulder, CO: VeloPress, 2006.

6. Friel, J. and G. Byrn. Going Long: Training for Ironman-Distance Triathlons. 2nd Ed. Boulder, CO: VeloPress, 2008.

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inability to quantify a concept such as ride quality, leaves this area of the debate open for years to come.

roLLing resistance

The Four Factors of Tire selection

By Christopher Kautz

T

he question of whether to use tubulars or clinchers is ongoing, and we don’t expect a universally accepted answer soon. While it’s unlikely the two sides will ever see eye to eye, there are pros and cons to each tire.

A clincher tire is one in which the tube is separate from the tire, meaning that when you get a flat you can simply change the tube. The tire itself is almost a U-shape and hooks onto the edges of a rim, with a tube placed inside of the tire when mounting it onto a wheel.

A tubular tire, sometimes called a sew-up, has more of an O-shape, with the tube sewn into the tire, forming one unit. The whole structure is glued onto the rim of the wheel.

Once a tubular tire has been punctured, the whole tire needs to be replaced.

There are four variables to consider when deciding whether to ride tubulars or clinchers: weight, ease of repair, ride quality and rolling resistance.

Less MateriaL, Less Weight One area where tubulars have a decided advantage is in weight. Both the tire and the rim of a tubular are simpler, mechanically speaking, as these tires do not require beads in the tire and hooks in the rim to hold the tire to the frame. With less material comes less weight. Further, there are few choices in clincher-style tires for full-carbon rims, with most companies bonding an alloy rim to a carbon structure in order to mount the tire.

This of course increases the weight of the wheel as well.

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ease of repair In terms of repairing a flat tire, clinchers have a decided advantage. In most cases you simply remove the old tube from the tire and install a new one. It is only in rare cases, in which the tire suffers significant damage, that you would need to replace the whole tire.

A tubular tire, on the other hand, must be replaced in the case of a flat because the tube is integrated into the tire.

Given that the tire is glued to the rim, removing the old tire can be difficult, and a new tire must be glued on. There are now quick-fill sealants for tires that can fix small punctures, though these systems work just as well on clinchers.

ride QuaLity Ride quality is an area where tubulars have taken on an almost mythical aura over the years, and to challenge their supremacy in this area has been viewed as sacrilege.

Mechanically, there are two reasons for this.

A tubular has a rounder, more uniform shape than a clincher. Also, most of the air volume sits above the rim in a tubular, providing a smoother ride. Many high-quality tubular tires use latex tubes, which are more supple than the butyl tubes normally found in clincher tires.

However, clincher tires have become more like tubulars over the years in terms of their construction process.

Combining a high-quality clincher tire with a latex tube can provide a ride much like that of a tubular. This fact, combined with the

Rolling resistance is the last variable to consider when comparing clinchers and tubulars.

Ask anyone rider with experience with both types which is better in this regard and the answer will almost undoubtedly be tubulars.

This has been a given for years, mostly because of the supple feel that tubulars have, which people have assumed results in lower rolling resistance. But the obvious isn’t always what it seems, and this is one area where a definitive answer can be established with data.

Retired Silicon Valley engineer Al Morrison has spent the last several years testing the rolling resistance of virtually every tire you can imagine, and his work has come to be seen as one of the most comprehensive databases on the subject. Shockingly, in virtually all cases, clincher tires show less rolling resistance than tubulars. What’s more, the rolling resistance of a tubular is highly dependent upon how it’s glued. Even a fast tubular can be slow if it’s not glued properly. Given that in order to glue a tire properly as to reduce rolling resistance you must use so much glue that removing the tire becomes nearly impossible, the practical implications are significant.

Weighing all of these pros and cons leads to the conclusion that clinchers are the better option for most triathletes. Only those whose primary concern is overall weight or ride quality truly need tubulars. When looking specifically at the use of a tire in triathlon, where rolling resistance and the ability to change a flat are more critical to performance than the other two variables, it would seem that on race day, clinchers reign supreme. Of course, we haven’t even discussed the new generation of tubeless tires and how they factor into all this debate, but we’ll get into that in another column.

Christopher Kautz, MA, is the owner and founder of PK Cycling and one of the originators of the fit studio concept.

His clients include numerous Ironman world champions, Tour de France veterans and Olympians. You can find him online at Pkcycling.com june 2009

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Ride quality is an area where tubulars have taken on an almost mythical quality over the years, and to challenge their supremacy in this area has been viewed as sacrilege.

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doc t or ’ s or de r s

Battling Jet Lag

By W. Christopher Winter, MD

I

n a sport measured in grams and won by seconds, most triathletes are searching for an edge. They give meticulous attention to training methods, nutritional choices and equipment setup. However, a triathlete’s sleep habits can greatly impact his health, training and performance during a race. With some tweaking, athletes can manipulate sleep and circadian factors to elevate their performance to new levels.

The circadian rhythm in humans is an internally driven process that helps synchronize internal biological systems with the external world. In fact, the term “circadian” translates to “about a day.” These systems are numerous and include regulation of temperature, digestion, hormone release, metabolism, immune system functioning, cognitive performance and mood.

The circadian system ensures that these other systems are timed properly during the extrinsic 24-hour day/night cycle.

CirCadian rhythm and PerformanCe What produces the circadian rhythm?

The circadian rhythm is generated in a brain structure called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). The SCN functions like a cheap watch that runs a little fast. Every day, the watch needs to undergo small adjustments to keep its owner on time. The periodic adjustments that keep our bodies on schedule with the june 2009

environment are referred to as entrainment.

Entrainment occurs primarily with exposure to light, but other factors such as exercise, social interactions, meals and temperature can affect an individual’s circadian rhythm.

An individual’s age can play a role in circadian regulation as well.

With any process that occurs in a cycle, there exists a peak and a trough. The peaks of these processes, including athletic and performance peaks, cycle in a predictable pattern every 24 hours. Because of the extensive role these rhythms play, understanding how they work can be a valuable tool in predicting and influencing athletic performance. It has been estimated that optimizing circadian factors alone can result in as much as a 10-percent improvement in athletic performance. Stated another way, a 10-percent decline in athletic performance has been compared to competing while legally intoxicated.

disConneCt Between external and internal sChedules There are two main ways an athlete’s circadian rhythm can be negatively affected. The environmental time can suddenly change due to travel or the individual’s time schedule can change. Both of these can occur in triathletes when they travel for races or suddenly change their training times.

Traveling to a race venue and the sleep and jet lag issues that go along with that travel can have a tremendously negative impact on athletic performance. For approximately two-thirds of athletes, jet lag can be a significant factor, even for relatively short transmeridian trips.

For these individuals, it typically takes a full day to adapt to the local environment for every time zone crossed. This acclimation is typically even longer for travel in an eastward direction.

In jet lag, the internal time clock generator is suddenly out of sync with your new time zone.

Prior to travel, the body can predict actions such as eating or exercise if activities follow a constant routine. After travel, these actions continue, but there is a disconnect between the new external schedule and the internal schedule. Now, the body is forced to respond to rather than predict the presence of food in the stomach or sudden periods of intense exercise. The result in the case of eating is usually digestive problems and upset stomach, as the body is temporarily not prepared for the food it receives. These digestive problems can be devastating during a race.

An athlete does not need to travel across the country to experience the negative effects of circadian rhythm disturbances. Dramatic changes to training schedules can often result in negative circadian effects. In this case, the athlete’s internal circadian rhythm changes in the midst of a constant environment. Consider an elite athlete who has been waking up at 5 a.m. to work in longer runs before a race. During a pre-race taper, the athlete was sleeping in later, resulting in a significant change to sleep-wake triathletemag.com

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doc t or ’ s or de r s cycles, meal times and obviously exercise timing. This kind of radical change to the 24-hour sleep-wake cycle can result in problems similar to those seen in jet lag, often including a measurable decline in performance.

raCe day aCClimation for oPtimum PerformanCe Both of these scenarios—travel and schedule alterations—play out frequently in the lives of triathletes and are often unavoidable.

