2010-05 Triathlete

BECOME A TRIATHLETE IN 12 WEEKS GEAR >> TRAINING >> RACE SCENE >> LIFESTYLE

WHAT’S YOUR

IDEAL RACE WEIGHT? SUPPLEMENT BREAKTHROUGHS

OF 2010

DIE BEFORE DNF

ONE MARINE’S QUEST TO AID INJURED SOLDIERS

May_Cover_4.2.indd 1

NO.313

|

MAY 2010

JUICE FASTING

WILL IT BOOST PERFORMANCE?

GOING HOLISTIC SARAH HASKINS

SHORT-COURSE SUPERSTAR

triathletemag.com

3/10/10 4:31 PM

Š American Sporting Goods Corporation 2010. Avi-Motion patent pending.

CRASH R W c c fr

W A

Avia_TriMag_0510.indd 2

T th im

A he

K

3/9/10 9:40 AM

H RECOVER While winter training in Mallorca Virginia Berasategui crashed head on with a car knocking out teeth and causing injuries, but most importantly keeping her from training.

While recovering she still keeps her muscles firing with the Avia Avi-MotionTM iBurn.

The negative heel engineering promotes muscle activation through the low density rear and forefoot zones which also improves blood flow for quicker recovery.

Although her Avias won’t grow her teeth back, they will keep her toned and ready for another Avia Wildflower championship.

Keep battling Virginia!

sportiela.com Avia_TriMag_0510.indd 3

3/9/10 9:44 AM

C

M

Y

K

Sam McGlone

IRONMAN CHAMPION

CompressRx Size 0

13” calf, 17” thigh

Dhani Jones

NFL LINEBACKER

CompressRx Size 6 (custom)

22” calf, 31” thigh

CompressRx

www.zootsports.com

Zoot_TriMag_0510.indd 2

3/9/10 9:48 AM

Marcello Duarte

Sarah Hammer

ADVENTURE RACER

WORLD PURSUIT CHAMPION

14 1/2” calf, 24 1/2” thigh

15” calf, 24” thigh

CompressRx Size 3

CompressRx Size 3

Rory Sutherland

TWO TIME USA CYCLING NRC CHAMPION

CompressRx Size 2

14” calf, 21 1/2” thigh

25% less lactic build up, 29% less percieved effort during excercise.

UPGRADE TO ®

Zoot_TriMag_0510.indd 3

3/9/10 9:48 AM

Speed is coming.

TREKBIKES.COM

TK10_speed_concept_Triath.indd 1-2 Trek_TriMag_0510.indd 2

3/11/10 10:47 AM

Trek_TriMag_0510.indd 3

3/11/10 11:25:53 AM 3/11/10 10:47 AM

POWER. STRENGTH. ENDURANCE.

CarboPro 1200 AMINOS an advanced sports drink for pure calories for a race or century ride

RECOVER Amino Power for quick recovery during or after a performance

VO2 Max Endurance to BEAT the BURN, reduce muscle soreness, for explosive power

TH E POW E R OF SY N E RGY I N OU R PRODUCT S: E a c h n u t r i e n t i n e a c h p r o d u c t h a s i m p r e s s i v e q u a l i t i e s i n i t s o w n r i g h t. P u t t o g e t h e r, i n p r e c i s e a m o u n t s b a s e d o n t h e i r O p t i m a l C l i n i c a l N u t r i t i o n a l Va l u e, s i n g l e n u t r i e n t s a n d c o m p o u n d s e x p o n e n t i a l l y e n h a n c e e a c h o t h e r ’s b e n e f i t s. N u t r i e n t s i n t e r a c t a n d a c t s i m u l t a n e o u s l y t h r o u g h multiple biological pathways and cellular mechanisms, and in the process each product becomes truly greater t h a n t h e s u m o f i t s p a r t s. A l s o, p r o d u c t s i n t h e l i n e c o m p l e m e n t e a c h o t h e r t o i n c r e a s e e n e r g y, r e c ov e r y, s t r e n g t h , p o w e r a n d e n d u r a n c e. E ACH PRODUCT I S “ BEST ” I N CATEGORY.

SportQuest1_TriMag_0510.indd 1

3/9/10 10:10 AM

INTERPHASE Hypertrophy Matrix premium protein powder for muscular strength and endurance.

Now in a BAG

2 lb (907 g)

CARBO-PRO for sustained energy and calories

FOR ENDURING ENERGY

MOTIVATOR for mental energy and endurance

THERMOLYTE advanced Sodium/ Electrolyte/Antioxidant Complex Produced in a facility that follows strict Standard Operating Procedures and Current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) and is compliant with state and federal (FDA) regulatory bodies. Labs are ISO 9001 certified & 17025 accredited, and do not handle any of the banned substances in the prohibited list of WADA. The products are safe, efficacious, and legal for use in any sporting event governed by USADA, IOC, and the UCI, among others.

SportQuest2_TriMag_0510.indd 1

DIRECT.COM

1.8 0 0 .776. 4363

NutritionForEndurance.com

3/9/10 10:11 AM

no. 313

13

15

4

4

116

16

52

8

contents

may 2010

DEPARTMENTS

TRAINING

GEAR AND TECH

28 Starting Lines

116 How Much Should You Weigh?

164 Tech Support

By Mitch Thrower

30 Editor’s Note

By T.J. Murphy

32 Letters 34 Checking In Training Tip; Click This; Recipe; Kona or Bust; Kona Q&A; Medically Speaking; Endurance Traveler; Iron Kids; Light Read; IndusTri

181 At the Races NUTRITION 152 Nutrition Q&A

By Pip Taylor

154 Multisport Menu 158 Eat Right 160 Get Leaner, Go Faster 8

triathletemag.com

8-18_TOC_201005.indd 8

By Matt Fitzgerald

122 Olympic-distance 12-Week Training Plan

By Duane Franks

128 Swim

By Sara McLarty

130 Bike

By Mark Deterline

134 Run

By Brian Metzler

138 Fundamentals

By Ian Murray

140 Sports Science Update

By Christopher Kautz

166 Triathlete’s Garage

By Aaron Hersh

168 Tri’d and Tested

By Aaron Hersh

170 Gear Bag Columns 172 Up Front

By Andy Potts

174 Ticket Punch

By Samantha McGlone

176 Singletrack Mind

By Melanie McQuaid

142 Dear Coach

178 Endurance Conspiracy

145 Triathlon Heresies

192 Tinley Talks

Featuring Troy Jacobson

By Alun Woodward

By Tim DeBoom

By Scott Tinley may 2010

3/12/10 2:55 PM

tailored performance recovery

+

1

2 3

1]

2 2]]

3] 3]

4]

Once again Orca sets the benchmark Combining high performance textiles with innovative construction techniques, to create compression garments that are preferred by the world’s greatest athletes. Orca’s KillaSkn Kompress 70 denier fabric has been 3D cut into ergonomic panels to provide the optimum levels of active and graduated compression – scientifically proven to be ideal for rest, race and recovery.

For more information: info@orca.com

Orbea_TriMag_0510.indd 1

5] 5]

Range 1] Core tight [m/f] 2] Perform tight [m] 3] Top L/S [m/f] 4] 1/2 tight [m/f] 5] Cycle Bib [m] 6] Cycle Short [m/f] 7] Calf stirrup [u] 8] Sock [u]

6]]

7]]

8] 8]

Recommended by the world’s best Courtney Atkinson ITU World Cup Winner & Olympian Cameron Brown 8x New Zealand Ironman Champion William Trubridge Freedive world record holder Katya Meyers 7x Ironman finisher

3/8/10 5:01 PM

LIGHT SHOES ARE ONLY GOOD IF THEY STAY LIGHT. WET SHOES ARE HEAVY SHOES. THE K-ONA IS DESIGNED WITH A FLOW COOL™ AIR SYSTEM AND DRAINAGE PORTS, SO COOL AIR GOES IN AND HEAVY WATER GOES OUT. TECHNOLOGY, FOR THE WIN.

KSwiss_TriMag_0510.indd 2

3/9/10 9:50 AM

DESIGNED IN

CALIFORNIA

KSWISS.COM

KSwiss_TriMag_0510.indd 3

3/9/10 9:50 AM

THE VORTEX3 WETSUIT.

nORTH amERIca’S bEST SEllIng WETSUIT Of 2009.

thE 2010 VortEx3 furthEr improVES upon thE 2009 moDEl’S worlD-rEnownED pErformancE, Durability anD comfort. DESignED for SpEED, thE VortEx3 iS a faVoritE in hunDrEDS of racES, from Sprint-DiStancE to 2.4 milES. only aVailablE onlinE at xtErrawEtSuitS.com

ExcEptional comfort

SlEEk & agilE

SupErior flExibility

low neckline & 4-way x-flex 4004 liner designed for ultimate comfort.

Strategically-placed top shelf rubber and superior liner create maximum flexibility.

premium quality core neoprene delivers unparalleled buoyancy and mobility.

thE highESt pErforming wEtSuitS at thE lowESt coSt

Find out how it’s possible at www.xterrawetsuits.com/advantage

Xterra_TriMag_0510.indd 2

3/9/10 9:47 AM

THE VORTEX3.

Xterra_TriMag_0510.indd 3

3/9/10 9:47 AM

THE BEST IN CLASS FROM GNC.

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.

142% FASTER

ABSORPTION

AMPLIFIED MAXERTION N.O.™ Nitric oxide helps blood sugar deliver more oxygen and nutrients to your muscles. Amplified Maxertion N.O.™ is the first and only nitric oxide product clinically shown to delay muscle fatigue and boost intensity. In fact, it’s been shown to improve physical performance by 20% so you can increase your power and stretch your distance.2

IMPROVES PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE

BY 20%

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 up to five minutes 4 and provides antioxidant protection. This metabolic modifier will help you get to the next level.

IMPROVES

ENDURANCE BY

5 MINUTES

1In a randomized, double-blind, cross-over study of 16 healthy male volunteers, subjects experienced signifi cantly 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 Amplifi ed 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 fi t 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.

GNC_TRiMag_0510.indd 2 GNC_Triathlete_spread_Whey.indd 1

3/10/10 4:30 PM

IT’S YOU VS. YOU FUEL LEAN MUSCLE, 142% FASTER.*

T H E U LT I M AT E L I N E O F P E A K P E R F O R M A N C E P R O D U C T S The breakthrough formulations of Pro Performance® AMP are designed to increase stamina, power, endurance, energy and strength. Amplified Whey Protein™ gives you 142% faster absorption of critical amino acids that fuel muscles.* With Pro Performance® AMP by GNC, you can bridge the gap between the athlete you are and the athlete you can be.

CLINICALLY TESTED. PROVEN RESULTS. ONLY AT GNC.

INVEST IN YOUR PER SONAL BEST. SHOP NATIONWIDE OR AT GNC.COM

*In a randomized, double-blind, cross-over study of 16 healthy male volunteers, subjects experienced signifi cantly 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 Amplifi ed Whey Protein™ relative to amino acid concentrations measured post-ingestion of whey protein concentrate. Signifi cant 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

GNC_TRiMag_0510.indd 3

3/10/10 4:30 PM PM 3/9/10 1:42:24

HyVee_TriMag_0510.indd 2

3/9/10 9:45 AM

TRI IT AGAIN IN

2010

Hurry, registration closing soon!

Register at hy-veetriathlon.com

presented by

HyVee_TriMag_0510.indd 3

3/9/10 9:45 AM

90

no. 313

62

10

0

76

56

features

may 2010

On the Cover Cover: Sarah Haskins • Photo by Nils Nilsen Hair and makeup by Khara Williams at Ric Erickson Studio Become a Triathlete in 12 Weeks What’s Your Ideal Race Weight?

Juice Fasting: Will It Boost Performance?

Supplement Breakthroughs of 2010 Die Before DNF Going Holistic

56 10 Foods You Should Be Eating, Plus Six to Avoid

72 Love ’Em and Hate ’Em: The Unreliable Special Needs Bag

60 Top-5 Kitchen Essentials for Healthy Eating

74 My Private Overhaul

By Susan Grant

By Susan Grant

62 Six Steps to Holistic Fueling

By Ben Greenfield Find out how to switch from the synthetic foods that most triathletes eat to clean burning food, or “holistic fuel.”

69 Fueling by Feel

By Matt Fitzgerald Use common sense and your body’s signals, not elaborate formulas and theory-based schedules, to guide your race nutrition.

18

triathletemag.com

8-18_TOC_201005.indd 18

By Bethany Leach

By T.J. Murphy Can an occasional juice fast ultimately boost performance and deliver on super health?

76 The Sunshine Factory

Photos by Nils Nilsen and Laurel Wassner Explore Tucson, Ariz., the desert town we named the top place for triathletes to live. It’s more picturesque than you might expect and has attracted the top endurance athletes from all over the U.S. and Canada to get a jump on their season training.

122 116 74 154 100 62

90 Three Times a Charm

Interview by Bob Babbitt and Paul Huddle Kona champ Chrissie Wellington within and beyond her growing stardom.

100 Death Before DNF

By Jim Gourley Southern California Marine “Wild Bill” Conner competes in Ironmans to raise funds for injured soldiers.

106 Raelert Versus Raelert

By Matt Fitzgerald German professional triathletes and brothers Andreas and Michael Raelert push each other to heights that neither could reach alone.

may 2010

3/12/10 2:55 PM

From our very beginnings ten years ago, Nineteen has been focused on how wetsuits fit.

From our patterns and size grading to our neoprene and technical innovations, every aspect of a Nineteen wetsuit is designed with one goal in mind — the perfect fit. For you.

nineteenwetsuits.com

Nineteen_TriMag_0510.indd 1

3/8/10 5:00 PM

TriathlonMag.USA03-2010_56x241

01.03.2010

triathletemag.com

Illustration by Hunter King

This month on

Juice Fast In honor of the May nutrition issue, Editorial Director T.J. Murphy will complete a juice fast, and he’ll share his experiences online. Murphy will follow a regimented juice fast plan for seven days. If that doesn’t seem hard enough, he will continue his run training throughout the entire week. You can read his blogs at Triathletemag.com about the benefits, side effects and whether he believes juice fasts are advantageous for triathletes.

ENJOY THE FEELING OF A 2 nd SKIN the perfect

COMPETITION SUIT EXTREMELY FLEXIBLE

due to Yamamoto SCS

EXTRA THIN MATERIAL

best wearing comfort

DYNAMIC CUT

for best fit

Race Season Is Underway The off-season is officially behind us. May features some of the top triathlons in North America and kicks off with three key races, including Ironman St. George, the Wildflower Long Course Triathlon and the 30th Anniversary Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon. We’ll have complete coverage of all three races including pre-race analysis, course previews, photo galleries, video chats with athletes and complete results.

Escape From Alcatraz Anecdotes We’ll be leading up to the 30th anniversary of the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon with words of wisdom from our readers. Last month we asked you to send in your anecdotes describing your experience racing at the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon for a chance to win a slot to next year’s race. We received so many entries that we will feature select stories on our website in the days leading up to the May 2 race.

Be sure to check out the June issue of Triathlete magazine to find out who won the coveted slot.

TriCenter

For further information please contact CAMARO US, LLC: sales-usa@camaro.at, phone: (253) 867 57 35 or visit our website www.camaro.at

20

triathletemag.com

20_WebPreview_201005.indd 20

With the race season ramping up, TriCenter will appear weekly with new shows broadcasting every Monday. The in-depth online news show is devoted solely to triathlon and provides exclusive interviews, up-to-date news and analysis and exclusive coverage of all of the best races around the world. may 2010

3/10/10 4:22 PM

R&A_TriMag_0510.indd 1

3/8/10 5:01 PM

M

Y

Y

Y

RockNRoll_TriMag_0510.indd 2

3/9/10 9:46 AM

RockNRoll_TriMag_0510.indd 3

3/9/10 9:46 AM

Specialized_TriMag_0410.indd 2

2/12/10 3:41 PM

SPEND LESS TIME ON YOUR BIKE

SPEND MORE TIME ADMIRING YOUR NEW PR. WHEN YOU RIDE THE TRANSITION INSTEAD OF A STANDARD ROAD BIKE, YOU COULD SAVE OVER 24 MINUTES ON YOUR BIKE SPLIT. JUST LOOK AT JORDAN RAPP. HE NOT ONLY WON IRONMAN ARIZONA—HE BROKE THE BIKE COURSE RECORD IN 4:22:31. LEARN HOW THE TRANSITION HELPS YOU GO FASTER AND RIDE LESS AT SPECIALIZED.COM

Specialized_TriMag_0410.indd 3

2/12/10 3:41 PM

First Wave 26

triathletemag.com

26-27_FirstWave2_201005.indd 26

may 2010

3/11/10 3:40 PM

Desert Flare NILS NILSEN The long dusty road in Tucson, Ariz., proved perfect riding conditions for Sarah Haskin’s winter bike regiment.

may 2010

26-27_FirstWave2_201005.indd 27

triathletemag.com

27

3/11/10 3:41 PM

Starting Lines

Seize Your Moment by mitch thrower Before I became a triathlete, I was a lacrosse player. In one particularly memorable lacrosse moment, with the stadium lights glaring, adrenaline flowing, everything on the line, it was our Super Bowl, our bright shining moment, our game of the season. It was a battle between my high school team, the Staples Wreckers, and the toughest team in the league—Wilton—a Connecticut community where lacrosse sticks are handed out at birth.

We were the underdogs but we rode a wave of adrenaline and motivation to one of the best first halves in our school’s history. We trailed the enemy by only three points and could almost taste the win. We fell short, but we gave ourselves a real chance at victory. Most of all, I will never forget walking out on the field that afternoon. It was the first time in my life I remember clearly saying to myself, “This is it.”

It’s an unfortunate reality that some people end their athletic pursuits far too early. Many 28

triathletemag.com

28_StartingLines_201005.indd 28

superstar athletes retire at high school graduation to a world of college drinking and video games, eventually sinking into a sedentary job and lifestyle. But this is not inevitable. Whether it’s running, biking or swimming, you can choose to stay active doing something challenging and exciting for the rest of your life. Triathlon stands out as a beacon of hope; regardless of age and ability, you can always be an athlete.

Our lives are decorated with many “this is it” moments: first steps, graduation, engagement, marriage, the birth of a child, backpacking across a foreign country or an alluring wilderness, quitting a job to pursue a career you’re passionate about … the list goes on.

For those involved in sports, these moments might include a first triathlon, a three-pointer in the final moments of a game or diving Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.

When reflecting on our past and looking to the future, it’s a smart idea to track the “this

is it” moments that have shaped our lives.

Perhaps more importantly, we should take an active role in determining the moments that we hope for in our future. Triathlon is truly a great way to bring us to these moments in style, because you get to define the “this” (a specific time) and the “it” (a specific event) of the moment. Just ask any triathlete treading water or standing in the cool morning sand of a start line, from St. Croix to Brazil, from Kansas to Kona.

As you train, travel and race, remember to share these moments with your best friends, lovers and family. And be grateful that triathlon is uniquely capable of offering a new “this is it” moment on the trip to every race, at every workout and at every cannon blast. Triathlon offers all of us a never-ending string of opportunities to engage in adventures and relish the joy of a life well-lived. And guess what?

This is it.

Train Smart Mitch Thrower mthrower@competitorgroup.com may 2010

3/11/10 9:21 AM

Rev3_TriMag_0510.indd 1

3/9/10 10:18 AM

Editor’s Note No. 313 | May 2010

John Segesta/johnsegesta.com

Editorial Director TJ Murphy, tjmurphy@competitorgroup.com Managing Editor Somyr McLean Perry, sperry@competitorgroup.com Senior Editor Matt Fitzgerald, mfitzgerald@competitorgroup.com Assistant Editor Bethany Leach, bleach@competitorgroup.com Online Coordinator Kurt Hoy, khoy@competitorgroup.com Online Editor Liz Hichens, lhichens@competitorgroup.com Copyeditor Marilyn Iturri Photo Editor Nils Nilsen Graphic Designer Oliver Baker, obaker@competitorgroup.com

On a Mission In the publishing world change is vital. A good magazine is one that is living, breathing and evolving—forever a work in progress.

Complacency is the deathblow, particularly with a magazine like Triathlete, considering the passion of the audience it intends to speak to.

I think it’s impossible to become complacent about triathlon. It’s a place where people reconnect their lives through challenge and visceral experience. In a world drowning in cable TV noise and hype, triathlon helps us stay grounded. In my case, and you have to go back to the 1980s when I was in college, I had left behind competing in sports after graduating from high school. Watching Big Ten football from the fiesta of the student section was fun, but I felt distant to the stakes existing on the field. If the team won, I felt no true sense of satisfaction, and if the team lost, there was no authentic heartbreak or despair. I was contained as a spectator; either way I shrugged with indifference. I began to feel myself go sideways—taking my place in society on the sidelines, full-time, as opposed to being a competitor. I could feel the dread in my bones.

I soon had an experience common to triathletes of all rank and file: I was witness to a triathlon, a sport stripped of the common barriers that drive a wedge between spectators in the stands and the athletes on the field. Don’t want to just watch but want to race? Just sign up, send the check and sign the waiver. Triathlon was open for all, regardless of age, talent or background. Or disability. I was gripped by the need to train for my first race and registered for a half-Ironman on my birthday. The training re-introduced me to the discipline of being an athlete, reminding me that it’s not so much fun but satisfying, and also taught me that I didn’t need a coach ranting at me to push myself to my best performance. A deep gift of racing an endurance sport is that ultimately the only one who knows if you’ve given your absolute best 30

is you—there’s no faking your way through it. The thrill of racing was putting myself on the line against any weakness lying dormant within. If you quit, or ease off, you’ll know it and pay the price. If you prevail, you grow stronger. And the reward is the best tasting cold beer imaginable.

For many years I’ve both participated in triathlon and I’ve had the honor of watching and writing about it. It’s impossible to be complacent when you see the transformative powers of the sport take hold of people when they first take it up. I once spoke with a team over the phone from Green Bay, Wis., the Fox Cities triathlon club, one of the tri clubs across the country that makes a mission out of drawing in absolute beginners and showing them the ropes. I spoke with them for about an hour as I recall, and one after another told me about the vast meaning that the sport had brought to their lives. Sure, it was about fitness, but it was much, much more.

Like the Fox Cities tri club, Triathlete has a great duty to the sport, and complacency is not an option. One avenue toward instilling this mission into the pages is through the passion of the editors, and we’re delighted that in the next issue we’ll be welcoming Julia Beeson Polloreno, our new editor-in-chief, and Aaron Hersh, our new senior editor and bike tech expert. Both are accomplished writers, editors and triathletes. They’re here because they love it, and because they want to provide you with a magazine that above all serves the sport by serving the reader first.

With that in mind, we’d love to hear from you. We’d love to hear what you think about the magazine, and what you’d like to see different, but we’d also like to hear about what’s happening in your triathlon community.

One goal we have going forward is to make Triathlete magazine a place where we can all come together, and we need your help to do it.

T.J. Murphy Editorial Director tjmurphy@competitorgroup.com

Medical Advisory Board Jordan Metzl, MD; Jeff Sankoff, MD Advertising EVP, Media Andrew R. Hersam, ahersam@competitorgroup.com VP, Endemic Sales Kevin Burnette, kburnette@competitorgroup.com San Diego, CA Account Executive Lisa Bilotti, lbilotti@competitorgroup.com Account Executive Lars Finanger, lfinanger@competitorgroup.com Account Executive Justin Sands, jsands@competitorgroup.com Marketplace Sales Laura Agcaoili, lagcaoili@competitorgroup.com Boulder, CO Account Executive Nathan Forbes, nforbes@competitorgroup.com Account Executive Mark Gouge, mgouge@competitorgroup.com Account Executive David Walker, dwalker@competitorgroup.com Advertising Manager Deena Hancock, dhancock@competitorgroup.com Advertising Coordinator Lisa McGinn, lmcginn@competitorgroup.com Fulfillment Manager Leslie Dodds, ldodds@competitorgroup.com Triathlete Magazine Offices

9477 Waples Street, Suite 150, 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: triathlete@pcspublink.com.

Back Issues available for $8 each. Send a check to Triathlete Magazine Back Issues, 9477 Waples Street, Suite 150, 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 selfaddressed, stamped envelopes. Printed in the USA.

Triathlete Magazine is a publication of

David Moross Peter Englehart Scott P. Dickey Andrew R. Hersam Steve Gintowt John Smith Dan Vaughan David O’Connell Rebecca McKinnon Sean Clottu

Chairman CEO President & COO EVP, Media Chief Financial Officer SVP, National Sales VP, Digital Media VP, Western Region Sales VP, Eastern Region Sales VP, Sales Development

triathletemag.com

30_EdNote_201005.indd 30

3/12/10 3:34 PM

42

25

42 16

SPEED WITHIN REACH. No matter what gear you’re in, the Zipp VukaR2C shifts flawlessly with the same, simple flick of your wrist, saving time and energy. Once you set it at the most comfortable angle for you, the return-to-center lever springs back to its “home” position after each shift without disrupting your aero position. The VukaR2C is also the first shifter designed with an aerodynamic profile that saves up to 6 seconds over 40km compared to a standard bar end shifter. Proven at Kona and in the Tour, the VukaR2C is the fastest, most ergonomic shifter in the world.

The VukaR2C plugs into any aero extension, but pairing it with the Zipp VukaShift extension positions the lever literally within your grasp for improved comfort and aerodynamics.

1.800.472.3792 www.zipp.com The VukaR2C shifter is compatible with SRAM® and Shimano® drivetrains. The VukaShift extension is available in three versions to fit VukaR2C, SRAM, and Shimano shifters.

Photos: Joe Vondersaar

Zipp_TriMag_0410.indd 1

2/9/10 10:39 AM

Le t ters Second Opinion on Vitamin D, HGH

A

s a physician and endurance enthusiast I’d like to offer a counter argument to the vitamin D articles in the January and February issues, and the article about HGH in the March issue.

Regarding vitamin D, there is evidence that performance and vitamin D seem to correlate, but no one has shown that increasing vitamin D improves performance. For instance, it’s easy to imagine that kids that play outside more jump higher because they are running and jumping more than children that spend more time indoors; the children spending more time outdoors would have more sun exposure and thus higher vitamin D levels.

It’s also dangerous to assume that the reason athletes showed improved performance after being exposed to UV lamps is due to increased vitamin D levels. There might be another reason lamps improved performance.

Physicians are still arguing about what a normal or low vitamin D level is, and we have no idea what an optimal level might be.

Moving to the HGH article, though it makes sense that increasing HGH would help injury recovery and performance and many athletes abuse prescription human growth hormone injections, in reviewing the literature, subjects given high does of HGH did not exhibit any increase in performance. If high doses of HGH don’t improve performance, why would we need to worry about increasing our natural HGH? Keep in mind, this isn’t saying that sleep isn’t important to recovery, but the fact that HGH is released during sleep might have very little to do with recovery.

As far as withholding carbohydrates as a means of improving recovery, there is copious evidence that taking carbohydrates and protein after exercise improves recovery and future performance. Though your article says that insulin is an enemy of recovery, the best theory of why carbs and protein enhance recovery is that increasing blood sugar after exercise not only releases insulin but insulin-like growth factor, a hormone also shown to be catabolic, much like HGH. It’s believed that the insulin surge resulting from taking carbohydrates after exercise is what allows our cells to take in the protein, glucose, and electrolytes we need to recover. Trying to limit your carbohydrates, whether your recent work out was anaerobic,

Speak your mind!

Send Letters to the Editor to tjmurphy@ competitorgroup.com. Include your name, address and the best way to contact you.

Letters will be edited for clarity and length.

32

triathletemag.com

32_Letters_201005.indd 32

resistance, or aerobic, would be throwing out a ton of evidence in favor of an unproven theory.

Kyle Lehenbauer, MD Minneapolis

The Wrong Attitude

M

att Fitzgerald’s “Kona or Bust” (March 2010) was a childish tirade and demonstrates the wrong attitude and approach to training and racing. The three of us writing this letter have trained for, competed in and finished various Ironman races. We all know that most of the battle is getting to the starting line. The race is simply the icing on the cake—a chance to execute everything you’ve trained for. We’ve all had situations where we’ve been unable to compete in a race due to an injury, however we find it hard to imagine how he could sign up for five Ironmans and only start one.

At some point, don’t you learn from your mistakes? Additionally, Mr. Fitzgerald seems to lose sight that the joy of the journey, in fact most of it, is the training. If you train for seven months and then get hurt, it’s not a “wasted” seven months. For us, some of our best memories of Ironman have been the training to get there and feeling ourselves getting stronger every day, not to mention the camaraderie and bonds we formed. In our opinion, the “average” age-grouper who successfully trains for and completes the race has done more than those like Mr. Fitzgerald who train to get a Kona slot and never make it to the starting line. Lastly, it is very childish to compare himself to a fellow racer whom he beat in a half-iron triathlon in the bike (did he even finish that race?) and thus conclude that he would have claimed that spot for Kona had he been able to race in Phoenix.

We are disappointed in the poor attitude that Mr. Fitzgerald exhibits and hope that he will focus on just finishing his first Ironman before he comments on how close he was to qualifying for Kona.

Jack Wright, Joe Bilello and Joe Zurzolo Medford, N.J.

Healthy, Happy and Grain-Free

I

respectfully raise an issue with Kevin Mackinnon’s “Nutrition Science” article in the March issue. There are five servings of grain guidelines in the food pyramid he suggests children to follow, which sets young Americans up to believe that breads and cereals should be the prime fuel for life.

In reality, multiple grain-based compounds, from lectin to phytates to gluten, are actually not a healthy dietary crux for the general population and can deleteriously

affect nutrient and mineral absorption, insulin sensitivity, the integrity of the stomach lining and sensitive appetite-regulating hormones such as leptin. In the article, Nancy Clark goes on to recommend “bagel, peanut butter and yogurt,” which are three of the most sugar-laden snacks you can find! I feed my children seeds, nuts, fresh fruit, dense vegetables, potatoes, avocadoes and many other plant-based foods—and they are healthy, happy and grain-free.

Ben Greenfield Spokane, Wash.

Profile Design-Aquaman Relationship Clarified

A

quaman Triathlon USA would like to clarify information in the March issue, which features the “30 Top Wetsuits for 2010.” In the description of the Profile Design wetsuits, the name of the suits and descriptions used in the write up describe Aquaman wetsuits. The name of the models Bionik and Blitz actually belong to Aquaman wetsuits.

From 2006 to 2009 Aquaman entered into a contract with Profile Design and agreed to make wetsuits for Profile Design. Those suits were the same as the Aquaman brand but had the Profile Design logo on it and said, “by Aquaman.” Those suits were sold by Profile Design through its own dealers and Aquaman sold the Aquaman suits the same way. After the contract expired at the end of 2009, Profile Design decided to make its own wetsuits.

The pictures you see in the review are 2010 models from Profile Design with Aquaman descriptions. Aquaman has not been involved with the design or the making of its 2010 suits. Information about the Aquaman line of wetsuits may be found at Aquamantri.com.

Emmanuel Millet, Aquaman Importer for the U.S. and Canada

Whoops, Don’t Eat There

I

read with interest Dean Warhaft’s article on Ironman New Zealand (“Endurance Traveler,” February 2010). He was going great guns until he suggested that athletes check out the Bach Restaurant on Lake Terrace. You see, it closed down more than 18 months ago and there is now just a big patch of grass where it used to be. But I can guarantee that the New Zealand race is one of the greatest Ironman experiences people will ever have. Next time Dean is in Taupo, he should check out the Italian restaurant Portofino at 28 Tuwharetoe Street. It is superb and ideal for carbo loading on race week.

Grant Houston New Zealand may 2010

3/11/10 9:22 AM

®2010 Pearl Izumi

LIGHTWEIGHT , POWERFUL & EFFICIENT .

THE GENETIC MAKEUP OF A NATURAL BORN CLIMBER .

P.R.O. RD II With its feather-light UniDirectional Carbon 1:1 Power Plate and extremely low 7mm stack height, this shoe blurs the line between rider and bike. 1:1 Anatomical design holds foot in place, increasing pedaling power and efficiency.

P.R.O. MTB II The same high-tech, 1:1 anatomic features of the road shoe, designed to get dirty. Low stack height keeps foot close to the pedal, maximizing power and efficiency for a seamless bond between bike and rider. pearlizumi.com

P.R.O. MTB II weight: 390g (size 43) P.R.O. RD II weight: 275g (size 43)

Pearl_TriMag_0510.indd 1

60 DAY FIT GUARANTEE

At Pearl Izumi, we are very confident in the fit of our footwear. If your shoes don’t fit perfectly, return them for a refund.

3/8/10 5:01 PM

C h ecki n g I n

Nils Nilsen

Training Tip Click This Recipe Kona or Bust Kona Q&A Medically Speaking Endurance Traveler IronKids Light Read IndusTRI

34

triathletemag.com

34-54_CheckingIn_201005.indd 34

may 2010

3/12/10 1:48 PM

FuelBelt_TriMag_0510.indd 1

3/8/10 4:19 PM

Tra i ni ng T ip

Common Causes of Groin Pain

By Nathan Koch PT, ATC An onset of groin pain in runners and cyclists can be a long and frustrating road to diagnosis and pain relief. Groin pain in athletes comprises approximately 5 percent of injuries, although this number might be higher in runners and cyclists. Due to the complexity of the groin region and its specific involvement in the biomechanics of running and cycling, groin pain tends to become chronic and extremely frustrating to the endurance athlete.

The first key to diagnosis and treatment is to understand that groin pain can be a significant problem for ongoing training and should be addressed quickly. While there are common groin injuries—hip flexor/adductor strain, hip flexor/adductor tendinosis, abdominal tears, bursitis and “snapping hip syndrome,” etc.—that improve relatively fast with conservative care, there are a few that persist. Here are four common groin injuries in runners and cyclists.

Iliac Artery Compression The iliac artery is located in the front of the pelvis and hip and supplies blood to the musculature in that region. Because iliac artery compression is not a well-known condition, other diagnoses are typically considered.

Consequently, the mean delay to diagnose an iliac artery compression/endofibrosis in competitive cyclists is two years. It is suspected that it accounts for 10 percent to 20 percent of leg symptoms in top-level cyclists. It appears to be more common in men and in the younger population (16 to 42 years). Possible causes are cycling posture, anatomical predisposition and artery kinking, over-developed hip and abdominal muscles, biomechanical issues related to leg length discrepancy or scoliosis, and endofibrosis (a narrowing endovascular lesion as a result of mechanical stress).

Athlete Presentation: Ninety percent of patients diagnosed are cyclists. Noticeable weakness and/or pain in the groin or thigh, cramping and swelling in severe cases. The primary clues are weakness and loss of power in a hip/leg during high intensity efforts on the bike.

Evaluation: The following are reliable tests: provocative exercise test and ankle brachial pressure index (only after near maximal exercise), angiography, MRA (magnetic resonance angiography), ultrasonography and Dop36

triathletemag.com

34-54_CheckingIn_201005.indd 36

C hec king in pler study. For best results, the tests should be performed immediately after an intense cycling workout.

Treatment: Bike fit adjustments; cycling training adjustments, including time off; smoking cessation; correction of abnormal biomechanics. If conservative management fails, surgery is the next option. Endovascular therapy is less invasive and might result in less muscle damage, and balloon angioplasty may only provide short-term durability and symptom relief.

Sports Hernia An athlete will present with an apparent insidious onset, but with a detailed history, usually a specific incident is recalled. The likely causative factor is posterior abdominal wall weakening from excessive or high-repetition shear forces applied through the pelvic attachments of poorly balanced hip adductor and abdominal muscle activation.

Athlete presentation: Occurs in runners and cyclists. Occasionally there is pain with coughing. Athletes typically report groin pain with resisted bending or twisting. Pain increases with exertion.

Evaluation: Palpable tenderness in the groin/ lower abdominal area. Typically requires imaging such as MRI, CT scan or ultrasonography.

Treatment: Can treat conservatively with rest and a gradual return to abdominal and hip strengthening. Surgery tends to be more effective, and laparoscopic techniques enable faster return to training. More research is needed to determine appropriate course of treatment.

Stress Fractures The most common stress fractures in the groin area are located at the pubic bone, inferior pubic rami or femoral neck. The primary cause is repetitive overload from increasing running volume or intensity too quickly. Additional factors can be hip weakness, poor lower extremity biomechanics and nutritional or hormonal imbalances.

Athletic Presentation: Most commonly occurs in runners, although may affect cyclists.

Pain is described as deep groin pain that is aggravated by activity and relieved by rest.

Typically starts out as pain toward the end of the run and progressively limits running over time. It is common to have pain with daily activity after a run as the injury gets worse.

Evaluation: Bone tenderness and lack of muscle tenderness. Painful single leg hop test.

While bone scans were used in the past, it’s more common to use MRI to make an early and definitive diagnosis. MRI is less invasive

and offers greater specificity for stress fractures.

X-rays are typically ordered first to rule out other conditions, although they are unreliable for stress fractures.

Treatment: No running for four to eight weeks with a follow up MRI to ensure healing.

Then a gradual return to running, as complete healing may take three to five months. Nutritional, hormonal and biomechanical issues also need to be addressed to avoid repeat injury.

FAI and Hip Labral Tear Femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) occurs when a bony abnormality of the upper portion of the femur or hip socket triggers damage to the acetabular labrum (cartilage, like the meniscus in your knee) in the hip.

Typically the bony abnormality is due to genetic musculoskeletal issues and may increase as a result of abnormal stress on the hip joint. Labral tears can occur from an isolated traumatic event or from repetitive trauma. One possible biomechanical cause has been theorized as “lower crossed syndrome.” This syndrome is described as tightness in the hip flexors and lumbar spine muscles and weak gluteal and abdominal muscles, resulting in increased weight bearing on the front of the hip joint, predisposing the labrum to tearing. Studies have shown that, on average, it takes more than two years before diagnosis is achieved.

Research has also shown that 22 percent of athletes with groin pain and 55 percent of patients with mechanical hip pain of unknown etiology were later found to have a labral tear.

Athlete presentation: Occurs in cyclists and runners. Athlete presents with deep groin pain, loss of hip motion, hip weakness, clicking, locking and giving way. Pain increases with activity and with getting up from prolonged sitting. Pain may also increase during intense cycling workouts that include seated climbing.

Evaluation: Start with X-rays to rule out other conditions. Magnetic resonance arthrography (MRA) is the most reliable diagnostic test.

Treatment: Start conservatively with physical therapy, bike fit and run gait changes, NSAIDS and adjustments to training schedule. If no improvement in two to three months of PT, then hip arthroscopy is the standard.

Nathan Koch is a physical therapist and certified athletic trainer. He owns Endurance Rehabilitation in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Resource: C.S. Lim, M.S. Gohel, A.C. Shepherd, A.H. Davies.

Iliac Artery Compression in Cyclists: Mechanisms, Diagnosis and Treatment. Eur J Vasc Endovasc Sug 2009; 38,180-186. may 2010

3/12/10 1:48 PM

available at

EAS_TriMag_0510.indd 1 5979-EAS11760M_PRO_Swimmer_Triathlete..indd 1

3/9/10 10:14 AM 2/24/10 7:09:25 PM

C l ic k T h is

C HEC KING IN

MAYOCLINIC.COM STRENGTH TRAINING VIDEO COLLECTION From the renowned Mayo Clinic, a not-forprofit group medical practice with locations across the country, http://mayoclinic.com/health/strengthtraining/MY00033 features a variety of video tutorials on how to perform strength-training exercises.

If your pocket book can’t afford a personal trainer, this video series will help you learn the basics of body-weight exercises, resistance-tubing exercises, free-weight and machine weights exercises.

MYPYRAMID.GOV Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Mypyramid.gov offers a plethora of outlets for creating healthy eating habits, such as menu planners, finding farmers markets, information on tracking your food from farm to your plate and even dietary guidelines for children.

TRIATHLON.RACECHECKLIST.COM Worry about preparing for your race, not packing your suitcase. This race-day checklist will guide you through hassle-free packing of all your essential gear.

38

triathletemag.com

34-54_CheckingIn_201005.indd 38

may 2010

3/12/10 1:48 PM

NeoSport_TriMag_0510.indd 1

3/8/10 4:40 PM

THE ULTIMATE ExpErIEncE In nATUrAL rUnnIng

VerY liGht LESS FATIgUE

leSS imPAct FASTEr rEcOVErY

GreAter eNerGY retUrN SpEED

science in motion.

tm

Newton_TriMag_0510.indd 1

Sock-like comfort nO cHAFIng

eNGAGe the GroUND MOrE EFFIcIEnT

leVel PlAtform SOFTEr LAnDIng

Better leVerAGe FOrWArD prOpULSIOn

boulder, colorado

3/8/10 4:41 PM

Recipe

C hec king in

Kate Major’s Banana Bread During a homestay with Sue Hutter at Ironman Coeur d’Alene last year, Australian pro triathete Kate Major was treated to this banana bread, now one of Kate’s favorites. She says it’s “a simple recipe that anyone can make” and that it’s “oh so good.” You can leave the chocolate chips out if you like, or you can add walnuts or raisins for some variety.

Ingredients

1/2 cup chocolate chips (Kate’s favorite brand is the Trader Joe’s organic) 2 cups whole wheat flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 3 very ripe bananas 1/2 cup sugar (you can add more, but Kate modified it) 2 large eggs (or a 1/2 cup egg whites)

Directions

Pr eheat oven to 400 degrees F. Mix all ingredients together well.

Pour into a greased loaf pan. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes. Let it cool before serving.

Cut this page out and save it in your recipe book!

2009 WORLD CHAMPIONS CHOSE XLAB! • 93 • 94 • 96 • 98 • 99 • 00 • 01 • 02 • 03 • 04 • 05 • 06 • 08 • 09 • AQUA-SHOT NEW! RACING BOTTLE

∙ ∙ ∙ ∙

Saves Time Squeeze and Squirt Clear 24oz Racing Bottle.

Calibrated every 4ozs

7 REAR SYSTEMS FROM $46

Nº1

CHRISSIE WELLINGTON & CRAIG ALEXANDER

IRONMAN

WORLD

CHAMPIONS

TORPEDO SYSTEM NEW!

∙ 20 OPTIONS ∙ Stores Bottles, CO2s, Spare, Tools ∙ Has Won 14 World Championships

GORILLA CAGE ∙ Anti-Launch Design ∙ Natural Carbon or White ∙ World Champions’ Favorite

CHRISSIE IN KONA

∙ ∙ ∙ ∙

Carbon Bottle Mount and Cage Zero Drag, Room for Computer Infinitely Adjustable Non-Stretch Straps

70.3

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP.

Julie Dibens

Won with a Torpedo 11-14-09

AERO TT NEW!

∙ Hi-Grip Carbon Cage ∙ 25% Less Drag ∙ Clear Bottle

CRAIG IN KONA

See Details and Prices on www.XLAB-USA.com 14 World Championships From 1993-2009 may 2010

34-54_CheckingIn_201005.indd 41

triathletemag.com

41

3/12/10 1:49 PM

Kon a or B us t

C hec king in

Fueled by Gratitude

Roseann Dougherty’s secret to Kona qualification has nothing to do with training or nutrition.

By Matt Fitzgerald Roseann Dougherty, 50, of Glenwood, Md., finished last year’s Ford Ironman Arizona in 639th place overall with a time of 11:31:29.

She also finished second among 54 competitors in the women’s 50-54 age group and thereby secured an invitation to compete in the 2010 Hawaii Ironman World Championship.

“I still can’t believe I did it,” says the married mother of two, who works as an oncology nurse at the University of Maryland Medical Center. Although her race in Phoenix was Dougherty’s first serious attempt to qualify for Kona, she says she had vaguely dreamed of making it there since participating in her first sprint triathlon in 2002. “I think it’s every triathlete’s dream from the very beginning,” she says. “Even if you think you’re never going to do an Ironman, the blue sky dream of every 42

triathletemag.com

34-54_CheckingIn_201005.indd 42

triathlete is doing Kona.”

If you saw Dougherty in Phoenix, you probably remember her. She wore a LiveStrong bracelet on each wrist during the swim, rode the bike leg with 112 LiveStrong bracelets attached to her bike, and completed the marathon with 26 more bracelets looped around her race belt. Each of these 140 bracelets represented one of Dougherty’s cancer patients.

You might assume that carrying all that extra stuff through an Ironman made it more difficult for Dougherty to qualify for Kona, but she believes just the opposite. The inconvenience of lugging the bracelets was more than made up for by the strength she drew from the symbolic connection to the suffering men, women and children she devotes her life to serving.

“When I’m out there running and my feet are hurting,” she says, “I think of my patients who have neuropathy from the chemotherapy they’ve received, and I say, ‘Suck it up, sister.’

When things start going wrong out there I’m just inspired by what I see with my patients every day—what they go through and how they go through it, thanking me for everything I do for them.”

She concludes, “I think there’s a real parallel between an Ironman and what I see my patients go through. Theirs is an endurance event.” The connection between triathlon and cancer goes all the way back to the beginning for Dougherty.

“Early on, I met a young woman who was diagnosed about a month after we started training together,” she recalls. “I became her caregiver and we continued to do marathons and triathlons together over the course of her treatment, which was quite extensive. That led me to become an oncology nurse.”

Previously, Dougherty had been a businesswoman, but she gave that up, went back to school, and has been working as a nurse for the past three years.

Dougherty entered her first Ironman in her very first year in the sport, completing the 2002 Ironman Florida in about 11-and-a-half hours. “My plan was to check that off my list and move on,” she says. And for a while she did, focusing on shorter triathlons and marathons. A gifted athlete, she found great success, qualifying for and competing in the 2003 ITU Long-Distance Triathlon World Championship in Spain and the 2003 ITU Triathlon Championship in New Zealand.

In 2008, Dougherty caught the Ironman bug again and competed at both Louisville and Arizona. She had no particular hopes of qualifying for Kona, but a tough marathon in Phoenix left her determined to return to that event the next year, master it and qualify. You might guess that it was an important change in her training or race nutrition plan that made the difference, but she insists it was the LiveStrong bracelets.

“It wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t had that inspiration and motivation,” Dougherty says. While not every Kona dreamer can draw motivation from cancer patients, Dougherty believes that anyone can get a performance boost by racing for others, or for something bigger than oneself. “I think everyone can find it,” she says. “You’ve got to figure out what it is you’re passionate about. If you’re trying to figure out what motivates you, the place to start is to sit down and very quietly ask yourself where your gratitude is. I think that’s the bottom line.” may 2010

3/12/10 1:49 PM

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

K

BlueComp_TriMag_0510.indd 1

3/8/10 4:39 PM

K on a Q &A

C hec king in

Q:

In regard to the mental and emotional aspects, Ironman-distance racing has to be a pretty different thing for you. In short-course racing, it’s all-out physically the entire way— there’s not much time for the inner demons to rear up. But it’s undeniably a part of the Ironman equation. Now that you’ve had a taste of that, do you feel you’ll draw from it as you continue on, or do you prefer the fast and furious physicality of short course?

One of the reasons I like short-course racing is that when things get tough it’s over quickly! Mentally I’m strong enough to handle the adversity in short-course racing well; even my bad performances are still really good placings.

Everything can be off but I can suck it up and push through. But I definitely learned some things at Ironman. I was pretty happy-go-lucky my first time in Kona. Then second go-round, it was like, OK, things don’t always go your way, you can push through this. But then there’s five more hours to go.

You’re going to struggle—you just hope it happens later in the race so you’re closer to the finish.

A:

Andy Potts

By Holly Bennett For this month’s Q&A, we turn the spotlight on pro triathlete and Triathlete columnist Andy Potts as he reflects on 2009 and adjusts his approach to 2010.

Q:

In the lead-up to Kona ’09, you faced more than your fair share of challenges. First, an unfortunate bike crash in Chicago, and then, just days before the race, your father-in-law passed away. Many people wouldn’t have made it to the start line in Kona, much less held it together to reach the finish in the top 10. What made you still want to be there?

The crash was what it was. It would have been nice to place a bit higher after the crash and add that to the list of hurdles I’ve been able to overcome, but I didn’t.

A: 44

triathletemag.com

34-54_CheckingIn_201005.indd 44

My father-in-law’s passing weighed heavily on me. He’d been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer about 10 months prior to Kona. The body deteriorates fast with pancreatic cancer, so we knew it was going to be quick and devastating. We talked about it extensively—Lisa, my wife, and her dad talked about wanting me to race no matter what happened. We agreed that if we could get to Oct. 6, the day we were planning to leave for Kona, then once we got to the Big Island we were not coming home no matter what happened. We got to midday on Oct. 5, and it was like, OK, we made it. And then we got this awful phone call telling us he had passed. But Lisa said I needed to go, that no matter what I should still race. So my coach and his wife came with me, and Lisa and Boston, my son, went to Canada to be with her family. The date of Bill’s service was the 10th, the same day as the race. It was really hard. I lost my grandmother as well one month earlier, and I thought about them both on race day. I definitely raced with a heavy heart.

I hear you do the majority of your cycling indoors on a trainer. Why? I do. I love the repeatability, the dependability of the trainer. Lisa likes that she can just walk out back and get me—she likes the comfort of knowing that I’m not stranded somewhere.

Indoors gives me the preparation in terms of the physiological responses I need, but there are elements you can’t control that happen in racing. In the past, I would ride indoors because of the watts I could put out and how well it would prepare me for the Olympic distance. But I know that’s a big hole for me. The more I can prepare for any situation, the better I’ll be, so I have some good outdoor rides planned this year. The other thing is, the longest I’ve ever ridden my bike is during the actual Ironman. I’ve never gone more than 70 miles in training.

Larry Rosa

Q: A:

Q: A:

Seriously? So what’s your longest brick workout?

Maybe five hours? Well, no. Maybe four and a half. That’s something I need to change if I’m going to do well at Ironman. I don’t feel like I need to run marathons to do well in Kona, but at the same time, when my longest run is only a half-marathon, that’s not quite getting it done. So now I’m going to focus on Ironman preparation. I’m doing Ironman Coeur d’Alene (June 27), and I’m cutting down the number of races overall from 12 to eight: Alcatraz, five half-Ironmans and two fulls. I’ll give it an honest go. I’m not delusional in my thinking; I know what I need to improve on. I’ve done two Ironmans going 4:46 on the bike.

Nobody wins Kona with a 4:46 bike. may 2010

3/12/10 1:49 PM

K on a Q &A I grew up dreaming of the Olympics. I didn’t grow up dreaming of Kona. The Olympics are a huge part of me and my passion—2012 and even 2016 are part of the plan.

Q: A:

If there were a 2010 summer Olympics, and you were given the option—race on the U.S. team or compete in Kona—what would you do?

That’s not a hard decision for me. I grew up dreaming of the Olympics. I didn’t grow up dreaming of Kona. The Olympics are a huge part of me and my passion—2012 and even 2016 are part of the plan. If I experience a ton of success in Kona, that might change, but if things go good, but not necessarily great in Ironman, then I’ll very likely go back.

Q:

Lisa was a Cirque Du Soleil gymnast. Your son, Boston, must be seriously genetically gifted. Do you want to see him follow in either of your footsteps?

The funny thing is we enrolled him in two activities for social interaction and they happen to be gymnastics and swimming. We didn’t really plan it that way; ironically, those things made the most sense. The swimming is for water safety and the gymnastics is for cognitive development. We always joke that he’ll be uncoordinated and become a musician or a singer because Lisa and I have no musical talent whatsoever, aside from air guitar.

A:

Q: A:

What’s something you do that drives Lisa crazy?

Oh, that’s a long list! It annoys her that I eat anything and everything I want, and it just doesn’t matter. Like last night, I ate an industrial-sized bag of M&M’s just because I was kind of bored. I continue to eat and eat, and I don’t even look at my food—I just shovel it into my mouth. I make atrocious sounds, heavy breathing and snorting. I’ll eat a bag of chips for lunch—we’re talking the whole big bag of chips—and I won’t pay attention and I’ll drop them all around me and create this big crumb pile. I’m kind of a noisy, sloppy eater.

Q: A:

If you could have any one super power, what would it be and why?

It would somewhat depend on the day, and what I need at that particular point. But today I’ll take flying. If you could fly as a human, that would be pretty awesome. You would have zero boundaries. I like to approach life without boundaries. may 2010

34-54_CheckingIn_201005.indd 45

BETTER

FASTER

STRONGER Triathlon Champion Terenzo Bozzone

ARX is the racer’s secret to faster recovery and increased endurance; so you can train harder, push farther, and come back even stronger.

That’s why Terenzo and so many other athletes count on ARX to help them reach their goals.

Clinically studied on runners and cyclists ■ Safe, all-natural, and stimulant free ■ Used by Terenzo Bozzone and other worldclass athletes Let’s face it: come race day, all the coolest gear in the world won’t mean a thing if your body isn’t primed and ready. Discover what ARX can FREE do for you—and prepare to BOTTLE! unleash your potential!

■

Buy 1, Get 1 FREE! Web-only offer: fastertomorrow.com/ARXtriathlete ARX is a registered trademark of Radix BioResearch.

Offer available until 6-30-10.

triathletemag.com

45

3/12/10 1:49 PM

Medically Speaking

C hec king in

How to Sort Through the Pseudoscience

By Jeff Sankoff, MD The conflict between scientific theory and firmly held belief is centuries old. When Ptolemy suggested that the universe revolved around Earth, he did so based on the religious beliefs of the time. Because questioning those beliefs could have undermined the authority of the church, it was in the interests of those in charge to ensure that the Ptolemaic view was held as a fundamental truth despite the findings of those like Copernicus, who said that, in fact, it was the sun around which the Earth orbited. Thus, hundreds of years passed before Galileo and his telescope were finally able to prove through irrefutable scientific means that Ptolemy had had it all wrong, and eventually the church relented.

Today in advertising, science is often co-opted to lend credibility to claims of a product’s effectiveness that are in reality just based on belief. But how can one distinguish between properly conducted scientific study and belief?

One of the first rules to remember is that extraordinary claims require extraordinary supporting evidence. If it sounds too good to be true, it almost certainly is. For example, product claims that are accompanied by “scientific” support that 100 percent of individuals using product A had a given result are clearly exaggerated or just plain untrue. In reality, the only thing that is absolutely certain is that nothing is 100 percent.

A second rule is to always be skeptical.

46

triathletemag.com

34-54_CheckingIn_201005.indd 46

When manufacturers claim that a product’s Do the conclusions make sense? It is possible effectiveness has been backed up by scientific to construct studies that lead to inevitable results, so it is important to put the stated evidence, don’t just accept that. Before you give your money away, find the evidence beconclusions to the sniff test. For example, ing quoted—companies will almost always if a study concluded that smoking led to provide it on request—and then ask yourself improved aerobic performance or that inthe following questions: gesting one pill led to winning races, you Who performed the study or studies? Inwould say that these failed the sniff test. dependent researchers are to be trusted far more than those that work for the company Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, that makes the product being studied. learn to differentiate anecdote from science. A What was actually studied? If a product was million anecdotes do not add up to scientifishown in a study to improve office workers’ cally valid data. Spokespeople are paid to say efficiency by 50 percent, the manufacturer what a company wants about their product. could claim that use of their product im- The mere fact that a spokesperson is a sucproves efficiency by 50 percent. But would cessful athlete or a respected scientist does not that matter to a triathlete? change this fact. Similarly, testimonials for a Does the hypothesis make sense? If a manu- product should never be taken as any kind of facturer tried to convince guarantee of results. you that taking cyanide Before you give your At the end of the day, led to improved aerobic it’s you, the consumer, who money away, find metabolism, you wouldn’t needs to determine if you will the evidence being believe what a manufacturer accept it because it simply doesn’t make sense, even you about its prodquoted—companies isuct.telling if they had studies to back Do your best to ensure will almost always that your belief is supported up their claim.

How were results mea- provide it on request. by a thorough evaluation of sured? Consider the their science. metric that researchers used to quantify improvement. Is that measure relevant? Can Jeffrey Sankoff, MD, is a two-time Ironman triathlete it be translated to real life or is it merely and ER physician at the University of Colorado Health a number difference that has little or no Sciences Center in Denver, Colo. For more information, real value? visit his website at Home.comcast.net/~jsanko20. may 2010

3/12/10 1:49 PM

You’re Faster Than You Think.

MULTIPLY YOUR PERFORMANCE WITH THE 2XU COMP TRI SINGLET AND COMP TRI SHORT.

Utilising fine gauge SBR SKIN for speed through water and quick drying convenience a contoured fit provides muscle support while seams and fabric stretch offer freedom of movement. SENSOR MESH X ventilation panels promote airflow in regions, low profile flatlock seams ensure comfort.

WWW.2XU.COM/TRIATHLON

DEALER INQUIRIES: SPORTS MULTIPLIED 760-603-9700

2XU_TriMag_0510.indd 1

DEALER LIST: WWW.2XU.COM/DEALER

3/11/10 10:25 AM

E n du r a n ce Tr av e ler

C hec king in

Transportation Getting to Floripa is best done by plane from São Paulo, the largest city in Brazil and the main transfer point. Floripa is served by Hercílio Luz International Airport. If you are not planning to use one of the triathlon tour operators, plan to rent a vehicle. Jureré Internacional, the location of the race, is a solid 20 minutes north of El Centro, as is everything else worth seeing on the island.

Without a car, you won’t experience all that Santa Catarina has to offer. All the major rental car companies have booths in the airport, and getting around on the island is easy (there are plenty of signs). Besides, it’s an island—you can’t get that lost.

Activities

IRONMAN BRAZIL

By Dean Warhaft The Race May 30 is the 10th anniversary of the only full-Ironman in South America, and you can bet the country famous for the weeklong festival Carnival will be ready to celebrate. The swim at Jureré Internacional is characterized by an M-Dotish shaped course. It is relatively protected but not immune to currents and waves, and expert swimmers such as professional triathlete Hillary Biscay use this race to gain a distinct advantage over their competitors. T1 is longer than the average distance, but the organizers make sure it’s carpeted with showers to wash off the salt.

The bike course is two loops, taking competitors from Jureré Internacional south along the west side of the island. There are two climbs on the way down to El Centro, and of course they’re a lot steeper on the return.

As athletes pass Hercilio Luz Bridge and head toward the airport, the course looks like a bowl of spaghetti on a map but is actually very organized on the ground. Besides, it gives athletes in race mode the opportunity to gauge the competition several times.

The run consists of a half-marathon loop followed by two 10.5K loops. The only real climb is on the first loop. It’s only about one 48

triathletemag.com

34-54_CheckingIn_201005.indd 48

kilometer, but it’s a beast. But the course is fast and the autumn temperatures give athletes an opportunity to turn on the gas.

The Country Brazil is the only Portuguese-speaking country in South America and is also the largest. It is probably best known for soccer, the Amazon, beaches and beautiful bodies dancing in the street. Whether at a soccer match or Carnival, Brazilians exude passion in everything they do. Brazilian intensity is what makes them a favorite visitor in other countries, so imagine that feeling amplified by about 200 million.

Brazil is also home to 60 percent of the Amazon rainforest. It’s estimated that about 20 percent of Earth’s oxygen is produced by the Amazon’s 1.4 billion acres and that it might contain approximately half of the world’s animal species. These tropical jungles house many tribes still out of contact with modern civilization.

Santa Catarina Island in southern Brazil plays host to the annual Ironman event. The island’s main city is Florianopolis. Also called “Floripa,” it’s the capital city of Santa Catarina and has a metropolitan population of about 400,000. Brazil declared independence from the Portuguese empire in 1822 and has been at the forefront of the Latin American economic boom during the past two decades with the largest national economy in the region.

There’s so much to do in and around Floripa, it’s hard to choose. If you are up for some world-class surf followed by incredible seafood, head to the island’s eastern shores, where there are breaks such as Praia Mole and Galheta.

Besides the killer surf spots, Lagoa da Conceição is home to O Barba Negra, an amazing little seafood place serving dishes such as camarón en moranga, a shrimp and rice-stuffed pumpkin.

If surfing isn’t your gig, try using a tour operator, such as Aventura do Brasil, to go whitewater kayaking in the mountains of Santo Amaro da Imperatriz, about an hour inland. If you want a unique kind of experience, head to Ribero da Ilha, located in the south part of the island to visit an oyster farm and eat to your heart’s content.

A stroll of the streets of El Centro is a must. Plan to walk along Rua Conselheiro Mafra, a street lined with shops, both modern and eclectic. Directly across from the main bus terminal on Avenue Paulo Fontes, the Mercado Publico houses all the bargains and deals one can imagine, along with a fish market that’s simply out of this world. Just a few blocks up the hill is the Palácio Cruz e Sousa, the historical museum and former government house of Floripa.

The race may be during what can be considered Brazil’s off-season, but it won’t prevent you from a limitless amount of activities and beauty to accompany a possible PR at this blazing fast course.

Dean Warhaft has been multisport racing and traveling for more than 15 years. He has traveled to six continents, completed more than 30 Ironmans, more than 30 marathons and countless other endurance events along the way. He currently produces the “Endurance Traveler” TV series. may 2010

3/12/10 1:50 PM

EndurTraveler_TriMag_0510.indd 1

3/8/10 4:19 PM

IronKids

C hec king in

2010 IronKids Schedule Date Race

Location

May 15

IronKids

Orlando, Fla.

May 23

IronKids

San Diego

June 13

IronKids

Round Rock, Texas

June 27

IronKids

Raleigh, N.C.

July 11

IronKids

Avon, Colo.

July 25

IronKids

Carmel, Ind.

Aug. 7

IronKids

Boulder, Colo.

Aug. 22

IronKids

Oklahoma City

Aug. 29

IronKids

Seattle

Sept. 12

IronKids

Alpharetta, Ga.

Oct. 2

IronKids

St. Petersburg, Fla.

Oct. 3

IronKids National Championship

St. Petersburg, Fla.

Nov. 20

IronKids

Tempe, Ariz.

IronKids Destination Races

By Kevin Mackinnon Combining a race weekend and a vacation can be a fun way to spend some family time together, and the 2010 IronKids Race Series offers several opportunities to do just that. With a new race at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fla., kids will have the chance to enjoy one of the world’s most famous resorts while also competing. IronKids Orlando, set for May 15, falls the day before the popular Ironman 70.3 Florida race, providing an ideal chance to enjoy a weekend of racing and some family fun.

Looking for other vacation-friendly spots? Check out IronKids Avon, set in beautiful Colorado. The July race offers another chance for families to combine a fun vacation weekend with a kid’s race. Additional destination ON THE WEB races include IronKids Boulder—for hikFor more information ing and mountain fun—or IronKids St. on IronKids races, visit Petersburg—for a weekend at the beach.

Ironkids.com.

50

triathletemag.com

34-54_CheckingIn_201005.indd 50

may 2010

3/12/10 1:50 PM

Want to swim faster?

Swimpower 3 can take 1:30* off your 1.5k swim time in 8 weeks You do not need to swim mega distance, you do not need to spend over $1,000 on high tech equipment to increase power, you definitely do not need to swim with paddles and pull buoys and ruin your shoulders.

A Better Way: The Swimpower 3 Program (DVD, manual and Sport Vector Cord) 10-15 minutes, 3 times a week. Along with structured swim sessions. Swim Power 3 will give you what you need to improve your swim speed by helping you improve your pull technique and pull power.

See results at swimpower.com and order at TTUniversity.com *Swimmers improved an average of 26 seconds per 500 freestyle, your results may vary. As in, you may very well get even faster!

29th Annual Classic Event

Mighty Hamptons Olympic Distance September 12, 2010

Rated “A Must Do� Event by Triathlete Magazine

MightyMan Half Distance October 3, 2010

www.eventpowerli.com Athletes completing both events will receive special recognition at the MightyMan

TotalTrain_TriMag_0510.indd 1

3/9/10 10:51 AM

L ig ht R e a d

Brad Kaminski

C hec king in

First Impressions from a Mile High

By Holly Bennett My heart pounded something fierce, as if it would beat straight through my ribcage and burst open my chest in revolt against the effort I was demanding. I fought back my stomach’s attempted upheaval, its wish to rudely expel the breakfast I had downed a few hours earlier. I sucked hard for the tiniest smidgen of air. I had just finished the first 100 freestyle in a set of 18 x 100 at Dave Scott’s swim training session.

What caused my body to riot and gasp for air so pathetically was exactly the lack thereof—I was swimming at 5,430 feet of altitude after moving to Boulder, Colo., from the chock-full-of-oxygen San Francisco Bay area. I had not yet acclimated to the wafer-thin atmosphere, and Dave knew it, which is why he allowed me a whopping 2:20 interval in which to complete each 100. Sure, Dave “The Man” Scott likes to push his athletes, but he was going extra easy on me in my first few attempts to keep pace with his workouts. After all, despite the oxygen-deprivation beating I was taking, he wanted me to enjoy myself as well as survive to return another day.

Boulder’s a unique place, and not just because its air volume rivals the moon’s. I had been forewarned of the “type triple A” athletes who are pretty much the norm on Boulder’s roads, trails and treadmills—how the “casual” cyclist on the bike path will throw down on a jaunt to the farmers market; how you can’t jog 10 feet in any direction without tripping over a world-class pro athlete. On one hand, it can be a bit intimidating; on the 52

triathletemag.com

34-54_CheckingIn_201005.indd 52

at Dave’s swim sessions. Between color foils, shampoos and blow-outs, our conversations touch on race venues, split times and tech gear.

There’s none of the customary salon-style talk other, totally inspiring. And yes, just a little of Brangelina or the latest “Survivor” outcast. bit insane. For example, one of my first swim There’s a certain comfort in having the folks workouts took place in 20-degree weather, in one’s circle speak the same language. I enjoy complete with a fresh blanket of snow on not having to explain the slightly whacked-out the pool deck. Each time I reached for my urge to devote countless hours to swimming, pull buoy, it was freshly iced over, giving me biking and running, only to wind up brutally a bit of a shock as I squeezed it between my sore and badly chafed in unmentionable places. thighs. The kicker was Dave, barking out sets As badass as most Boulderites are, the as he paced the deck clad only in a jacket and people here are also exceptionally kind. Take shorts. Hey, The Man didn’t win Kona six the pickup truck driver who pulled over as times by being a wuss.

I was running along a rural county road. In And then there was the New Year’s Eve the East Bay, I would have hightailed it out Boulder Beer Mile, smaller than its rival race of there, fast as my legs could propel me, in San Diego but a greater testament to the assuming the man to be a pervert or robber endurance athlete’s mettle. The course, four or both. Here, he simply wanted to warn me laps around a local high school track, lay buried of a large dog hanging out in the bushes up beneath six to eight inches of snow. One lane had ahead. (Turned out the dog, like the man, was been shoveled just wide enough for the running harmless.) Or there was my lane-mate at the revelers, and the bitter cold did little to dissuade pool, who sweetly pointed out that the woman the die-hard racers and spectators from a festive, leading our “slow” lane was a Kona qualifier, albeit frosty, celebration. One female bystander, in a friendly attempt to ease my ego pain.

I think it’s time I invest in some all-season drawn in by the event’s kooky and kick-ass aura, stepped up to compete at the last minute. She running and cycling gear, register for the local handily led the women’s tri series, show up at Everyone in Boulder is an the pool with greater contingent, at least until the pre-fourth-lap and dive athlete. My new hairdresser, frequency beer got the best of her headfirst into this welAlex, is a multiple Ironman coming and wildly fit and she hurled at the feet of the thoroughly finisher. Between color foils, community at the base impressed crowd. of the Flatiron Mounshampoos and blow-outs, tains. I like it here. And, Everyone in Boulder is an athlete. My our conversations touch on so long as I can get the new hairdresser, Alex, hang of breathing at is a multiple Ironman race venues, split times and altitude, I’ll be happy finisher and a regular to call it home. tech gear. may 2010

3/12/10 1:50 PM

Blue70_TriMag_0310.indd 1

1/13/10 4:31 PM

www.blueseventy.com

Guy Crawford. Pro triathlete. Rotorua, New Zealand. 7.01am. First out of the water in the new blueseventy Helix.

THE WORLD IS SWIMMING FASTER IN BLUESEVENTY.

IndusTRI

C hec king in

New TriStar222 Sardinia on the Map

Leon’s Triathlon Returns In 1993, Triathlete magazine editor Jeffrey Justice, describing the unique drawing power that Leon’s Triathlon, an annual Olympic-distance event held in Hammond, Ind., and then celebrating its 10-year anniversary, wrote, “Like an annual pilgrimage, serious agegroup triathletes return to Hammond for the most prestigious triathlon in the country.” Justice said the reason behind the race’s success was its namesake Leon Wolek Jr., “the irrepressible, ebullient, one-man barnstorming triathlon promotional tour.”

The race quickly gained popularity because of its famously speedy course that took advantage of a closed-to-traffic, six-lane

Sardinia will host the first-ever TriStar222 long-distance triathlon race on Oct. 3. The TriStar222 Sardinia Arzachena Costa Smeralda is situated in one of the most beautiful areas of Italy, the Emerald Coast. The race includes a 2K swim, a 200K bike and a 20K run. Visit Tristar 222sardinia.com for more information or to register.

Quintana Roo Signs Jessica Jacobs and Charisa Wernick freeway and earned it the title “the fastest triathlon in the world.” Leon’s Triathlon shut down in 1995 due to slowed economic development and shifting local politics.

Wolek Jr. is back at it in 2010, after 15 years of phone calls and e-mails urging him to put his event back on the map. On June 6 Leon’s Triathlon makes a comeback to the sport. Visit Leonstriathlon.com.

Quintana Roo Bicycles, headquartered in Tennessee, announced its sponsorship of triathletes Jessica Jacobs and Charisa Wernick. Jacobs turned pro in 2008 and has been a top-three Ironman finisher twice. She’ll be racing on the Cd0.1, and riding the Seduza for group training. Wernick turned pro this year after finishing fifth in her age group at the Ford Ironman World Championship last October.

ITU President Elected to International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee has elected International Triathlon Union President Marisol Casado as one of six new IOC members at the 122nd IOC Session, which took place just before the Winter Olympic Games. Casado’s election to the IOC further reinforces ITU’s commitment

to the global development of the sport of triathlon, the organization said. A founder of the Spanish Triathlon Federation who’s also been intimately involved in the creation of ITU, Casado has extensive experience and expertise in the Olympic sport of triathlon.

For more information, visit Triathlon.org.

Wilier Triestina USA To Sponsor Biscay Wilier Triestina USA has announced sponsorship of Ironman champion Hillary Biscay.

She will be riding the 2010 Tri-Crono, one of three Wilier Triestina Crono time trial models designed by John Cobb, also supplied to Pro Tour cycling team Lampre-Farnese Vini.

One of the most prolific female pro triathletes on the circuit, Biscay joins fellow Ironman champions Kate Major and Chris McDonald

in Wilier’s lineup of multisport athletes. Visit Wilier-usa.com or Hillarybiscay.com.

54

triathletemag.com

34-54_CheckingIn_201005.indd 54

The Italian cycle components company 3T has signed a two-year sponsor deal with TeamTBB. Singapore-based TeamTBB is a major player in professional triathlon, representing and managing 30 athletes of 15 nationalities. Among its top athletes are Tereza Macel, Rebekah Keat, Stephen Bayliss and James Cunnama. 3T will become teamTBB’s official cockpit components supplier. The two-year agreement means 3T will at any time be able to field six active, sponsored triathletes.

Visit Thenew3t.com or Teamtbb.com for more information.

Olympian, Former Congressman Appointed to USAT Board

IMG Worldwide, Tri-California Resolve Triathlon Discrepancies IMG Worldwide, owner and producer of the long-established Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon, and Tri-California, owner and producer of the recently announced 2010 Alcatraz Triathlon (which now will be called The San Francisco Triathlon at Alcatraz), have recently resolved differences arising from the similarity of the names of the two events and the confusion it created for some participants. The agreement was reached without either party admitting

3T Partners With TeamTBB

wrongdoing, to avoid protracted litigation.

IMG Worldwide will host the 30th annual Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon on May 2 and, as part of the recent agreement, Tri-California will rename its inaugural event The San Francisco Triathlon at Alcatraz, which will take place Aug. 29. The two races are in no way affiliated, and entry to each race is entirely separate. Visit Escapefromalcatraztriathlon.com, Imgworld .com or Tricalifornia.com.

USA Triathlon has announced that three-time Olympian Jim Ryun, who was the first high school runner to break the 4-minute mile barrier and a 10-year representative in the U.S. Congress, was named an independent representative on the organization’s board of directors. In addition to Ryun’s appointment, USAT also elected a new executive committee: president Brian Harrington, vice president Eric Averill, treasurer Bob Wendling and secretary Candy Cheatham. Visit Usatriathlon.org. may 2010

3/12/10 1:50 PM

#1 IN PLATFORM SIZE. MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE.

Optimal power transmission and riding comfort are determined by the quality of the connection between the pedal and cleat, not by the physical size of a pedal. Maximum pedal performance is a result of a comfortable, stable, and secure cleat-to-pedal interface. By any measure, Speedplay pedals provide the largest, most secure pedal-to-cleat connection possible. Whether you measure actual cleat-to-pedal contact area or cleat-to-shoe contact area, Speedplay provides as much as a 25% greater contact area than other pedal brands.

Learn all the ways Speedplay is the number one pedal system at speedplay.com.

Speedplay_TriMag_0510.indd 1

3/8/10 5:03 PM

10 6

Foods You Should Be Eating, Plus to Avoid (Most of the Time) We asked top nutritionists which food items they make sure to put in their grocery cart, and which ones they either avoid altogether or enjoy sparingly. Across the board, these nutritionists agreed on one simple rule: If you can’t pronounce many of the words on the nutrition label, you should probably stay away from it.