There are, however, several ways to counteract the negative influence they may have on your stamina and performance.

The use of light for circadian entrainment is a powerful tool. Sunlight is responsible for the majority of circadian entrainment, and athletes can use this fact to their advantage.

Since athletic performance tends to peak in the late afternoon or early evening, exposure to bright light early in the morning can move this peak time earlier in the day and more in line with the timing of most races.

Don’t exercise in the dark! The pairing of exercise and light exposure provides powerful circadian regulatory effect that can dramatically improve sleep quality,

mood and cognitive performance.

For two weeks, change nothing about the content of your diet and establish set times for breakfast, lunch, dinner and other pre- and post-exercise nutrition. By the end of the two-week period, your body will utilize the food more effectively, but beyond that you’ll be providing a solid grounding for your circadian rhythm.

As races grow nearer, many athletes benefit from preadaptation strategies designed to slowly adjust daily schedules to better match the race day schedule and environment. In the days leading up to your race, schedule the training of your weakest event with the approximate time you will be performing it on race day. With your body more at ease, your performance will soar.

One newer circadian adaptation strategy involves fasting during transmeridian travel. This method has been found to accelerate adaptation to the new time zone. The need for nutrition overrides the circadian rhythm, so the rhythm is suspended until the next meal arrives. By fasting during travel, an athlete can simulate this stressor and effectively suspend the circadian rhythm until the next meal in

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W. Christopher Winter, MD, is the medical director of the Martha Jefferson Hospital Sleep Medicine Center in Charlottesville, Va. His current research involves sleep in the elite athlete. Dr. Winter has competed in 10 triathlons to date and looks forward to racing many more. You can contact him at William.Winter@mjh.org

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the new time zone resets the cycle in the new environment.

New medications can also ease travel transition both traveling to and from home or the race venue. These medications can facilitate sleep when the body’s natural rhythm is geared towards wakefulness. Conversely, they can also be used to promote wakefulness in the midst of an increased drive to sleep. Make sure that all medications have been cleared by your physician and are preapproved for your race.

A triathlete’s circadian rhythm underscores and regulates virtually every biological process.

Having a general understanding of its purpose and the way it functions can make an athlete aware of how circadian factors affect training and racing. Careful manipulation of these variables can often unlock dramatic pathways to performance enhancement and athletic progress.

june 2009

in the February 2008 issue of Triathlete.)

Protein and Sodium It would also be helpful to know whether you are just really hungry or you feel as though you cannot physically go on any longer and that your performance is compromised by low energy levels. If you just feel a bit empty in the stomach, try consuming some solid foods during the race and foods and drinks that contain small amounts of protein.

This might help you feel more sated.

Also consider sodium. Craving high-salt foods may be an indication that your salt levels are depleted. This is more likely to occur during hotter events (such as Longhorn), in less well-trained athletes and those who are not accustomed to the heat.

eaten enough before the race and may need to reconsider your fueling strategy both the day before and on race morning. For events lasting more than 90 minutes, it is essential to consume sports drinks and gels during the race at a rate that will maintain blood glucose levels and delay fatigue (30g to 60g carbohydrate per hour).

The amount of glycogen your body stores, and hence the amount of carbohydrate you need to take in during a race, also varies among people. Highly trained individuals store more glycogen and also utilize fat more efficiently.

Hence, an elite athlete who has trained and raced for many years will probably need to take in less fuel during a race than someone new to the sport or just stepping up to a longer distance. Your body adapts to what it comes to see as normal stresses.

SPeed and intenSity FactorS

Speed or intensity of effort will also affect your appetite. For most individuals, a really hard training session or race will actually suppress hunger, at least temporarily. It will return strongly later, but that temporary Fat and GlycoGen suppression of appetite can make refueling Genetics, environment, during or immediately after a race or hard habits and even psychology play workout difficult. This is probably due to important roles in the neuro- elevated body temperature, increased lactate chemical, metabolic and sensory production and a shunting of blood away pathways of appetite and its regu- from the digestive tract to working muscles lation. However, it is a complex and to the skin for cooling. phenomenon that is far from The effect of body temperature on apbeing completely understood. petite may explain why athletes are typically Significant changes in appetite or ravenous after swimming in cooler water and weight can be symptoms of underlying medical not hungry at all while cycling or running in conditions and are worth investigating with a hot and humid climate. your doctor to see if this is the case. However, The type of exercise, physical or mental I am assuming that you have no medical issues stresses and altitude can affect your appetite. or alarming changes in weight or exercise This is because appetite has so many influences capability—just extreme hunger. that athletes often have to plan their diets Fat and glycogen are your body’s main fuel carefully rather than relying on feelings of sources during exercise (with protein making hunger. This can apply to both training and a smaller but significant contribution). While racing situations. fat stores are effectively limitless, glycogen is Ensure that the day before a race you are not. As muscle glycogen is depleted, blood fueled up, never skip a pre-race breakfast and glucose levels drop, resulting in feelings of determine exactly when and how much you fatigue, intense hunger and dizziness—the need to eat at each stage. These needs are difclassic signs of bonking. ferent for everyone, but Generally, assuming you aim for 30g to 60 grams As muscle glycogen is de- of carbohydrate every are well-fueled going into a training session pleted, blood glucose levels hour (from both foods or race, you should have and drinks). When you drop, resulting in feelings have that plan in place, enough stored glycogen to easily get through 90 of fatigue, intense hunger take a little extra with minutes. However, if you on the bike just and dizziness—the classic you seem to be hitting the in case and don’t try signs of bonking. wall prematurely, then anything new on race it is likely you have not day.

Hunger After Long Workouts

By PiP Taylor

Q:

Workouts that last more than an hour and a half leave me absolutely starving.

I did Ironman 70.3 Austin last October and just couldn’t get by on gels and sports drinks alone. I got to the run and consumed every pretzel and Pringle I could find. If someone had offered me a cheeseburger, I would have grabbed that as well. It seems like hypoglycemia, but I have been tested for that and the result was negative. I just can’t seem to get enough food. Any suggestions?

–JD

A:

Triathlon training and racing will certainly make you hungry. To some degree, this hunger is caused by the large amounts of energy expended during hard training sessions.

However, hunger is also a very unreliable indicator of energy needs, and the two are often not in sync. Without knowing a lot about you, my best guess is that you don’t take in enough fuel before workouts or races. (See my previous article on fueling up for a half-Ironman 168

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june 2009

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nu t ri t ion Q&A

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f un d a men Ta l s

Transition Time: Comfort and speed

By Ian Murray

T

he transitions from swim to bike (T1) and from bike to run (T2) can sometimes confuse a novice triathlete. Smooth transitions are critical to race success and organization is vital to smooth transitions.

To avoid wasting time, place every gear- and nutrition-related decision you make for transition into one of two categories: speed or comfort. Here are some examples: Gloves: Gloves are great for training because they dampen vibration, trap perspiration and protect your hands in the event of a crash. Gloves are good for comfort, but they work tragically against speed. Forcing wet 170

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hands into tight bike gloves in T1 is time-consuming, so if you simply must have that little bit of comfort, prepare to lose time.