By Susan Grant photos by Andrew loehman

The Good Berries (frozen and fresh) “Berries such as raspberries, blueberries and blackberries are high in antioxidants, vitamin C and everything important your body needs for muscle recovery,” says Liz Applegate, PhD, director of sports nutrition at the University of California, Davis. Applegate suggests keeping frozen berries on hand to throw into smoothies or on top of cereal.

56

triathletemag.com

56-59_GoodBadFoods_201005.indd 56

Kale

Whether you steam it, boil it or just eat it raw, kale truly is a super food. “It’s fiber-rich and full of phytochemicals that help fight free radicals,” says Bob Seebohar, a sports nutritionist and registered dietician based in Boulder, Colo.

Nettle

You may have seen bottles of nettle extract at your local health food store, but the best way to get all the benefits of this herb is to steep the leaves like tea.

“One cup of steeped nettle leaf has 2,000 mg of calcium and a good supply of iron, which are two nutrients all athletes need,” says Jennifer Adler, a certified nutritionist and professor of nutrition at Bastyr University in Seattle. Adler recommends taking one cup of dried nettle, putting it through a French press, pouring water over it and letting it steep overnight for up to 10 hours. “It has a very mild taste,” Adler says. “You can put tea bags in with it while it steeps for flavor or doctor it anyway you want with sweetener or mint.”

Papaya

Eaten for centuries because of its unique enzymes that were thought to aid digestion, papaya has a multifaceted nutrient value.

“Papaya is very high in vitamin C, but it’s not an easy food for most people to obtain if they don’t live near a tropical area,” Applegate says. Papayas are something of a nutritional masterpiece; they are full of folate, potassium, vitamin E, vitamin A, lutein (for good eyesight) and lycopene.

may 2010

3/12/10 1:52 PM

Canned beans

While eating fresh foods is always best, if you’re looking for a quick, quality source of low-fat protein, grab a can of beans and simply rinse them off to get rid of any added sodium. “Beans offer carbohydrates, protein and fiber, which are three things triathletes need to aid in recovery,” Applegate says. “Canned beans are already cooked, so you can just stuff them into a burrito or put some on top of a salad.”

may 2010

56-59_GoodBadFoods_201005.indd 57

Bison

Lower in fat than beef, pork or even skinless chicken, bison is often overlooked as a source of lean meat. “Bison is also great because it’s so versatile—you can really make anything with it—and it’s a very high-quality source of protein,” Applegate says. Try a bison stew, a bison steak or even ground bison in a burger.

Grass-fed red meat

According to Adler, the difference between grass-fed red meat and commercial red meat is astounding. “The fat content is so much lower, and you also get the benefits of fatty acids that don’t exist in non-grass-fed meat,” she says. “It’s often said that red meat can be inflammatory to the body, but much of that has to do simply with how the cow was raised.”

If you switch to grass-fed meat, be prepared to spend a little bit more. Grass-fed or not, Adler recommends eating no more than 4 ounces in a serving and limiting your intake to once a week. Remember when cooking grass-fed beef that the cooking times will be much shorter because of the lower fat content of the meat.

Salmon

The benefits of eating fatty fish are well-documented. “Fish such as salmon contain the best source of beneficial EPA and DHA compounds that have been shown to have cardiovascular benefits,” Seebohar says. “Although other foods like walnuts contain omega fats, you have to eat a lot more of them to get the benefits because your body converts the fat compounds in fish more easily.” Can’t stand salmon? Try taking fish oil in supplement form.

triathletemag.com

57

3/12/10 1:52 PM

The Good Tofu

Many soy products such as tofu have received a bad rap because of their high estrogen levels, but Seebohar believes tofu is still a nutritional powerhouse. “You would have to eat soy products like tofu every single day at every single meal to see a hormonal change in your body,” he says. “The protein in tofu is phenomenal, as well as its fatty acid content.” Tofu is also versatile; you can use it in place of meat or blend it into everything from smoothies to spaghetti sauce.

58

triathletemag.com

56-59_GoodBadFoods_201005.indd 58

The Bad Ground flaxseeds

Full of plant chemicals known as lignans, which have been studied for their cancer-fighting and cholesterol-lowering properties, flaxseeds are also packed with omega-3 fatty acids. “Keep in mind that when you see products with whole flaxseeds in them, it’s really kind of just an advertising gimmick,” Seebohar says. “In order to absorb them, they need to be ground up because your body cannot digest the shell of the seed.”

Cheetos (and any other product with orange dust coating) “What is a Cheeto even? It’s entirely fabricated and isn’t really even a food,” says Applegate.

Needless to say, if it isn’t really a food, it probably doesn’t pack any nutritional value, and Cheetos don’t. Additionally, many products with that (admittedly delicious) orange dusty coating actually contain monosodium glutamate (MSG), a controversial chemical additive that has been linked to everything from headaches to heart palpitations. “If you really love Cheetos, go ahead and enjoy some on occasion, but don’t bust out a bag after a 70-mile ride as a recovery meal,” Applegate says.

Packaged cookies and crackers

“In general, I tell people that the closer to the earth a food is, the better it is for you,” Seebohar says. Any type of packaged cookie or chip is fine to eat occasionally, but if you could find all of your day’s menu items in a gas station convenience store, then something has got to give.

may 2010

3/12/10 1:53 PM

Alcohol (in excess) This one’s a tough one. “Drinking more than two drinks a day is of no help,” Applegate says.

“Alcohol interferes with glycogen rebuilding, and if you are serious about doing well in your sport, you should toss it altogether.”

Applegate recommends that if you do want to drink, enjoy a glass of wine with your meal and that’s it.

may 2010

56-59_GoodBadFoods_201005.indd 59

Whole milk

While milk is high in vitamin D and calcium, with so many lowerfat options out there, it’s just a waste of calories and fat. “Stick to non-fat or low-fat milk to get the nutrients you need,” Seebohar says.

Canned vegetables and fruit

“Canned produce is blanched at such a high heat that it loses most of its nutrients, and then they pump it with sodium to give it a longer shelf life,” Seebohar says.

Stick to fresh vegetables and fruit for more nutritional bang for your buck.

Cheese singles

Yes, those perfect squares you used to fold up and shove into your mouth as a kid were delicious. “I call them fake cheese, because they pretty much are entirely processed,” Seebohar says. “Enjoy full-fat cheese in small amounts for the protein and calcium, but stay away from the singles.”

triathletemag.com

59

3/12/10 1:53 PM

Top-5 Kitchen Essentials for Healthy Eating

BY SUSAN GRANT When you’re jamming in training sessions before work, during your lunch break and before dinner, it can be hard to plan a healthy menu.

That’s probably why (although many of us would never admit it) our meal plan takes on a “convenience-first, nutritional value second” type of feeling after a while. These five kitchen essentials take the guesswork out of your meal planning by streamlining the process, making that post-ride drive-through habit of yours ancient history.

1

1 Handheld Veggie Chopper, $37.50 This little miracle gadget satisfies both your taste buds and the kid in you with its handy pull cord-operated blades. Just throw in some tomato chunks, green and red peppers, cilantro, onions, spices and lime juice. Pull the cord a few times and you’ve got your own pico de gallo. You can do everything from chop nuts to make fresh pesto to all kinds of fresh salsas and cold soups. The best part: When you’re done, just throw the blade and the bowl in the dishwasher for easy clean-up.

2 Iced Tea Maker, $39.99

2

3

It’s important to drink plenty of water while in heavy training to replace all the electrolytes you lose during exercise. Why not sip on some antioxidant-rich green and white iced tea post-workout and get extra hydration benefits? Iced tea makers are simple to use, and often allow you to calibrate the strength of your tea. There is also a place for you to add a sweetener of your choice pre-brew for a customized taste.

3 Digital Food Steamer, $79.99 Steaming foods allows you to cook with no added oil while retaining the nutrients of many foods like vegetables and lean meats. With three separate trays that can be used simultaneously, steamers can cook an entire meal while you wait.

You can scramble or poach eggs, steam fish or make a few cups of your favorite whole grain to accompany your meals for the rest of the week.

4 Avocado Slicer, $9.99 4

5

Full of healthy fats, vitamin C, folate and fiber, avocado is a great post-workout ingredient. If you don’t know what you’re doing, however, cutting an avocado can get, well, dicey. This slicer will cut uniformly slender pieces with no mess.

Want a quick, healthy way to add flavor to your meal? Try some lemon and/ or lime. This two-in-one juicer features a movable, two-sided center plate that fits a lemon on one side and a lime on the other. Add some zing to your water, squeeze some on chicken or add some pop to your steamed veggies.

60

triathletemag.com

60_KitchenEss_201005.indd 60

Photos by Nils Nilsen

5 Citrus Juicer, $24.95

may 2010

3/12/10 1:54 PM

THE SHIFT

HAS HIT THE FAN All the wind tunnel data in the world wouldn’t mean a thing if the aerodynamic improvements didn’t translate into tangible real-world advantage. The shift technology of our acclaimed CD0.1 is so pronounced, so real and plainly visible that you can verify our entire stack of supporting technical data with one simple trick. So get some ribbon, tie one on and see for yourself. You’re gonna go fast.

VISIT US ONLINE AT QUINTANAROOTRI.COM

ABG_TriMag_0510.indd 1

3/8/10 4:18 PM

Steps to Holistic Fueling

For Triathletes

By Ben Greenfield 62

triathletemag.com

62-66_Holistic_201005.indd 62

John Segesta/johnsegesta.com

6

may 2010

3/11/10 9:24 AM

As

a sports nutritionist, I look at the diets of many triathletes. In order to dump the volume of necessary fuel into their active bodies, the vast majority of these men and women rely on several staple foods, almost as if there were some ancient evolutionary mechanism that draws endurance athletes to a particular type of eating.

These staples include baked goods such as crackers, cookies and scones; cereals, granolas, breads, bagels and muffins; energy bars, energy chews and packaged sports supplements, drinks and shakes; deli meat and liquid eggs; pasta, in all forms, shapes and sizes; and peanut butter.

Lots and lots of peanut butter.

At first glance, many of these foods seem like pretty good choices.

After all, they’re not hamburgers, french fries, milkshakes, booze or candy bars. But they’re also not real food. Instead, these synthetic fuel sources are sub-par alternatives to clean-burning food that I call “holistic fuel.”

The process of switching to holistic fueling is quite simple, especially when you understand the crucial concept of inflammation. By the time you finish reading this article, you’ll be equipped to head to the grocery store with a whole new shopping list.

While inflammation is the body’s natural way of fighting off injury and illness, multiple studies have concluded that a state of chronic inflammation within the human body can be the cause of insulin problems, a depressed immune system, gastrointestinal issues, fatigue, high cholesterol, low bone density and a host of other health issues.

Traditionally, most triathletes simply shrug their shoulders and assume that frequent physical activity will allow them to consume just about any fuel without having to worry about health issues. But as a coach, I speak with at least a dozen athletes every month who complain of frequent colds, annoying gas, stress fractures, heavy legs and weight issues. It would be foolish to assume these cases are anomalies, especially when an inspection of their diets reveals the type of traditional fueling discussed above.

Which types of foods are associated with a state of inflammation within the body? The first and most obvious culprit is sugar, because of

its significant effect on insulin levels. Of course, most people can easily identify sources of sugar such as corn syrup or sucrose, but common fuels such as muffins, pasta, bagels, cereals and sports drinks can spike insulin levels in a very similar way.

When insulin levels are high, inflammatory hormones called eicosanoids inside our cells can become imbalanced. In addition, arachidonic acid, a fatty acid with a predominantly pro-inflammatory influence, can also become elevated. Finally, insulin can affect the delicate interaction between cytokines and prostaglandins, two important inflammatory messengers. The inflammatory reaction to high blood sugar levels is also associated with the heart-damaging small oxidized cholesterol.

In addition, polyunsaturated vegetable oils such as safflower, sunflower, corn, peanut and soy oils are high in linoleic acid, a fatty acid that the body converts into the pro-inflammatory arachidonic acid.

These types of oils are commonly used to prepare meals in restaurants, and are also found in most boxed, packaged and processed foods.

Constantly high levels of all these pro-inflammatory compounds can cause a surge in white blood cells, resulting in a hypersensitive immune system and the frequent sniffles associated with heavy triathlon training and fueling.

Common allergens such as casein and gluten (proteins found in dairy and wheat), as well as less common allergens such as peanuts, eggs and soy, can be quick to spark inflammation. Although any individual suffering from celiac disease understands how inflammatory wheat can be, even in disease-free triathletes a slight natural food intolerance, deficiency in digestive enzymes or lack of stomach bacteria might cause an inflammatory response. Peanut butter, soy milk, bread and cheese are common culprits.

As if that weren’t enough, we athletes are all familiar by now with the concept of free radicals, renegade electron-stealing molecules that can wreak havoc on normal cellular metabolism. The combination of high levels of exercise combined with heavy intake of sugars, vegetable oils, packaged foods and potential allergens produces a perfect storm for free radical-based inflammation.

The Holistic Fueling Solution By incorporating six guidelines into your diet, you can control this inflammatory cascade: 1. Choose carbohydrates wisely.

2. Use carbohydrate timing.

3. Eat anti-inflammatory foods.

4. Identify and control allergy triggers.

5. Shop around the perimeter of the grocery store.

6. Moderate race-day fueling practice.

Step #1:

Choose Carbohydrates Wisely.

Certain carbohydrates cause a far less pronounced increase in blood sugar and typically result in a slower and steadier insulin release, thus reducing the potential for inflammation. When consumed in moderation, these carbohydrates provide stable energy sources that contain enough nutrient density for the needs of an endurance athlete.

Some of the top-ranking low-glycemic index or glycemic-load may 2010

62-66_Holistic_201005.indd 63

carbohydrates that maintain storage carbohydrate levels without risking inflammation include apples, cherries, pears, garbanzo beans, Greek yogurt, eggplant and mushrooms. Slightly higherranking foods that are still acceptable include sweet potatoes and yams, parsnips, carrots, beets, quinoa, amaranth, millet, squash and pumpkin. Incorporate Step 2 when you consume these higher glycemic index foods. triathletemag.com

63

3/11/10 9:24 AM

Step #2:

Use Carbohydrate Timing.

Although the pancreas will release insulin after consumption of the higher ranking carbohydrates listed above, there are several windows of time when you will be more sensitive to insulin and less likely to mount an inflammatory reaction. Here are the two rules for carbohydrate timing: 1. Front-load your carbohydrates. Consume the majority of your carbohydrates, and especially the majority of your higher ranking carbohydrates, earlier in the day or before, during and after exercise.

You will be more likely to burn this sugar as fuel and less likely to go to bed with high insulin levels. In other words, breakfast might be quinoa and yogurt, your mid-morning snack might be an energy bar prior to your swim and your lunch might be a salad with a side of brown rice. But in the afternoon, you could eat an avocado with goat cheese, a handful of raw almonds and a serving of broiled fish with roasted vegetables for dinner.

2. Cheat during your insulin-sensitivity window. I eat my fair share of sports gels, sports drinks and sweet or processed sugars.

But with zero exceptions, these are consumed immediately before, during or within 20 minutes after exercise. It is during these times that your sugars will do the least damage.

Step #3:

Consume Anti-Inflammatory Foods.

Despite a healthy carbohydrate intake, your body still generates a high number of free radicals during exercise, and will still have an insulin response to your relatively high caloric intake.

Eat the following two categories of anti-inflammatory foods to combat free radical-generated inflammation: 1. Omega-3 fatty acids. In several Japanese studies, a direct correlation has been observed between omega-3 fatty acid deficiencies, increased consumption of omega-6 fatty acids, and a rise in diseases and illnesses associated with inflammation. Omega-6 fatty acids promote inflammation in the body, which can result in cancer,

heart disease, stroke, diabetes and arthritis. Omega-3, on the other hand, is anti-inflammatory and supports healthy heart, brain, nerve and eye function. Find yours in coldwater fish, fish oil, flax seed oil, nuts and seeds.

2. Phytonutrients, plant pigments and fiber. Eat your fruits and vegetables and prioritize the dark-skinned variety such as pomegranate, berries, spinach and kale. While vegetarian triathletes might have difficulty maintaining proper levels of B-12 and iron, we can all take a cue from their high levels of plant consumption. Fiber fights inflammation, and the best sources are fruits and vegetables.

Step #4:

Testing for a food allergy is very simple. A blood-drop test and skin-prick test are two common methods for comprehensive food allergy testing.

To diagnose a sugar-metabolizing allergy (such as a fructose allergy), a breath test can be highly effective. If you want to screen for food allergies, but also screen for pesticides, fungus, candida albicans, yeast, etc., in the digestive tract, a stool test would be advised.

So what does a hypo-allergenic meal plan look like? There are two steps to developing a food allergy-fighting diet: 1. Eliminate most allergic triggers. These include wheat, soy, corn, dairy, eggs, gluten, nuts, shellfish, caffeine, alcohol and artificial food additives.

2. Introduce hypo-allergenic foods. Staple hypo-allergenic foods include lamb, pears, apples, rice, most vegetables, most beans and 64

triathletemag.com

62-66_Holistic_201005.indd 64

Photos by John Segesta/johnsegesta.com

Identify and Control Allergy Triggers.

may 2010

3/11/10 9:24 AM

RECOVER LIKE

THE PROS “I’m a long-time user and

“I’m delighted with my Compex Sport Elite - it enables me to recover quicker and I can do it on my own time in the comfort of my home. It’s a superb tool which has become an integral part of my daily routine. ”

believer in Compex. It’s significantly enhanced my ability to train, race and stay healthy. My workout sessions are much more efficient because I can push harder and recover quicker. ”

—Fraser Cartmell 2010 Ironman 70.3 Champion

—Michellie Jones 2000 Olympic Silver Medalist, 2006 Ironman World Champion

“I Compex about 5 times a day – every day! When I’m not training, I Compex some part of my body, whether it’s my quads, glutes, shoulders, or lower back ... it’s like having my personal masseuse.”

“There’s nothing like

Compex on the market today. It’s an easy to use, compact device that speeds recovery and allows me to target specific areas - it’s truly amazing! I recommend Compex to athletes of all levels.”

—Heather Jackson 2008 Ist Amateur Ironman World Champion, 2009 2nd Pro Ironman 70.3

—Joe Gambles 2009 2x Ironman 70.3 Champion

GET YOURS TODAY! “The Jelly Belly Cycling Team

by Kenda is pleased to join the ranks of elite athletes worldwide who have embraced this technology.

Compex helps the team achieve a more efficient workout regimen and enables them to recover quicker after an intense training session or race.”

—Danny Van Haute Team Director

Compex_TriMag_0510.indd 1

ShopCompex.com/tri410 1-877-542-1080

“Compex is a must for any dedicated athlete. I train for hours every day, and it’s imperative to have the top tools to maximize my time.

Compex does just that ... I have it in my bag wherever I go. I’m a huge fan of the Active Recovery program - it helps me recover with less soreness and fatigue.”

—Lesley Paterson Currently Ranked #2 Worldwide XTERRA Champion

3/10/10 3:58 PM

legumes (except peanuts) and the non-gluten grains (for example, millet, quinoa and amaranth).

Other hypo-allergenic ingredients include maple syrup and brown rice syrup, and rice milk, almond milk, kefir, pear nectar, chamomile tea and sparkling water.

These guidelines might seem intimidating, especially for an endurance athlete attempting to consume large amounts of food. But I have worked with many individuals with multiple food allergies who have found that simple grocery shopping changes can allow for maintenance of caloric density. A sample meal plan could include:

Breakfast: hot quinoa with diced pears and almond milk Lunch: lettuce wrap with hummus, almond butter and miso soup Dinner: salmon with amaranth, lentils, steamed cabbage and rice milk During Workout: brown rice syrup sports bar/gels Post-Workout: amino acid capsules and pear Snack 1: apples with almonds Snack 2: One cup kefir with berries Of course, this menu incorporates a “play it safe” approach, simply eliminating nearly all common food allergens. You might not need to go to these extremes, but I guarantee you’ll feel a surge in energy with the diet above.

Step #5:

In the May 2009 issue of Triathlete a writer underwent an interesting self-experiment. Using himself as a guinea pig, the he attempted to survive solely on “health foods,” “energy supplements” and “sports fuel” for a week.

The results were interesting. He experienced the damaging biological consequences of fueling his body primarily on processed and packaged foods that are high in preservatives, artificial sweeteners, refined sugars, vegetable oils, food colorings and genetically modified ingredients.

These foods were created for convenient access during sporting activities and not for your afternoon or evening snack, or for a way to eat breakfast in your car on the way to work.

If a food can sit on a shelf at room temperature without spoiling, it must be pumped full of preservatives, nitrates, nitrites or sodium and other chemicals foreign to cellular metabolism. Common culprits include canned or powdered soups and stews, packaged deli meats, beef jerky, chips, flavored water and trail mix.

A good rule to follow if you are attempting to remove these “fake foods” from your diet is to shop around the perimeter of the grocery store. If you think about a typical supermarket, the packaged fake foods are neatly lined in the aisles, while the real food—the produce, fruits and vegetables, fresh meats and cheese, dairy and bulk foods in bins—are typically found outside these aisles.

John Segesta/johnsegesta.com

Shop Around the Perimeter of the Grocery Store.

Unless you are an astronaut on the moon or a soldier in the trenches, the only time and place for the quick, convenient packaged foods is during events in which consumption of real, solid food could ultimately hinder your speed, safety or performance. And this brings us to the final step of holistic fueling.

Step #6:

Moderate Race-Day Fueling Practice.

Many triathletes wonder how to prepare their body to digest and assimilate packaged foods during a race if they’ve never eaten them in daily training.

There is a solution. Here are three steps to follow: 1. Engage in just once-per-week “fake food” practice. This should happen during your biggest or longest breakthrough training session of the week. While your shorter training sessions during the week could be fueled with sweet potatoes, yams, nuts and berries, this session will be your chance to use your chosen race-day fuel. You have four or five days per month to practice with the fake food, rather than consuming it on a 66

triathletemag.com

62-66_Holistic_201005.indd 66

regular basis for 30 days of the month.

2. Eat solid “real food” hourly. Especially during long training sessions and races, incorporate real food (such as half a banana or two figs) as a substitute for one of your hourly fake food doses.

For example, race-day fueling for Ironman might be liquid fueling or gel during an entire hour on the bike, and at the end of each hour, a piece of real food, such as half a banana.

3. Limit your access to fake food. I pile all my energy bars, gels and powdered drinks in the garage where I keep my bike and not in the pantry with my real food. It is for training and racing, not for midnight snacks and desserts.

Does holistic fueling sound like a difficult switch to make? Frankly, it is for most people.

But then, triathlon itself is too difficult for most people. You aren’t most people. So if you’re skeptical about your ability to make the switch, just try it as a short-term experiment. I am confident that you will experience profound benefits that will make sticking with holistic fueling an easy choice.

Ben Greenfield is a top fitness, triathlon, nutrition and metabolism expert. In 2008 he was named Personal Trainer of the Year, by the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Learn more at Bengreenfieldfitness.com.

may 2010

3/11/10 9:24 AM

Saris Cycling Group Madison, WI 800.783.7257

The guy on the horizon isn’t a cyclist.

He’s a victim.

Until now, only elite triathletes in a lab had access to the kind of precision information JouleTM gives you. 18 valuable metrics including power, heart rate, time TSSTM and the ability to recreate a race course while training. Surpass your competition and your personal best. Visit cycleops.com

Saris_TriMag_0310.indd 1

1/7/10 2:51 PM

InsideOut_TriMag_0310.indd 1

1/13/10 10:52 AM

Use common sense and your body’s signals, not elaborate formulas and theory-based schedules, to guide your race nutrition.

Nils Nilsen

By Matt Fitzgerald

friend of mine once attended a clinic presented by a wellknown triathlon coach. This coach gave his audience detailed guidelines for race nutrition. These guidelines included a precise formula for calculating fluid, carbohydrate and total caloric needs, and a rigid schedule of fluid intake from squeeze bottles on the bike and additional energy intake from gels and bars.

A man in the audience asked, “How much fluid does one bike bottle hold?” It was a good question because the coach’s guidelines for fluid intake had been given in milliliters, so they could not be applied unless one knew how many milliliters there were in a bottle.

“I have no idea,” the coach answered.

Gotcha! Clearly, the coach did not practice his own race nutrition guidelines. And why should he? They were complicated and impractical.

Whether it’s forgetting how many grams of carbohydrate are in a packet of GU in the heat of battle, not knowing how many ounces of Gatorade are in the paper cup you receive from a volunteer at an aid station, or feeling too queasy to drink on schedule, those formulaic, quantified race nutrition plans always fall apart at some point.

Sooner or later in each race you are left to “fuel by feel.” So why not fuel by feeling from the beginning? Why bother with a predetermined rate of fluid and carbohydrate intake at all?

While the race nutrition plans that some coaches like to recommend make sense in theory—the idea is to take in fluid at a rate that matches sweat loss and to ingest carbohydrates at a rate that matches the body’s rate of carbohydrate use—there is no real evidence that using such may 2010

69-70_FuelByFeel_201005.indd 69

formulas benefits performance any more than fueling by feel.

Certainly you do not want to wing it with race nutrition, starting your races with no idea what you will drink or eat and when. But a flexible plan based on a few basic principles that prioritize body awareness will undoubtedly give you better results than a rigidly mathematical nutrition plan that leaves you lost when you are inevitably forced to deviate from it. Here are the basic principles of fueling by feel.

Keep It Simple The list of nutrients that can aid your triathlon performance is short: water, electrolyte minerals and carbohydrates. A little protein or some amino acids might make a small difference in longer events, and caffeine (technically a drug, not a nutrient) is also optional. You can get all of the essential nutrients in appropriate proportions from a sports drink. In especially long races and cooler races (where fluid needs decrease but carbohydrate needs do not), it might be helpful to supplement your sports drink intake with some gels or bars. But there is no need to extend your race nutrition menu any further. Doing so will only make fueling yourself more complicated and increase the chances that you consume too much--or the wrong thing--and fall victim to gastrointestinal distress.

Some have raced full Ironmans on sports drinks alone. It is possible. You might need more than that, but in any case, limit your race nutrition menu to the fewest items possible. This will make it easier to fuel yourself by feel. triathletemag.com

69

3/11/10 9:25 AM

at more than 60 percent to 70 percent of their sweat rate without experiencing such problems.

What’s more, research has consistently shown that drinking to offset 100 percent of sweat loss confers no additional benefit in terms of thermoregulation or performance as compared to drinking according to thirst, which typically offsets only 60 percent to 70 percent of sweat loss. There is nothing to be gained and a good deal of risk in forcing yourself to drink ahead of your thirst.

Your body knows how much fluid it needs and can tolerate in races.

Your thirst will even adjust automatically in response to changes in your rate of body fluid loss caused by fluctuations in air temperature.

This was shown in a recent study from the University of Verona, Italy.

Researchers tracked fluid consumption by participants in a multi-day cross-country mountain bike race. The air temperate varied significantly throughout the event, and so did drinking rates. The competitors drank as little as 494 mL per hour at some times and as much as 754 mL per hour at other times. They drank the most when the temperature was highest and the least when the air was coolest.

The lesson of this study? Don’t waste your time calculating your sweat rate or creating weather-specific hydration plans. Just drink by feel.

Use the Right Stuff Human beings are not designed to drink and eat during exercise.

Digestion slows to a crawl when the muscles of the extremities are intensely active, and tolerance for contents in the stomach diminishes significantly as compared to when we are seated at the dinner table.

In a word, taking in nourishment during exercise is unnatural, so it comes as no surprise that the best sources of nourishment during exercise are also unnatural.

While whole foods such as fish and fresh vegetables are preferable at regular meals, specially formulated ergogenic aids—that is, sports drinks, gels and bars—are much better tolerated and more effective during exercise. These products contain only what our bodies need and can use to keep riding and running and nothing more. With rare exceptions, you should rely on them exclusively during races.

Save the pizza for after the finish line.

Drink by Thirst For many years, sports nutritionists advised athletes to drink as much as possible during exercise, or at the very least to drink as much fluid as they lost through sweating. We now know that’s bad advice. Drinking more than thirst dictates during exercise often causes stomach sloshing, bloating and other forms of GI discomfort and might actually slow the absorption of fluid into the body. During running, especially, athletes typically cannot drink 70

triathletemag.com

69-70_FuelByFeel_201005.indd 70

You should seldom, if ever, get hungry during a sprint or Olympicdistance triathlon. Even back-of-the-pack athletes typically complete these shorter races before lunchtime. But hunger is common during half-iron-distance triathlons and all but unavoidable for a majority of us in Ironman events.

Hunger in races is not necessarily a problem. It is not a sign that you are running out of energy. Nor is it necessary to take in energy during races in a way that satisfies hunger. You can take in as much energy as your body can use through a sports drink alone, and obviously a sports drink will not satisfy any hunger you might experience during a race. So ignoring your hunger during races is a legitimate option.

A rumbling stomach is only a problem in races inasmuch as it is unpleasant and distracting. Some triathletes can put hunger out of mind, while for others hunger takes the mind out of the race. If that’s you, then go ahead and eat when you’re hungry. Just be sure to eat the right kind of food.

Your best bet is a high-carbohydrate, low-fiber, low-fat energy bar or a real food with a similar nutrition profile, such as a banana.

Delly Carr

Eat When You’re Hungry

Learn from Experience Some triathletes have cast-iron stomachs and can seemingly drink and eat whatever they want during races without suffering ill effects.

Other triathletes have such sensitive GI systems that it takes them years of trial and error to develop a race nutrition system that works. Some triathletes seem to benefit from taking in salt during races (despite the lack of research demonstrating benefits). Others do not. Some triathletes are not terribly concerned about the flavors of the things they eat and drink when racing, while for others flavor is more important than function, because if they don’t like it, they can’t swallow it.

The point, of course, is that each triathlete’s race nutrition needs are unique. The only way to discover what works best for you is to experiment and listen to your body so you can learn from experience. Do not feel obligated to do anything a certain way just because it’s how others do it or how experts recommend that everyone do it. The retired American triathlete Siri Lindley could not stomach sports drinks during races, so she drank water only and ate nothing while competing. This did not stop her from winning the 2001 ITU Triathlon World Championship.

She listened to her body, fueled by feel and achieved her goals.

Follow Lindley’s example and do your own thing with race nutrition. may 2010

3/11/10 9:25 AM

BodyHealth_IM.indd 1

12/4/09 9:57 AM

What The Pros Pack Mirinda Carfrae, runner-up at Kona 2009, her only Ironman race: “For the bike, I put in two fun-size Snickers, but much to my surprise I didn’t feel like eating Snickers on the bike so I didn’t take the bag. On the run, I had a small bottle of Coke and a GU Roctane but again didn’t end up taking the bag. So I pretty much didn’t use special needs at all!”

Love ’Em and Hate ’Em: The Unreliable Special Needs Bags

By Bethany Leach

In

the mid-‘80s, special needs bags didn’t exist for the original Ironman Hawaii participants. They’d hand their nutrition needs to a buddy, who’d pass it back to them around Mile 20 of the run. Back then, a popular drink concoction was “The Bomb”—a mix of defizzed Coke, No-Doz and aspirin. “If you didn’t have a heart attack,” says Ironman Hall of Famer Bob Babbitt, “you had a hell of a final 10K.” Ironman nutrition has come a long way since, and it was helped by the initiation of special needs bags in Ironman races. Athletes are allowed to pack nutritional items, Vaseline, extra clothing such as a change of socks or—for age-groupers—some long sleeves to wear after the sun goes down. This keeps them from having to carry those items on the bike and run, but many age-groupers warn that you might never see those items again.

Even some of the pros are weary of needs bag mix-ups. At the 2009 Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, runner-up Mirinda Carfrae decided to carry her necessary nutrition with her, just in case. “I like the idea of self-catering—then I have total control over my nutrition and don’t have to worry about anything going wrong,” she says.

Michael Lovato, a two-time Ironman champion, says, “I always pack a special needs bag.

However, there have been a few times when I’ve either grabbed the wrong one or missed 72

triathletemag.com

72_NeedsBag_201005.indd 72

grabbing mine. So I do not always use them.”

The pros all have different philosophies when it comes to packing their bags. Pro T.J. Tollakson likes to pack a variety of things, just in case. “I always say, ‘If I were on a seven-hour ride and bonking and stopped at a convenience store, what would I eat to get me back in the saddle?’” Tollakson says. “I want to have the same options available when I am racing. I may not need everything, but I at least have the option.”

Joanna Zeiger also prefers to carry her nutrition with her. She sees receiving her own bag as a “best-case scenario,” and only packs a few things, mostly back-ups in case her gels or salt tablets fall off her bike.

When it comes to packing for different races, the pros like to stay consistent—not changing anything because of weather or other factors. “I have raced in hot and cold conditions, and my special needs bags stay the same,” Lovato says. “The conditions only dictate how much of what I pack do I actually need to use.”

All in all, athletes would rather have the bags than not. Lovato likes the idea behind the bags more than the execution. “We should use the musettes that they use in cycling races so we can grab a cloth bag, put the strap around our shoulders, grab what we need, then ditch the bag—for the spectators to have keepsakes,” he says. “Not a bad idea, eh?”

Craig Alexander, 2008 and 2009 Ironman World Champion: His bike special needs bag includes “extra gel flasks and salt tablets. Run special needs: Red Bull in flasks and a water bottle to pour on my head.”

T.J. Tollakson: “Gel flask with four gels of PowerGel green apple, water bottle with flat Red Bull, Payday bar, PowerBar Gel Blasts (cola flavor), three oatmeal creme pies (Little Debbie brand) and a PowerBar Smoothie Bar (berry blast flavor). I have typically consumed the whole gel flask, the Payday bar, at least two creme pies and the gel blasts. The rest of the fuel in the bag is just in case. I might feel like I need more calories, or I might need some more caffeine (Red Bull). I might just need a different taste (smoothie bar). I like to have options.”

John Segesta/johnsegesta.com

Michael Lovato, two-time Ironman champion: “Inside my bike bag I pack two bottles of EFS (my fluid replacement drink).

I also pack an extra gel flask with EFS Liquid Shot, just in case I drop one off my bike. And I will normally throw a couple of mini Snickers in there, in case I drop the ones I carry in my Bento Box. I love to have back-ups.”

Joanna Zeiger: “In my bike bag are a bottle of PowerBar Endurance, extra salt tablets, and a few gels. I always take the bottle, but not the others, unless they fall off my bike.”

Bree Wee: “[For] the bike and in the run, I pack [the bag] with back-up salts in case I lose or give all mine away, and some kind of bar in case I am starving or need something for an emergency. I also put extra socks in the run bag. I’ve never grabbed either of those bags in any Ironman because,thankfully, all the Ironman events I’ve done have been so well stocked at the aid stations that I could use what they offered (gels, water, some even had salts).Thankfully, my K-Swissers have never hurt my feet so bad with blisters that I needed to change socks. But I like knowing the bags are there just in case.” may 2010

3/11/10 9:26 AM

FSAnew_TriMag_0410.indd 1

2/12/10 11:20 AM

74

triathletemag.com

74-75_JuiceFast_201005.indd 74

may 2010

3/11/10 9:26 AM

Can an occasional juice fast ultimately boost performance and deliver on super health?

By T.J. Murphy s juice fasting simply a new-age gimmicky nutrition stunt? Or does a properly executed juice fast push the human body’s reset button?

One tale of dietary overhaul suggests there might be something to it.

In 1938 Percy Cerutty, 43 at the time and a civil servant working for the Postmaster General of Australia, was so weakened by a mystery illness he was fired. Racked by incessant migraine headaches and chronic fatigue, Cerutty was so enervated that after walking across a beach and to the sea line he would “only have the energy to get wet to my knees.” Physician after physician, puzzling over his physical and mental breakdown, threw up their arms in bafflement. With no concrete advice to give, they sent the overwrought patient away with words that likely inspired Cerutty to consider a march further out to sea: “Unless you reverse the process, you’ll be dead within a year.”

Cerutty later called the dramatic transformation that then unfolded his “rebirth.” In Larry Myers’ 1977 biography, “Training with Cerutty,” the author details how Cerutty gave up on the medical establishment and modern civilization itself. He went vegetarian, living on raw, uncooked organic foods, such as rolled oats, fruits, nuts and celery salad. His strength began to return. He started walking, then jogging, then swimming. Eight years after the doctors wrote him off, Cerutty, by then in his early 50s, had become a top ultramarathoner in Australia.

With evangelical fury he took up coaching, and it was his athlete Herb Elliot—through a fanatical training regime that included boiled oats, gymnastics and endless running up and down sand dunes—who famously put Cerutty on the map in the form of gold medals and world records.

It was Cerutty’s story that I had in mind when some years ago an injury threw me into a tailspin. I couldn’t train, I became depressed, I ate poorly, and blam, my weight and body fat levels flared. The increased weight and my aging knees conspired to only make things worse, as attempt after attempt to get back into a decent training discipline sent me, more times than I care to remember, limping home after 15 minutes of jogging—the word running did not apply.

It was about then that I heard the term “juice fast” and went to the bookstore in search of guidance. “Toxic Relief,” by Don Colbert, MD, prescribed a juice-fast plan that he promised would revitalize my body and my spirit, rid my organs of toxic chemicals stored in body fat and help me turn the tables on the excess weight that was sabotaging my efforts to regain my status as an athlete.

Know that outside of his word I really had no idea if science supported the claims he was making, particularly in the area of detoxification. may 2010

74-75_JuiceFast_201005.indd 75

The early chapters of his book painted a ghoulish vision of the poisons we encounter during our everyday lives: pesticide pollution, ozone, heavy metals, benzene, formaldehyde, vinyl chloride, toluene, carbon tetrachloride and sick building syndrome. Colbert turned me on to the EPA’s “Toxic Release Inventory” and how 1,672,127,735 pounds of toxic chemicals were released into the air in the U.S. in a year in the 1990s prior to the publishing of his book. He goes on to sway you into believing that toxic buildup in our bodies can slowly kill us. Colbert says that pesticide pollution alone can contribute to memory loss, depression, anxiety, psychosis and Parkinson’s disease.

Personally, I just wanted to lose some pounds and feel better, but if the juice fast would clean out the DDT residing in my cells, fantastic.

I followed Colbert’s plan, which, including the pre-fast diet, the juice fast itself and a five-day return to solid foods, took about a month.

I can only offer anecdotal reporting of the experience. The strict nature of the diet, which disallowed processed foods, refined sugar, alcohol, coffee and such, had an immediate impact on me because my diet had become ridden with junk foods. The diet’s severity tapped my competitive instincts: It dared me to complete the program. The three days of the actual juice fast were intense. I experienced various highs and lows and slept with a depth I could not recall experiencing. By day three I felt a complete sense of renewal.

It was, at the time, the closest thing I’d ever performed comparable to Cerutty’s “rebirth.” I had punched the reset button, and after losing a large blast of weight I began training again while being supported by a much more intelligent diet. I had reversed course. Whether or not I cleansed myself of toxins, I had no real idea except that I felt much better. In my reinvigorated state I made better decisions and my training took care of the rest.

According to Colbert and other doctors that have authored similar texts, it’s a good idea to build regular fasts into your life, be it every year or every six months, depending on your motivation. So why not go back? This spring I will again follow a thorough juice fasting program and not only report on the experience but also dig in to the subject with reporting on where science stands on the process.

Is juice fasting an appropriate exercise for the endurance athlete?

Does juice fasting spark weight loss? What are the dangers? What are the benefits? What do various studies and experts have to say about it? And will I again experience some form of Percy Cerutty’s rebirth?

Log on to Triathletemag.com to find out. triathletemag.com

75

3/11/10 9:27 AM

in the shadows of the towering saguaro, Tucson, Ariz., plays host each year to throngs of endurance athletes looking to get a jump on their season training. Among the city’s many selling points are its long, empty roads to indulge cyclists, lap pools dotting the desert landscape, and countless trails and running tracks for scenic runs. embedded among the visitors are local talents, ranging from seasoned Triathletes to the University of Arizona TriCats.

Photos by Nils Nilsen

76

triathletemag.com

76-88_Tucson_201005.indd 76

may 2010

3/12/10 2:03 PM

may 2010

76-88_Tucson_201005.indd 77

triathletemag.com

77

3/12/10 2:04 PM

Though pools are a dime a dozen in this desert oasis, the University of Arizona’s Hillenbrand Aquatic Center sees much of the action. Most of the swim workouts take place in one of its two pools. But with all the pro athlete visitors, the U of A TriCats have found that the new student rec center on campus is the best spot for them.

78

triathletemag.com

76-88_Tucson_201005.indd 78

may 2010

3/12/10 2:04 PM

TriSports_TriMag_0510.indd 1

3/8/10 5:04 PM

There are two epic rides Tucson is famous for, each of which are crawling with spandex-clad visitors any given day. Mount Lemmon reigns king with its 24-mile ascent, which finishes at a little more than 8,000 feet elevation. The climb is long and steady with a few false flats, and is a must-ride for any triathlete looking to build endurance. A slightly lesser known climb, Gates Pass, is a polar opposite of Mount Lemmon. Gates will test your thresholds to the extreme, kicking well above a 14 percent incline. The ride might be short, but it packs a big bite. If testing your climbing legs is not a priority, Tucson has countless roads that pass great landmarks like the Saguaro National Park, Old Tucson and the Biosphere 2.

80

triathletemag.com

76-88_Tucson_201005.indd 80

may 2010

3/12/10 2:05 PM

3” 1 COLOR

0.0.0.100

®

®

888-318-9964

Oakleyrebels.com

©2010 Oakley, Inc.

Rise above conformity.

Terenzo Bozzone is a man with purpose. He doesn’t just talk about living a good life. He lives it, breathes it and gets involved by passing on the message of clean living so others can benefit. Every chance he gets he uses his fame and good fortune to promote a grass roots campaign against methamphetamine use in New Zealand, his native land.

His socially conscious efforts help him stay grounded as a person and maintain a close connection to the local community. Terenzo’s courage to care earns the respect of everyone here at Oakley, where we have always risen above the minimum expectations of conformity and gone one step beyond in everything we do.

Terenzo Bozzone in Radar

®

Oakley_TriMag_0510.indd 1

3/10/10 3:57 PM

Just minutes outside Tucson, Pima Community College plays host to a number of Canadian and U.S.-based triathletes. Tucson is loaded with running tracks in and around the city, most of which have desert landscapes. If the track is a little too confining for you, the city has a plethora of desert trails that weave in and out of seas of cactus.

A lesser-known, jewel of a running route is the 5K loop in Reid Park, which takes you by Tucson’s zoo and a duck-friendly pond.

82

triathletemag.com

76-88_Tucson_201005.indd 82

may 2010

3/12/10 2:05 PM

THE WORLD’S FASTEST BIKE... JUST GOT FASTER.

What happens when the world’s fastest tt/tri bike is paired with the world’s fastest rising triathlete? We can’t wait to see.

The 2010 Felt DA and Terenzo Bozzone, coming soon to a podium near you.

feltbicycles.com Terenzo Bozzone Tim DeBoom Jan Frodeno Chris Foster Michellie Jones Becky Lavelle Emma Snowsill David Thompson

Felt_TriMag_0410_LR.indd 1

2/9/10 10:31 AM

photos by Laurel wassner

84

triathletemag.com

76-88_Tucson_201005.indd 84

may 2010

3/12/10 2:08 PM

BARRACUDA USA

Barracuda_TriMag_0110.indd 1

11/3/09 9:42 AM

The Fox Theatre and Hotel Congress inject some color and liveliness into historic downtown Tucson and give the resting athlete plenty of choices for enjoying downtime.

Congress Street is a must-see, and Tucson Inn has a playful sign that recalls days past.

86

triathletemag.com

76-88_Tucson_201005.indd 86

may 2010

3/12/10 2:09 PM

Aquaman_TriMag_0310.indd 1

1/15/10 8:56 AM

Coffee, fresh fruit and mmm ‌ tacos ... are the chosen fuels for athletes training in Tucson. The region’s southwestern culinary flair satisfies even the pickiest palates. Caffe Luce is a favorite among cyclists and offers the best caffeine fix in town.

88

triathletemag.com

76-88_Tucson_201005.indd 88

may 2010

3/12/10 2:09 PM

SOME MEETINGS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN OTHERS

PBK_TriMag_0410.indd 1

2/9/10 10:33 AM

Three Times a Charm

Kona champ Chrissie Wellington talks about life within and beyond her growing stardom.

Interview by Bob Babbitt and Paul Huddle

Bob Babbitt:

So, Chrissie, as you mentioned, winning in Kona is special. And I’m sure when you won for the first time, you thought, “Hey, I won this very important event.” But over time, it seems like you realized the platform you’ve built by winning Hawaii three times. It allows you to reach more people. It allows youto reach young girls and let them know that they can accomplish their dreams. And it allows you to be a spokesperson for women worldwide.

Chrissie Wellington:

That’s exactly right. I remember speaking to my former coach Brett [Sutton] after turning pro in February 2007, and I said, “I don’t know how long I can do this for, Brett.” At that point, I hadn’t won anything. I said, “I feel so selfish, so self-indulgent.” He said, “Just wait. Give it a couple of years and you’ll be able to make a difference in a way that you never could have imagined.” And what he said has come true, and I firmly believe that the more I achieve in the sport, the more I can achieve out of it on so many different levels. I want my legacy to be so much more than swim, bike and run. I want to give back to the sport and to the people that are involved in the sport. And then, more widely, use it as a platform to really educate and empower people through sport.

that. It was just going out there and getting the adrenaline pumping because I loved it. And seeing the scenery and the different cultures at the same time, which was a bonus. It didn’t feel like training, yet it was.

BB: CW:

This last winter, you were at a friend’s wedding in Argentina.

Lying on the beach, drinks with umbrellas, that type of thing?

Not quite. Close. Tina’s wedding was one to remember. And I don’t know if she actually invited us on the honeymoon, but we went anyway. [Laughing.] No, she did. We all agreed that this would be the perfect honeymoon and perfect start to married life for them.

It was just over seven days, a mountain bike trip across a mountain pass in the Andes that had never been biked before.

BB:

Paul Huddle: CW: BB: CW:

CW:

BB: CW:

A big part of your success is your history of living in Nepal and Tibet, and doing things that you thought were just for fun: riding a mountain bike at 12,000 feet, riding 1,000 kilometers in the Kathmandu Valley, dealing with parasites in your belly and getting Giardia. Do you look back on some of your adventures and think, “Some of those days were equally as hard as these races I’m doing?”

Definitely, some of the experiences I’ve had have helped shape me and made me mentally strong. And I carry the physical strength, too, but what I loved about some of the other adventures I’ve had, whether they’ve been in Nepal or Argentina or New Zealand and Australia—it was sport at its absolute rawest. There were no monitors or gadgets, no aid stations. It was just doing sport for the love of sport; it wasn’t to fill a tick in a logbook or to record any data or anything like 90

triathletemag.com

90-99_Wellington_201005.indd 90

So of course you’re like, “Well, we should be able to do that no problem.”

We can do it carrying 30kg on our mountain bikes.

And are these high-end mountain bikes?

We rented them. I wouldn’t say they were top-of-the-range. It all started off pretty well; it was kind of a deep track, and then the deep track petered out. Then it was sand, which is pretty difficult, and then there wasn’t even a path at all.

You were just bushwhacking it.

Yeah, pretty much. Over glaciers. We did run out of food, and our special needs station happened to be a farm.

[We knocked on the door of a] random Argentinian farmer. There were seven of us, and there was only one thing he could do. He offered to slaughter a goat for us. And so, a couple of hours later, we were sitting at this table eating goat. may 2010

3/15/10 11:10 AM

Larry Rosa

may 2010

90-99_Wellington_201005.indd 91

triathletemag.com

91

3/11/10 9:28 AM

Photos courtesy Chrissie Wellington

BB:

Take us through a typical—if there is a typical—training week. And when you’re going into those last couple months before Kona …

CW:

My training tends to be much the same week in, week out, throughout the year. I don’t tend to periodize things too much. It consists of a long run, but my long run is probably not as long as other people’s—you know, two and a half hours. But I do put some intervals in.

BB: CW:

I know [in 2009] you incorporated more core stuff with Dave Scott.

Dave has been advising me. He’s been a great swim coach with his sister, Jane, who runs the Masters program in Boulder. But he’s also been giving me some very targeted strength and conditioning work to do, particularly on my glutes and my hamstrings, which have been quite weak. That’s a work in progress, and I think I’m going to reap the benefits.

BB:

Some people out there are thinking, “This woman is just a freak of nature. She’s just an amazing talent.” But you had to start somewhere, too right?

CW:

Well, the very first race I did was the Eaton Super Sprint, which is actually a phenomenal race, especially for beginners. And

92

triathletemag.com

90-99_Wellington_201005.indd 92

it’s on closed roads, just outside London. I had a borrowed bike and was wearing my running shoes. My laces got caught around the crank, so my dismount into T2 was pretty spectacular.

I kind of fell over sideways.

So [my parents] were there, and excited about watching my first triathlon. I borrowed a wetsuit I hadn’t tried on before and jumped in. The wetsuit flooded, I froze. The gun goes off. I tried to lift my arms out of the water, and I couldn’t even lift them. There was just too much water inside the wetsuit, and I sank. So I’m waving for the safety kayaker to come over, and he dragged me to the side, and then my mom and dad never came to watch a triathlon again.

BB: CW:

That is funny. So, they come to watch you race, and basically you get rescued during the swim.

I get rescued, yeah. It wasn’t the most auspicious beginning.

And I came back for more. I did another sprint distance that year and one Olympic distance. And then I went to Nepal. I came back in 2006 and I was determined then to give triathlon a good shot.

PH:

People have made a lot about the decision to move from [your former coach] Brett Sutton to Simon [Lessing], and then to move from Simon to self-coach. What led to leaving Brett, and then what led to leaving Simon? And how has it been now doing all this on your own? may 2010

3/11/10 9:29 AM

INTRODUCING NEW & IMPROVED EFS DRINKS

GREAT NEW TASTE Presenting the all-new EFS drink formulations, completely redesigned for 2010. With the latest amino acid technology, superior mineral bioavailability and the addition of Malic Acid, the new EFS drinks provide EVERYTHING you need to maximize endurance and performance during exercise.

You’ll notice the difference right away too. The new formulas taste great, are incredibly fine, mix instantly and refuel working muscles faster than ever before. And with the highest electrolyte content available, there’s no need to carry those extra electrolyte pills or add anything else to the EFS drinks.

You can train and race with confidence knowing you don’t have to worry about cramping or dehydration. Times have changed.

Proud sponsor of:

firstendurance.com • 866-347-7811 NOTE: Orange Splash and Mild Grape EFS are mild and low in sweetness.

They can be mixed at double-strength in order to provide twice the calories and nutrients without being too sweet.

1stEndur_TriMag_0510.indd 1 TRI_1stEnd_EFS_HalfpgMay10.indd 1

3/8/10 PM 2/24/104:18 2:02 PM

Ceepo_TriMag_0510.indd 1

3/10/10 3:58 PM

Larry Rosa

CW:

It’s been a year of change for me, and that’s been really exciting. That’s what life’s all about. Leaving Brett and the team was very difficult. They gave me the opportunity. And we always knew that when we joined the team it was a team focused on development athletes. I, like number of the other athletes, was no longer a development athlete. We couldn’t fit into that structure.

So I parted ways with Brett, and we’re still on good speaking terms.

And I’ve shared e-mails with him before the race and since the race, and said thank you to him.

I chose to go with Simon, and it worked very well, but I realized very quickly that I am an “all or nothing” type of person. I just want to take full control. The program I’ve developed for myself is a combination of everything—the things that I think work for me.

But I don’t feel I haven’t got support; I feel like I’ve got a considerable amount of support from a small group of people whose advice I trust. And that’s the way it’ll continue, and I never want to imply that I’m doing it alone. Crowie [Craig Alexander], for example—he’s got advisors and people that help him and feed into his program, but ultimately, he makes his own decisions.

PH: CW:

Would you consider yourself a social trainer? Or are you kind of the lone wolf type—you like to do stuff on your own?

I like the group scenario in swim training. It’s very difficult to motivate yourself to get up six days a week and do 4 or 5 K looking at the black line. And I like to be with other people—especially those that are faster than me. When I’m not in the Masters sessions, I like to train with people like Julie Dibens and Mary Beth Ellis who can really push me and put me in my place. may 2010

90-99_Wellington_201005.indd 95

triathletemag.com

95

3/11/10 9:29 AM

M

IMG_TriMag_0510.indd 1

A

G

A

Z

I

N

E

3/9/10 9:52 AM

BB: CW:

So will your schedule be somewhat the same [in 2010]—spring, summer Ironman, Kona?

I haven’t committed to any races. I wanted to do Kona [2009], and then sit back and talk to some race directors and with my manager and look at an overall program. But it will be a spring Ironman, a summer and then Kona of course.

BB: CW:

And then something in the fall, maybe?

Yes, there might be something in the fall. And three, possibly four halfs. I really enjoy the half-Ironman distance.

[Editor’s note: According to her website, Wellington is planning on racing Ironman 70.3 Kansas in June.]

PH: CW:

Do you know [fellow Brit pro triathlete] Philip Graves?

From what I know, he’s got a great future ahead of him. He’s an incredible cyclist. He’s really confident in his ability—and so he should be, especially in his cycling. He did a 100-mile time trial in the UK. I think it was [3:30].

Yeah, honestly, it blew me away. He’s definitely got so much potential, and he’s 21. So he’s got years ahead of him, and I’m sure he would have learned a hell of a lot going out to Kona this year, and hopefully he’ll put some of it into practice in the coming years and come back even stronger and ready to fight for top-10 and eventually a podium.

BB: PH:

But I think you chicked him. Did you chick him?

Yeah, she did. He ended up 44th. I was just noticing you ended up 23rd overall. Does that mean anything? Do you even pay attention to that? Where you end up overall among the men?

CW:

I did say as an aside to one of the camera guys, “Where am I in the men’s race?” That was just a joke. But it’s not something I set out to do—to chick as many guys as I possibly can.

It gives you people to chase.

BB: CW: BB: PH:

Well, you were 40th off the bike andfinished 23rd, which means you chicked 17 guys during the run.

I apologized to some of them, though, when I went past.

“Sorry, Mitch.”

Oh, Mitch Anderson? “I know you were 10th one of those years, but sorry.” And then Mike Lovato.

And there are plenty of guys who you beat that are Ironman champions. Kind of cool. The other thing I’ve noticed is, and I don’t know if you paid attention to this, but when Paula went 8:55, a guy named Mark Allen went 8:10 that year. You went 8:54, and the men’s winner went 8:20. Not taking away from Crowie, but to me that indicates the quality of your race.

CW:

It shows the quality of the female field as well. [Kona] was a huge field, very deep, very, very strong. And it’s not just

may 2010

90-99_Wellington_201005.indd 97

triathletemag.com

97

3/11/10 9:29 AM

Compressprot_TriMag_0510.indd 1

3/12/10 2:39 PM

Larry Rosa

me who’s’s raising the bar. It’s also athletes like Tereza Macel;she rode incredibly. And Mirinda [Carfrae] with the run. But are were too many athletes to mention. Catriona Morrison—she will definitely be back.

PH: CW: PH:

So how old are you right now?

32.

OK, you’re 32, and my understanding is that in two year’s time, when you’ll be 34, there will be a gentleman showing up, and I think he’ll be 41 at that time. His name’s Lance Armstrong.

And he’s going to be—according to Chris Carmichael—shooting, maybe not to win, but for the top five. And then if not top five, top 10 is a definite. What do you think? You and Lance? Could you take him down?

CW: BB:

Could you imagine if I chicked him?

Oh! You’d get all the yellow jerseys. That would be pretty sweet.

Adapted from a Competitor Radio interview with Chrissie Wellington on Oct. 18, 2009. Visit Competitorradio.com. may 2010

90-99_Wellington_201005.indd 99

triathletemag.com

99

3/11/10 9:30 AM

Nils Nilsen

A SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MARINE GETS IN A FEW GOOD MILES FOR ONE GREAT CAUSE.

BY JIM GOURLEY

100

triathletemag.com

100-104_WildBill_201005.indd 100

may 2010

3/11/10 9:51 AM

may 2010

100-104_WildBill_201005.indd 101

triathletemag.com

101

3/11/10 9:51 AM

ajor William J. Conner of the U.S. Marine Corps has an impressive endurance athletics record. A 15-year veteran of triathlon, he’s competed in several half-iron and three irondistance races, including the 2008 Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. On top of that, he finished 23rd at last year’s Ultraman World Championship, also in Hawaii. At 6 foot, 4 inches and 200 pounds on race day, he claims the title of unofficial Clydesdale division champ.

However, Conner recognizes another set of accomplishments as the most valued in his life.

Most people would have trouble thinking of achievements more impressive than Ultraman, but most people aren’t Marines.

Conner is a 1995 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. Since 2004, he has deployed to Iraq every year except 2006, for a total of five combat tours.

He’ll soon be on his way for number six—this time to Afghanistan. Amazingly, from all those deployments, he’s never lost a Marine. Like any leader in the armed forces, he hopes mightily to maintain his streak.

And, like any leader, Conner understands that hope doesn’t win battles—Marines do. So when he learned of Karen Guenther’s quest to help injured Marines and their families recover from injuries and return to a normal life, he directed his athletic pursuits to help raise funds for Guenther’s Injured Marine Semper Fidelis Fund, Semperfifund.org, headquartered at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Conner learned of the charity when he met athletes involved with it at the 2008 Hawaii Ironman. He joined the group for its 430-mile bike Ride for Semper Fi from Scottsdale, Ariz., to San Diego. They finished in four days and raised more than $150,000. Conner then ran with the group during the 34th annual Marine Corps Marathon. Wanting to add as much money to the fundraising effort as possible, he set a personal “I’ll never take a DNF. I’m either crossing the finish line on goal of $17,750, using the year the Marine Corps my feet or leaving the race in an ambulance.” was established—1775—as a goal. To draw even more attention to the cause, Conner went the extra mile—he added 34 pounds. He offered to run the entire 26.2- the bike by one of his senior officers, the TV to watch the video by his mile distance wearing combat boots, the standard issue T-shirt and unit’s sergeant major and the will to win by his fallen classmates, Conner utility uniform pants—an outfit known as “boots and utes.” Because went on to a 13:25 finish at Kona—his best ever in the iron distance. it was the 34th anniversary of the race, he also donned a combat pack “I kept their photos posted on the wall across from my bed,” Confilled with 34 pounds of dog food and combat gear in recognition of ner says. “They were the first thing I saw every morning when I woke his fellow “Devil Dogs.” up, and the last thing I saw when I went to bed. It’s a pretty powerful Conner likes to run, but he loves his Marine Corps. reminder that there’s no quitting.”

That love is seen in everything he does, and it’s been a driving force Conner required every ounce of that power to finish the 2009 Ultrain his successes for 15 years. He dedicates his achievements to three man. Knowing the event isn’t as high profile, Conner set a fundraising Annapolis classmates who died in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan—Maj. goal of $1,750 for his effort. He faced significant challenges from the Doug Zembiec, Lt. Cmdr. Erik Kristensen and Maj. Megan McClung. beginning of the event, starting with the swim. As odd as it might sound Conner trained in Iraq for the Hawaii Ironman, the Marine Corps for a Marine, Conner tends to get sick from seawater.

Marathon and the Ultraman. Because he was allowed little downtime “The current started out nice and calm for about the first three while stationed in Fallujah, Conner spent six hours every Saturday miles of the swim,” he remembers, “but about halfway through I got pedaling a stationary bike in front of a video of the Kona course. Given a gulp and the next thing I knew I was feeding the fish my breakfast.

102

triathletemag.com

100-104_WildBill_201005.indd 102

may 2010

3/11/10 9:51 AM

All3Sports_TriMag_0510.indd 1

3/8/10 5:02 PM

CRASH& RECOVER

Avia Avi-MotionTM iBurn.

available at

sportiela.com 104

I’ve never been so happy to finish that swim support crew, his friends and fellow Marines and get out of the water.” Things only got kept him going. more difficult with an 8,000-foot ascent up to “I’m never going to quit an event,” he Volcanoes National Monument. Steep grades declares. “I’ll never take a DNF. I’m either and strong headwinds hindered his speed, crossing the finish line on my feet or leaving and he finished the first day only 10 minutes the race in an ambulance.” ahead of the cutoff.

With more deployments to come, Conner Still, Conner was able to get through the isn’t sure when or where he’ll turn up on ansecond day’s 171.4-mile bike with relatively other race course, but he has definitive goals. few problems. He credits his Ironman experi- “Biking across the country is on my bucket ences for helping him complete the event. “I list,” he says. He also intends to compete in really nailed down the nutrition this time,” the 50th anniversary Ultraman and the 150th he says. “I’ve cramped pretty bad in previous Boston Marathon. “I like numbers,” he says. races and found that I get low on magnesium, The numbers he likes best are the funds so I’ve made sure to introduce that into my raised for the Semper Fi Fund, and co-founder nutrition plan along with increasing my Karen Guenther couldn’t agree more. Thanks to overall electrolyte intake.” the efforts of Conner and others, the organizaOf course, end-of-day nutrition still tion raised $550,000 last year. That makes for a throws most healthy eating guidelines out the total of $36 million raised since the organization drive-through window. His Day 1 post-race was founded in 2004. That money has helped meal consisted of three chicken dinners at more than 17,000 injured Marines and their the local military campground in the Hawaii families. But, like Conner, Guenther refuses to Volcanoes National Park. The second day’s quit running so long as the race is on. dinner was a Big Mac and fries—as an ap“The upcoming surge [in Afghanistan] petizer. The main course a large pizza and means more Marines heading to combat. Sadly, a plate of spaghetti. that will mean more injuries. Donations this year The final day of the course presented will be of absolute importance as we continue to the 52.4-mile double marathon. “That’s a help returning wounded Marines.” So while one tough one for big guys,” battle to the finish line goes Conner says. “It’s all on on another hiatus for ConON THE WEB asphalt—you take a maner, the battles for freedom Those interested in donating or voljor pounding.” Still, the and to restore the service unteering their efforts to the Semper thought of his mission for members who fight it will Fi Fund can get more information the Semper Fi Fund, his go on. at its website, Semperfifund.org.

triathletemag.com

03_AVIA_1-3page.indd 1 100-104_WildBill_201005.indd 104

may 2010 3/4/10 11:02 AM 3/11/10 9:51 AM

STRENGTH STAMINA RECOVERY

42% more endurance† †The RobertUniverse 36-week Elite Strength Athlete Study

After 20 years of research and 2 studies measuring the effect of Udo’s Oil™ on athletic performance, we know the human body, like most machines, needs oil to run its best. Athletes around the world are experiencing greater strength, improved stamina, and faster recovery using Udo’s Oil.* Now it’s your turn.

oilthemachine.com 888-436-6697 | AVAILABLE IN THE COOLER AT NATURAL FOOD STORES. VISIT US AT WWW.OILTHEMACHINE.COM TO FIND A STORE NEAR YOU.

ORGANIC

SUSTAINABLE

VEGETARIAN

* This statement has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Flora_TriMag_0510.indd 1

3/9/10 10:10 AM

Photos by Larry Rosa

GERMAN PROFESSIONAL TRIATHLETES AND BROTHERS ANDREAS AND MICHAEL RAELERT PUSH EACH OTHER TO HEIGHTS THAT NEITHER COULD REACH ALONE.

BY MATT FITZGERALD

106

triathletemag.com

106-112_Raelert_201005.indd 106

may 2010

3/11/10 9:52 AM

hen I was a freshman and my elder brother, Josh, was a senior on our high school track team, I nearly beat him in a mile race.

“I’ll never forget the look in your eyes,” he told me afterward.

“Sheer terror.” I thought he would never forgive me for challenging him as I had.

Happily, I was wrong about that. When he was younger and less mature, Josh might have held a grudge for a while. But nearing his 18th birthday, he was proud of my gift for running and accepted that it was only a matter of time before I passed him by.

Competing in the same sport as a sibling of the same gender can be both challenging and especially rewarding. Whether it’s more challenging than rewarding--or vice versa--depends on the particulars of the relationship, according to John Murray, a sports psychologist in Palm Beach, Fla. “There can be a history of favoritism by the parents and a history of anger toward one another, or it can be extremely supportive and positive,” he says.

German brothers Michael and Andreas Raelert have been able to compete against each other as triathletes at the very highest level of the sport since 1993. “Our parents always told us it doesn’t matter who wins or who’s better,” Michael says. “Brotherhood is more important.

I would be happy for Andreas if he did really well in a race, even if we raced against each other and he beat me. And if I have a great race he is happy for me.”

Underscoring this point is the fact that Michael Raelert spoke these words from a hotel room in the Canary Islands that he shared with Andreas during a recent training camp. The two have been each other’s shadows for more than 15 years.

“It started when we were young kids,” says Andreas, 33, who is four years older than Michael. “I started with wrestling and swimming. At the same age, he also started swimming. We went to the same school and lived pretty much the whole time together. In ’93, when our parents moved from our hometown of Rostock to Hamburg, I was the only one who didn’t move. I was there by myself for two or three years. Then Michi [pronounced ‘Mikey’] came back and we moved into a single apartment and since then we have done pretty much everything together.”

Andreas Raelert, the elder, in the 2009 Ford Ironman World Championship.

may 2010

106-112_Raelert_201005.indd 107

John Murray believes that such a bond gives elite athlete siblings some unique advantages. “They get more opportunities to train and practice,” he says. “They get the knowledge and perspective of the other person. They get emotional support. They can create a kind of us-against-them mentality. Training can be enhanced.”

Andreas points to another benefit, subtler but perhaps more powerful. He explains that each brother believes he can duplicate whatever the other does, so both of them build confidence from training and racing together, no matter who is stronger on a given day. “If I am better in a training session,” says Andreas, “it makes me feel good, but it makes Michi feel good also because he feels that if I can do it, he can do it as well.”

The Raelerts’ 2009 season is a testament to the performance benefits of their relationship. After years of largely ignoring his older brother’s guidance, usually to the detriment of his performance, Michael agreed to allow Andreas to formally coach him in preparation for the 2009 Ironman 70.3 World Championship, held in November in Clearwater, Fla. Along the way, Michael strayed from specific training for his goal race to support Andreas in his training for the Hawaii Ironman World Championship in October. Thanks in part to that support, Andreas finished third in Kona. A month later, Michael claimed his first world title in Clearwater.

Until that moment, Michael was always “the other Raelert.” The lengthy first phase of their careers was focused on World Cup racing, where Andreas consistently outperformed his younger sibling. Andreas made the German Olympic team in 2000 and 2004, finishing 12th in Sydney and sixth in Athens. Michael never qualified for the Olympics.

His problem was not that he was less talented than Andreas. Rather, Michael explains, “I was kind of unorganized and didn’t have a lot of structure in my plan.”

It was not only a more organized training plan that Michael got from Andreas when he finally gave in and entrusted his career to him.

He also gained confidence. “He always believed in me more than I believed in myself,” Michael says. “I need good results to be comfortable.

But he always believed in my natural talents and saw that I could one day be one of the greatest.”

Michael Raelert breaks through at the 2009 Ironman 70.3 World Championship.

triathletemag.com

107

3/11/10 9:52 AM

Andreas, too, has had far more success in long-course racing than he ever had on the World Cup circuit. His breakthrough came in 2008, when he won Ironman 70.3 Monaco and Ironman Arizona and took the silver medal in Clearwater. The sudden rise of the Raelert brothers has set them up to face a new experience in their sporting fraternity: racing head-to-head as high-profile contenders in a major championship. Two events—Clearwater and Kona—stand far above all others in rank of importance on the long-distance triathlon race calendar. Andreas skipped Clearwater last year, while Michael chose to defer his Kona debut. But a sort of showdown between the two at one of these races is inevitable.

Murray notes that American tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams have tended to play poorly when facing each other in tournament matches, and especially in Grand Slam finals. “In a situation like that, you are more aware of who that person is, and that can lower performance,” he observes. Could the same thing happen to the Raelerts when they duel for a world championship?

The brothers are not exactly worried about it. Far from ignoring the elephant in the room, Andreas and Michael have chosen to deal with it head-on by actively hyping their coming showdown. They’ve talked of having Michael focus on dominating 70.3 racing for another year or two while Andreas does the same at the Ironman distance, thereby building excitement for a head-to-head matchup in Kona in 2011 or 2012.

Although perhaps counterintuitive, it seems a rather healthy way to handle the situation. And those who know the brothers best, including New Zealand pro Kris Gemmel, have no doubt that each will benefit 108

triathletemag.com

106-112_Raelert_201005.indd 108

“He feels that if I can do it, he can too,” says Andreas of his younger brother.

Photos by Larry Rosa

Michael is no longer “the other Raelert.”

from the other’s presence in the Hawaii Ironman. Kemmel was on the course in Kona last year, when Andreas placed third behind Craig “Crowie” Alexander and Chris Lieto. With just a few miles remaining in the marathon, Lieto held the lead, but cramps had reduced his pace to a painful shuffle and a hard-charging Alexander caught him on the Queen Kaahumanu Highway at Mile 21. But just then, Lieto’s brother Matt passed in the opposite direction.

“They stopped and chatted, and from one moment to the next Chris was a new man,” Gemmel says. “He went from struggling to running stride for stride with Crowie for a mile or two. The effect of this was not lost on me—how a bond that strong can be the difference between pass and fail in one’s eyes. If this was the result of some kind words from one sibling to another, imagine what that could do when Andreas and Michi are hitting it up along the Queen K together. I think we will see the marathon taken to a new level.”

Asked what their ideal scenario in Kona would be—one winning and the other finishing a close second?—the brothers become evasive.

Andreas stresses that merely being together in the Hawaii Ironman would fulfill a vision that he and Michael have shared for more than 15 years. “To start in Kona together one day is one of our dreams,” he says. “To have a perfect day is another question. It doesn’t matter if you win or if you get some other result. At the end of the day, if you know you did everything you could, you have to be satisfied. You have to accept that some people are better than you.”

Or maybe just one person—your brother. may 2010

3/11/10 9:52 AM

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

E-114

weight

rigidity

comfort

At first glance, an Argon 18 bicycle is a striking sight for its unique, distinctive look. But an Argon 18 is more than just another pretty bike; it’s also an exceptional example of current technologies, well-conceived and appropriately applied.

These technological solutions are the end product of lengthy and involved thinking about the dynamic properties most desirable in a bike. We have names for our exclusive design concepts and manufacturing methods: AFS, HDS, S3, the 3D Headtube and ONEness Concept. Learning more about our technological innovations will give you a better understanding of why an Argon 18 offers a truly unique riding experience. Every Argon 18 model exhibits road manners found in no other bike and this, put simply, is the result of our ongoing quest for that elusive optimal balance.

Sinclair Imports, Inc.

Tel.: (800) 654-8052 email: info@sinclairimports.com • www.sinclairimports.com

Triathlete fp.indt 1

ARGON 18 Tel.: (514) 271-2992 www.argon18bike.com

10/7/09 12:39 PM

ADVERTISEMENT

MY GAME-CHANGING SECRET. MISSION Skincare® has teamed up with scientists, dermatologists and world-class athletes such as Sarah Haskins to establish a complete line of high-performance, Athlete-Engineered® skincare products.

“MISSION Anti-Friction Cream allows me to focus on what really matters— my race—and to ride and run without painful blisters and chafing .”

A

s a triathlete, I find that chafing and blisters were constant problems that formerly plagued me in my training and racing. When I discovered MISSION Anti-Friction Cream, I was finally able to win the blister-battle! MISSION Anti-Friction Cream allows me to focus on what really matters—my race—and to ride and run without painful blisters and chafing that used to prohibit me from performing at full capacity.

This product is truly designed for the needs of a triathlete. I apply MISSION Anti-Friction Cream before the swim and not only does it prevent chafing from my wetsuit, but it also lasts throughout my race, keeping me pain free. Thanks to MISSION Skincare, I don’t lose a second, and I’m one step closer to achieving my dreams!

SARAH HASKINS Professional Triathlete & MISSION Co-founder

OFFICIAL SKINCARE OF ATHLETES

TM

MISSION CO-FOUNDERS INCLUDE: AMANDA BEARD, STEVE NASH, SERENA WILLIAMS, HUNTER KEMPER, MIA HAMM

Say hello to MISSION, the first and only Athlete-Engineered® skincare line. Built to protect, strengthen and hydrate your skin, MISSION has you covered from head to toe - before, during and after the heat of competition. Our team of dermatologists, scientists and top athletes strenuously test our products in the harshest conditions, which means MISSION protects your skin when the elements and odds are against it. For more information about MISSION Skincare® products, athletes, retailers and charitable efforts, visit MISSIONskincare.com.

Mission_AdvFINAL.indd 12 MissionSkin1_TriMag_0510.indd 1

3/11/10 3/11/10 10:26 9:08 AM

“THE BEST ANTI-FRICTION PRODUCT I’VE EVER USED.” SARAH HASKINS

PROFESSIONAL TRIATHLETE MISSION CO-FOUNDER

AWARD-WINNING* SILICONE-BASED CREAM LASTS LONGER THAN THE COMPETITION SWEAT-RESISTANT FORMULA WORKS IN DRY, HOT, COLD AND WET CONDITIONS

ALSO ELIMINATES CHAFING CAUSED BY WETSUITS! AVAILABLE AT SELECT RETAIL PARTNERS

*WINNER OF SHAPE MAGAZINE 2009 INNOVATION AWARDS

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND OTHER GREAT SKINCARE PRODUCTS, VISIT US AT www.MISSIONskincare.com

MissionSkin2_TriMag_0510.indd 1

3/11/10 10:51 AM

Triathlete siblings Hector Llanos, left, and Eneko Llanos, above.