Clean, dry bike shorts: Seconds can rush by when you slip out of wet trunks, towel off, apply some of anti-friction cream to your sensitive bits and slide into some fully padded bike shorts. An argument might be made for doing this if youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re doing your first Ironman with the modest goal of just finishing. For short races and speedier goals, however, don a pair of tri shorts (with thin padding that doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t absorb much water) and wear them straight through the swim, bike and run. june 2009

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nutrition on the bike: Take time before the race begins to place bottles in their cages and to attach your nutrition to the bike so that it’s there waiting for you during your ride.

A wonderful trick is to tape the pull-tabs of your favorite gels to the top tube of your bike. You’ll be able to grab the packet with one hand, tear it away from the tab and consume it quickly, easily and with less risk of littering.

No matter what shortcuts you use to make your transitions faster, these are absolute musts: PraCtiCe: Triathletes spend hours and hours working on their swim, bike and run skills while ignoring their transitions. At least one time before each race, lean your bike against a tree in a park or against the car in the driveway and set up a transition area just as you would on race day. Start with a barefoot run as if you were exiting the swim and practice T1. Then come in as if you are finishing the bike and practice T2. nothinG new on raCe day: Each workout is an opportunity

to test an element for race day.

Test every little thing beforehand, from how you mix your electrolyte drink to your race pedaling cadence to the laces on your running shoes. Stick to those proven elements for the event. helmet straP: A great habit to develop is to put on your helmet and click the strap before you remove your bike from the rack in T1. In T2, put the bike in the rack first and then unbuckle the strap. This way you are doubly sure to be both legal and as fast as you can be, since you’re able to work on the strap with both hands. keeP it small and orGanized: Transition areas are busy, crowded places. Limit yourself to a very small, very well-organized space and leave plenty of room for others. Lay out only what you need and take it all with you; the heat of the race is not the time to be making product selections.

Ian Murray is a USAT Level III coach and the co-producer, writer and host of the DVD series available at TriathlonTrainingSeries.com june 2009

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TrIAThLeTe’s GArAGe The 576 Aero, available in nude carbon/red or white/ blue, retails compete with SRAM Rival for $3,199 or $2,299 for the frameset only.

Look 576 Aero

By Jay Prasuhn

I

t was nearly a year ago that Look invited the media to the unveiling of its 2009 line a few months before the Hawaii Ironman. The new Look 596 tri bike drew rapt attention even amid a bunch of road bike enthusiasts who aren’t typically moved by tri offerings.

But while the throng was fawning over it, I looked over its little brother—the 576, sitting idly along a wall. While the one-piece carbon crank, the tunnel-designed seat gap, the new monobloc and the super-adjustable front end on the 596 were alluring, it was the other bike that I wanted to test. The 596 represents the bike you want, the 576 is the bike you could probably get; it’s fantasy versus reality.

The newest model in the Look line, the 576, met—and then exceeded—my criteria at a tick over three grand, complete.

Geometrically, the 576 is less aggressive than its senior, with a longer head tube and front-center, and a slack head-tube angle, it’s built to be predictable in the aerobars.

At the same time, it is a real tri bike, with an appropriate 78-degree seat angle throughout the size range. As a result, it will steer well for the beginner to mid-level triathlete—a cyclist that needs comfort and steering stability instead of an aggressive fit.

But it will also grow with you; when you hone your handling and want to start dropping 1 74

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the front end for something more aero, you won’t be fudging to get the saddle forward. The stem can get plenty low and the saddle plenty forward. And it rode as expected: steady, but not twitchy. You won’t attack corners or U-turns on the 576, but then again, why would you?

It’s that ePost that I really enjoyed on the road for two reasons. Borrowed from Look’s other tri bikes, it makes the 576 like its others: a cut to fit, with the post fitting into the frame mast. I loved that it’s reversible, offering plus or minus five degrees of fore/aft movement—you can go to 80 degrees of seat angle without any funky saddle tweaks.

But it’s the included spacers that I found to be a quiet feature. If you cut the frame a touch short, it’s no problem. Every frame comes with several spacers that can be used to boost the post off the frame. Further, the plastic spacers come in three different durometers, offering varying degrees of ride vibration damping. On our road tests—two separate long rides—I used the same length but different durometer spacers. It yielded very different levels of comfort.

Whether you’re seeking total stiffness or a more plush experience, the ride is tunable.

Given the pedigree, Look has built in its storied history, and even for a price-point bike it doesn’t take a chance to sully its name.

The compact design gave it looks that will draw you in, but it also delivers a torsional stiffness that, paired with surprisingly light frame weight, makes the 576 a great climber.

I generally don’t set that high a benchmark for a $3,000 bike, but Look delivers with a product

I loved that it’s reversible, offering plus or minus five degrees of fore/aft movement. that performs like a $5,500 rig.

The 576 is an awesome choice for anyone from the first-timer to the wallet-watcher. It’s a straight tracker, with the geometry that makes it such that you can grow into it as a triathlete.

With a proper 78-degree seat angle, it allows you a more aggressive position as your experience level grows. But out of the gate, the slacker head angle, longer front-center and longer head tubes make for a bike that inspires confidence during your early forays into triathlon. And it has all the aero requisites to boot.

Even when making an “entry-level” offering, Look holds fast to high standards—and delivers.

To learn more about the 576, visit Lookcycle-usa.com. june 2009

TrIAThLeTes GArAGe Trek’s ladies-only Madone comes loaded with an Ultegra SL group and Bontrager wheelset for $3,570.

Trek Madone 5.1 WsD By nan KaPPeler

J

ust 10 years ago, women had few choices when it came to bike fit. With men dominating cycling and triathlon, bikes were designed to accommodate a male physique. Women found they had to adapt to a bike that often never felt just right or they had to go custom.

But after riding the 2009 Trek Women’s Specific Design (WSD) Madone 5.1, there’s little reason to go custom again. Someone finally realized that when it comes to bikes, men and women really are built differently.

The Trek WSD was originally introduced in 2000 as a solution for dealers who were constantly swapping out stems, handlebars and cranks for their female customers. But the real marketing push has been in the past few years after the company realized the value and appreciation from female customers for finally paying attention to their needs.

Even though the WSD didn’t endure major wind tunnel testing, the men’s Madone was tested and launched by seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong. It is currently ridden by the Astana Cycling team.

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The women’s design differs slightly from its male counterpart, addressing a woman’s fit and the how bike relates to her body: handling, cornering and responsiveness to the ground.

Input came mostly from female riders at Trek.

The company says that 80 percent of women can fit a WSD bike, which comes in five sizes ranging from 46cm to 56cm.

What makes this bike unique and desirable for female riders begins with the geometry that takes into account differences in weight distribution—in the hips for women and the upper body for men.

On the WSD bike, the top tube and stem have been shortened, along with the addition of a slightly steeper seat tube angle, to decrease pressure. To better accommodate a woman’s smaller shoulders, the Bontrager WSD handlebars are narrower with a variable radius, meaning in the drops, a smaller hand can reach the grips better, reducing the risk of tweaking your back by having to reach out.

Spacers between the brakes make the levers easier to pull.

Trek also replaced the traditional seatpost system with a seat-mast cap, a clamping mechanism above the stress zone, reducing energy loss by allowing the seat to flex in a more natural way. The stiffer seat post provides a more comfortable ride.

During my first ride, a 60-mile loop, the

white and silver-colored frame with blue accents caught every guy’s attention. The unexpected came around mile 30, when I really felt less fatigued, which I credit to Trek’s OCLV whiteseries carbon. Combining it with the Bontrager Race Lite carbon fork makes this bike a dream ride with incredible handling, responsiveness to rough roads and reduced vibration, which saves energy.