TIM AND TONY DEBOOM

PATRICIA AND SYLVIANE PUNTOUS

Tim and Tony DeBoom are the most accomplished American male siblings in triathlon history. Younger brother Tim was the faster of the two. With his victories in the 2001 and 2002 Hawaii Ironman World Championships, he overshadowed his big brother, but Tony was no slouch. He won St. Anthony’s Triathlon, finished second at Ironman Florida and was also the runner-up at Ironman California (behind Tim) in 2001.

The DeBoom brothers grew up as swimmers in Iowa City, Iowa.

After graduating from high school, Tony joined the Army. Tim got started in triathlons first; Tony followed his brother into the sport after he left the service. They both eventually moved to Boulder and turned pro, training together throughout their careers.

In an interview for Inside Out Sports, Tony said, “Tim and I push each other and try to one-up each other, but we are each other’s biggest fans.” Tony has retired from racing and moved on to sports management and coaching. Tim is still competing.

The Raelert brothers have a long way to go before they surpass the Puntous twins as the most successful siblings in Ironman racing. The effervescent redheaded pair came roaring out of Quebec in the early 1980s to dominate Kona. Sylviane won the Hawaii Ironman in 1983 and 1984, with Patricia crossing the line minutes behind her as the runner-up both times.

It was Patricia who broke the tape ahead of second-place Sylviane in 1986, only to be disqualified for drafting on the bike. But the race officials were confused by the sisters’ indistinguishableness—camera footage later confirmed that it was Sylviane who had drafted.

Sylviane came back in ’87 to finish second to Erin Baker and was the bridesmaid again behind Paula Newby-Fraser in 1989. Burned out by years of heavy training, the twins retired from competition in 1992 but later made an age-group comeback. They still race together in running events.

ENEKO AND HECTOR LLANOS Basque brothers Hector and Eneko Llanos have had successful careers in both ITU and Ironman racing. Older brother Hector achieved a career high-water mark with a third-place finish in the 2000 Cancun ITU World Cup. Eneko represented Spain in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Triathlon, finishing 23rd, and again in the 2004 Athens Olympic Triathlon, finishing 20th. He also won the 2003 ITU Long-Distance Triathlon World Championship and has collected three Xterra World Championship titles (2003, 2004 and 2009). In addition, he has recorded three top-10 finishes at the Hawaii Ironman World Championship, including a runner-up performance in 2008.

112

triathletemag.com

106-112_Raelert_201005.indd 112

Left: Nils Nilsen, Right: XTERRA PHOTOS

THE RAELERTS ARE NOT THE ONLY SIBLINGS WHO HAVE RISEN TO THE TOP OF THE SPORT OF TRIATHLON. HERE ARE SOME OTHER NOTEWORTHY PAIRS.

LAUREL AND REBECCAH WASSNER Laurel and Rebeccah Wassner are unique in more than one way.

They are the only twins currently competing as professional triathletes.

They are the only professional triathletes who live in New York City.

And Laurel is the only American professional triathlete who is a cancer survivor. She won a long battle with Hodgkin’s lymphoma that began when she was 23.

The Wassner sisters grew up in Maryland as swimmers and runners. After college, Rebeccah focused on running for several years, but eventually burned out and shifted over to triathlon, turning pro in 2004, at age 29. Despite—or perhaps because of—her late start, she continues to improve, winning 12 races in 2009. Laurel followed her sister into the pro ranks in 2008, after beating her cancer. As Rebeccah had been before her, Laurel was named USAT’s Rookie of the Year. may 2010

3/15/10 11:30 AM

Official Wetsuit Sponsor

Sailfish_TriMag_0510.indd 1

3/9/10 10:50 AM

Delly Carr

T R A INING

114

triathletemag.com

116-117_TrainingTOC_201005.indd 114

may 2010

3/11/10 3:45 PM

RACING WEIGHT 116 | 12-WEEK TRAINING PLAN 122 | SWIM 128 | BIKE 130 | RUN 134 | FUNDAMENTALS 138 | SPORTS SCIENCE UPDATE 140 | DEAR COACH 142 | TRIATHLON HERESIES 145 |

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.”

Marianne Williamson may 2010

116-117_TrainingTOC_201005.indd 115

triathletemag.com

115

3/11/10 3:45 PM

Robert Murphy

T R A INING

How Much Should You Weigh?

By Matt Fitzgerald

M

ost adults have some sense of how much they should weigh. If you picked a woman on the street at random and asked her to name her ideal body weight, she would most likely give you an exact number without hesitation.

Where do such numbers come from? They don’t come from the body-weight tables and formulas created by health experts. These tables and formulas, which include height-weight charts used by life insurance companies and body-mass index guidelines used widely by doctors, are far too general to help individual men and women determine an ideal body weight. Their main purpose is to quantify the relationships between body size and health so that life insurance companies can better judge the risk of insuring their customers and so that doctors have a statistical basis for advising their overweight patients to slim down.

Consider the specific example of body mass 116

triathletemag.com

116-120_RacingWeight_201005.indd 116

index (BMI), which is your weight in kilograms (1 kg = 2.2 lbs) divided by the square of your height in meters (1 m = 3.28 ft). All of the possible BMI values are lumped into just four classifications, which are based on health risks:

BMI Classification Below 18.5: Underweight 18.5–24.9: Normal 25–29.9: Overweight Above 30: Obese These broad classifications are not very helpful in determining ideal body weight for most individual men and women—where “ideal weight” could reflect optimal health or the weight at which you look your very best. For example, a person who stands 5 feet, 5 inches tall is considered to be of “normal weight” whether he or she weighs 150 pounds (at 24.96 BMI) or 114 pounds (at 19.0 BMI).

Presumably, at that height, your healthiest and sexiest body weight is somewhere in that 37-pound range—but where exactly?

Medical science can’t say. First of all, there is no single body weight that is optimal for every person of any given height. Nor does medicine have metrics that would enable doctors to pinpoint any single person’s optimal body weight. The medical definition of optimal body weight, if it existed, would certainly be the weight at which a person’s body functions best. But how do we define “functioning best”?

Theoretically, tests of heart disease risk factors, insulin sensitivity, kidney function, aerobic capacity, sleep quality and so forth could be used to triangulate this number with some degree of precision, but now we’re in the realm of experimentation. In other words, this method could not work prescriptively. It could not identify your optimal body weight until you had already achieved it.

So, then, if we cannot determine ideal body weight using BMI charts and height-weight tables, how does the average person determine his or her ideal body weight? One guideline may 2010

3/11/10 9:54 AM

T R A INING is past experience. Many people who are not satisfied with their current weight look back to a time when they were more satisfied, and yearn to return to that ideal weight.

The mirror is another important factor.

Most people have a sense of how they would like to look and, by looking in the mirror and mentally subtracting the excess body fat they see, can estimate how much weight they would have to lose to look that way. You are probably getting closer to identifying that number already.

No one knows your own body better than you do, so there’s no reason to doubt the general validity of such methods of determining an ideal body weight. However, they are not perfect. In our society, all too many people, women especially, develop an unhealthy youcan’t-be-too-thin mentality that causes them to chase an unrealistically low body weight.

On the other hand, there is also evidence that as the population becomes heavier and heavier, our perceived ideal body weight is also inflating. In other words, while there are more people today who wish they were lighter than they are, as a population we no longer dream of being as light as we used to dream of being.

If the average person 20 years ago weighed 160 pounds and wanted to weigh 150 pounds (this is a gross oversimplification for the sake of illustration), then the average person today weighs 175 pounds and wants to weigh 160 pounds. Whereas in the past people wanted to attain what was perhaps a closer-to-true ideal weight, today most people simply want to be not quite so heavy while still believing they want to attain their ideal weight.

The only way to definitively determine your racing weight is functionally—that is, by getting in the best shape of your life and weighing yourself at the moment of peak fitness. You might find it helpful to estimate your optimal performance weight before you discover it experientially.

Many athletes train hard and eat right (or so they think) and yet still have a visible excess of flab on their tummies, hips and/or thighs even when they are in race shape. If you find yourself at such an impasse, you might find it helpful to estimate how much more fat you can reasonably expect to lose with further refinements to your training and diet. This estimate might not be completely precise, but it can give you a goal and a target that will encourage you to modify your training and

diet in new ways to make you leaner, lighter and faster.

For that matter, generating an estimated optimal performance weight can be helpful to any triathlete who has not yet gone through the process of determining it functionally. After all, it takes many weeks to work your way into peak shape. Numbers are powerful motivators.

In all domains of human endeavor, we typically achieve more when we quantify our goals than we do when we just go by feel. For this reason, triathletes should be encouraged to estimate their optimal performance weight even before they have a chance to determine it functionally, despite the fact that there is no absolutely reliable way to create such an estimate.

What my optimal performance weight estimation method lacks in accuracy makes

John Segesta/johnsegesta.com

Racing Weight Ideal body weight is easier to define for triathletes than it is for the general population.

Your optimal weight as a triathlete is the weight at which you perform best. Yet a triathlete’s optimal racing weight is no easier to predict than a non-athlete’s healthiest weight.

While we know that in most cases racing weight falls at the lower end of the individual’s healthy weight range, there is no formula that can tell you, as a triathlete, what your optimal performance weight is. And while we do have information about the weight and body composition of elite athletes in the various endurance sports, this information cannot serve as a tool to help other endurance athletes in the same sport determine their own optimal performance weight.

After all, weight and body composition are determined largely by our individual genes, and few of us have genes that favor leanness to the degree that those of elite athletes do. may 2010

116-120_RacingWeight_201005.indd 117

triathletemag.com

117

3/11/10 9:54 AM

up for in practical benefit. It makes you more conscious of the effects of body weight and composition on your performance, more aware of the training methods and dietary habits that affect your weight and fat levels, and more focused on and motivated to achieve your optimal performance weight. Once you have achieved it, you can do away with estimates and use the numbers you arrived at functionally

118

triathletemag.com

116-120_RacingWeight_201005.indd 118

to give you the same benefits in the future.

Generating an estimate of optimal performance weight really amounts to setting an initial performance weight goal. This method is designed to generate realistic goals, but you’re just as likely to exceed the target as to fall short of it. Either way you will end up with a lean body that is fit for maximal performance.

Your optimal racing weight is a function

of the lowest body fat percentage you can achieve through proper training and diet.

Your muscle weight should not change much as you build toward peak fitness. Instead, your weight should change primarily through the shedding of excess body fat. The best way to estimate your ideal body weight, then, is to calculate what your weight would be if you got your body fat down to the lowest level you can realistically expect to reach while maintaining your current muscle weight.

The following tables will help you with this process. These tables are based on data collected from thousands of body-fat tests performed on men and women of all ages. These data have been used to create percentile rankings for men and women in various age brackets, and they can show how you compare against a broad population that is skewed toward the athletic.

The numbers in these tables are significantly lower than those in the general population because the data come from a self-selected group, and those who volunteer for body-fat testing tend to be much leaner than those who do not. But, of course, this very fact makes the numbers more relevant to athletes like you.

The complete tables, covering the full population from the first to the 99th percen-

John Segesta/johnsegesta.com

T R A INING

may 2010

3/11/10 9:55 AM

triathlete mag 4.10.pdf

1

2/2/10

4:07 PM

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

ProfileDesign_TriMag_0410.indd 1

2/9/10 10:33 AM

T R A INING tile, can be found in “Racing Weight.” The abridged tables you see here cover only the leanest 20 percent of the population, from the 80th to the 99th percentile. These abridged tables are adequate for use in estimating your racing weight, however, because all triathletes, regardless of current weight and individual genes, are capable of reaching at least the 80th percentile for leanness.

To generate an estimate of your optimal

Body fat percentile ranking Men Percentile 99 95 90 85 80 woMen Percentile 99 95 90 85 80

Age 20-29 2.4% 5.2% 7.1% 8.3% 9.4%

30-39 5.2% 9.1% 11.3% 12.7% 13.9%

40-49 6.6% 11.4% 13.6% 15.1% 16.3%

Age 20-29 5.4% 10.8% 14.5% 16.0% 17.1%

30-39 7.3% 13.4% 15.5% 16.9% 18.0%

40-49 11.6% 16.1% 18.5% 20.3% 21.3%

performance weight you will need to get an initial body-fat measurement. The easiest and most affordable way to measure your body-fat percentage (but not the most accurate) is to step on a body-fat scale, but there are other methods, which you can find in the book.

If your current body fat percentage is above the body fat percentage associated with your gender and age category as shown in the tables, then your initial goal should be to reach that body fat percentage. If you are currently closest to the 80th percentile, aim for the 85th percentile. If 50-59 60+ you’re currently closest to 8.8% 7.7% the 85th percentile, shoot 12.9% 13.1% for the 90th, and so forth.

15.3% 16.3% Just bear in mind that these 16.9% 17.2% targets only apply if you are currently not in peak shape 17.9% 18.4% and/or your diet quality leaves a fair amount of room 50-59 60+ for improvement. If you are 11.6% 15.4% already in peak shape and 18.8% 16.8% eating a high-quality diet, 21.6% 21.1% then you are already at your 23.6% 23.5% racing weight, by definition.

25.0% 25.1% The final step in deter-

mining your racing weight is to calculate how much fat weight you will have to lose to get down to your goal body fat percentage. Let’s look at how to do this with an example.

Let’s say you are a 38-year-old female who currently weighs 140 pounds and has 22 percent body fat. Your initial goal is to get down to 18 percent body fat (80th percentile for your gender and age group) through improved training and diet.

Step 1: Calculate your body fat mass. Body fat mass = current weight x current body fat percentage. In this example: 140 lbs x 0.22 = 30.8 lbs.

Step 2: Calculate your lean body mass.

Lean body mass = current weight – fat mass.

In this example: 140 lbs – 30.8 lbs = 109.2 lbs.

Step 3: Calculate your goal weight. Goal weight = current lean body mass ÷ goal lean body mass percentage. (Note: your goal lean body mass percentage is 1.0 – your goal body fat percentage expressed in decimal form.) In this example: 109.2 lbs ÷ 0.82 = 133 lbs.

There you have it. Now you try!

This article is adapted from “Racing Weight: How to Get Lean for Peak Performance.”. For more information visit Velopress.com.

Join us at the Red Sea for the

TRIATHLON IRON DISTANCE RACES The toughest iron race in the world

EILAT | 21.1.11 EILAT 2010

V EIL AT "ISRAMAN NEGE best one of the top 10thlons iron distance tria " in the world 2010 Triathlete magazine

www.israman.co.il contact us: +972-507-239553 israman.negev@gmail.com 120

triathletemag.com

116-120_RacingWeight_201005.indd 120

may 2010

3/11/10 9:56 AM

Visualize the motion of air...

2010 Jamis T-Series Flow Visualization Testing San Diego Low Speed Wind Tunnel , November 2008 Photo: John Segesta - wahoomedia.com

...and then dominate it.

Xenith T1

Xenith T

Xenith T2

It’s not too much to say our Xenith T-Series frame rewrote the standard for production tri machines. The first time we hung this baby up in T1, the other guys went scrambling. Full NACA aero profiles throughout, a chainstay-mounted rear brake and that full-carbon WindShield® fork with its fully enclosed front brake that delivers a 10% drag reduction over a standard aero fork, told them we meant business. They’re still struggling to catch up.

For 2010, we employed flow-visualization testing at the San Diego Low Speed Wind Tunnel to refine our Xenith T-Series frames. Utilizing a technique dubbed “french chalk”, which is typically used in the

Jamis_TriMag_0410.indd 1

aerospace industry, our product development team was able to tune and optimize airflow not only over and near the surface of the frame (like most typical wind tunnel flow visualization techniques), but ON the surface of the frame as well, totally driving development of the new 2010 Xenith-T series design.

It’s not hard to visualize. Every Jamis T-series bike is built for one thing only: Getting you to T2 faster, and with fresher legs, than the competition. Now dominate! www.jamisbikes.com

2/9/10 10:19 AM

Train for an Olympic-Distance Race in 12 Weeks

By Duane Franks

T

here are two types of triathletes: those who follow a structured plan and those who plan to follow a plan. First-time triathletes often take a random approach, juggling workouts with a busy schedule that is already packed with family and work commitments.

This haphazard methodology can work fine

to get you through your first few races, but you might eventually find yourself stuck on a performance plateau.

Some attempt to break free from this rut by logging more training hours or by spending more time at higher intensities. These measures frequently result in illness, injury or burnout,

leaving them far short of their goals.

The best way to reach optimal fitness is to limit the number of setbacks in your training.

A well-structured, periodized training program will systematically and progressively improve your race-specific fitness while also reducing the chance of setbacks. If all goes as planned, you will reach your highest fitness peak just in time for your big event. Experience tells us that the more closely you adhere to a plan, the greater the possibility that you will achieve your performance goals.

This 12-week plan is designed for the busy athlete who is new to the sport. The training volume is low to moderate by most standards, with a weekly average of six to nine hours.

It might not get you to the podium or the Olympic trials, but this formula has produced outstanding results with triathletes training for Olympic-distance events.

Delly Carr/triathlon.org

T R A INING

Duane Franks is a triathlon pioneer who has competed and coached for 30 years. A USAT-certified triathlon level 2 coach and a certified fitness director by the American College of Sports Medicine, Franks has coached hundreds of individuals and groups of all levels. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and is the founder of Trifiniti Endurance Performance Coaching.

Visit Trifiniti.com or contact him at Duane@trifiniti.com.

Intensity & Heart Rate Zones Description

Approx. maximum duration it could be maintained

Approx % of maximum Heart Rate

Rating of perceived exertion (RPE scale 1-10)

1

Active recovery

All-day low-intensity activity

50-60%

Easy

2

Aerobic endurance

All-day moderate intensity activity

61-70%

Easy to moderate

4-5

3

Extended endurance/long race pace

Races lasting 3-5 hours (marathons, century bike races)

71-80%

Moderate

5-6

4

Low- to mid-threshold

Races lasting 2 hours

81-85%

Moderate to hard

7-8

5

Mid- to upper-threshold

Races lasting 1 hour

86-90%

Hard

8-8.5

6

Supra threshold

Races or intervals lasting 3-10 minutes

91-95%

Very hard

8.5-9

7

Max VO2 / anaerobic endurance

Intervals lasting less than a few minutes

95-100%

Near maximum to max

Zone

<4.0

>9

Week 1 Aerobic Endurance Base & Skills â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Approx. Hours: 6.5 Monday

Swim: 100 easy warm-up. 6 x 50 (25 drill; 25 swim) Recovery Interval=5 seconds. 4 x 50 kick with board; fins optional. 3 x 50 kick on side with fins, alternating sides every 5 strokes. 200 easy cool-down. Total= 850 yards. Note: Drills = left arm only, right arm, catch-up. Repeat.

Tuesday

Run: 30 min easy to moderate zone 1-2 run on mostly flat terrain. | 15-20 minutes of stretching and core exercises. | Strength train or yoga option.

Wednesday

Swim: 200 easy warm-up. 4 x 75 (25 swim; 25 drill; 25 swim). 2 x 50 easy kick with board; fins optional. 2 x 200 moderate pace; RI=15 seconds. 100 cool-down. Total = 1,100 yards. Note: drills = catch-up, zipper, fist, sculling. Bike: 45-60 min easy zone 1-2 ride on spin, stationary or road bike. Focus on comfortably high cadence (approx. 95-105 rpm) while pedaling in smooth circles. Stretch well after.

Thursday

Run: 25-35 min easy to moderate zone 1-2 run on mostly flat terrain. Count cadence (step cycles per minute) for reference. | 15-20 minutes of stretching and core exercises. | Strength train or yoga option.

Friday

Swim: Time Trial (TT) to establish benchmark and 100-yard base pace. 100 easy warm-up. Swim 1,000 yards continuously. Note 500-yard split. Record time and divide by 10. This is your 100-yard base pace. 100 cool-down. Total = 1,200 yards.

Saturday

Bike: 80-minute easy to moderate zone 1-2 effort on mostly flat to rolling terrain. Use gears to keep a steady 85-95 cadence.

Sunday

Run: 50 minutes easy to moderate zone 1-2 effort on flat to rolling terrain. If possible on dirt or other soft surface.

122

triathletemag.com

122-126_12WeekTraining_201005.indd 122

may 2010

3/12/10 2:19 PM

T R A INING Week 2 Aerobic Endurance Base & Skills Approx. Hours: 6 Monday

Complete Rest Day: Light stretching only.

Tuesday

Run: 30 min easy to moderate zone 1-2 run on mostly flat terrain. Include 4 x 100-meter strides at cadence slightly higher than base (from last weekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cadence count). Stretch well after. | 15-20 minutes of stretching and core exercises. | Strength train or yoga option.

Wednesday

Swim: 300 easy warm-up. 6 x 50 (25 drill of choice; 25 swim). 2 x 50 easy to moderate kick with board; fins optional. 4 x 100 at base pace (from TT); RI = 10 seconds. Focus on long and strong pulls with good follow-thru at end of stroke. 100 easy cool-down with 50 yards of backstroke. Total = 1,200 yards. | Bike: 50-60 minutes easy to moderate zone 1-2 effort. Include 10 minutes of comfortably high cadence.

Thursday

Run: 35-45 min moderate zone 2-3 effort on hilly terrain. | 15-20 minutes of stretching and core exercises. | Strength train or yoga option.

Friday

Swim: 100 easy warm-up. Swim the following ladder starting each interval easy then building to base pace in the final 50. RI= 10-15 seconds. 100, 200, 300, 500. 100 easy cool-down with 50 yards of breast stroke. Total = 1,300 yards.

Saturday

Bike/Run Brick: Bike 60 minutes easy to moderate zone 1-2 effort followed by a quick transition and 20-minute run at easy to moderate zone 1-2 effort.

Sunday

Run: Run 45 minutes easy to moderate zone 1-2 effort on flat to rolling terrain.

Week 3 Build 1 Approx. Hours: 8 Monday

Swim: 200 easy warm-up. 4 x 75 (25 swim; 25 drill of choice; 25 alternate or IM stroke of choice); RI = 5-10 seconds. 3 x 200 on base pace; RI = 15 seconds. 200 easy cool-down. Total = 1,300 yards. | Bike: 45 minutes easy spin zone 1-2 at comfortably high cadence (95+ rpm).

Tuesday

Run: Warm-up 15 minutes building from easy zone 1 to zone 2 for final 5 minutes. Jog 5 minutes easy then increase pace to threshold zone 3-4 effort for 20 minutes. 5 minutes easy jog cool-down. | 15-20 minutes of stretching and core exercises. | Strength train or yoga option.

Wednesday

Swim: 300 easy warm-up. 100 kick with board. 6 x 100 at base pace: RI= 10 second. 100 IM or mix in alternate stroke (breast, back) on every other 25. 200 easy cool-down. Total = 1,300 yards. | Bike: 50-60 minutes easy to moderate zone 1-2 effort. If on trainer, spin bike or stationary bike then include 5 minutes of one-legged spin drills alternating every 15-20 seconds.

Thursday

Run: 45-50 min easy to moderate zone 1-2 effort on flat to rolling terrain. | 15-20 minutes of stretching and core exercises. | Strength train or yoga option.

Friday

Swim: 1,400 reverse ladder: 500, 400, 300, 200. Allow 5-10 seconds rest between intervals. Swim each interval faster than the preceding. Final 100 in last interval is easy cool-down. | Bike: 30 minutes easy zone 1 spin on trainer, spin, stationary, or road bike on mostly flat course. Maintain comfortably high cadence.

Saturday

Bike: 1:45-2:00 moderate zone 2-3 effort on terrain similar to race course.

Sunday

Run: 50 minutes easy to moderate zone 1-2 effort on rolling to hilly terrain. OK to increase to zone 3-4 on hills.

Week 4 Recovery 1 Approx. Hours: 4.5 Monday

Complete Rest Day.

Tuesday

Run: 30 minutes easy zone 1 effort. Focus on good running form and turnover. | 15-20 minutes of stretching and core exercises. | Strength train or yoga option.

Wednesday

Swim: 100 easy warm-up. 8 x 75 (25 swim, 25 choice of drill, 25 back or breast); RI = 5 seconds. 4 x 50 kicking with fins and board. 2 x 100 pull buoys focusing on long glides; RI = 10 seconds. 200 easy cool-down. Total = 1,300 yards

Thursday

Bike: 30-40 minutes easy zone 1 recovery spin on mostly flat terrain. Comfortably high cadence.

Friday

Swim: 1,000 ladder: 100, 200, 300, 400. Increase rest interval from 10 to 30 seconds as the swim intervals increase in length. Final 100 of the last interval is an easy cool-down.

Saturday

Swim/Bike Brick: Swim 1,000 yards in a continuous relaxed effort. Bike: 60 minutes easy zone 1 effort ride on mostly flat to gently rolling terrain.

Higher than normal cadence.

Sunday

Run: 45 minutes easy zone 1-2 effort on mostly flat to rolling terrain. ,

Week 5 Build 2 (Race Specific) Approx. Hours: 8 Monday

Swim: 300 easy warm-up. 8 x 50 (25 drill of choice, 25 swim breathing on opposite side than normal). 3 x 50 easy kicking with board, fins. 3 x 150 on base pace; RI = 15 seconds. 100 cool-down. Total = 1,400 yards.

Tuesday

Run: Warm-up 10 minutes building from easy zone 1 to zone 2 for final 5 minutes. Jog 5 minutes easy then increase pace to threshold zone 4-5 effort for 25 minutes. 5 minutes easy jog cool-down. | 15-20 minutes of stretching and core exercises. | Strength train or yoga option.

Wednesday

Swim: 200 easy warm-up. 100 easy kick with board/fins. 4 x 75 (25 swim, 25 choice of drill, 25 IM or alternate stroke); RI = 5 seconds. 6 x 50 with paddles (small size) and buoy; RI = 10 seconds. 3 x 200 on base pace; RI = 15 seconds. 100 cool-down. Total = 1,600 yards. | Bike: 50-60 minutes with 15-20 minutes at higher than normal cadence approx. 10 rpm higher than base.

Thursday

Run: 45-50 minute easy to moderate zone 1-2 effort on flat to rolling terrain. Include 4 x 100 meter strides at slightly higher than normal cadence. | 15-20 minutes of stretching and core exercises. | Strength train or yoga option.

Friday

Swim: 1,600 pyramid: 100, 200, 300, 400, 300, 200, 100. Goal is to swim the intervals on the backside faster than the front. Allow only 5-10 seconds rest between intervals. Final 100 is easy cool-down. Total = 1,600 yards. OR swim approx. 1 mile in open water in wetsuit (if you plan to race in a wetsuit).

Steady, comfortable effort.

Saturday

Bike/Run Brick: Bike 90 minutes at moderate zone 1-2 effort for the first 45 minutes, then build to close to race effort (zone 3-4) for the next 30 minutes.

Quick transition to run. Run 30 minutes at moderate zone 2 effort.

Sunday

Run: 65 minutes. Begin easy zone 1 then build to moderate zone 2-3 effort during final 30 minutes.

may 2010

122-126_12WeekTraining_201005.indd 123

triathletemag.com

123

3/12/10 2:19 PM

T R A INING Week 6 Build 3 (Race Specific) Approx. Hours: 8.5 Monday

Complete Rest Day

Tuesday

Run: Warm-up 10 minutes building from easy zone 1 to zone 2 for final 5 minutes. Jog 5 minutes easy then increase pace to threshold zone 4-5 effort for 30 minutes. 5 minutes easy jog cool-down. | 15-20 minutes of stretching and core exercises. | Strength train or yoga option.

Wednesday

Swim: 400 easy warm-up. 8 x 50 (25 choice of drill, 25 swim); RI= 5 seconds. 2 x 100 easy pull with paddles and buoy. 5 x 100 at base pace; RI = 10-12 seconds. 4 x 50 kick moderate with board/fins. 100 cool-down. Total = 1,800 yards. | Bike: 45 minutes on trainer, spin, stationary or road bike on rolling to hilly terrain. Build intensity as you reach the top of each hill. Select higher gears with lower cadence for 25 minutes if on trainer or if no hills are available. Maintain zone 2 effort on flats and zone 3-4 on hills.

Thursday

Run: 45-50 minutes easy to moderate zone 1-2 effort on mostly flat to gently rolling terrain. Include 5 x 100 meter strides at slightly higher than normal cadence. | 15-20 minutes of stretching and core exercises. | Strength train or yoga option.

Friday

Swim: Time Trial #2 to check swim progress and establish new 100-yard base pace. 200 easy warm-up. Swim 1,000 yards continuously. Note 500-yard split. Record time and divide by 10. This is your 100-yard base pace. 300 easy cool-down. Total = 1,500 yards. | Bike: 30-45 minutes easy zone 1-2 effort. Include 3 x 4 minutes of high-cadence spinning (approx. 100-105 rpm).

Saturday

Bike/Run Brick: Bike 25 miles on actual race course or similar terrain at moderate zone 2 effort for the first 15 miles. Then build to near race effort (zone 3-4) for the next 10 miles. Run 4 miles on mostly flat to rolling terrain at moderate zone 2 effort.

Sunday

Run: 6-7 miles on race course or similar terrain. Start relaxed zone 1 effort then build to moderate zone 2-3 effort during final 30 minutes. | Swim: 1,700 pyramid: 50, 100, 200, 300, 400, 300, 200, 100, 50. Goal is to swim the intervals on the backside faster than the front. Allow only 5-10 seconds rest between intervals. Final 150 easy cool-down. Total = 1,700 yards.

Week 7 Build 4 (Over distance) Approx. Hours: 9 Monday

Bike: 60 minutes easy spin at comfortably high cadence (95+ rpm).

Tuesday

Run: 15 minutes at moderate zone 1-2 effort. After warm-up, include 4 x 3-minute intervals at 5K race pace (zone 6 effort). 3-minute easy zone 1 jog/ walk between intervals. 10-minute easy cool-down. | 15-20 minutes of stretching and core exercises. | Strength train or yoga option.

Wednesday

Swim: 200 easy warm-up. 8 x 50 (25 drill, 25 easy to moderate free). 5 x 50 easy pull with paddles and buoy. 8 x 100 on base pace; RI = 10 seconds.

6 x 50 kicking with fins, alternating sides every 5 yards. 100 easy cool-down with backstroke. Total = 2,050 yards. | Bike: 45 minutes on trainer, spin, stationary or road bike on mostly flat terrain. Include 20 minutes at steady threshold zone 5 effort.

Thursday

Run: 50 minutes at moderate zone 2 effort on flat to rolling terrain. | 15-20 minutes of stretching and core exercises. | Strength train or yoga option.

Friday

Swim: Double ladder: 100, 100, 200, 200, 300, 300, 400, 400. Steady comfortable effort with only 3-5 seconds rest between intervals. 100 easy cool-down. Total: 2,000 yards.

Saturday

Bike: Ride approx. 36-40 miles easy to moderate zone 1-2 effort.

Run: 8-9 miles at steady, easy to moderate zone 1-2 effort. Sunday Week 8 Recovery 2 Approx Hours: 5

Monday

Complete Rest Day

Tuesday

Run: 30 minutes easy zone 1 effort. | 15-20 minutes of stretching and core exercises. | Strength train or yoga option.

Wednesday

Swim: 200 easy. 8 x 50 (25 drill, 25 swim); RI= 3 seconds. 2 x 50 easy to moderate kick with fins, board; RI = 3 seconds. 4 x 50 pull with buoy and paddles. 200 easy cool-down. Total = 1,100 yards.

Thursday

Bike: 40 minutes easy zone 1 recovery spin on trainer, spin, stationary or road bike on mostly flat terrain. Comfortably high cadence. | 15-20 minutes of stretching and core exercises. | Strength train or yoga option.

Friday

Swim: 1,450 Pyramid: 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, 200, 150, 100. Steady relaxed effort; RI = 10 seconds. Total = 1,450 yards.

Saturday

Bike: 90 minutes easy zone 1-2 on mostly flat to gently rolling terrain.

Sunday

Run: 45 minutes easy zone 1-2 effort on mostly flat to rolling terrain.

Week 9 Build 5 (Race Specific) Approx. Hours: 9.5 Monday

Swim: 300 easy warm-up. 6 x 75 (25 bilateral breathing, 25 drill of choice, 25 swim); RI = 5 seconds. 3 x 50 easy kicking with board, fins. 5 x 200 on base pace; RI = 15 seconds. 200 cool-down. Total = 2,100 yards.

Tuesday

Run: Warm up 10 minutes building from easy zone 1 to zone 2 for final 5 minutes. Jog 5 minutes easy, then do 2 x 17-minute threshold-pace intervals at zone 4 to 5 effort. 3-minute easy jog recovery between intervals. 5-minute easy jog cool-down. | 15-20 minutes of stretching and core exercises. | Strength train or yoga option.

Wednesday

Swim: 200 easy warm-up. 8 x 50 (25 drill, 25 easy to moderate free). 5 x 50 (25 alternate stroke, 25 moderate free). 5 x 200 on base pace; RI = 15 seconds. 6 x 50 moderate kicking with board/fins. 100 cool-down. Total = 2,250 yards. | Bike: 45 minutes on trainer, spin, stationary or road bike on mostly flat terrain. Include 2 x 12-minute intervals at steady threshold zone 5 effort. 2-minute easy zone 1 recovery spin between the intervals.

Thursday

Run: 50 minutes moderate zone 2 effort on mostly flat to gently rolling terrain. Include 5 x 100 meter strides at slightly higher than normal cadence. | 15-20 minutes of stretching and core exercises. | Strength train or yoga option.

Friday

Complete Rest Day: Stretching and core exercises only.

124

triathletemag.com

122-126_12WeekTraining_201005.indd 124

may 2010

3/15/10 11:34 AM

Zoot Ultra Speed Shoe When speed is the creed, this race-speciďŹ c rocket ship gets you through T2 in record time. The engineered TekSheen upper pairs with a Z-VA and CarbonSpan+ midsole for distances from 5K to 13.1.

Technology BareFit - constructed for sockless wear, the linings are a Dri-Lex fabric with antimicrobial Smart Silver to battle moisture, odor and to reduce hot spots; Tri-Dry technology limits water retention in the shoe; CarbonSpan+ provides smooth and powerful toe-off.

Zoot Ultra Speed Shoes Available At:

TriathleteSports.com 800.635.0528 Free Shipping - Huge Inventory - Same Day Shipping - Low Price Guarantee

TriathleteSport_TriMag_0510.indd 1

3/8/10 5:03 PM

T R A INING Week 9 continued

Saturday

Swim/Bike/Run Race Simulation: Practice pre-race breakfast at least 2-3 hours before start of training. Swim approx. one mile continuously in pool or open water. Start slow and build to what feels like race effort for the final 800 yards. Ride 24 miles on race course or similar terrain. Start at a comfortable zone 2 pace, spinning at a slightly faster than normal cadence for the first 12 miles. Then increase to target race pace (zone 4-5 effort) for the next 12 miles. Run 4 miles on race course or similar terrain. Comfortable zone 2 effort for the first 2 miles, then increase to target race pace (zone 4-5) for the final 2 miles.

Sunday

Run: Approx. 7 miles on flat to gently rolling course similar to race course. Build pace as you go. 20 minutes easy zone 1, 20 minutes moderate zone 2, 20 minutes faster zone 3-4.

Week 10 Peak 1 Approx Hours: 9.5 Monday

Complete Rest Day

Tuesday

Run: 15-minute warm-up building to zone 3 effort during final 5 minutes. Run 4 x 100 meter strides at slightly higher than normal cadence. Then perform 6 x 4-minute intervals at near 5K race pace (zone 5-6 effort). 3-minute easy jog/walk recovery between intervals. 5-minute easy cool-down. | 15-20 minutes of stretching and core exercises. | Strength train or yoga option.

Wednesday

Swim: 300 easy. 4 x 50 kick with board (fins optional). 4 x 200s at base pace, 20 seconds rest between intervals. 6 x 100 at base pace with 10-12 seconds rest between intervals. 200 easy cool-down with back and breast stroke. Total = 2,100 yards. | Bike: 45 minutes on trainer, spin, stationary or road bike on mostly flat terrain. Include 3 x 10-minute intervals at steady zone 5 effort. 2-minute easy zone 1 recovery spin between intervals.

Thursday

Run: 50 minutes moderate zone 2-3 effort on mostly flat to gently rolling terrain. | 15-20 minutes of stretching and core exercises. | Strength train or yoga option.

Friday

Swim: 200 easy warm-up. Swim 2,400 yards in the following pyramid: 200, 400, 600, 600, 400, 200. Easy relaxed effort on all intervals. 100 cool-down.

Total = 2,700 yards.

Saturday

Bike/Run Brick: Ride 30 miles on terrain similar to race course. Start at a comfortable zone 2 pace, spinning at a slightly faster than normal cadence for the first 10 miles. Then increase to target race pace (zone 4-5 effort) for the next 20 miles. Run 4 miles on race course or similar terrain. Comfortable zone 2 effort for the first 1 mile, then increase to target race pace (zone 5) for the final 3 miles.

Sunday

Open Water Swim: Swim approx. 1.3 miles open water in wetsuit (if you plan to race in a wetsuit). Steady, comfortable and strong effort, building to race effort during final 20 minutes. | Run: Approx. 8 miles on flat to gently rolling course similar to race course. Build pace as you go. 10 minutes easy zone 1, 20 minutes moderate zone 2, 30 minutes faster zone 3-4.

Week 11 Peak 2 Approx Hours: 8.5 Monday

Swim: 300 easy warm-up. 6 x 75 (25 swim, 25 choice of drill, 25 swim with bilateral breathing). 3 x 50 easy pulling with paddles and buoy. 6 x 200 on base pace; RI = 15 seconds. 200 easy cool-down.Total = 2,300 yards.

Tuesday

Run: Warm up 10 minutes building from easy zone 1 to zone 2 for final 5 minutes. Jog 5 minutes easy, then do 3 x 12-minute threshold pace intervals at zone 5 effort. 2-minute easy jog recovery between intervals. 5-minute easy jog cool-down. | 15-20 minutes of stretching and core exercises. | Strength train or yoga option.

Wednesday

Swim: 300 easy warm-up. 3 x 50 (25 drill, 25 swim). 4 x 50 (25 alternate stroke, 25 moderate swim). 4 x 300 building: 100 easy, 100 moderate, 100 fast; RI = 15 seconds. 6 x 50, sprint final 25; RI = 20 seconds. 150 cool-down with backstroke. Total = 2,300 yards. | Bike: 45 minutes with 30 minutes at race effort. Stay in low, aerodynamic position.

Thursday

Run: 45 minutes easy to moderate effort on flat to rolling terrain. | 15-20 minutes of stretching and core exercises. | Strength train or yoga option.

Friday

Bike: 30-minute easy zone 1-2 effort spin. Include 3 x 3 minutes of high-cadence spinning (approx. 100-105 rpm).

Saturday

Swim/Bike/Run Race Simulation #2: Swim approx. two-thirds of a mile (1,000 yards) continuously in pool or open water at race effort. Ride 20 miles on race course or similar terrain. Start at a comfortable zone 2 pace, spinning at a slightly higher than normal cadence for the first 10 miles. Then increase to target race pace (zone 4-5 effort) for the next 10 miles. Run 4 miles on race course or similar terrain. Comfortable zone 2 effort for the first 3 miles, then increase to target race pace (zone 4-5) for the final mile.

Run: 60 minutes. Build pace as you go. 10 minutes easy zone 1, 30 minutes moderate zone 2, 20 minutes at target race pace (zone 4-5).

Sunday Week 12 Race Week Taper Approx. Hours: 3.5

Monday

Swim: 200 easy warm-up. 4 x 75 (25 swim, 25 with sighting practice, 25 swim opposite-side breathing). 2 x 50 easy pulling with buoy (no paddles). 6 x 100 on base pace; RI = 15 seconds. 100 easy cool-down. Total = 1,300 yards. | Bike: 30 minutes easy spin at comfortably high cadence (90+ rpm).

Tuesday

Run: 30 minutes with 6 x 1-minute pick-ups at what feels like race zone 4-5 effort. Allow 2-3 minutes between pick-ups. | 15-20 minutes of stretching and core exercises. | Strength train (reduce weight/resistance by 30-50 percent today) or yoga option.

Wednesday

Swim: 200 easy warm-up. 2 x 200 building (100 easy, 100 moderate); RI= 20 seconds. 6 x 50 fast; RI= 15 seconds. 100 easy cool-down. Total = 1,000 yards. | Bike: 30 minutes. Include 6 x 1-minute pick-ups at race zone 4-5 effort. Allow 2-3 minutes between pick-ups.

Thursday

Bike: 15-20-minute easy effort. | 15-20 minutes of stretching and core exercises.

Friday

Complete Rest Day: Light stretching and core exercises only. | Note: If your race day is Saturday, then do Thursdayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s workout today and move this rest day to Thursday.

Saturday

Run: 8 minutes easy. Include 3 x 30-second pick-ups at what feels like race effort. | Bike: 10 minutes easy. | Swim: 7 minutes easy.

Sunday

Olympic Triathlon

126

triathletemag.com

122-126_12WeekTraining_201005.indd 126

may 2010

3/12/10 2:20 PM

RoadID_TriMag_0510.indd 1

3/8/10 5:02 PM

s w im

Recover on the Recovery

Why Stroke Technique Is So Important

By Sara McLarty

T

he perfect swim stroke, if it exists, comprises numerous minute elements. Even the fastest swimmers in the world still have room for improvement. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why world records continue to fall. Along with using advances in

128

triathletemag.com

IT 1-2 Hort.indt 1

126-127_Swim_201005.indd 128

technology, swimmers are continuously striving for perfection in the pool. Adjusting a pinky finger, changing head position or kicking a little faster might be the difference between making history and being history.

The recovery phase of freestyle occurs when the arm is out of the water. The arm is not productive in this phase; it is not propelling the swimmer through the water. The amount of energy used during the recovery should be minimal. Momentum is built during the underwater pull, and it peaks at the finish of the stroke. A swimmer lets the stored inertia snap the arm through the recovery phase; it is almost effortless.

Imagine pulling a rubber band down to your hips. As you start to pull the band (catch phase), it is easy. It gets a little harder near the middle (pull phase). Then, at the moment it reaches maximum stretch (at mid-thigh),

Nils Nilsen

Triathletes strive for the same type of results.

Perfection equals speed in every sport. Tweaking saddle height might result in a few extra watts of power; lighter running shoes mean less muscle fatigue; and in the water, proper stroke technique equals faster swim splits.

But why is better stroke technique more important than pure strength in the water?

Why canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t I just tell you to swim as hard as possible in the pool to get faster? Why should swimming be as effortless as possible?

may 2010

3/9/10 10:38 AM

3/11/10 3:47 PM

s w im completely relax your arm and let the band yank your arm to the top of the stroke. The idea is to only engage your muscles when your arms are in the water.

Speedboat versus Barge Consider which goes faster through the water, a speedboat or a barge? A long and narrow, or hydrodynamic, bow helps the speed boat move clean and fast through the water.

The same principle applies to the human body in the water. Swimmers can remain in a streamlined shape by keeping one arm extended at the front of the stroke while the other arm is catching, pulling and recovering.

Every swimmer has probably heard the term “catch-up” used on the pool deck. The drill refers to letting one arm catch up to the other arm at the top of the stroke. The most basic form of the catch-up drill is to tap your streamlined hand with your recovering hand before starting the next stroke. Kickboards, paddles and sticks are tools that help prevent cheating and crossing over the centerline.

Breathe in the Opening Difficulty breathing to both sides in the water is a common frustration among triathletes.

There are numerous reasons every athlete should breathe bilaterally, but it can be difficult to learn. Breathing too late on the uncomfortable side is the No. 1 cause for problems, and it has an easy fix.

Imagine that the recovering arm on your breathing side is a door. The door is open for breathing until your arm drops in the water beside your head. Once that happens, the door is closed and any attempts at inhaling will include water. When your right hand enters the water above your head, immediately roll your face to the left. Your left arm, or door, should be in the very early stages of the pull phase. To get a full breath of air, you must start your breathing as soon as the door opens.

Engage Big Muscles The freestyle stroke has a lot of movement at the shoulder, but if I tried to swim with my shoulder muscles, I would barely make it across the pool before they were exhausted. The power in the catch, pull and finish phases comes from big muscles in your arms, chest and core. It is critical to engage these muscles in every stroke because they can do 10 times the work for 10 times as long.

Keep your elbow high underwater because

that engages the pectoral muscles. Keep your hand from crossing the centerline to keep the biceps engaged. Also, body roll is important because it allows the latissimus dorsi to be employed. Why should the stroke extend all the way to mid-thigh? To take advantage of strong triceps.

The same concept can be applied to an efficient flutter kick. Many triathletes have a hard time kicking across the pool because they are not recruiting the proper muscles. The kick generates power from strong hip muscles, which whip your lower legs through the water.

The knee joint remains relaxed and the ankle and toes should be slightly pointed. If you are kicking correctly, you should feel the effort in your hip flexors.

I encourage you to question everything you think you know about swimming. Always ask, “Why?” And if you don’t get a satisfactory explanation, keep searching for technique guidance and rationales that are logical.

I welcome all your questions!

Sara McLarty coaches swimming at the National Training Center in Clermont, Fla. Visit her blog for daily swim sets at Ntcmastersswim.blogspot.com.

512-968-1888

may 2010

126-127_Swim_201005.indd 129

triathletemag.com

129

3/11/10 3:47 PM

Bike

Developing Your Bike Handling Skills Three-time Ironman champ Chris McDonald offers Advice on how to be a better bike handler and a more confident cyclist.

By Mark Deterline

P

rofessional triathlete and bike racer Chris McDonald has exceptional bike-handling skills—skills born of necessity when he took up cycling at a time when he was seriously overweight.

“Since I weighed about 245 pounds at the time, let’s just say that going uphill was … not easy!” McDonald recalls. “I never did like having people wait for me, so I was always trying to catch up on the descents. This forced me to refine my braking, cornering and positioning at all speeds.”

McDonald believes that the importance of bike-handling skills is widely underappreciated in triathlon. “Just look at cornering,” he offers.

“If you consider that in a 40-kilometer bike 130

triathletemag.com

128-130_Bike_201005.indd 130

segment you have six corners and you can take two to three seconds out of your competition in each corner, that’s 12-18 seconds of time gained.

Convert that same thinking to an Ironman event and we are potentially talking minutes.

Or you could look at it as energy or power saved for later in the bike segment or the run.”

Proper development of good bike-handling skills is just as key.

“The best way to learn good handling skills is to start riding in small bunches and have an experienced [rider] teach you the basics,” McDonald says. One of these basics is steering, about which McDonald says, “Don’t steer with your handlebar; lean your bike and use your weight to control it. Let’s say you’re

turning left. You should have your right foot down with the crank arm at about 5 o’clock with all your weight on that outside foot and your upper-body weight on the inside of the handlebar. Look where you want to go and your body and bike will follow; if you look at that pothole in the corner you will ride right into it!”

Braking is another basic skill that many triathletes never learn to do correctly, according to McDonald. “There’s a myth that you should only use your back brake when descending and cornering,” he says. “Your front brake is your best friend, as it is the one that will stop you and also gives you the control to ensure a smooth ride. I slow with the front brake and feather the back brake for a little extra stopping power. Then I can moderate speed with the rear brake when riding in a bunch or through a turn.”

The reason athletes are often encouraged to emphasize the use of the rear brake is that over-braking with the front one can have disastrous results, such the rider flipping over the handlebars on flats and on climbs if weight may 2010

3/11/10 3:48 PM

DVDs ARE JUST THE BEGINNING Triathlon Training Series DVDs are the best resource for starting or further developing your triathlon training. But when you’re ready to step up to the next level, TTS has you covered. Not only do we produce the best and most comprehensive DVDs available, we’re also a full-service multi-sport coaching company. Let our USAT-certified coaches help you get to where you want to be.

TTS NOW OFFERS

INDIVIDUAL COACHING CAMPS AND CLINICS PERSONALIZED TRAINING PROGRAMS PRE-WRITTEN TRAINING PROGRAMS

TRUSTED COACHES. DECADES OF EXPERIENCE. THOUSANDS OF SUCCESS STORIES.

Visit our website for more information

TRIATHLONTRAININGSERIES.COM

TriTrainSeries_TriMag_0410.indd 1

2/9/10 10:38 AM

John Segesta/johnsegesta.com

Bike

isn’t properly distributed, or if he doesn’t apply some rear brake pressure to even things out. It can also cause your front wheel to “wash out” in turns. So take your time in learning what your front brake can and cannot do.

The same goes for descending. It is essential that riders be patient and err on the side of caution. Developing descending skills takes time and should be approached thoughtfully and pragmatically. It’s not simply about trying to go faster, but learning to ride a bike more 132

triathletemag.com

128-130_Bike_201005.indd 132

skillfully. Always allow for the unexpected, such as cars, debris and obstacles, poor asphalt and even the rare chance of a tire blowout. Always leave yourself a margin of error.

McDonald and other elite cyclists advocate focusing on a single skill for each descent, such as braking, setting up optimally for a turn or learning how to choose the best lines.

Each of these aspects is a component of proficient descending, but by isolating them in the beginning you can hone individual skills

before putting them all together for improved efficiency and safety.

As in most athletic endeavors, your mind can be your friend or foe, so our champion offers one final pearl of wisdom: “Last but not least, don’t over-think it. Keep it fun and you will stay more motivated.”

Learn more about professional triathlete and three-time Ironman champion Chris McDonald, read his blog or find his Twitter page at Chris-mcdonald.net. may 2010

3/11/10 3:48 PM

2010 TRIATHLON TEAM

MarkAllenOnline_TriMag_0510.indd 1

3/8/10 4:38 PM

ru n

Photos by Nils Nilsen

Triathlete Steve Sexton treads lightly on an AlterG.

Recovery Workouts Ideal on Anti-Gravity Treadmills

By BRIAN METZLER

W

ith as much time as he spent nursing a foot injury last spring, Ethan Brown could have gotten pretty bummed out. Or pretty out of shape.

But neither thing happened. In fact, the 24-year-old third-year pro turned in a pretty solid first half of his season, with a runnerup finish at an ITU Continental Cup race in Mexico and a sixth-place showing at the ITU Pan-Am Championships in Oklahoma City. He also fared well against the big boys, finishing a respectable 34th in the ITU HyVee World Cup on June 28 in Des Moines, Iowa.

Not bad considering he started the season with foot pain that was eventually diagnosed as an irritated joint in his left big toe. He missed his first race of the season but was still able to maintain his fitness pretty well, thanks to 134

triathletemag.com

132-133_Run_201005.indd 134

his use of an AlterG anti-gravity treadmill at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif.

An anti-gravity treadmill is a machine that essentially allows an athlete to run at less than his full body weight, thus reducing the pounding on joints, ligaments, tendons and muscles. It creates a sealed chamber below the waist—the runner is zipped into a pair of neoprene shorts with a closure similar to that of a whitewater kayak—and lifts the runner slightly with upward air pressure.

An anti-gravity treadmill looks likes a compact personal spaceship ready for orbit.

In fact,the 750-pound machines use technology that was first proposed for use on a space station. Once accessible only to pro athletes, anti-gravity treadmills are popping

up in health clubs and rehab centers where age-groupers can use them. Running on one produces an incredible feeling of weightlessness, even though you’re still running with your normal gait.

Brown’s injury wasn’t getting any better as he ran on it, so, instead of taking time completely off his feet or running in the pool— blech!—he logged copious miles on an AlterG positioned in front of a large flat-screen TV for about a month and a half.

“It’s not as good as being outside and really running, but it’s pretty cool,” says Brown. “I didn’t seem to lose a whole lot of fitness, and had some strong early-season races.”

At first, the AlterG apparatuses were seen primarily as rehab machines. A 144-pound athlete like Brown could run with a simulated weight of 72 pounds—or much less—and reduce the stress on an injury while maintaining or even increasing fitness. You can run a sub-5:30-mile pace while carrying on a conversation, or rev your heart rate to the moon and, as Brown found out, still be gentle to your ailing big toe because your footsteps may 2010

3/15/10 12:21 PM

run are much lighter.

Lately, elite coaches are seeing these hightech treadmills as a supplemental training tool for healthy athletes.

Former U.S. marathon great Alberto Salazar has most of his world-class runners in the Nike Oregon Project train on the anti-gravity machines regularly. Those athletes include half-marathon world championship bronze medalist Dathan Ritzenhein, U.S. mile record holder Alan Webb and rising marathon star Kara Goucher.

Salazar uses the AlterG to increase training volume while reducing the chance for injury and shortening the time it takes to recover from hard workouts. The machine also allows for low-intensity interval training, overspeed training and hill training (up to a 15-percent incline). Back-to-back high-intensity workouts and even backwards hill training are possible.

The AlterG treadmill has been around for a couple of years, but not many non-pro runners and triathletes have gotten the chance to use it. At $75,000, it is a tool only pro sports teams, top-tier rehab facilities and Olympic training centers can afford.

Only in the past year and a half has the AlterG begun appearing at a handful of training clubs around the country, where they are available to those willing to pay a hefty per-hour use fee. Elite age-grouper Peter Russo first benefitted from time on an AlterG by using it to recover from shin splits and a stress fracture. He continued to use it to supplement his training once he was healthy.

Russo, a five-time, sub-10-hour Ironman finisher, ran on one three days a week at Foundation Performance in Pawtucket, R.I., and within a few months placed fifth in the 40-44 age group and 53rd overall at Ironman Arizona (9:29:11).

Foundation Performance co-owner Michael Silva, a physical therapist, exercise physiologist and conditioning coach, says running on an AlterG is more effective than aqua jogging, because in the latter you can’t attain normal mechanics in the water because of the resistance, and in deep-water jogging, your feet never touch the ground.

“Peter started using the AlterG just after he was diagnosed, and we had him running at 30 percent of his body weight,” Silva says. “We had him run 90 minutes at a time a couple of days a week, and his feet were barely touching the ground. As his fracture was healing, we slowly increased the weight. He came back strong after that. He’s one of our biggest success stories.”

Foundation Performance is one of a growing number of clubs around the country that may 2010

132-133_Run_201005.indd 135

also offer time on an AlterG for healthy runners. Foundation charges $25 for a 30-minute session, and offers bulk discounts. Two clubs in New York City are charging $50 for halfhour sessions.

Last fall, AlterG unveiled a lower-priced model called the M320. It costs $24,500—still out of the price range of most, but worth the hit to the wallet in the view of many. (It works out to about $550 a month for five years, or about the price of a mid-range car.)

Silva believes every collegiate and pro sports training room will have one within the next three years, and wouldn’t be surprised if more top age-groupers and pros buy their own.

What makes an AlterG especially useful for healthy athletes is the training protocol developed at the University of Colorado Department of Integrative Physiology. It’s a

spreadsheet tool that takes a runner’s weight into account and determines how fast he or she needs to run at a simulated weight on an AlterG to get the metabolic equivalent of running on the road.

“A lot of people worry that they’re not going to be as fit if they’re on the AlterG, but we explain to them that we can be if we play around with the intensity of the run and ultimately give them the same workout,” Silva says. “We have healthy runners and triathletes, people using it to get extra mileage and build their pace, shaving a few percentage points off to ease the stress on their joints. There’s nothing else that can do what this machine can. It’s phenomenal.”

Boulder-based writer, runner and part-time coach Brian Metzler is the senior editor of Running Times.

triathletemag.com

135

3/11/10 3:51 PM

PEM1_TriMag_0510.indd 1

3/11/10 10:28 AM

PEM2_TriMag_0510.indd 1

3/11/10 10:27 AM

Nils Nilsen

fund a men ta l s

138

triathletemag.com

136-137_Fundamentals_201005.indd 138

may 2010

3/11/10 3:52 PM

fund a men ta l s

Mix Up Your Cycling Efforts

By Ian Murray

I

f you do all your bike training at one speed, it’s time to challenge yourself to become a better, faster cyclist by incorporating variety into your cycling program. Even a short ride can be extremely valuable to your fitness, as long as you give it purpose and variation in intensity. Before you head out for your next training ride, plan out three key elements: Duration: Whether you measure it in miles or kilometers, minutes or hours, know how long your workout will be.

Intention: Have a purpose, a focal point, some element you want to improve. Examples could include holding a steady cadence of 85 to 95 rpm; relaxing some tense area of your body (jaw, shoulders, hands, etc.); pacing each climb so you are stronger over the top than at the bottom; shifting ultra quickly and silently by soft-pedaling for a fraction of a second when you throw the lever; scraping the bottom of the pedal stroke so you have a more perfect circle in your pedaling motion. There are thousands of focus points, and even the tiniest ones are valid.

Intensity: One of the many human wonders

may 2010

136-137_Fundamentals_201005.indd 139

is our ability to adapt. If you put your body under some physical demand or stress, it will make changes to handle that stress.

If you ride every ride on a flat road, with no wind, at 13 miles per hour, your body will get really good at doing that one specific thing and nothing beyond that. Here are a few basic options.

Recovery Ride: This is a refreshing, healing time of active recovery—a great ride to do eight to 20 hours after a challenging run or very tough ride. Do it on a flat road, use easy gears and build your cadence slowly so you loosen up as you ride. No matter what metric you use to gauge your effort (heart rate, power or speed), the effort should be very easy.

Bike Hill repeats (BHR): This is a staple workout for many athletes. It is a strength workout similar to what you can do in the gym, but it’s specific to cycling: After a 12- to 20-minute warm-up, climb a hill while seated, with a comfortable effort and using a gear at 55 to 65 rpm. Focus on every degree of your pedal circle. Repeat that climb three to six

times with at least 90 seconds easy spin back down between each.

Short, Sharp Intervals: This workout, when done correctly, is taxing. It will challenge several aspects of fitness, such as neuromuscular, cardio and speed, with its short intervals of intense effort. After a solid warm-up of 20 minutes easy, and three to five more minutes of moderate riding, find a false flat—a road that rises ever so slightly. In the big ring, stand out of the saddle and bring the bike up to speed for three to five seconds. Then, settle in the saddle but continue to increase bike speed for another five to 20 seconds. Take a full three to five minutes of recovery before you launch again, and don’t exceed five rounds in your first workout. The entire effort shouldn’t exceed 30 seconds in your first few weeks—one short, sharp interval a week is plenty.

If you are stuck in a cycling rut by training at the same speed, break through to new levels of bike fitness with these elements. Remember to plan ahead so that you depart for each ride with good workout planning.

Ian Murray is an elite-level USAT coach, head coach of Triathlon Training Series and the host of the coordinating DVD box set.

triathletemag.com

139

3/11/10 3:52 PM

sports science upd at e

Barefoot Runners Land Softer here is a lot more talk about barefoot running these days, thanks largely to the success of Chris McDougal’s book “Born to Run.” One of the heroes of that book is Daniel Lieberman, an evolutionary biologist at Harvard University whose work suggests that human beings evolved as runners. The basis of this argument is the fact that many of the physiological characteristics that make us different from other ape species (upright posture, large buttocks, etc.) make us much better long-distance runners than they are.

Perhaps inspired by the attention that “Born to Run” has received, Lieberman and colleagues recently conducted a study designed to compare impact forces in barefoot runners (who run the “natural” way our ancestors did) and runners wearing modern running shoes (which have existed only since the 1970s).

140

triathletemag.com

AquaLung2-size.indd 1

138-139_SportsScience_201005.indd 140

Photos by Robert Murphy

T

may 2010

3/9/10 10:39 AM

3/12/10 2:21 PM

spor t s science upd at e A number of habitual barefoot impact so that less impact force runners were recruited to partici- reaches the shins, knees, pelvis pate in the study. Lieberman’s team and hips. noted that most of them made The practical implications of contact with the ground on the this finding are open to debate. forefoot, while some landed on While it seems to suggest that the midfoot and a very few were runners should run barefoot or heel strikers. By contrast, nearly switch to a forefoot footstrike or all of the shoe-wearing runners both, running experts disagree who participated in the study about the practicability of such were heel strikers. Impact forces changes, both of which can create during running were significantly new problems if made without due lower in those barefoot runners care. Shoe designs and the teaching who landed on the forefoot than of running technique will need to in shod runners. evolve in response to mounting “This difference results primar- evidence that conventional running ily from a more plantarflexed foot at shoe designs encourage “unnatural” landing and more ankle compliance stride patterns that increase injury during impact, decreasing the effec- risk. But we’re still a long way from tive mass of the body that collides having it all figured out. with the ground,” explained the authors in the published results, Source which appeared in the Jan. 28 ediLieberman, D.E., M. Venkadesan, W.A. tion of “Nature.”

Werbel, A.I. Daoud, S. D’Andrea, I.S. Davis, What this means is that in R.O. Mang’eni, and Y. Pitsiladis. “Foot strike barefoot runners who land on patterns and collision forces in habitually the forefoot, the ankle joint plays barefoot versus shod runners.” Nature. a more active role in absorbing 2010 Rubino_Triathlete.pdf 2/2/2010 2:59:51 PM Jan 28; 463(7280):531-5.

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

may 2010

138-139_SportsScience_201005.indd 141

triathletemag.com

141

3/12/10 2:21 PM

De a r co ach

Bicycle Commuting as Training Featuring Troy Jacobson

142

triathletemag.com

142-143_DearCoach_201005.indd 142

Dear Coach, I am a relatively new triathlete and cyclist. How would commuting to and from work (approximately eight miles one way) affect training? Should I incorporate it as part of my training, despite

the short distance, and if so how; go slowly and enjoy the ride but not consider it part of my training; or forgo the bike for my car, as training is my primary goal?

Erick Roen Minneapolis

may 2010

3/11/10 3:53 PM

De a r co ach Erick,

eight-mile commute takes 20 to 30 minutes door to door. I would like to see you try to go at least 30 minutes, perhaps by adding another mile or two each way, to maximize the training effect. Here are other suggestions to consider: Don’t commute every day. Riding is important, but so are swimming and running if you wish to be a competitive triathlete. Too much ride time can detract from your ability to do the appropriate amount of swim and run training to achieve your goals. I suggest commuting two days per week, three max.

Focus on technique. Newer athletes should develop their technical skills before “dropping the hammer.” For example, during the morning commute, commit to a cadence of 100 to 110 rpm and learn to pedal efficiently, without bouncing or unnecessary upper body movement. For the afternoon commute, maintain the same high cadence and also stand to pedal periodically to develop ease and smoothness in that transition.

Go for quality. Once you have developed a solid base of fitness, and as your events draw closer, start integrating quality, or high intensity, into your workouts. For example, warm up for 10 minutes with a fast spin and do some openers—short, hard 20 to 30

Commuting by bike to and from work is beneficial on several levels. Aside from the obvious benefits to the environment, a twiceper-day bike commute can also serve to improve your health, your focus on tasks at work (early morning aerobic exercise tends to have this effect) and your triathlon performance if planned properly and integrated into a well-conceived training program.

Above all, commuting to work on your bike is an opportunity to efficiently increase your cycling training volume above the level you would be able to attain if you drove to work and had to find other times to do your bike training. This extra time in the saddle will increase your cycling fitness and probably make you leaner, thus improving your all-important power-to-weight ratio.

Before I address the training aspect, I’ll give you some advice regarding showers after your morning ride to work. You definitely don’t want to allow any post-ride mustiness to impact your relationship with your coworkers. So if you don’t have workplace showers available, you can work around it by using baby wipes or other sanitizer and a clean change of clothes.

Assuming you average 16 to18 mph, your

second efforts with equal amounts of easy spinning between them. Then, hammer out a five-mile threshold effort at, or slightly above, your anticipated race pace, maintaining a lower cadence in the 70 to 80 rpm range to build strength. Use the morning workout as your technique session and this quality workout as your afternoon ride.

Don’t get stuck in a rut. In other words, don’t train in the gray zone of moderately high intensity every day. When doing shorter workouts, it’s easy to think that, every day, harder is better. Training sort of hard day after day is the biggest mistake newer triathletes tend to make. Remember to differentiate each workout, with some focused on aerobic base and technique and others focused on high-quality threshold training.

Overall, you’ll see a notable boost in performance in your cycling as a result of regular commuting to and from work. Just don’t forget the baby wipes.

Troy Jacobson, a former pro triathlete, is the head endurance sports coach for Life Time Fitness and the creator of the Spinervals Cycling Video Series. For more information visit Coachtroy.com.

180-DAY COMFORT GUARANTEE!

Finding the right saddle enables natural hip articulation, opens up the diaphragm for better breathing and allows muscles to generate max watts.

V-FL

OW M

AX

V-FL

OW P

LUS

ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL

PURCHASE THROUGH YOUR LOCAL BIKE SHOP

V-FL

OW H

C170

V-FL O

W

OR ONLINE AT WWW.COBBCYCLING.COM

may 2010

142-143_DearCoach_201005.indd 143

triathletemag.com

143

3/11/10 3:53 PM

TM

TriCali_TriMag_0510.indd 1

3/11/10 10:28 AM

John Segesta/johnsegesta.com

T Ri athlon heresies

The Ironman Taper

By Alun Woodward

T

he process of tapering, or lowering training volume, in the lead-up to competition was developed by swimmers and track athletes looking for every last scrap of performance.

The results spoke for themselves.

The standard taper varied. In general, though, sprinters tended to take as long three weeks, while endurance swimmers, were inclined to take as little as one week.

Despite clear evidence that a shorter taper is most beneficial for endurance athletes, many Ironman training plans include a full three-week taper. Ironman triathletes can blame marathon runners for this less than ideal development.

In the 1970s, intensifying marathon competition at the elite level led to a sort of arms race in training loads. Athletes trained more and more until overtraining became the norm. It takes about three weeks for the body to recover from overtraining. Thus, the may 2010

145-147_TriHeresies_201005.indd 145

marathon runners of the 1970s had to taper for three weeks before racing just to recover from their excessive training. For some reason, a marathon and an Ironman were deemed similar, so the three-week taper was also adopted for Ironman racing.

There are two problems with this practice.

First, the three-week marathon taper is essentially just recovery time from overtraining, and by following this taper, we are assuming overtraining is the norm in Ironman preparation. More importantly, though, an average marathoner will take four hours to reach the finish line whereas an average Ironman triathlete takes 12 hours. Eight hours is a big difference.

Ironman athletes would have been better off looking to ultramarathon runners for an example. Ultrarunners typically perform either a very short taper or none at all, thus falling much more in line with conventional wisdom.

To fully understand the taper and the best way to approach an Ironman, we need to look at how the body adapts to training stimuli and what we need the body to do on race day.

Here are the three main components of fitness—speed, strength and endurance—and how each of these is affected by training.

Speed and Strength Speed and strength gains are long-term projects. Gains come slowly, but with the right training program, you can develop these attributes “brick by brick” for a very long time.

Developments in both of these areas require patience. One of the main causes of injury is pushing the boundaries of speed and strength before the body is ready.

An optimal training plan should take this into account and encourage the athlete to train in line with the body’s adaptations rather than on a time scale, as is the norm in a periodization approach. The two big advantages of a fitness component that takes a long time to build are that it takes a long time to lose, and that it is easy to maintain with a reduced workload. It is for these reasons that sprinttriathletemag.com

145

3/12/10 2:24 PM

T Ri athlon MATT REED

PHOTO: ERIC WYNN

John Segesta/johnsegesta.com

•2009 Race to the Toyota Cup Series Champion •USAT’s Male Athlete of the Year for 2008 •2008 US Olympic Team •2008 USA National Champion •USA Olympic Trials Champion

“I recommend Perfect Foods Bars for any Triathlete needing energy to get through a tough day of training.”

Perfect Foods Bar is designed as a pre workout snack that goes the distance.

10%OFF Perfect Foods Bar is a proud sponsor of America for Gold a Non-Profit Organization helping American athletes achieve their dreams one bar at a time.

Ordering is fast and just a click away!

Order online at PerfectFoodsBar.com Enter in the coupon code MRBOOM and receive 10% OFF your purchase.

Or you can find us at your favorite local health food store!

Come See Us.

Be sure to visit our booth at the San Diego Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon. If you’re running the race, check out our website www.PerfectFoodsBar.com to find out how to get a free t-shirt and goodie bag on registration day!

146

triathletemag.com

145-147_TriHeresies_201005.indd 146

ers can reduce their training far out from a race without seeing a decline in performance. In fact, they experience increased performance, as their muscles achieve a highly anabolic and recovered state during the taper.

Endurance Endurance, on the other hand, is gained much more rapidly. A big factor in endurance—especially Ironman endurance—is the body’s ability to learn how to burn energy more efficiently so that race intensity can be sustained longer. This is a primal survival trait that is deeply rooted in our genes. Because of it, if we were put in a situation where our survival was threatened due to a lack of endurance (i.e. food was scarce and we had to travel a long way to hunt), our bodies would adjust quickly.

This ability to gain endurance rapidly, though, comes with the caveat that we also lose it swiftly.

This is why the three-week taper fails for Ironman. We know from experience that we start to see a decline in endurance

ability within seven to 10 days.

That’s why the endurance part of training must be maintained until seven to 10 days out from race day.

In the last few weeks before a race, structure your training to maximize endurance and maintain strength and speed gains. You don’t need to hammer out long sessions every day to develop peak endurance; a weekly long ride and long run are enough. Nor do you need to perform a large amount of speed and strength training to maintain the speed and strength you developed earlier in your training cycle.

Timeline More specifically, this is how your training should look in the crucial last weeks before an Ironman: Six to eight weeks out: Decrease the quantity of speed and strength work.

Six weeks out: Increase race speed-specific workouts.

Four to six weeks out: Shift your focus to endurance.

Ten to 14 days out: Last enmay 2010

3/12/10 2:24 PM

Rest Days I don’t recommend a complete day off during the final week may 2010

145-147_TriHeresies_201005.indd 147

Alun “Woody” Woodward is the certified Ironguides coach in the U.K. and Hungary. Visit Ironguides.net.

AGILITY RECOVERY

As you head into the final week before race day, I recommend frequent 20- to 40-minute sessions in all three disciplines.

The goal is to maintain neuromuscular pathways, which is basically the brain’s memory system of which muscle fibers it needs to activate in order to perform certain activities, and to perform those activities at certain speeds.

This memory in the brain tends to drift after 48 to 72 hours without stimulation, so you never want to go longer than 48 hours without repeating a single-sport training session. These sessions are all about maintaining feel. Mix in a little speed and a little strength work to keep your nervous system primed for maximal efforts.

before an Ironman. But if you take one, do it two days out from the race. Most endurance athletes will feel terrible the day after a rest day, as if something is not quite right. It takes the athlete’s body a day or so to get back into the groove.

In fact, the habit of taking a rest day the day before a race is the major reason triathletes so often feel a little bit off on race day.

That said, taking a rest day before an Ironman really is a personal thing, and you can only know from experience whether you gain or lose from it. You are better off scheduling a rest for earlier in the week if it usually takes you a few days to feel normal again.

On the final day before the race, do a 10-minute routine in each discipline to make sure you are set for race day. This is a little test drive for your body but also for your race equipment. After that, you’re ready to go!

PERFORMANCE

durance race-specific effort (3-hour bike/40-minute run).

Seven to 10 days out: Last long endurance sessions (ride and run). This is about volume, not intensity, so keep it all easy.

REAL COMPRESSION

heresies

DEALER LIST: WWW.2XU.COM/DEALER/ DEALER INQUIRIES: 760-603-9700 WWW.2XU.COM

triathletemag.com

1 47

3/12/10 2:24 PM

SPRINT THE ULTIMATE

TRIATHLON AGE GROUP

SERIES

Untitled-1 2 TriSeries1_TriMag_0310.indd 1

EXPERIENCE

12/1/09 10:43 1/13/10 12:56 AM PM

E P

RAcE THE

INAUGURAL SERIES! FAST, FUN, FAMILY-FRIENDLY RACES ✓ Crystal awards for age-group winners ✓ Xl finisher medals for all athletes ✓ age-group only raCes ✓ 750-meter swim, 20-km bike, 5-km run ✓ post-raCe breakfast ✓ finish line festiVal with musiC & beer garden ✓ health and fitness eXpo

fOR mORE INfORmATION, vISIT cOmPETITOR.cOm/TRISERIES

Untitled-1 3 TriSeries1_TriMag_0310.indd 1

12/1/09 10:43 1/13/10 12:56 AM PM

NUTRITION Q&A MULTISPORT MENU EAT RIGHT GET LEANER, GO FASTER 150

triathletemag.com

151_NutritonOpener_201005.indd 150

152 154 158 160

Nils Nilsen

NU T RI T ION

may 2009

3/15/10 2:37 PM

GU1_TriMag_0510.indd 1

3/8/10 4:35 PM

nu t r i t ion Q&A

By Pip Taylor

Q:

I work full time and for pretty long hours. This means the only times I have to train are early morning or in the evening, and if I train at night I sometimes finish at 10 or 11 p.m. I am struggling with what and when to eat—should I eat dinner before my evening workout or after? And in the morning I often have to skip breakfast due to lack of time as I rush to work. Any suggestions for a good breakfast/post-workout meal on the go?

Paul Via e-mail

A:

Paul, you are not alone in leading a busy life and trying to fit in training for a triathlon. But without a good nutritious base, you are at risk of becoming run-down and underperforming in training as well as in the workplace. Take some time to plan carefully, analyze your work schedule and your other commitments, such as friends and family, which are vital for a balanced, healthy life. Then work out what time you have available for meals.

You might need to re-think the concept of the traditional meal structure of breakfast, lunch and dinner, and instead time your meals and snacks to work for you. The concept of a large meal in the evening has evolved through culture and custom. However, it does not really make sense from a metabolic point of view; you are actually better off eating more of your calories during the day when you are active.