On steep climbs, the Madone hauled up the hill like a mean race machine. The 10-speed Shimano Ultregra SL component group, including a compact crank, shifted smoothly, and the extra gearing provided a chance to spin more versus pedal mashing to reach the top.

The Bontrager 700c race wheels definitely add spontaneity to acceleration.

While some women have no problems fitting onto a men’s bike, the Trek WSD offers the rest of us an opportunity to buy a production-line bike that fits great without having to make many adjustments. With the increasing number of women entering the road and tri bike market, Trek has definitely responded by doing its homework and has done an impressive job of producing a bike that addresses our needs. The result is comfort, speed and the energy savings we all need to train harder and perform better.

Learn more about Trek’s WSD technology at Trekbikes.com june 2009

gear bag Medi-dyne ProStretch $30 and Strengthrite $25

Unless you’re a yoga addict, you probably think stretching sucks. It does. Sure, it feels good afterward, but stretching often feels like a waste of time when compared to actual exercise. But, it’s impossible to deny that it can improve performance and prevent injuries (as long as it’s done at the right time). Medi-Dyne has two products to make stretching a bit easier and more beneficial. You’ve probably seen the ProStretch before, as it’s common in gyms and physical therapy centers. It’s designed to increase range of motion in the lower leg and is especially useful for athletes suffering from Achilles tendonitis. The StrengthRite strap is designed to soothe shin splints and plantar fasciitis.

Medi-Dyne.com

Mix1 hi-antioxidant Fiber drink $2.69 (Per 11-ounce bottle)

Protein shakes are a dime a dozen these days, so we like that Mix1 has come to the table with something truly different from most of the drinks you’ll find at a GNC. In addition to nine grams of protein, each bottle yields nine—yes, nine—servings of fruits and vegetables. Best of all, it doesn’t taste like pond scum. The drink is available in two flavors, dark-berry and orangecarrot, both of which taste more like fruit juice than V8. The 115-calorie shake also contains nine grams of fiber, so don’t drink it before a date. Mix1life.com

SkirtSPortS gyMgirl ultra $60 and tritank $58

Sometimes knowing that you look cute is all you need to run that extra mile. Nicole DeBoom’s line of women’s athletic apparel offers fashion, comfort and function in every piece. The GymGirl Ultra athletic skirt and TriTank tank top are the epitome of SkirtSports excellence. The GymGirl Ultra offers plenty of coverage, including underthe-skirt shorts with a pocket to hold gels, keys or an MP3 player. The fabric is lightweight, dries quickly and is snag-resistant for those tricky trail runs. The TriTank is ideal for race day or training, with a builtin bra to keep things secure and a handy cleavage pocket—the ideal spot to stow away extra gels on the go. Stylish never looked this speedy. Skirtsports.com

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june 2009

Members are par t of one of the spor t’s best triathlon teams! Our pros have won 47 triathlons and recorded over 125 top-10 finishes since 2006. For more information and an application, please visit us online at www.NTTCracing.com or email us at NTTCracing@aol.com.

We look forward to welcoming you onboard Team Sport Beans/NTTC! Team Sport Beans/NTTC is produced by the National Triathlon Training Camp (NTTC), which held the world’s first triathlon training camp in 1983.

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I

Can You relate?

By Melanie McQuaid

had planned a long run for the weekend. The workout was about three kilometers of warmup, five kilometers of tempo, five kilometers of steady base, another five kilometers of tempo and finished with a three kilometer cool-down. This is the general flavor of my long runs during the pre-season preparation period. If all the previous terms are familiar, you can probably relate to this story, which will definitely divide readers into two camps.

The story begins at the end of my first tempo effort. I was wearing a new pair of shoes that I quickly realized are a half-size too big. I added to that bad situation by wearing a pair of socks that was really terrible for running. I think it was a laundry issue that led me to use them during a run workout.

The blister on my left foot was already past the uncomfortable phase and was hurting a lot. No amount of re-tying my shoes or

adjusting my socks was going to make it go away despite two stops to try to relieve pressure.

I had some decisions to make.

I would pass my car two kilometers into the steady base portion of the run but I had nothing in my car to fix my problem窶馬ot even duct tape. The only sure way to stop the agony would be to take my shoes off.

However, it was a cold day and I was running on rocky trails.

Going barefoot for another 13 kilometers was not a more appealing option. I decided that both stopping and running barefoot were definitely out of the question. Therefore, I concluded that running with a terrible blister was excellent race preparation and unlikely to cause permanent injury. I forged ahead.

I finished the steady effort between the tempo intervals (I had now logged six kilometers of running with a blister) and started the second five-kilometer

Get faster, without getting injured.

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june 2009

Nils Nilsen/n2fotoservices.com

x t err a zone

x t err a zone tempo run. I endured the was inspired by that run I was inspired by that Iand most searing pain I had ever completely satisfied run and completely with my training despite felt in the first kilometer of that run. Racing tends to a sock soaked in satisfied with my train- having cause an endorphin rush blood that spread to the ing despite having a rear quarter of my shoe. that blocks pain, whereas training seems to only sock soaked in blood I ended up running highlight the pain. back to the car because that spread to the rear the happiness of such a I could feel pain shooting up my leg and into my great workout produced quarter of my shoe. hip. Part of that was just the previously soughtthe sting of the abrasion after endorphins, thereby and the other was that I was holding my foot blocking any pain coming from my foot. The at a weird angle to avoid said abrasion. I felt blister’s payback came during my post-run terrible until I got to the kilometer marker and shower, which magnified the stinging sensation recorded the first split. tenfold. But the pain was short-lived and I felt My one-kilometer split was two seconds it was a small price to pay. I had performed one faster than the first kilometer of my first tempo of my best run workouts of the year. effort. (I was running the same five-kilometer I believe that there are two schools of stretch.) thought on this experience. One group thinks That sealed the deal. If I could run faster that it wasn’t worth the pain. Cutting my foot with a terrible blister than I had 10 kilometers up, enduring pain, physiotherapy, no shoes ago without it, I was definitely finishing. I made and some stinging showers when I could have a deal with myself. If I ran at the same speed quit and done the workout the next day with for that second five kilometers, I could walk another shoe and sock setup, probably seems to the car if necessary. ridiculous to them.

I finished the effort and substantially exThose people don’t see the end goal danceeded my performance expectations that day. gling in front of them that reads, “Today is the

june 2009

day. You are running well, so just get it done.”

They hear, “Hey, I’m your foot and I’m dying down here. Could you stop, already?”

Then there is the other camp. They have been there; only they have experiences 10 times worse. For them my story is probably fairly routine. This group has a host of war stories, scars and tales of suffering that make my little blister episode pale in comparison.

The only option for that group would be to continue.

My guess is that the majority of you are part of this camp, even if you are supermodels or wear really, really nice shoes.

We know that sometimes the end justifies the means. We know that our choices in training are always a measure of risk versus reward, and sometimes there are risks that must be taken.

What I learned from this experience is that the desire to win is as strong as it ever has been for me. A silly blister is not enough to stop me.

Is it enough to stop you?

Canadian Melanie McQuaid is a three-time XTERRA world champion and is the reigning XTERRA USA champ. To learn more about Mel, or to follow her blog, visit Racergirl.com

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t ic k e t punc h

no More pink Bikes

i

f you are among those male readers who still harbor deluded fantasies about female athletes, you might just want to turn the page right now. I am about to let you in on a harsh reality: Women sweat. We don’t “glow,” we don’t “get flushed” or perspire; we sweat. Sometimes we even grunt. We are just as prone to need mid-run potty breaks and to execute speed-induced snot rockets while riding as the boys are. We are just more polite about it and don’t tend to brag to our buddies about the size and force of our projectile emissions.