In your case, where you will have an evening 152

triathletemag.com

152_NutritionQ&A_201005.indd 152

workout, it makes far more sense to structure your day so that you have a decent-sized and nutritious meal at lunchtime or early afternoon.

This will be your main meal of the day and a great opportunity for meeting nutrient requirements, so make it healthy and hearty. Include proteins as well as quality carbohydrates.

Then top it off with a smaller meal later in the afternoon or as you leave work—something that contains sufficient carbohydrates to fuel you through an evening workout but nothing that will sit heavily in your stomach.

During training, a sports drink offers compact, easily digestible energy. Personally, I like Accelerade, as it provides not only carbohydrates but also protein that I find beneficial both during and after workouts. Post-workout would ideally be another small meal rather than a heavy dinner. Whatever it is, include some protein for optimal recovery.

Often it is difficult to eat immediately following training, especially if it’s high intensity, so this is where liquid meals can be useful. Just make sure you eat something, and the sooner the better. Avoid a heavy, high-fat meal, caffeine and alcohol before bed. These can disrupt your sleep and leave you feeling sluggish in the morning. Plus, eating certain foods, especially spicy or fatty foods, before lying down can problems if you suffer from acid reflux.

If you have time to wind down before bed after a late workout, use that time to prepare breakfast or lunch for the next day. Boil some eggs, poach a chicken breast, chop some fruit or make a pasta or rice salad.

In the mornings, eating breakfast preworkout isn’t always necessary, unless you need the fuel for an intense workout. But a post-training breakfast is non-negotiable, particularly if you are eating smaller dinners.

So make breakfast a priority—no more running out the door on an empty stomach and relying on coffee to get you through.

In fact, the 10 minutes you might save by not eating anything you will easily make up for through improved efficiency and productivity in your workday. There are plenty of quick and easy options that fit the bill of a nutrient-rich, healthy breakfast. Consider keeping some cereal and milk, yogurt, fruit, bread and almond butter, and even some canned baked beans or spaghetti at work. And keep some sports bars and a protein-containing sports drink (or powdered mix) in your car for emergencies. Believe it or not, many of the fast-food companies now offer acceptable (quality and

nutrition-wise) options for on-the-go meals.

Just choose wisely and check the nutritional information.

Quick breakfast Ideas

Fruit smoothie, which you can even make up the night before to grab-and-go in the morning Pre-mixed raw oats, nuts and dried fruits topped with milk and yogurt Toast topped with avocado and tomato Eggs on toast—hard boil eggs and keep them in the fridge to quickly squash onto some toast before running out the door Chocolate milk or a protein sports drink Cheese sticks Granola bars or sports bars and some fruit salad Nut butter and jelly on bread Instant oatmeal topped with fruit and nuts Homemade low-fat muffins—these can be pre-made in bulk, kept frozen then defrosted overnight to be ready for breakfast.

Fruit toast spread with ricotta or cottage cheese and honey Wrap filled with turkey and cream cheese Leftovers, which are almost always a legitimate breakfast, lunch or snack option

Gary Geiger

Planning Meals on the Go

Daily Meal Planner for Early Morning and Late Night Workouts Pre-workout snack (optional): such as a banana, sports bar or drink Early training: Sports drink Post-workout recovery/breakfast (substantial and non-negotiable): See above suggestions Work Lunch meal (main meal of the day): Pasta or rice salad; lean meat and salad sandwiches, noodles or quinoa or a hearty soup are great; they are portable and can be prepared in advance. Alternatively, ask your local café/takeaway/fast food restaurant for the healthy options. Usually nutritional data is also available.

Work Small meal: Some examples might include a yogurt and banana; a peanut butter and jelly sandwich; some creamed rice or a sports bar and fruit juice.

Evening training: Sports drink Small meal/recovery snack: Ideas include a salad and grilled fish, some toast and avocado, a fruit smoothie, tuna or cheese sandwich, some cereal or oatmeal.

may 2010

3/11/10 3:55 PM

GU2_TriMag_0510.indd 1

3/8/10 4:34 PM

mu lti sp or t me nu Me & Goji Cereal, price varies

The innovative company Me & Goji has raised cereal selection to an art form. Browse the website to choose from more than 50 allnatural and organic options—muesli, granola, oats, dried fruits and seeds—to customize your morning meal. The choices cater to special dietary needs, including gluten-free diets. Your cereal arrives in a 30-ounce capsule, which can be customized to your own witty cereal name. The price is more than what you’d pay for normal cereal (averaging about $12 per capsule), but the capsule is about 50 percent larger than the typical cereal box. Goodbye Wheaties.

Hello Goji. Meandgoji.com

Hammer Gel, $19.95

The energy gel that triathletes have used for decades has introduced its 10th flavor—Montana huckleberry. The Montana-based company thought it only fitting to add the popular tart-to-sweet tasting berry to its lineup of gels. The gel fuels athletes with complex carbohydrates and no added simple sugars, and it can be purchased in single-serving pouches or in 26-serving jugs. Try mixing it with other popular Hammer Gel flavors such as vanilla for a “berry milkshake,” or with espresso for a “berr y mocha.”

Hammernutrition.com

Justin’s Nut Butter, $0.59-$0.99 per 1.15-ounce squeeze pack

Boulder-based Justin’s Nut Butter packs 6 to 7 grams of protein into its gourmet peanut, hazelnut and almond nut butter squeeze packs. The organic nut butters are the perfect protein-rich snack while hiking, biking or running. This cult fave is free of trans fats, hydrogenated oils, gluten and dairy, and it comes in nine delectable flavors, including honey peanut, maple almond and chocolate hazelnut. Plus, the easy-to-tote squeeze packs come with built-in portion control for the nut butter fanatics out there that just can’t stop at one spoonful.

Justinsnutbutter.com

Pure Fit Nutrition Bar, $30 per box of 15 bars

Pure Fit Nutrition Bars have introduced its fifth flavor, granola crunch, which has already broken Pure Fit’s records for a new flavor launch. The bars contain 40 percent carbs, 30 percent protein and 30 percent fat, ideal for body fat loss and consistent energy. Without artificial ingredients, sugar alcohols or common allergens, including milk, wheat or gluten, Pure Fit’s bars can find a place in just about every diet. They’re low-glycemic, with no animal products and 18 grams of soy protein. Plus, they have no hydrogenated oils that cause them to melt in their packaging. Take them on your long weekend rides with no fear of a gooey mess. Purefit.com

Accelerade Hydro, $39.99/50-serving canister, $1.99/single-serving packet

Accelerade’s slimmer brother contains the performance equal to a regular sports drink with 30 percent fewer calories and 55 percent less sugar. You can choose from lemonade and fruit punch, and Hydro now comes in single-serving packets so you can refuel and rehydrate without a scoop.

Accelsport.com

154

triathletemag.com

154-156_MultisportMenu_201005.indd 154

Xood, $35 for 30-servings

Xood has introduced the new flavor of pomegranate to its line of enticing mid-distance (one- to threehour) drinks. Also available in green tea-lemon and mangosteen, it contains a mix of complex and simple carbohydrates, the four key electrolytes (sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium), protein and vitamins, including B6 and B12. Xoodhealth.com

may 2010

3/11/10 3:59 PM

mu lti sp or t me nu Lightspeed Labs Lightspeed, $54.95

Designer Whey Protein 2 Go, $17.90

Protein 2 Go is the perfect solution for athletes looking for a convenient way to stay energized during training. At only 50 calories per serving, the packets contain 10 grams of whey protein, vitamin C, calcium, magnesium, zinc and B vitamins. Research shows that triathletes who use whey protein before, during and after their workouts benefit from improved performance and faster recovery. Available flavors include pomegranate and orange mango.

Designerwhey.com

Lightspeed, a next-generation energy and endurance product, distinguishes itself from energy drinks because it provides six hours of jitterfree energy, endurance and focus, with no crash. By taking Lightspeed before workouts, it not only fuels muscles, but it also helps your mind engage those muscles more quickly.

Lightspeedlabs.com

PureSport Workout and Recovery Stick Packs, $24.99-$29.99

PureSport Workout and Recovery are available in four great flavors—lemon lime, fruit punch, grape and banana berry—and are now available in single-serving stick packs. Workout is a rehydration drink that replaces lost fluids and electrolytes, restores fuel during exercise for more energy and improved performance. Each serving contains only 40 calories and 5 grams of sugar.

Recovery helps your body get into the recovery zone quickly after serious physical activity. Take it 15 minutes following exercise to accelerate the replacement and storage of muscle fuel. Each serving contains 130 calories, 15 grams of sugar and 9 grams of protein. Puresport.com

Erin Baker’s Ultra Protein Power Crunch Granola, $3.99

Kick-start your mornings with Ultra Protein Power Crunch Granola from Erin Baker’s Wholesome Baked Goods. It’s loaded with 8 grams of performance-enhancing protein, 650 mg of omega-3s, 20 grams of whole grains per serving and plenty of antioxidants. Made with whole grains, all-natural peanut butter and sweetened with honey and molasses, you can enjoy it out of the bag or teamed up with milk or yogurt.

Bbcookies.com may 2010

154-156_MultisportMenu_201005.indd 155

First Endurance New & Improved EFS, $24.95

First Endurance’s EFS drink formulations have been redesigned for 2010. They’ve been upgraded with the latest amino acid technology, which means faster and more complete absorption, and the addition of malic acid, which stimulates oxygen consumption. The EFS drinks also have a high electrolyte content—more than 1,160 mg per serving. Try one of the four tasty flavors, lemon-lime, grape, fruit punch and orange splash, and train and race without fear of cramping or dehydration.

Firstendurance.com

SportAktive Easy, $17 for 20 servings

The easy-to-tote Sportaktive electrolyte drink mix can easily enrich your 32 fluid ounces of water by just dropping in two tablets—no bottle shaking necessary. The electrolytes restore your hydration and help sustain muscle activity. Available in lemon-lime flavor, it’s enhanced with antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, and it’s only 10 calories per serving. Sportaktive.com

triathletemag.com

155

3/11/10 3:59 PM

mu lti sp or t me nu

Tried and True Nutrition

It wasn’t so long ago that aid stations contained little more than orange slices and tepid water.

Sports nutrition has undergone a revolution over the last three decades, and while it would take an entire encyclopedia to get through each and every item, here are some of the major innovations that changed the way athletes fueled themselves before, during and after competition.

The banana: This yellow fruit was discovered in Malaysia, and was eventually transported to India where it was first mentioned in Buddhist texts circa 6th century BC. With more than 600 mg of potassium in one large banana and a thick skin that makes them easy to transport in cold and warm temperatures, they are the quintessential aid station mainstay that will never go out of style.

Gatorade: When the University of Florida Gators won the Orange Bowl in 1966 for the first time in the school’s history, they attributed much of their success to an electrolyte and carbohydratebalanced beverage a group of university physicians had formulated for the team the previous year to combat the effects of heat and dehydration.

More than 40 years later, Gatorade is the official drink of the NBA and Major League Baseball among other elite sports teams, and it’s a safe bet that if you’re an endurance athlete, whichever electrolyte mixture you’re drinking is following in this godfather of all energy drinks’ footsteps.

Energy Bars: While the original malt-nut flavored Powerbars developed in 1983 were so chewy you sometimes felt like a dog eating 156

triathletemag.com

154-156_MultisportMenu_201005.indd 156

peanut butter, they quickly gained a cult following among elite and recreational athletes alike. No longer did athletes have to stuff raisins into their chamois or hope the M&M’s they were stashing under their helmet didn’t melt before the end of the ride. Within 10 years the energy bar market had exploded. From high-protein bars and low-carb bars to bars especially made for women, it’s hard to remember a time when there wasn’t an entire grocery aisle dedicated to them.

Energy Gels: Somewhere along the line, people began to notice that 20 miles into a marathon, sucking down a bar just didn’t always sit right. There had to be a more efficient way to get the carbohydrates, electrolytes and other trace minerals a body needed during heavy activity without the stomach upset. In 1991, the Berkeley-based GU nutrition company developed a cake-batter-esque gel full of fast-absorbing fructose, slower-absorbing maltodextrin and amino acids for a quick tap of energy that was easier for the stomach to digest than solid food.

The gel was inserted into handy little packets with rip-off tops that have become so intertwined with

triathlon that pockets to fit gel can be found on most triathlon apparel.

Recovery drinks: When Robert Portman, PhD, and John Ivey, PhD, began studying the body’s post-exercise glycogen levels in the mid-’90s they knew they were on to something. They discovered the body was better able to use protein and carbohydrates to repair muscles in the 30 to 45 minutes following a workout. This discovery led to them to write a book about the importance of timing in sports nutrition, and it eventually led to Portman’s founding of PacificHealth Labs and the debut of Endurox R4, the first supplement drink meant solely for the post-workout nutritional needs of the human body. Since then, the laundry list of recovery-focused drinks has gone on to include Base Recovery Activator, First Endurance’s Ultragen and GU’s Recovery Brew among others.

Energy Chews: With energy gels flooding the sports nutrition market, it was only a matter of time before someone had to ask, “Can we make these a little less … um … messy?” The sports nutrition world answered the call in the late 2000s by solidifying gels into chewable, nugget-size pieces that could easily be popped into your mouth or stuck to your handlebars for easy access. Clif Bar’s Clif Shot Bloks were one such energy chew option that offered 33-calorieper-piece square chews made with mostly organic ingredients. Athletes sick of gel-splattered jerseys and race photos featuring goop on the sides of their faces rejoiced. may 2010

3/11/10 3:59 PM

Race with us in Beautiful Utah!

May 15th - St.George, Utah

July 17th, Price, Utah

Aug. 14th, Park City, Utah

Sept. 18th St.George, Utah

BBSC_TriMag_0510.indd 1

3/10/10 3:57 PM

E at r ig h t

Good Reads

Nutrition is a subject that one has to master on an individual level. While some of us can subsist on Ding Dongs and Yoo-hoos and still run sub-3-hour marathons, others hopscotch from diet to diet in the desperate hope that one

will show them the performance and aesthetic results they want. What seems to be a common thread among dieters and non-dieters alike, however, is confusion over what constitutes proper nutrition and how to follow an eating plan with more than good intentions.

Two new books can help. One focuses on

race-specific performance weight while another is more of a lifestyle guide to whole foods and their performance-boosting properties. What each offers is a guidebook for the athlete who feels in the dark when it comes to understanding how nutrition can function as a key performance tool. Both may be found at Velopress.com.

The Athlete’s Plate: Real Food for High Performance

Racing Weight: How to Get Lean for Peak Performance

“The Athlete’s Plate” author Adam Kelinson gives a practical approach to eating locally and organically for optimal health and performance.

He gives a brief but informative rundown on agribusiness, the proliferation of corn byproducts in the modern diet and why foods grown locally are better for you and the community you live in.

Kelinson doesn’t just write to the elite athlete with peak race-day performance in mind. While he firmly believes that putting wholesome, pesticide-free food in your body will offer returns come race day, he also believes it will improve your performances throughout your daily life, be it as a parent or at your job. “Your lifestyle must support your nutrition, and your nutrition must support your lifestyle,” Kelinson writes.

“This is the holistic approach that will manifest success in all areas of your performance.”

You won’t find any supplements or juice fasts in this diet book, but what you will find is a simple approach to eating: avoiding chemical exposure and pesticides, eating raw food whenever possible and improving the quality of the food you eat while spending less time in the kitchen.

Kelinson provides dozens of recipes including smoothies, snacks and full meals that are delicious and nutritious and are crafted with the busy endurance athlete in mind. Only a few of the recipes take more than 30 minutes to make, and they offer enough variety to appeal to every taste.

Menus range from herb quinoa-stuffed tomatoes to steamed fish with garlic, ginger and lime to slow-roasted pork. Some of the handier features of the recipe section of this book include the “good additions” section, where you can find easy ingredient substitutions, and the “good accompaniments” section, which lists other recipes that pair well with your dish.

Kelinson’s book offers a simple solution to the mind-numbing complexity of the modern diet and gives you the tools you need to change your nutritional lifestyle.

This is a diet book for athletes.

Period. Don’t buy this book if you are trying to squeeze into a mini-skirt for your high school reunion. The diet plan in this book, written by Tr iathlete magazine Senior Editor Matt Fitzgerald, is meant to help you reach your optimum race weight—something that can’t be measured by how your pants fit but rather how well your pants fit while you cross the finish line five minutes faster than last year.

Let’s face it: Those extra five to 10 pounds people often carry around their middle can slow them down. At the same time, caloric restriction is more difficult when you are active. Your body needs more calories than a sedentary dieter, and how you metabolize fat, protein and carbs is also radically different when you are in heavy training.

Fitzgerald’s book gives readers a scientifically backed system to discover your optimum race weight, as well as five steps to achieve it by improving your diet quality, balancing your energy sources, timing your food intake, managing your appetite and training more efficiently. Fitzgerald does not focus only on elite endurance athletes looking to cut off those final five seconds. His guidelines can be applied to any athlete dealing with modern-day eating issues including holiday weight gain and emotional eating.

“Racing Weight” answers the difficult questions athletes often have about dieting, including how to handle the off-season from a weight-maintenance perspective. He includes several meal plans of elite athletes during their peak training volumes, which is interesting both from an educational perspective (although Fitzgerald warns readers against following an elite athlete’s diet blindly) and because the diets vary so much from athlete to athlete.

Overall, what Fitzgerald has achieved is a methodical approach to weight loss to improve athletic performance, an objective that often eludes even the most serious competitors.

By Adam Kelinson (VeloPress 2009) $24.95

158

triathletemag.com

158-159_EatRight_201005.indd 158

By Matt Fitzgerald (VeloPress 2009) $18.95

may 2010

3/12/10 2:25 PM

E at r ig h t

Call It The “Duh” Diet According to a study recently published in Nutrition & Metabolism, if you eat when you’re hungry, and only when you’re hungry, you will lose weight if you are overweight and sustain your weight if you are not overweight.

It sounds absurdly simple, and it is, but many easy solutions hide in plain sight.

The core concept behind the study is the wellknown fact that eating behaviors are regulated by both physiological sensations, such as a rumbling stomach, linked to specific underlying biochemical events, such as declining blood glucose levels, and by environment and conditioning, such as the conventions of eating breakfast, lunch and dinner at certain times of day.

The study’s authors, led by Mario Ciampolini of the University of Firenze in Florence, Italy, coined the term “initial hunger” to refer to the purely physiological triggers of eating. They hypothesized that initial hunger is the body’s true guide to how much food it needs. They further proposed that overweight individuals who were trained to recognize and respond to initial hunger—eating only when they were truly hungry instead of always at

planned meal times, when food happened to be available—would lose weight.

And guess what? In five months, the subjects trained to eat only when hungry for this study lost more than 10 pounds, on average—far more than members of a control group who were encouraged to lose weight by means of general eating restraint (which is known to be ineffective because it is unsustainable). What’s unique about this study is that it did not require that participants ever put up with hunger. It only demanded that they never eat when they were not physically hungry.

Now, you might assume that eating by initial hunger would be very inconvenient because it would make your daily eating schedule totally unpredictable. However, Ciampolini and colleagues found that, while eating by initial hunger broke the study participants out of familiar eating schedules, their patterns of initial hunger were more or less the same each day although different for each individual. This enabled them to eat on a fairly consistent schedule, albeit a different schedule than they were used to.

Tri Club Grub: Triscottsdale Triathlon club

This month the TriScottsdale triathlon club told us about its favorite post-workout hangout spot.

“Almost any day of the year, but especially around 7:30 a.m. on Tuesdays, you can find most of the TriScottsdale Gage Racing group enjoying breakfast in the Atrium Café at Gainey Village Health Club,” says club president Mark Rubin. “The Tuesday ride from Gainey starts at 6 a.m. and winds from Scottsdale through the neighborhoods of Paradise Valley, Arcadia and Phoenix before

returning to Gainey Village. The numerous hills and frequent sprints make for some pretty hungry cyclists at the end of the ride.”

Rubin cites the café’s free coffee from 6 to 9 a.m., as well as its array of breakfast sandwiches, bagels, omelets and hickory smoked bacon. Rubin says that every year during the Tour de France the group has its ride finish at the Atrium Café just in time to see the last televised hour of that day’s stage.

“A huge crowd enjoys coffee, breakfast and cheers for Lance and the guys,” he says.

The Atrium Café is located at 7477 E. Doubletree Ranch Road, Scottsdale, Ariz., 85258 and can be reached at 480-609-6979 or Villageclubs.com. For more information about the TriScottsdale triathlon club, visit Triscottsdale.org. may 2010

158-159_EatRight_201005.indd 159

triathletemag.com

159

3/12/10 2:25 PM

GE T L E A NER , GO FA ST ER

Tracy Byrnes

Every month, ForzeGPS and Triathlete feature an age-grouper who exemplifies the performance-bodyweight connection.

160

triathletemag.com

160_GetLeaner_201005.indd 160

PERSONAL: Tracy Byrnes, 40, is single and lives in Santa Rosa, Calif.

OCCUPATION: Byrnes works as a product manager for a women’s athletic clothing brand.

TRIATHLON EXPERIENCE: The first triathlon Byrnes signed up for was the 2005 Vineman Ironman 70.3, but a wise friend recommended that she participate in at least one sprint first, and she did. Since then she has completed a number of triathlons of various distances, including two Ironman races.

BEFORE TRIATHLON: An all-or-nothing kind of woman, Byrnes went straight from the couch to running her first marathon in 2004. She decided that if she actually trained properly she could probably qualify for the Boston Marathon. She did just that the following year.

TRAINING APPROACH: Byrnes trains 10 to 15 hours a week during the summer. Her balanced approach includes regular strength training and a complete day of rest every Friday, “which I obser ve religiously,” she said. “I also manage my sleep, nutrition and hydration was carefully as I manage my training,” Byrnes added.

WEIGHT MANAGEMENT: According to Byrnes, “It’s more beneficial to take pounds off your body than ounces off your bike,” so she takes her weight management seriously. “I try to eat as naturally as I can,” said Byrnes of her diet, “but I do supplement with protein drinks and Forze bars to control my appetite and make it easier to resist cravings.” Like many triathletes, Byrnes eats frequent, small meals, but unlike most triathletes she strictly limits her consumption of grains and eats no wheat.

ADVICE TO OTHER TRIATHLETES: Byrnes offers three pieces of advice to other triathletes trying to achieve their optimal racing weight: “Eat smaller meals all day, skip the birthday cake at the office and make sure you replenish your body within 45 minutes after your workouts with protein and carbs.”

may 2010

3/12/10 2:26 PM

WIN THIS BIKE!

Subscribe or extend your current subscription, and you’ll

SAVE 51% OFF THE COVER PRICE, and you’ll also be entered for a chance to

WIN THIS BIKE!

triathletemag.com • lookcycle-usa.com

LookSweepsAd.indd 1

Offer expires May 31, 2010. No purchase necessary.

Official rules are listed in the back of the magazine.

1/15/10 9:31 AM

LeonsTri_TriMag_0510.indd 1

3/8/10 4:37 PM

GE A R A ND T ECH

Nils Nilsen

TECH SUPPORT TRIATHLETE’S GARAGE TRI’D AND TESTED GEAR BAG may 2010

163_GearTechOpener_201005.indd 163

164 166 168 170

triathletemag.com

163

3/12/10 2:26 PM

Back in the Saddle Again

By Christopher Kautz Tech Support, After a several years away from triathlon, I have recently started training again. I am enjoying being back in the sport, but I am noticing discomfort when cycling that I do not remember having before, particularly in my low back, neck and shoulder areas. I had my bike professionally fitted the last year I raced and it was quite comfortable then. I have not changed anything on my bike since that fitting.

What happened and what I can do to make my bike more comfortable?

Paul M. Dawn North Royalton, Ohio

Paul, The discomfort you’re feeling is quite common in those who take up cycling after a long 164

triathletemag.com

164_TechSupport_201005.indd 164

If an athlete becomes less flexible or loses some of his core muscle development, then it wouldn’t be surprising for him to experience discomfort on a bike that once fit beautifully.

Back pain on the bike is normally a result of riding with the spine flexed (that is, the back rounded) beyond one’s functional limit. This problem is compounded when there is a lack of trunk strength, which makes it difficult to keep the spine in a neutral position. When the spine is flexed on the bike it affects both the lower and upper ends of the spine. Excessive load is applied to the low back and the neck goes into hyperextension when you look up, stressing the upper-back muscles. Eventually pain develops in both areas.

To alleviate this problem, work to increase the range of motion in your hips and pelvis, as this will increase your functional limit of spine flexion. The primary muscles preventing flexion are the hamstrings and adductors. Stretching these muscles, for example by bending forward from the waist (with straight legs and without rounding the back), will give you more range of motion at the hips and pelvis. And developing good core strength will help you maintain a neutral spine while on the bike, reducing the load on the back, neck and shoulders.

Given that increasing flexibility and strength take some time, consider making some adjustments to your position on the bike to alleviate discomfort in the short-term.

To reduce load on the back, neck and shoulders, you might raise your handlebars or shorten the reach from your saddle to your bars. layoff from the sport. People often think that Doing this will open up the angle at your hips because their bike was comfortable when they and require less stabilization from your core last rode it, that it will still be comfortable when muscles, fatiguing your back less. You might also they get back on it, even if their last ride was consider lowering your saddle slightly to reduce some time ago. But while a bike does not change tension on your hamstrings, which will make when not in use, a rider’s it easier to maintain a body does, and for this pelvis and spine.

While a bike does not neutral reason a setup that was If after working change when not in use, a on your flexibility and perfect then might not be perfect now. and making rider’s body does, and for strength, some minor adjustThe fit of a bicycle this reason a setup that ments to your bike, you is partly dependent on rough anatomical was perfect then might are still uncomfortable, measurements, such as have your fit rechecked not be perfect now. inseam, torso length and by a qualified bike fitter. arm lengths, and since As your body is always these dimensions remain relatively unchanged changing, your position on the bike needs to over time, it is understandable that an athlete change to match your body. would believe that his bike should always fit once it has been properly sized. However, as Christopher Kautz, MA, is the owner and founder of your case illustrates, something beyond rough PK Cycling, and one of the originators of the fit studio body measurements is also important to bike concept. His clients include numerous Ironman world fit. In fact, there are many other body-related champions, Tour de France veterans, Olympians and factors that affect bike fit, including flexibility thousands of age-group athletes. You can find him at and core strength.

Pkcycling.com.

John Segesta/johnsegesta.com

t ech support

may 2010

3/12/10 2:27 PM

HED_TriMag_0510.indd 1

3/8/10 4:35 PM

T Ri at hl e t e ’s g a r a ge L D-6 fits in a Trico Ironcase or cardboard bike box—great news for frequent travelers.

Fit The D-6 comes in seven different sizes, all of which are built around triathlon-specific geometry. It sports a slack-ish 76-degree seat tube angle, but the saddle attachment allows for a couple centimeters of forward adjustability. The middle sizes have conventional stack and reach values but the outlier sizes are a little funky. The XS has a much shorter reach than many other very small bikes. The L and XL sizes have a short stack that might cause issues for taller riders. In fact, the M/L and L sizes have identical stack values.

The small headtube on the big frames explains why 6-foot-5-inch Matt Reed chooses to ride his D-6 with down-turned bars, which raise the rider, and several centimeters of headset spacers.

Fuji D-6 Frameset $3,230

By Aaron Hersh

F

uji is most known for its low to mid-price point bikes but Fuji is more than capable of producing a first tier race machine, and the D-6 goes a long way to prove it.

Although I can’t definitively comment on the aerodynamics of the D-6, the headtube, seat tube and chainstays follow design convention with a narrow and deep profile. The bike strays from traditional aerodynamic design with wide fork blades and an enormous cluster of carbon at the junction of the seat and headtubes.

Aerodynamics experts seem to agree that wide fork blades are slower than thin, but the jury is out on the effectiveness of unconventional shapes at the rear of the bike.

In the 1930s, German aerodynamicist Wunibald Kamm discovered that a teardropshaped object retains most of its aerodynamic qualities if the tail is lopped off at the point where cross-sectional thickness is half of the maximum. This truncated airfoil is now called the Kammback or Kamm tail. Automakers have been using this shape (think Toyota Prius) since 1940, and the bike industry finally got on board when Trek unveiled the Speed Concept in 2009. The D-6’s rear brake shield doesn’t adhere to the traditional Kammback design, but the giant wad of carbon that ends abruptly at the rear brake might not be as much of an aerodynamic problem as it appears to be because of the Kamm effect.

166

triathletemag.com

166_TriGarage_201005.indd 166

Tri bike gadgets

Value

The brakes are the most unique attribute of the D-6, and they are a problem. Fuji went with flash (and maybe a small aero boost?) rather than functionality when it hid the front brake behind the fork and the rear brake within a cavity behind the bulbous seat tube-toptube junction. The hidden attachment points can only accommodate the Tektro R725 brake caliper. The calipers themselves don’t hurt braking performance, but the undulating brake housing routing pattern certainly does.

The front brake housing feeds through the top cap, down the headtube and pops out of the fork blade. Routing through the headtube is a creative way to hide the cable, but this pattern forces it to trace two loop-de-loops and creates a lot of friction between the cable and the housing. This friction seriously hurts braking performance and the front caliper lacks stopping power. After coming out of the fork, the housing protrudes into uncut air before looping back onto the caliper. The marginal aerodynamic efficiency gained by hiding the brake and housing is partially negated by the drag created by the exposed piece of housing.

The rear brake housing enters the toptube behind the stem and takes a sharp 90-degree turn just before meeting the caliper. This final kinked segment of housing scrapes the cable and creates a lot of friction. The caliper adjustment points are accessible but difficult to reach. These problems combine to make the rear brake finicky. It works better than the front but still isn’t great.

Fuji did hit the mark with the seat post system, however. The D-6 uses a sliding seatmast rather than a traditional seat post. The sleeve attaches reliably to the mast and creates a solid platform for the saddle. Unlike many seatmast bikes, a size

The D-6 is competitive in the “price no object” category when equipped with top shelf parts, but it is a showstopper at $3,150 when built with cheaper materials and spec’d with SRAM Rival, Profile T2+ bars and other budget-sensitive components. The D-6 Comp is an eye-catching option boasting first-tier ride quality for a terrestrial price.

Ride experience Seconds lost through a corner are just as valuable as seconds lost to the wind, and Fuji built the D-6 with this reality in mind. The D-6 is just as comfortable turning as it is going straight. It holds a line through sweeping corners and screaming descents so firmly that there is no need to get out of the aerobars. Grabbing nutrition from aid stations and fiddling with behind-the-saddle hydration is no problem. In short, it inspires confidence. The D-6 is as much fun to ride as any tri bike on the market, and it belongs in the elite company of the Orbea Ordu and Look 596 when it comes to ride quality.

may 2010

3/12/10 2:27 PM

THE GEAR DEAL IS BACK & SWEETER! Get $565 Of Rudy Gear For Only $249.99 + Free Shipping!

$75 Team Bag

$125 Slinger Helmet

$25 Team Hat $10 Lanyard $25 T-Shirt $175 Sunglasses

Polarized lens upgrades available

$65 First Lens Set

$65 Second Lens Set

RX / PRESCRIPTION DEAL

SIGN-UP TODAY

$50 Off any Rudy Rx from a dealer using our FreeForm Tekâ&#x201E;˘ Digital Technology

First time e-mail subscribers get 25% Off your first order

rydon

sign-up at: www.e-rudy.com/sign-up.php

download coupon at: www.e-rudy.com/coupons.php

Find This Deal & Dealers: www.e-rudy.com

Rudy_TriMag_0510.indd 1

3/12/10 4:32 PM

t ri’d a nd t ested

The Zipp VukaR2C shifters are compatible with Shimano or SRAM 10 speed groupset, and available for $375.

Zipp VukaR2C Shifters

By Aaron Hersh

E

very bike on the Kona pier in 2008 used shifters that were nearly identical to Shimano SIS downtube shifters, which were the must-have shifter in 1984. Triathletes were subjected to that same archaic shifter technology for decades, but we finally have a new option.

Enter the Zipp VukaR2C. Athletes considered royalty within the sport had access to the new shifter technology in 2009, and now the rest of us can get our hands on it in 2010. The VukaR2C is a return to center (R2C, get it?) shifter, which means the levers point straight forward, regardless of the selected gear. Swing the lever up or down to change gears just like traditional variable position bar end shifters (VP shifters). Release the shift lever and it returns to the straightahead position. This might not sound like a big improvement, but the R2C shifting action is only one of several subtle advancements that combine to make the Zipp VukaR2C a major leap forward in shifting technology.

Measurables Zipp claims an aero savings of six seconds per 40 kilometers over old school shifters.

They arrived at this number by wind-tunnel testing a bike without a rider or a dummy between zero and 30 degrees of yaw. The aero statistic published by Zipp needs to be taken with a grain of salt, however, because it does not account for the interaction between the shifters and the rider’s hands.

168

triathletemag.com

168_TridNTested_201005.indd 168

At 180 grams, the VukaR2C’s are 5 grams beefier than the Dura Ace 7900 TT shift levers and 41 grams heavier than the very lean SRAM 900 TT shifters. The tangible speed upgrade from VP shifters to the VukaR2C’s is minimal, but they earn their keep with ergonomic and functional upgrades.

Ergonomics Zipp replaced the thin paddles found on normal bar-end shifters with bulbous levers that fit snuggly in hand. Wrap a palm around the lever, and it feels like a natural extension of the aerobar rather than a bolted-on addition. The angle the lever rests at can be adjusted with one turn of a wrench and this customizable ergonomic shape improves leverage and allows the rider to comfortably drape his hands around the shifter.

Attach the VukaR2C’s onto a pair of VukaShift aerobar extensions (with built-in shifter bosses) and integration becomes even smoother. These bars cut a little weight but more importantly, they draw the shifters 3 centimeters back toward the rider and allow them to sit comfortably in hand. This means no more reaching and readjusting to shift.

Not to mention, the combination looks incredibly clean.

Shift Characteristics Rear shifts are swift and definitive. The lever resistance is dialed perfectly and creates a positive shift feeling without requiring too much force to throw the lever. It can bang out four shifts with one pull of the paddle, so finding the ideal gear is quick and easy over any terrain.

Unlike current VP shifters, the VukaR2C front shifter is indexed and has four cable positions. The intermediate positions allow the derailleur to be trimmed out of contact with the chain in any gear combination but cannot accommodate a triple crank. Just like the rear shifter, the front is capable of rapid shifts but spring tension is a little tighter and it requires a strong push to downshift.

The VukaR2C internal workings use SRAM’s Leap Frog shifting technology, the same found in its road shifters. This engagement style prevents the ratchet wheel from wearing down and will preserve their crisp shift feeling long after a standard shifter has turned to mush.

The techies may be disappointed with this, but the VukaR2C offers a bigger ride experience upgrade than speed boost. The shifting action simply feels more crisp and accurate than old-style TT shifters, and the ergonomic shape allows the rider to sit still while rapidly flipping through gears. The VukaR2C does not shave weight or hide your bike from the wind, but it does make riding more comfortable and shifting more precise. may 2010

3/12/10 2:28 PM

EXPERIENCE THE

BIRTHPLACE OF TRIATHLON

Hop off a plane. It's 75 degrees and sunny. Welcome to San Diego in September. Experience the birthplace of triathlon.

Our forefathers started it all on September 25, 1974. 36 years later, see where San Diego has taken triathlon. The San Diego Triathlon Classic is located minutes from the Airport with hotel accommodations steps from the transition area. The course allows spectators to see their athlete 7 times. Enjoy our scenic and challenging course, endurance expo, and post-race party with microbrew oasis. And pizza, just like in ‘74. It’s no wonder they call it “America’s Finest City”.

For more information visit www.sdtriclassic.com - $20 OFF Discount Code: TMag20

September 18th, 2010. Become a part of history. presented by:

www.sandiegotriathlonclassic.com MomentSporting_TriMag_0510.indd 1

3/8/10 4:40 PM

gear bag Look Keo 2 Max, $185

The difference between Shimano and Look pedals has historically been very simple. Both function nearly identically, but Shimano pedals are more durable and Look pedals are lighter.

Look complicated that equation when it added a metal plate onto the body of the new Keo 2 Max series pedals. This plate protects the relatively soft body from the cleat and extends the life of the pedal. Although the metal plate adds a little beef, the Keos retain their weight advantage over competitively priced offerings from Shimano. The Keo 2 Max weighs in 50 grams shy of the Ultegra 6700 pedal. Look claims the new body improves power transfer when compared to previous generation Keos, but we couldn’t tell the difference through a carbon shoe sole. Lookcycle.com

Endurance Conspiracy T-Shirt, $30

Endurance Conspiracy, the latest DeBoom family business, produces organic cotton tees with original triathlon-themed designs. The environmentally conscious clothing company brings a refreshingly creative approach to casual tri clothing; there isn’t a cliché swimmer/biker/runner to be found on any EC product. Their unique designs include a yeti holding a fixie, a triathlon motif circus banner and—our personal favorite—“flying uphill.”