The fairer sex may look prettier and swear a little less, but we are athletes and we are competitive. We get just as down and dirty as the men and it’s about time we embrace it.

Stereotypes have always existed in sport—women weren’t even allowed to run races longer than the 1,500m at the Olympics until 1984. Wait, let’s allow the full impact of that to really sink in: Nineteen.

Eighty. Four.

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I remember 1984. Luckily the sport of triathlon has always been a little more forward-thinking than those old-school sticklers at the International Olympic Committee. Women have been competing at the Hawaii Ironman since before they were officially allowed to run the marathon at the Olympics. Triathlon is one of the few pro sports where women and men race the same distance and earn the same prize money.

Triathlon is a true leader in the post-Title IX athletic landscape, and for that I am grateful.

But that is not to say that no gender bias exists in our sport. According to most of the ads and race photos, the men are supposed to race hard—end of story. The girls also have to look good doing it. Watch any major race coverage (really, just pick any one of the two or three races broadcast every year) and there is a noticeable emphasis on the men’s race. Bloggers and tri geeks will carry on ad nauseum dissecting the fastest male splits, but try raising the topic of the women’s times,

june 2009

John Segesta/johnsegesta.com

By Samantha mcGlone

t ic k e t punc h and you’ll hear nothing but crickets.

Needless to say, it’s a quick conversation ender. It’s true that the women go slower. We push fewer watts. The numbers are simply less impressive and therefore less exciting. But is that the real problem? Is it just a numbers game?

I believe the real culprit lies elsewhere, and it all comes down to the pink bikes.

Designing women-specific gear involves a lot more than just painting a men’s product pink. Unfortunately, the sport industry is a male-dominated arena, and apparently companies haven’t gotten that memo. All too often the ladies’ model is a dumbed-down version of the men’s—painted pink, of course. I bought some ladies’ golf clubs recently because the men’s ones were too long. The women’s ones were less expensive and certainly not the proquality models that the men’s counterparts were. And my color options? Pink, pink or more pink.

Some incredibly well-designed women’s products are available, and they tend not to be candy-coated. For example, Zoot’s women’s line is as high-tech and thoughtfully designed as the men’s line. It addresses women’s performance needs and offers a pleasing variety of colors.

(Yeah, it’s a blatant shout-out, but I wouldn’t

wear it if I didn’t honestly performance should According to most and love the product. So there.) be the most important of the ads and race factors—not the color or Argon makes bikes in gender-neutral red, black pretty flowers on the photos, the men are the and white, and Zipp doesn’t top tube. Take one look supposed to race at the top female cyclists. make pink carbon ladies’ wheels. (Well, to be honest, hard—end of story. The The women in the Tour de it does. But since you have France Féminine ride the girls also have to look flagship models, the “men’s” to actually order the wheels and place the pink stickers bikes, not the women’s edigood doing it. on them yourself, it’s your tions. That is because all too own damn fault if you end often in sport, the women’s up with a chick disc.) version is a lower-quality product than the I have nothing against the color pink. I men’s. The top-of-the-line, bike-lust-inducing like ham and flamingos and rosé champagne product is rarely a women’s product. There is as much as the next girl. There are even some always a lighter, faster, more expensive men’s pretty badass things that are pink. (Think of (or at best, unisex) model. cactus flowers and Portuguese man o’ wars.)

Can’t we girls train hard and kick ass? Do What I don’t like is when manufacturers think we really need a Barbie bike to do it? We are they can take their third-tier men’s products, athletes and high-performance machines, so slap some pink paint on them and call them it’s time to demand real performance equipwomen-specific. That just won’t fly with us ment. Forget everything you were told growing anymore. up: that girls aren’t good at sports or it’s not There is nothing wrong with looking good. ladylike to sweat. Go out and get dirty. We can Manufacturers know they will sell more gear— tolerate more pain more gracefully than the to both genders—if it is aesthetically pleasing. opposite sex. Ditch the pink stuff: Put your They need to realize, however, that products riot grrrl gear on and go “chick” on as many should be designed specifically for women. Fit guys as you can.

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183

Up Front Game Plan Here’s a method I use for focusing on technique. You can tweak it to fit your personal strengths, individual speed and level of fitness at any time during the year.

Swim

Bike

Run

100 m

1.10 min

¼ mi

200 m

2.30 min

½ mi

400 m

5 min

1 mi

800 m

10 min

2 mi

1500 m

20 min

4 mi

Focus

you too have an opportunity to work on your focus every time you work out. When things are going well, focus comes easy. It is when things

By Andy Potts get difficult and painful that you need to sharpen your focus to stay on task. I do this by thinking ’m on the track today. My heart rate is 160 about how I was able to focus the last time I had bpm and sinking rapidly, waiting for the next to deal with a particularly hard or long set. One send-off. I’m halfway done. Three more reps; nice thing about triathlon is that your focus is do what I just did … again. This is easier said interchangeable among disciplines. than done, mostly because my track workout is The first thing I do is break a set down the culmination of a four-hour workout. This into manageable segments. For example, a is where I improve. Time to focus.

3,000-meter main set in swimming can be People often ask how I keep my focus dur- daunting. But when you break it down into ing a race, especially during a half-Ironman or 6x500s, it seems more managable. I even go a an Ironman. My reply is simple: I can work on step further and break each segment into difit just like I work on my swimming, biking ferent sections with distinct objectives. Before I and running. In fact, I probably work on my know it, I have pushed through half the set and focus more than any one discipline because all I have to do is repeat it once more, hopefully it is something I need for every part of my faster. This thinking is a prime example of how game. you can use the focus you My focus, just like developed while swimming One’s efforts to stay in the other two disciplines. yours, can wane for different reasons, most often because me, a 3,000-meter swim focused are helped For of fatigue from a long or set is similar to a six-mile by knowing what can interval run. very intense workout or because my hydration and Similarly, I break down trigger inattention. nutrition are off. However, my races into manageable

I

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segments, never getting ahead of myself. I use buoys to break up the swim, turns on the course to divide up the bike and mile markers to break up the run. It is dangerous to think about your run when you are only five minutes into your bike. It should be in the back of your mind but not your point of focus at that particular moment.

Focus is about being in the moment.

What should you focus on when things get tough? I like to focus on technique. Whether it is keeping my fingertips down on my swimming stroke, trying to keep my pedal stroke even or trying to relax my shoulders while running—there is always something that I can concentrate on to stay in the moment.

One’s efforts to stay focused are helped by knowing what can trigger inattention. If you know your personal triggers for lost focus, you can prevent it. Your hydration and nutrition strategy has a huge effect on your ability to focus. If you feel your energy fading, most likely your focus is starting to suffer as well.

You can always return to a successful past workout in your mind to help you through your next tough workout. My philosophy is that if you have done it once, you can do it again. As these experiences build, you will have a wealth of knowledge to use for any training situation. Just like hard work, there is no substitute for experience.

My experience is increasing today. My eyes are starting to roll into the back of my head.

I’m right on my target pace, but it is painful.

Last rep, no big deal, I’ve already done five of these. I welcome the feeling and my mind goes right to my next race. I tell myself that this is how it is going to feel. The more I can get into this zone, the better I’ll be able to handle it during a race. Time to focus. june 2009

John Segesta/johnsegesta.com

Focus can transfer from discipline to discipline based on the length of your set.

—A.P.

SIMPLY THE BEST COACHING FROM THOSE THAT KNOW. PHOTO: CHRISTINA GANDOLFO // GANDOLPHOTO.COM

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a t t he r a c es “Watch out for the climb at mile 12!”

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Rated 8 times

Mirinda Carfrae’s 1:20:22 half-marathon put her just 20 seconds ahead of Sarah Groff at the finish.

RecoRds Fall at oceanside Reed, CaRfRae spRint foR the win at iRonman 70.3 CalifoRnia.

By SuSan Grant It was a record-breaking day at Oceanside, Calif., on April 4 as U.S. Olympian Matt Reed, in his first 70.3 race, and Ironman 70.3 world champion Mirinda Carfrae both ran down the competition for the win.

The first record fell less than a half an hour into the race when last year’s winner Andy Potts exited the water in 21:27, the fastest time ever for the frigidly cold Oceanside Harbor swim. Sweden’s Bjorn Andersson led on the

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bike through Camp Pendleton for the entire 56 miles with a 2:11:19 split.

Reed, who had suffered an asthma attack in the swim and exited the water in 23:43, quickly recovered and gained some ground during the bike, heading into T2 in fourth place. “During the swim I just had to think positively and remember that it was a four hour race so it was going to be a long day,” Reed said. “Once I got out of the water I

just put my head down and went after the leaders as hard as I could,” Reed’s positive thinking helped push him to a new 70.3 halfmarathon record in an astonishing 1:11:16 and a 70.3-debut time of 3:51:50.

Potts pushed hard to hold Reed off, but fell back slightly during the second loop, finishing second in 3:53:36, followed by Schildknecht in 3:54:14.

The women’s race was a close competition from start to finish, but, much like in the men’s field, it was Aussie Carfrae’s amazing ability to gain ground on the run that cemented her win. ITU World Cup Champion Samantha Warriner of New Zealand led off the bike in 2:32:17, followed closely by last year’s winner Erika Csomor in 2:32:37 and Great Britain’s Leanda Cave in 2:33:41. Carfrae was several minutes back heading out onto the run, but she pushed a 6:09 minute per mile pace, quickly gaining ground. In the last 400-meters of the run Carfrae passed ITU-cup racer Sarah Groff, setting a new women’s run course record of 1:20:22 and an overall finish time of 4:25:02. Colorado Springs, Colo.’s Groff finished a close second in 4:25:23, followed by Cave in 4: 25:43. Carfrae says her knack for winning races on the run is never what she sets out to do.

“My plan is to go fast from the start but I’m just not as good of a swimmer as the rest of the girls,” Carfrae says. “Luckily I seem to work well catching people on the run and I enjoy it, so it seems to work out sometimes in the end.”

iRonman 70.3 CalifoRnia April 4, 2009—Oceanside, Calif.

Photos by John Segesta/johnsegesta.com

1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike, 13.1-mile run

Matty Reed closed with a blazing 1:11:16 run to top defending champ Andy Potts.

june 2009

WOmen

Swim

Bike

Run

Total

1. Mirinda Carfrae (AUS)

27:02

2:33:54

1:20:22

4:25:02

2. Sarah Groff (USA)

24:03

2:33:42

1:23:44

4:25:23

3. Leanda Cave (GBR)

24:06

2:33:41

1:24:14

4:25:43

4. Erika Csomor (HUN)

28:47

2:32:37

1:23:09

4:28:31

5. Tine Deckers (BEL)

28:05

2:31:05

1:27:32

4:31:12

men

Swim

Bike

Run

Total

1. Matt Reed (AUS)

23:43

2:13:03

1:11:16

3:51:50

2. Andy Potts (USA)

21:27

2:15:53

1:12:55

3:53:36

3. Ronnie Schildknecht (SWI)

25:29

2:11:00

1:14:20

3:54:14

4. Richie Cunningham (AUS)

22:33

2:15:00

1:14:01

3:54:38

5. Joe Gambles (GBR)

23:34

2:13:49

1:15:42

3:56:27

triathletemag.com

193

a t t he r a c e s Wouldn’t it be nice to read about a race before you sign up?

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Badmann stamps comeBack in the Big easy mCmahon tops maCCa in men’s RaCe at fiRst iRonman 70.3 new oRleans.

By Stephanie pearSon

194

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Rate and Review Your Race

Rated 5 times

Natascha Badmann’s dominance on the bike is what put her in first at the finish.

The inaugural Ochsner Ironman 70.3 New Orleans may have debuted on the same weekend as Ironman Australia, Ironman South Africa and Ironman 70.3 California but the field of more than 3,000 – the largest ever for a 70.3 event – was still packed with pros. Eager to test their ability to handle early-season heat and humidity were Ironman world champion Chris McCormack, three-time Ironman champion Chris Lieto and two-time Ironman world champion Luc Van Lierde. The female favorites competing on this hot, flat course were 2008 Ironman 70.3 world champion and two-time Ironman Champion Joanna Zieger, six-time Ironman world champion Natascha Badmann, who has been sidelined since 2007 with two broken shoulders and five-time Ironman champion Heather Gollnick.

The forecasted thunderstorms and upper 80-degree temperatures never materialized, but the humidity topped 60 percent. The temperature was already 73 degrees by 7 a.m. when the race kicked off with a placid 1.2–mile swim along the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain near the University of New Orleans campus.

Van Lierde led the men out of the swim with a time of 24:21, followed by Timothy O’Donnell with a time of 24:53. The pair was followed by a dense pack that quickly strung out along the flat, 56-mile bike course with tricky headwinds and crosswinds that wound through the hurricane-damaged bayous and back to the university. T.J. Tollakson took the bike lead early on, with Chris Lieto and

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“It was a tough race,” McCormack said.

“I went backward from the start. The young guys are coming up.”

For the women, Zieger passed Amanda Stevens midway through the swim and kept the lead on the bike until the heat got to her.

Badmann and Catriona Morrison arrived at T2 in first and second place. Badmann, who hasn’t seriously raced since her crash at the Hawaii Ironman 2007, held on to the lead and crossed first at Jackson Square with a winning time of 4:17:50, followed by Morrison, who came in less than a minute later at 4:18:43.

Zeiger took third with a time of 4:22:25.

“Before the race, I probably wouldn’t have bet on me,” said Badmann. “Less than two years go I wasn’t able to get out of bed by myself and I had to learn how to touch my nose. I had to pull myself not to cry on the course.”

Chris McCormack trailing a few hundred yards the first half of the bike leg.

The momentum changed after the halfway mark when Lieto, McCormack, and, eventually, Brent McMahon passed Tollakson to become first, second and third into T2.

On the 13.1-mile run, McMahon kicked it into overdrive, taking the lead early on. He kept it on the flat, oak-lined boulevards, all the way into historic Jackson Square in the heart of the French Quarter with a winning time of 3:52:08, followed by McCormack’s finish at 3:54:33, and Timothy O’Donnell’s time of 3:55:08.

Brent McMahon was steady across all three disciplines on his way to picking up the title in New Orleans.

oChsneR iRonman 70.3 new oRleans April 5, 2009—new Orleans 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike, 13.1-mile run WOmen

Swim

Bike

Run

Total

1. Natascha Badmann (SUI)

30:55

2:15:52

1:27:50

4:17:50

2. Catriona Morrison (GBR)

29:24

2:23:11

1:22:41

4:18:43

3. Joanna Zeiger (USA)

26:35

2:23:02

1:29:37

4:22:25

4. Caitlin Snow (USA)

29:31

2:27:32

1:21:58

4:22:51

5. Nina Kraft (GER)

26:44

2:27:55

1:25:22

4:23:17

men

Swim

Bike

Run

Total

1. Brent McMahon (CAN)

25:27

2:06:19

1:17:14

3:52:08

2. Chris McCormack (AUS)

25:46

2:05:04

1:21:00

3:54:33

3. Timothy O’Donnell (USA)

24:53

2:11:37

1:15:45

3:55:08

4. Luc Van Lierde (BEL)

24:21

2:10:14

1:18:32

3:57:13

5. Ben Hoffman (USA)

27:17

2:06:43

1:20:47

3:57:42 june 2009

Photos by Robert murphy/robertmurphy.com

“Super challenging, but fun!”

Take your multisport experience to the â&#x20AC;&#x153;ENDâ&#x20AC;?

Montauk, NY. Come to the Mightyman Weekend, October 3rd and 4th and do a Sprint or the Half Distance Tri, as a relay or an individual.

Register at eventpowerli.com today!

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a t t he r a c e s Wouldn’t it be nice to read about a race before you sign up?

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Chrissie Wellington takes a moment to pose for the cameras en route to crushing the field.

Wellington Dominates in australia

By Liz HicHens

196

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Rated 5 times

The men and women’s race at the Country Energy Ironman Australia triathlon played out much differently from each other despite both groups dealing with rain throughout the day.

On the men’s side, the lead changed hands several times, with the front pack racing tight all day. In the end, Patrick Vernay’s strong marathon gave him his third straight victory at this race. Chrissie Wellington brought her usual race day dominance, leaving her closest competition minutes behind at all times.

Wellington claimed the women’s title, earned an 11th overall finish and a finish time less than nine hours in the process.

From the beginning it was apparent that the men’s race in Port Mac would be tight, with Pete Jacobs, Rene Goehler, Matias Hecht, Simon Thompson, Cameron Watt and Tim DeBoom all entering T1 within 30 seconds of each other. Behind them, Vernay, Nathan Stewart and Tim Berkel would have to work to make up time lost on the swim. On the

bike Jacobs, Watt and Adam Holborow each held the lead at different points. Heading off of the bike, Watt had managed to build a two-minute lead over the large trailing pack.

Watt quickly faltered on the run and dropped out, making the chase-pack the lead-pack.

Berkel and Vernay battled out front. Jacobs looked to be gaining ground on the pair, but eventually Vernay broke away. His marathon time of 2:45:58 was by far the best of the group, earning him his third straight victory and an overall time of 8:24:53. Jacobs ran his way to second at an overall time of 8:29:03, with Berkel holding on for third at 8:31:43.

Before the race, Ironman world champ Michellie Jones withdraw due to illness.

Wellington deviated from her usual Ironman race playbook. In past Ironman races, the two-time world champ would exit the water in the middle of the pack and use her strong bike skills to work her way to the front. This time, Wellington avoided the need for a comeback by exiting the water first.

june 2009

Delly Carr

“That water was COLD!”

a t t he r a c e s

“Plenty of porta-potties!”

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to grow. She crossed the finish line in 8:57:10.

The time was enough to giver her the overall victory, a new course record and an 11th place

finish overall. More than 24 minutes later, Keat crossed the line for second at 9:21:33.

Steffen held on to third at 9:38:44.

CountRy eneRgy iRonman austRalia April 5, 2009—Port macquarie, Australia

Patrick Vernay’s 2:45:58 marathon secured his third-straight title in Port Macquarie.

Behind her Sarah Pollett, Keat and Caroline Steffen worked to keep Wellington’s lead to a minimum. Steffen positioned herself at the front of the chase pack. Steffen failed to keep up the pace, allowing Keat to move into second heading onto the run. Onto the marathon, Wellington’s lead only continued

WOmen

Swim

Bike

Run

Total

1. Chrissie Wellington (GBR)

50:48

5:03:01

2:59:15

8:57:10

2. Rebekah Keat (AUS)

50:55

5:14:05

3:12:42

9:21:33

3. Caroline Steffen (SWI)

52:28

5:12:02

3:28:56

9:38:44

4. Abigail Bayley (GBR)

58:35

5:35:06

3:23:14

10:01:27

5. Sarah Pollett (AUS)

50:50

5:41:31

3:27:32

10:04:23

men

Swim

Bike

Run

Total

1. Patrick Vernay (NCL)

50:51

4:44:40

2:45:58

8:24:53

2. Pete Jacobs (AUS)

47:51

4:47:35

2:50:25

8:29:03

3. Tim Berkel (AUS)

50:50

4:44:37

2:53:31

8:31:43

4. Jimmy Johnsen (DEN)

50:56

4:44:44

2:55:06

8:33:43

5. Maik Twelsiek (GER)

50:49

4:43:30

2:55:19

8:34:10

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198

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Delly Carr

2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, 26.2-mile run

Our most romantic dinner together wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t one set to candlelight. It was bathed in the stunning golden light of dusk, followed by all the neon colors of a Sonoran Desert sunset. It was one of those evenings we will never forget â&#x20AC;&#x201C; an experience that will always shine on in our memories.

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alexandeR tops mccoRmack at singapoRe 70.3

Smarter training for improved results 200

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the end of the first lap of the bike leg because of a numbing jellyfish sting she suffered during the swim. Then Yvonne van Vlerken shredded a tire and was also forced out just as she began to gain on the leaders.

swallow dominates staR-studded women’s field.

By nick MuntinG For Australia’s Craig Alexander, Ironman 70.3 Singapore was all about a chance to overcome memories and demons from his 2007 race here, where a flat tire ruined his race. Alexander delivered a textbook race strategy, shutting down most of his challengers at the 60km mark on the bike and then simply out-running McCormack for the crown.

His time of 3:47:24 was more than eight minutes faster than the 2008 winning time set by Aussie Olympian Simon Thompson, and it was three minutes ahead of McCormack’s second-place time this year.

Thompson, despite breaking his 2008 time and posting a personal best over the course, finished third in 3:54:28.

In the women’s race, it was anything but a great day for the Aussies, as Jodie Swallow from Great Britain, a three-time British short-course champ, scorched her way to the win in 4:19:11. Swallow’s win was as decisive as it was fast, as she finished more than 10 minutes ahead of New Zealand’s Andrea Hewitt.

Early in the race, defending champion Rebekah Keat was forced out at

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aviva iRonman 70.3 singapoRe march 20, 2009—Singapore 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike, 13.1-mile run WOmen

Swim

Bike

Run

1. Jodie Swallow (GBR)

27:32

2:21:20

1:28:05 4:19:10

Total

2. Andrea Hewitt (NZL)

28:03

2:23:02

1:37:07 4:30:24

3. Tereza Macel (CAN)

28:42

2:22:25

1:37:06 4:30:41

4. Lucie Zelenkova (RSA)

28:05

2:32:41

1:36:34 4:40:38

5. Kate Major (AUS)

31:39

2:34:47

1:35:13 4:44:29

men

Swim

Bike

Run

1. Craig Alexander (AUS)

27:19

2:05:11

1:12:46 3:47:23

2. Chris McCormack (AUS)

Total

27:24

2:05:10

1:15:56 3:50:41

3. Simon Thompson (AUS) 27:29

2:07:46

1:17:02 3:54:27

4. Pete Jacobs (AUS)

27:16

2:07:42

1:18:51 3:56:15

5. Reinaldo Colucci (BRA)

27:29

2:04:59

1:23:48 3:58:24

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a t t he r a c e s “Watch out for the climb at mile 12!”

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Reed Repeats in miami

By Liz hichenS

Many professionals chose the Profile Design Miami International Triathlon for season debuts. Matty Reed narrowly defended his title, while fellow American Jillian Petersen came out on top in the women’s field.

Andy Potts was first out of the water with a time of 16:30, followed closely by American Brian Fleischmann at 16:33 and Reed at 16:39. While Chris Lieto came into T1 nearly a minute after the leaders, his field-leading bike time of 54:07 was enough to give him first position going into the run. Reed and Potts used their short-course experience to charge past Lieto on the run. While Potts had the most momentum, posting a total run time of 32:03, Reed’s third-leg time of 33:12 was enough for the overall win and time of 1:47:22. Potts followed closely, finishing two seconds later with a time of 1:47:24. Lieto proved he is capable of success in an Olympic-distance event by finishing third in 1:48:21.

Sara McLarty built a one-minute lead over the next best competitors on the swim, heading into T1 at 17:03. On the bike, McLarty carried her lead throughout and headed into the last transition in first. Jasmine Oeinck was the fastest biker and headed into the run close behind McLarty.

Although Petersen did not post the fastest swim or run times, she blew

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past the field with a 10K run of 36:25 and a final time of 2:00:21. Oeinck also had a strong run, finishing in second at 2:00:48.

Joanna Zeiger rounded out the podium at 2:02:19.

pRofile design miami inteRnational tRiathlon march 15, 2009—miami 1.5-km swim, 40-km bike, 10-km run WOmen

Swim

Bike

Run

Total

1. Jillian Petersen (USA)

19:10

1:02:30

36:25

2:00:21

2. Jasmine Oeinck (USA)

17:55

1:01:57

38:43

2:00:48

3. Joanna Zeiger (USA)

17:57

1:03:10

38:46

2:02:19

4. Sara McLarty (USA)

17:03

1:02:42

41:03

2:03:16

5. Michelle Leblanc (USA)

N/A

1:02:39

N/A

2:04:42

men

Swim

Bike

Run

Total

1. Matty Reed (USA)

16:39

55:34

33:12

1:47:22

2. Andy Potts (USA)

16:30

56:57

32:03

1:47:24

3. Chris Lieto (USA)

17:26

53:57

34:46

1:48:21

4. Andrew Yoder (USA)

17:26

54:07

35:21

1:49:06

5. Brian Fleischmann (USA) 16:33

58:24

33:29

1:50:32

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207

—Barry McDermott

An Original Creation I

n May 1979 there were perhaps 200 people worldwide who had ever competed in a triathlon. Of those people, most had been introduced to the sport on the boggy shores of San Diego’s Mission Bay. You’ve heard this before, and the rest is not a sports history but a people’s history.

The first two Ironman races, in 1978 and 1979, attracted 15 competitors each. The press coverage was limited to a one-third-page column in the back of the Honolulu Advertiser and a mention in the San Diego Track Club newsletter.

All that changed when the May 6 issue of Sports Illustrated appeared on newsstands.

Barry McDermott, a golf writer in search of something out of his comfort zone, penned a transcendent, 10-page, 4,000-word piece simply titled, “Iron Man.” It captured not only the distinct personalities of the event’s early protagonists but gave mainstream readers an emerging, soulful preview of what has become endurance sports’ most prolific and powerful brand.

An Internet search of the history of

Most of the original Ironman participants never understood how the two could be confused.

They weren’t businessmen.

The first Ironman winner, Gordon Haller, a retired cab driver in 1979 and a successful computer programming consultant today, still participates in Ironman as the spirit moves him.

He is on a negotiated arrangement with the event, since an unwritten agreement suggested

by Warren to Silk as she negotiated the sale suggested that “all previous winners are forever admitted and welcomed to compete whenever they feel the need.” Only Warren would think of that. As an accounting major at USC, he somehow made sense of the nonsensical.

Warren, ever the iconoclast, lives alone now in a high mountain cabin he built between workouts and regularly rides and runs in long, solo therapeutic stretches. He is not unhappy.

Warren’s first and only wife, Barbara, a 13-time Ironman finisher, died last summer after a bike crash while competing in a West Coast triathlon. Barbara, 65, fractured vertebra C2 and was paralyzed from the neck down. The former actress, psychologist and deeply spiritual competitor voluntarily asked to be removed herself from life support by blinking her eyes twice. Her twin sister, Angelika, lay beside while her two grown daughters and Warren held her hands. They’d met in Hawaii.

Her final message to Warren was that she’d done what she was supposed to do.

Warren, who lost his home and all possessions to a ravaging wildfire in 2003, has never publicly discussed the events or the important role that endurance sports and the Ironman have played in his personal challenges. When I see him, he does not look like a beaten man.

As in the original article in Sports Illustrated, he and the event remain unvanquished.

The more standardized triathlons become, the more Warren retreats into his personal examination through endurance challenges.

He is equal parts Ted Kaczynski, J.D. Salinger and Henry David Thoreau. He is gracious to a fault, and the apex of Warren’s public life might’ve been May 6, 1979.

But I suppose that Warren realizes now, as McDermott and some of us still do, that on that first date or the 30th, when you go to the Ironman, you just might meet someone special. And if there is a Sports Illustrated curse in triathlon it is this: You’ll spend the rest of your life wondering how to make that relationship work.

Scott Tinley

Triathlete (ISSN08983410) is published monthly by The Competitor Group, 10179 Huennekens St, Suite 100, San Diego, CA 92121; (858) 768-6805. Subscription rates: U.S., one year (12 issues) $34.95; two years (24 issues) $59.95. Canada $58.95 per year; all other countries $90.95 per year, U.S. currency only. Periodicals postage paid at San Diego, CA, and additional mailing offices. Single copy price $5.99. Triathlete is copyright 2003 by The Competitor Group. All rights reserved.

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“To me there was always this one Ironman contest in Hawaii and there’s always going to be just one Ironman: Tom Warren.”

triathlon reveals dozens of sites noting the significance of that SI piece, most of them with a personal anecdote; something like, “I read the article three times and then ran 30 miles in the dark.” McDermott is not naïve to the significance of his contribution. No longer a working journalist, he sits comfortably under his branch on the sport’s family tree, a writer cast into an accidental shade.

“I thought it would be a good story,” he remembers, “but when I got there I knew it would be great.” The resonant theme in his piece is a healthy submission to the addiction of endurance challenges. And McDermott’s focus on the unlikely winner, saloonkeeper Tom Warren, is nearly prophetic in his identification of the life that Warren would face. The writer’s boon and brilliance was in recognizing Warren’s quirky charisma and creative resolve. McDermott stepped aside and let Warren’s frenetic tales of training launch a thousand triathlons.

“To me,” McDermott continues, “there was always this one Ironman contest in Hawaii and there’s always going to be just one Ironman: Tom Warren. These other guys, yeah, they can do it. And they beat his time by three hours and all that stuff, but so what?”

Yeah, so what?

I was a friend and occasional training partner of Warren in the mid ’70s, though what we did tramping around the beaches and bays of San Diego couldn’t really be called training. In the 30 years since that May 6, 1979, issue of SI, one that included Muhammad Ali stumping for SunLife Insurance and Jean-Claude Killy for Schwinn Bicycles, the sport of triathlon has grown to about 5 million participants worldwide.

Of the competitors from 1979, some are dead and most no longer compete, let alone walk without a limp or a cane, and all have led, by any account, unique lives. Of McDermott’s three protagonists—1978 winner Gordon Haller, 1978 runner-up John Dunbar and 1979 winner Tom Warren—all have had mixed relationships with both the Ironman event and endurance sports as it has informed their lives. The concept of normality was never a problem.

Dunbar unsuccessfully sued Valerie Silk, a previous owner of the Hawaii Ironman race who procured it after “getting stuck with the event” in a divorce settlement. It was something about the historical details of ownership after Silk sold it to a wealthy Florida ophthalmologist and his newly formed World Triathlon Corporation. It wasn’t about a lot of money, Dunbar has claimed, but mostly about respect.

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