Enduranceconspiracy.com

Cobb V Flow Max, $170

Most riders have finally come to their senses and now realize that cutout saddles are not just for women— especially on a triathlon bike. The V Flow Max takes tri-friendly design cues from the most extreme cutout seat on the market, the ISM Adamo. It sports the familiar two-pronged supportive nose that prevents the nether regions from supporting any weight and has long saddle rails that allow for a steeper position.

Unlike the ISM, the V Flow has a recessed saddle nose that prevents the prongs from spreading apart but never contacts the rider. The V Flow looks lame, but we’ll trade style for blood flow downstairs every time.

Cobbcycling.com

Running with Lydiard, $15

Triathlon training is measured like a clinical experiment these days, but we can all use some old school now and then. Arthur Lydiard pioneered modern training principles back in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, and he is seriously old school. For example, he had his 800m athletes running 100+ miles a week.

“Running with Lydiard” won’t help make sense of FTP, VO2 or LT but it is filled with hard-core run training theory that transfers nicely to the swim and bike. M-m-sports.com

170

triathletemag.com

170_GearBag_201005.indd 170

may 2010

3/12/10 2:28 PM

AAACamp_TriMag_0510.indd 1

3/9/10 9:59 AM

UP F RON T Racing is competition.

Healthy competition builds character.

In the exploding sport of TRIATHLON, Multisport MINISTRIES helps Christian men stand strong and healthy for Christ.

Join with others across the USA and around the world.

“May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” (Ephesians 3:19) “For physical training is of some value, but Godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”

(1 Timothy 4:8)

OFFICIAL CLUB

A TRIATHLON TEAM WITH A PURPOSE 172

triathletemag.com

172-173_UpFront_201005.indd 172

John Segesta/johnsegesta.com

Register online TODAY!

Getting the Most Out of Swim Test Sets

BY ANDY POTTS

P

eople often ask me how I feel about test sets, or standard interval sets that swimmers perform periodically to gauge their fitness level: Are they an integral part of my training? What workouts do I use to gauge my fitness or race readiness? What are my favorite test sets?

I don’t have a stock answer, but I’m always gauging my progress in training. Test sets have been a part of my development as an athlete and continue to be a valuable tool.

While growing up, I was constantly challenged by my coach, Todd Kemmerling, with different test sets in swimming. We used a variety of sets to improve my speed, fitness, endurance and overall swimming. All sets were timed to maximize my improvement as the season and my career moved forward. When I look back on some of my old workouts, I’m shocked by what I was

able to accomplish as a teenager. My coach’s masochistic mind was the only limit of what we were subjected to. We would do anything from 100s from a dive with lots of rest to 10,000m for time.

When I went to the University of Michigan, we used one time tested set at three different points in the season for two specific reasons. The test set we all had to endure was a 3,000m for time. This is not an easy set, and it certainly challenges you physically and mentally.

The first reason for this test set was to get an accurate assessment of where we were in terms of fitness. The second, and arguably more vital reason, was to plan out our training times, intervals and goals for the upcoming weeks.

My college coach, Jon Urbanchek, is renowned for his scientific approach to may 2010

3/12/10 2:33 PM

swim training. Using the test to both ways of training. One set of 3,000m for time, Jon benefit to doing specific test sets would extrapolate our pace to is knowing what is coming up so help us define the parameters that you can mentally prepare for our training. It was then our for it. And being tested every day goal to hit our pace based off of challenges you to mentally adapt color-coordinated charts that he to different daily demands. developed. As soon as we adapted On the physical side, the to our pacing we would have to benefit of doing occasional test do another 3,000m for time to get sets is to get an accurate measure our new goals for the upcoming of your current state of fitness. training block.

Then, you can set proper goals I took all the lessons that I and intervals to match where learned in my swimming career you are as opposed to where into triathlon. Through the years, you want to be. By doing daily I have learned what works best training tests, you are constantly for me and my physiology. Dur- tweaking the stimuli to elicit a ing my early years in the sport I positive result. would do test sets regularly to But there are also drawbacks test my improvement. to both philosophies. It is hard However, not to rest up because I didn’t a test set to One benefit to doing for have a lot of get your best specific test sets is performance. history with running or cyHowever, knowing what is cling, I showed that approach coming up so that tends to skew improvement with every test you can mentally the results beset. Today, I cause instead prepare for it. of treating a have eschewed the specific test test set like anset philosophy for one of daily other training day, you have more and mini test sets. My current energy and your performance is coach, Mike Doane, firmly be- more like a race than like trainlieves in challenging me every day. ing. A major drawback to being He will change the paradigm with tested every day is that if you which we train to create muscle don’t recover from each session, and physiological confusion. your overall training will suffer.

As a result, my improvement Both philosophies have has been steady and at times shown results and both require dramatic. Mike and I are con- you to push yourself to improve. stantly comparing workout data It is up to you and your coach including my output (times and to decide whether one of them distance) and my values (heart would work for you. rate and recovery time) to my Although I don’t do test sets past workouts. Whether the time now, I am constantly searching frame is one week, one month or for new stimuli to bring about one year, my coach is constantly improvements. I test myself in evaluating my progress and devis- training on a daily basis with different challenges each day. ing new ways to challenge me.

Because of this approach, Progress is measured by my I need to be able to answer the ability to recover and my abiltraining demands that are laid out ity to repeat the ever-increasing each day. This keeps me on my demands of staying ahead of my toes and I never know quite what competitors. to expect on any given workout.

My bottom line is that test Each day there is a test waiting sets are race days—that’s when for me, I’m just not sure what it things matter most and when I is until I start working out. get the clearest picture of where There are certainly benefits I am in my season. may 2010

172-173_UpFront_201005.indd 173

triathletemag.com

173

3/12/10 2:34 PM

records and barriers. To have his reputation tarnished was to create disbelief in everything we hold dear in sport. If not even Tiger is a good guy, then who are we to look up to as a role model?

Well, for one, probably not a professional athlete.

I actually found it something of a relief that Tiger wasn’t so perfect. He has faults like the rest of us, and they were ones that couldn’t be erased by another spectacular round or multimilliondollar endorsement deal. Behind his relentless perfectionism, it seems there lurked the repressed rebellion of a teenager who missed out on too many Friday nights to practice his short game.

We can only imagine the kind of pressure Tiger was under, and it’s no surprise that he cracked.

I don’t absolve athletes of their responsibilities as spouses, parents and decent human beings; professional athletes should adhere to the same social responsibilities as every one else. But just as we all strive to be better people, it is comforting to know that these superhuman athletes have the same shortcomings.

What the public demands of sports figures is unattainable. They are expected to be fierce, aggressive and relentless on the field and then turn into the boy next door after the game. Competitive sport demands a high level of intensity and no small measure of ego, yet we expect humility of Accenture and Gillette to distance themselves and graciousness even in defeat. Celebrity athletes from Tiger post-scandal, companies are not are not only required to win decisively, but to lose willing to tarnish their reputations with fallen graciously and to never show anger, frustration heroes. The public is slightly more forgiving; or despair. They must train long hours and live a we are willing to overlook a certain amount of monkish existence, yet we like to see our athletes imperfection in athletes. We know there is a dirty with a happy, smiling family on the sidelines to underbelly to the glossy veneer of professional prove that they are balanced humans. sport. Yet we have convinced ourselves that But balance is not part of a champion’s athletes are above reproach—any human faults mentality; by definition, excellence in any field and failings are whitewashed by supreme ability demands an inordinate amount of attention paid in sport. They are our to one singular pursuit.

Sunday afternoon idols Continuous repetition But balance is not part of of the same skill set for that we worship from the sidelines, and we take it a champion’s mentality; by years on end is required personally when they perform in sport but definition, excellence in any to fail us. does not make for a field demands an inordinate content, well-balanced Tiger always seemed a little too perfect—a Rather, it amount of attention paid to individual. well-oiled machine of fosters a sense of narrowone singular pursuit. golfing virtuoso, the likes minded purpose, a sense of which the world had of confinement to the never seen. His game was methodical, and his goal. If anything, be surprised that these intense nature was reserved. To win was expected. It individuals, under public scrutiny, have not always seemed to be a relief for Tiger—a job exhibited their humanity earlier. It is testament done, another box ticked off. That constant to their strength of commitment to the pursuit dominance made one wonder if there really was of excellence that they have not allowed being a man behind the golfer. human to interfere with their careers.

Upon his admission of infidelity, the public’s Love them or hate them. Respect what they reaction was disappointment because he seemed do on the playing field, but when they step off, like one of the only “good guys” in sport. He was accept professional athletes for what they are: a model youth who had risen through the ranks human beings, for better or worse. Exceptional of a sport dominated by old white guys to smash beings, but human nonetheless.

Tim Mantoani

T ICKE T PU NCH

The Professional Athlete: Man or Myth?

BY SAMANTHA MCGLONE

S

ince gladiators first took to the Coliseum of ancient Rome to do battle for public entertainment, we have looked upon athletes as more than just mere mortals. Today, modern-day gladiators battle on fields, stadiums and tracks all over the world. Now careers are fueled by the promise of lucrative contracts, winning championships and commercial endorsements.

Yet we hold our professional athletes to a higher standard than ever as they take the role of modern day heroes. However, we should recognize them as the fallible humans that they are—highly skilled and extraordinarily fit humans, but no less mortal than the rest of us.

The recent scandals involving high-profile athletes have brought human fallibility to our attention, and the public reaction of shock and disappointment seems excessive. Are we really that surprised that Tiger Woods cheated on his wife? Or that Andre Agassi used drugs to get through matches of a game he secretly hated?

These two icons of sport—champions in any sense of the word—spent years at the top of their games. Their dominance was absolute, should we really be shocked that other aspects of their lives suffered as the cost of this single-minded focus?

Certain champions have superseded their sport and become part of the larger celebrity culture: Tiger, Beckham, Lance Armstrong, Venus Williams. All are extraordinary athletes with squeaky-clean reputations—a marketer’s dream, and an elusive one. As seen by the quick efforts 1 74

triathletemag.com

174-175_TicketPunch_201005.indd 174

may 2010

3/12/10 4:17 PM

DANutz_TriMag_0510.indd 1

3/15/10 10:41 AM

SINGL E T R A CK MIND

D

rinking enough fluids before, during and after a grueling event is always a challenge but it’s critical. Even a 2 percent to 3 percent drop in body weight caused by dehydration can cause fatigue and lactic acid buildup. That, in turn, can lead to a decrease in performance of up to 7 percent.

Races can be won and lost by a margin of less than 1 percent, so this aspect of preparation is as important as any training you might do.

Imagine yourself gripping the handlebars as you fly through the forest with branches, rocks and dirt flying past your face. How prepared would you be in that situation to assess and manage your hydration?

Getting water from its container into your body is a bit more complicated in off-road events.

You have a variety of options of what kind of fluids and how to carry them in the race, and race directors often offer a few additional options for gathering more fluids while you are on the go. The longest leg of the race is always the bike, so it’s essential to consider how you can get the bulk of your fluid intake while riding. You will have more opportunities to drink on the run, but it is often easier on your stomach to drink while riding. Here are some tips on how to manage hydration in your first off-road event.

CONSIDER YOUR SPEED ON THE BIKE The needs for a fast cyclist with great skills and those of a slower cyclist who is less confident on the bike are very different. As mentioned before, the bulk of most off-road triathlon races is spent on the bike. It is not unusual for very fast pro athletes to go more than double the speed of many amateur racers just in the bike segment of the race. This means the bike might take 70 to 90 minutes for the 1 76

triathletemag.com

176_SingletrackMind_201005.indd 176

your hands can stay on the bars at all times and hydration can still be achieved. This is a big bonus for less experienced technical riders. Second, more fluids can be taken than would be available with just bottles. This is a big advantage for slower riders who might need a hydration pack and the feed zones. Third, an athlete knows exactly what she is drinking the entire race. This is why a lot of fast riders still use hydration packs. There is no argument that knowing what you are drinking and in what concentration is a good race strategy.

I have used the Nathan hydration packs in

BY MELANIE MCQUAID training and small races. They are lightweight with a vest-like harness to hold them flat to your back while racing. Now, packs are made with cyclists and trail runners in mind, so light weight is a high priority.

I have also spent most of my career carrying water bottles and exchanging in feed zones at world cup mountain bike races. For me, either strategy is fast and effective. top pro men and women and may be well I have first dibs at bottles in the feed zones more than two hours for many participants. without being the first one there (I am sure A pro or a top amateur competitor would Conrad Stoltz has sneaked up on a surprised likely be able to carry enough fluids on the bike volunteer, not expecting him so soon), which in two cages for a 70- to 90-minute bike split means I have been able to rely on replacement in the race. If that athlete chooses a hydration bottles or my own provisions, depending on pack, there would be no concern whatsoever. my strategy for a given race.

You do not need a very large hydration pack Some smaller races have the same feed zone to hydrate for 90 minutes. With feed zones for the bike and for the run, which means that on course, a top competitor would likely be only cups are offered. If you want a full bottle able to replace an empty in these zones, you need bottle with a full one and stop and refill. In that The longest leg of the to have more than enough case, it helps to either have race is always the bike, a friend help by passing onboard with one bottle.

Depending on the number so it’s essential to con- you a replacement bottle, of feed zones, that athlete or carry a hydration pack. sider how you can get would decide how many Can you guess the bottles she would need to race in which the largest the bulk of your fluid not run out of fluids before contingent of competitors intake while riding. arriving at transition. choose a hydration pack?

The slower cyclist The Xterra World Chamwould be in a different situation. He would pionship in Maui, which is not surprising. This not be able to carry enough fluids for a race race boasts the longest bike and run courses, that is going to be longer than two hours even which means the number of athletes pushed if the weather was chilly. He would probably past the two-hour mark increases drastically need two or three bottles for that length of race (the fastest pro men are at 90 minutes on the to be adequately fueled for a 10K run (which bike). So figuring out how much fluid to take will always take the length of time normally in is a big consideration at the biggest event of allotted a 12 to 15K run even if he was a fast the year. In addition, the course is rocky and runner because of the terrain). The feed zones unpredictable, so keeping your hands on the are an option for swapping a bottle on course bars while drinking is much safer. if you are accustomed to grabbing a bottle Before you go to any race, make sure you from a volunteer (those from a mountain bike practice the option you are considering. Go background have an advantage here). mountain biking with two bottles on your bike or ride with a hydration pack. Each will require BOTTLES VERSUS PACKS getting used to before it’s simple and automatic.

However, because terrain can be unpredict- The easier and more natural it is, the more likely able in off-road events, many choose hydration you will be successful employing your strategy. packs over bottles. First, the pack means that Bottoms up!

Nils Nilsen

Don’t Be a Camel: Manage Your Off-Road Hydration

may 2010

3/12/10 2:39 PM

ZMarketing_IM.indd 1

12/2/09 11:04 AM

Memories of My First Bonk

BY TIM DEBOOM

T

he ride guide book said it was just under 60 miles. It was described as a flat 12 miles to the base of the climb, then a gradual 20 miles up, followed by a rolling nine miles high in the mountains and then a screaming 16-mile descent back into town.

My brother, Tony, and I had just arrived in Boulder, Colo., a few days prior. We had achieved plenty of success coming out of our home state of Iowa, but we wanted to taste what it was like to be in the triathlon land of kings and to see if training here could up our game even more.

Everyone who has crested that last hill heading north on Highway 36 before dropping into Boulder knows the feeling. The Flatirons stare at you as the foothills of the Rocky Mountains endlessly linger northward. Longs Peak, at 14,259 feet, gives you a glimpse of the high country adventure that awaits. When I came over that hill the first time, I felt the hair on my neck stand up, and I knew this was my new home.

We wanted to experience the climbs of Boulder immediately, so we set out on the ride.

Sixty miles was not daunting, and the plan was to go easy and enjoy the climb. Rolling out of town, we caught a glimpse of another 178

triathletemag.com

178_EndConspiracy_201005.indd 178

cyclist coming back into town. After a double take, Tony casually said, “Did you see who that was?” Obviously I had, as my tempo had increased above the prescribed easy pace, and I tried to hold back my own excitement and answer coolly, “Looked like Mark Allen to me.”

We got through the town of Lyons, which would later become my home for five years, and to the base of the climb. We both felt great, but we agreed that the way out was not flat by any means. What could have been a brooding foreshadowing was brushed off with a flick to the small chainring and a burst up the initial pitches of the climb.

This was our first time up such an ascent, and it set a precedent that has held true for me to this day. The excitement and wonder of riding new roads in such an incredible environment provide enough energy to get to the top of any new climb.

Once at the top, however, all bets are off.

Still reeling in our good fortune at spotting one of triathlon’s superstars, we finished the big climb and turned onto the Peak to Peak Highway. The pace had exceeded easy the entire time. Our enthusiasm was still quite high, but we soon realized that Colorado’s definition of rolling terrain is quite different from the

Iowa definition. Not only were the next nine miles continuous steady climbing, but the Department of Transportation must like to play jokes on unprepared cyclists.

The sign as we turned onto the highway stated “9 miles to Ward,” the beginning of our expected descent home. At least 20 minutes and several miles later, another sign said “8 miles to Ward.”

Our bonk began.

Personalities change under duress. I like to think a good bonk brings out the real you. Now this does not change the fact that I would always choose Tony first to be in my foxhole, but he began to get angry, cursing the route we had chosen. I, on the other hand, just pushed harder, thinking I could shorten the duration of the misery.

By the time we reached Ward, delirium had obviously begun to set in because we couldn’t find the road that led down the mountain.

Looking back, it was ridiculously obvious and no other options even existed, but this only reinforced how questionable our senses had become. Peak-to-Peak Highway After 20 eternal minutes of pedaling back and forth at the highest point of the ride (the altitude did not help our situation), we finally found our way down and thought we would have a free-fall home. Unfortunately, a stiff headwind forced us to pedal on the descent, and we continued our spiral into complete exhaustion.

I think we both felt lucky to have the other there—a partner to share in the despair is always beneficial.

We slowly pedaled back to the edge of town with our heads hanging, hoping that we would not see any more of our heroes. They would surely look upon us with nothing but pity.

Our egos were shattered, our legs were numb and we had been squeezing empty bottles in our mouths for the last hour hoping to find another drop where we knew there was none.

Even with a few years of experience, a couple Ironmans under my belt and plenty of rides longer than 60 miles, I will always recall that ride as my first true bonk. Just as one reminisces about his first kiss, first fight and even first Ironman, I always compare trips to Bonktown with my first visit there.

We finished the ride on the other side of Highway 36. The views were not quite as majestic, but the hair on my neck was standing on end again. Of course it was for completely different reasons this time. Nevertheless, I was awfully happy to be back in my new home—Boulder.

Don Karle

ENDUR A NCE CONSPIR A C Y

Read about author and age-group triathlete Holly Bennett’s latest Boulder, Colo., experience on page 52. may 2010

3/12/10 2:40 PM

WANT TO GO FASTER?

LifeSport has an unmatched record of helping age group athletes improve and achieve their goals. Our coaches work with all levels of athletes and will develop a program for you - no matter where you live. Whether you are looking to enter your first event, set a personal best, or qualify for World Championships, visit us at www.lifesportcoaching.com

LifeSports_TriMag_0510.indd 1 LifeSportCoach_TriMag_0310.indd 1

3/16/10 12:25 PM 1/7/10 2:58 PM

WorldEndurSport_TriMag_0510.indd 1

3/8/10 4:37 PM

a t t he r a c es “Watch out for the climb at mile 12!”

Wouldn’t it be nice to read about a race before you sign up?

Now you can. Active.com introduces Ratings & Reviews!

Login to rate

NEW!

Rate and Review Your Race

Rated 8 times

Alexander Defends Geelong Title, Steffen First 70.3 Win

Delly Carr

Samantha Warriner of New Zealand, left, and Lisa Marangon, of Australia, battle on the bike.

Swimmers take one lap around the triangular swim course in Corio Bay.

may 2010

181-187_ATR_201005.indd 181

Warriner is the first woman out of the water.

triathletemag.com

181

3/12/10 3:05 PM

a t t he r a c es “Super challenging, but fun!”

Wouldn’t it be nice to read about a race before you sign up?

Now you can. Active.com introduces Ratings & Reviews!

Login to rate

NEW!

Rate and Review Your Race

Rated 5 times

Caroline Steffen of Switzerland beat the women’s field taking an early lead on the bike, then controlling the race through the run.

Aussie Craig Alexander claims his third consecutive victory at the Geelong race.

Ironman 70.3 Geelong Feb. 7, 2010—Geelong, Victoria, Australia 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike, 13.1-mile run Women

Swim

Bike

Run

Total

1. Caroline Steffen (SWI)

24:54 2:20:38 1:25:59 4:14:32

2. Carrie Lester (AUS)

25:52 2:24:50 1:25:50 4:19:32

3. Lisa Marangon (AUS)

24:50 2:25:42 1:22:24 4:19:49

4. Samantha Warriner (NZL) 24:43 2:25:56 1:29:31 4:23:01 29:32 2:23:27 1:30:40 4:28:33

Men

Swim

1. Craig Alexander (AUS)

23:01 2:15:40 1:11:57 3:53:15

2. Leon Griffin (AUS)

23:13 2:15:29 1:13:22 3:54:35

3. Tim Berkel (AUS)

23:24 2:15:06 1:14:52 3:56:10

4. Peter Schokman (AUS)

23:23 2:15:15 1:15:00 3:56:25

5. Clayton Fettell (AUS)

21:54 2:12:37 1:19:29 3:56:39

Bike

Run

Total

*Age-group athlete 182

triathletemag.com

181-187_ATR_201005.indd 182

Delly Carr

Clayton Fettell of Australia posts the fastest bike split of the race to lead into T2.

5. Suzanne Alway* (AUS)

may 2010

3/12/10 3:06 PM

ChicagoTri_TriMag_0510.indd 1

3/9/10 10:09 AM

SommerSports_TriMag_0510.indd 1

3/16/10 11:14 AM

a t t he r a c es

“That water was COLD!” Wouldn’t it be nice to read about a race before you sign up?

Now you can. Active.com introduces Ratings & Reviews!

NEW!

Login to rate

Rate and Review Your Race

Rated 5 times

dussault earns u.s. its first gold at itu winter worlds

Colorado’s Rebecca Dussault became the first-ever non-European athlete to capture gold at this race.

Swedish star Andreas Svanebo emerged victorious to deny Norway a victory on home snow.

Eidsvoll ITU Winter Triathlon World Championships Feb. 13, 2010—Eidsvoll, Norway

Janos Schmidt/triathlon.org

6K run, 10K bike, 9K ski

American Heather Best finished in 13th place.

may 2010

181-187_ATR_201005.indd 185

Women

Swim

Bike

Run

Total

1. Rebecca Dussault (USA)

22:32

28:12

27:45

1:19:47

2. Tatiana Charochkina (RUS)

23:41

29:21

27:06

1:21:34

3. Hanne Trønnes (NOR)

23:41

27:45

28:49

1:21:40

4. Marthe K. Myhre (NOR)

23:25

28:55

27:34

1:21:40

5. Olga Vostrukhova (RUS)

24:29

29:10

29:15

1:24:29

Men

Swim

Bike

Run

Total

1. Andreas Svanebo (SWE)

19:50

24:01

24:41

1:09:40

2. Tor Halvor Bjørnstad (NOR)

21:04

23:45

24:00

1:10:20

3. Pavel Andreev (RUS)

19:49

24:41

24:53

1:10:22

4. Arne Post (NOR)

19:49

25:49

23:52

1:10:43

5. Daniel Antonioli (ITA)

19:51

25:22

24:53

1:11:17

triathletemag.com

185

3/12/10 3:11 PM

a t t he r a c es

“Plenty of porta-potties!”

Wouldn’t it be nice to read about a race before you sign up?

Now you can. Active.com introduces Ratings & Reviews!

Login to rate

NEW!

Rate and Review Your Race

Rated 15 times

Delly Carr

Nine for Brown, record for Lawn at im New Zealand

Cameron Brown trailed fellow Aucklander Terenzo Bozzone by a minute coming off of the bike.

Brown overcame the challenge from Bozzone to claim his ninth straight win here.

SWEEPSTAKES RULES 1. No purchase necessary. To enter without ordering, send an index card to: Triathlete Look Sweepstakes, 9477 Waples St., 150, San Diego, CA 92121, with your name address and phone number.

2. This sweepstakes is sponsored by Triathlete, 10179 Huennekens St., 100, San Diego, CA 92121.

3. All entries must be received by May 31st, 2010. Triathlete is not responsible for lost, late, misdirected, damaged, illegible or postage-due mail.

4. Prize winner will be selected no later than June 16th, 2010 from among all entries received. Winner selection will take place under the supervision of Triathlete, whose decisions are final. Each entrant consents to the transfer of all information contained in the completed entry form to other companies.

5. The odds of winning are determined by the total number of eligible entries received. Taxes, where applicable, are the sole responsibility of the winner.

6. Potential winners will be notified by mail, telephone or e-mail. Potential winners must follow the directions contained in any correspondence and return all forms correctly completed within 7 days of the date of correspondence. Non-compliance will result in disqualification and the naming of an alternate winner.

7. All entrants will be eligible to win a Look 576. There is no cash exchange for this prize.

8. Employees of Look and Triathlete or anyone affiliated are not eligible.

Sweepstakes subject to all federal, state and local tax laws and void where prohibited by law.

9. For the name of the winner, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope and letter of request to: Triathlete Look Sweepstakes, 9477 Waples St., 150, San Diego, CA 92121.

186

triathletemag.com

181-187_ATR_201005.indd 186

may 2010

3/12/10 3:11 PM

a t t he r a c es “The volunteers were amazing!”

Wouldn’t it be nice to read about a race before you sign up?

Now you can. Active.com introduces Ratings & Reviews!

NEW!

Login to rate

Rate and Review Your Race

Rated 12 times

Bonita Ironman New Zealand March 6, 2010—Taupo, New Zealand 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, 26.2-mile run

American Kim Loeffler ran up to third place with a 3:08 marathon.

may 2010

181-187_ATR_201005.indd 187

Women

Swim

Bike

Run

1. Joanna Lawn (NZL)

50:46

5:12:19 3:06:23 9:14:35

2. Gina Crawford (NZL)

50:02

5:15:17 3:17:41 9:28:26

3. Kim Loeffler (USA)

1:04:09

5:13:01 3:08:21 9:30:57

4. Sarah Pollett (NZL)

50:47

5:22:39 3:26:53 9:45:44

5. Britta Martin (NZL)

1:02:54

5:11:50 3:26:38 9:47:11

Men

Swim

Bike

1. Cameron Brown (NZL)

49:28

4:40:29 2:47:35 8:21:52

2. Terenzo Bozzone (NZL)

46:29

4:42:31 2:56:53 8:30:00

3. Kieran Doe (NZL)

45:38

4:44:05 3:00:07 8:34:16

4. Keegan Williams (NZL)

50:11

4:49:10 2:55:44 8:40:11

5. James Bowstead (NZL) 53:10

4:41:11 3:22:49 9:02:46

Run

Total

Total

triathletemag.com

187

3/16/10 1:13 PM

triMARKETPLACE

TMATPRO

Triathlon Transition Mats

â&#x20AC;&#x153;IT KEEPS ME AND MY CUSTOMERS RUNNING!â&#x20AC;?

TMATPRO.COM

+EVIN 0ATTERSON - Triathlete

Store Owner Tri Spot Multi-Sports - Williamsville, NY Finishing Ironman 70.3 World Championships

0LANTAR &ASCIITIS s !CHILLES 4ENDONITIS

s WWW THESOCK COM

OfďŹ cial distributor in the U.S.A.

FULL CARBON TRI-FRAMESET

699

$

catch a tiger 2010

Other colors available

triathlon inspired lifestyle tshirts

trix-gear.com

188

triathletemag.com

Marketplace_May.indd 188

www.planet-x-usa.com 38240hfaprobPlanetX_Triathlete.indd 1

may 2010

3/10/10 4:15:49 PM

3/12/10 2:41 PM

TO ADVERTISE HERE 800.677.0030

EP0510Tri

3/3/10

8:20 AM

Page 1

USA

No more Sweat or Sunscreen in your eyes!

Need another reason to own an Endless Pool?

SWEAT BLOCK TECHNOLOGY

Halo II

pullover

the Wrist ID Sport (shown above) only $19.99. the Wrist ID Elite, the Ankle ID, the FIXX ID (necklace), the Shoe ID and the Shoe Pouch ID also available.

www.RoadID.com Toll Free 1-800-345-6336

Campus Quilt Co. Your Old Race Shirts = Awesome New Quilt

100% Quilted Outstanding Quality Embroidery & Extra Services Exceptional Customer Care Great Prices!

502-968-2850 www.CampusQuilt.com may 2010

Marketplace_May.indd 189

order online

Sport Visor

with built-in Halo headband

www.haloheadband.com 800.508.4256

Adam Alper, Endless Pools R&D engineer & sub-10 Kona guy

Introducing our Underwater Treadmill Work all the same muscle groups without taking a beating from the asphalt. Running on our variable speed treadmill in your Endless Pool is a great way to break up your swim.

It’s perfect for muscle recovery, injury rehab and fitness development From short and easy runs to tempo or threshold workouts, we’ve got you covered. This is one treadmill that’s not going to serve as a drying rack!

Call 866-997-7946ext 6670 www.endlesspools.com/treadmill triathletemag.com

189

3/12/10 2:41 PM

EW.Ad_Conquer_2.25x1.v2.qxd

12/8/09

triMARKETPLACE

12:24 PM

Page 1

Jewelry That Empowers for running, teams and life www.EndorphinWarrior.com

PRO ELITE STOP taping gels to your bike!!

Try the all new hinged clamp Introductory Price $13.99 Get yours for the 2010 season

ign

w

www.gelrillagrip.com

Ne

s De

“PowerCranks provide a high-quality workout. The challenge is figuring out whether to log it as a cycling or running session since it benefits both equally” Brian Keast, Ironman age-group World Champion about PowerCranks Just one of many champions who do or have trained on PowerCranks cycling improvement - running improvement - rehab from injury all in one product and with a 90 day moneyback guarantee Train smart, train efficiently, train like the pros, train on . . .

www.powercranks.com

Prescription Tri Eyewear

TANITA BC-1000 WIRELESS BODY COMPOSITION PLATFORM

®

Excess visceral fat (fat in the trunk area surrounding vital organs) can increase your risk of certain conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes.

Determine your visceral fat rating and 8 additional health and fitness measurements by just standing on the Tanita BC-1000!

?

Multiple Display Options:

Prescription solutions for Swim, Bike, Run.

1.888.831.5817

www.bicyclerx.com FREE CATALOG OF ALL MAJOR BRANDS

190

triathletemag.com

Marketplace_May.indd 190

FDA CLEARED!

How much visceral fat do you have?

TANITA HEALTHY EDGE™ Software on

your PC

R

TANITA

Remote Display

Forerunner FR60 Fitness Watch 310XT

Smartphone

Readings include: Weight, Body Fat %, Body Water %, Muscle Mass, Physique Rating, Daily Caloric Intake (DCI), Metabolic Age, Visceral Fat, and Bone Mass

Use promo code TM510 for 3% OFF select BC-1000 packages and FREE UPS Ground shipping (continental U.S.) at TheCompetitiveEdge.com or call 866-859-3343.

Valid to 06/30/10.

Garmin is a registered trademark of Garmin Ltd. All rights reserved.

may 2010

3/12/10 2:41 PM

TO ADVERTISE HERE 800.677.0030 Custom Jerseys ... No Minimums!

TritonAd3.5x2.25_121608FINAL.qxd:TritonAd3.5x2.25.qxd

12/17/08

2:34 PM

Tri Shorts & Jersey Combo Deal = only $42.00 !!!

Page 1

www.aevero.com

™

SWIM TRAINER A unique, low-impact “freestyle swim exercise bench designed to provide a swim specific workout.

Adjusts to various resistance and strength training needs and the Electronic control panel provides time, distance and stroke cadence! www.tritonfitness.com or 908-862-7623 Dealer inquiries welcome

FREE SHIPPING

easy on stomach

*BIKE TRANSPORT SERVICE We ship to triathlons We come to you Bikes stay fully assembled Special rates for groups

Rated # 1 for over

10 years

Prevent cramps, lactic acid and dehydration Est. 1997

Capsules or Powder

lagcaoili@competitorgroup.com

Call Laura 800.677.0030

ADVERTISE HERE

www.TriSportExpress.com 813-403-1629

LavaGel.com

may 2010

Marketplace_May.indd 191

triathletemag.com

191

3/12/10 2:41 PM

The Heart of the Matter

by Scott Tinley You can spend great periods of time thinking about sport and in particular just what makes an endurance athlete. I think about it a lot.

The last time was in late December, the sun was low and cold, and my thoughts were casting long shadows. It had been my neighbor, Big Jim, who’d brought it on by challenging me to identify a single illuminating principle of endurance sports—one idea around which he could suspend his disbelief.

“C’mon, Tinley,” he goaded, “I used to see you and your pals running in the rain and riding across eight zip codes while I pushed paper across my desk. Just give this sedentary soul one generalized concept of why you endurance freaks do what you do.”

It was a valid if not heartfelt prompt, and hard as I tried, I couldn’t conjure a worthy reply nor offer something without skirting into some mediated phrase such as, “Well, it depends.”

One thing, one reason, one central idea … that’s all Big Jim asked as I stood in the

mia and took his toss. “Any athlete will say the same—he’s got heart—that’s the biggest compliment a peer can offer.”

Big Jim stood, pulling up his sagging Wranglers and wiping his hands behind the knees. He said he was going home for supper and thanks for making it perfectly clear why people ran and swam and biked and skied across deserts for “reasons that reason does not understand.”

And then he limped away, mumbling Homer Simpson-like, “Hmmm, heart of the matter.”

He’d known all along, of course. It was a brilliant tactic from a man who has trouble walking to the end of the block. And he knew that I knew it but couldn’t quite remember it.

Because when talking about anything from the moment of conception to the end of earthly life, the heart—from all points of science, study and approach to knowledge—is a central point of departure, regardless of which direction you’re headed. And no less can be said about its role in endurance sports.

If our heart is broken from a failed relationship, we can still run miles and miles in an effort to heal it. If it’s soaring from some grand victory, we can still feel it break when others who live inside our own cannot share that glee. If we wear it on our sleeve, we must be ready to take what others can sling at us.

And if we keep it too closely guarded, we rarely reach the peaks and valleys of human emotion.

The four chambers of the heart drive the fluid that delivers the goods to the muscles that make us go. Blood moves as a clock to the points of the bodily compass. Kids understand this. Adults suffer the consequences of forgetting it. The heart can gush with pleasure if all systems move in synch or stop us cold in our tracks if dammed by the particulars of age and treason of poor choice.

The heart can be observed, dissected, broken, repaired and replaced. We rely on it like a good neighbor, realizing that even if it’s always there doing what it’s supposed to do, we still need to pay attention to it.

To succeed in endurance sports and in life, all you need is a big heart, but that has nothing to do with size.

When I saw Big Jim in the morning, he was out front admiring our sprinkler repair.

“We might need to replace that valve up near the big tree before too long.”

I asked him if he wanted to walk to the end of the block.

Triathlete (ISSN08983410) is published monthly by The Competitor Group, 9477 Waples St., Suite 150, 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.

Post­master: Send address changes to Triathlete, P.O. Box 469055, Escon­dido, CA 92046-9513. Ride-along enclosed in all book region 2 copies.

192

triathletemag.com

192_TinleyTalks_201005.indd 192

Publication mail agreement NO. 40064408, return undeliverable Canadian addresses to, Express Messenger International, P.O. BOX 25058, London BRC, Ontario, Canada N6C 6A8

front yard and had no singular pathway to the heart of the matter. Stumped, scanning the shadows as they crept eastward, I wanted an easy out, a plea bargain based on something ethereal and flaky. It was getting cold and I wanted to go inside.

But Big Jim had helped me fix my sprinklers that day, and I shrugged and mumbled something weak and watery about us “just following our hearts” before turning toward the door. Jim tactfully parried with a quote from Lincoln: “He has the right to criticize who has the heart to help.” Big Jim’s heart had my thirsty plants bowing in praise. We owed him something.

In recognition of the three hours his hands had dug in my yard, I faced him and said I was going to think on it. Then his sweetheart of a wife walked by and pulled two Mexican beers out of a sack like a magician finds a coin beyond your ear.

This is why people don’t move, I thought. It has nothing to do with job changes or downsizing a house. You stay in the same neighborhood for 25 years for the magical Mexican beer trick.

“Now, Big Jim, it’s like this …” and I started in with my feigned Intro to Physiology lesson about cardiac stroke volume and ATP production and oxygen uptake and catecholamine release, all of which caused him to do what any man does when he loses interest in a conversation—peel the label off the beer bottle.

Right then Big Jim sat on the curb, a sure sign that he wasn’t happy with me trying to substitute mechanics for motive. “Look, hotshot,” he said. His right eye held my two while he studied the gold and brown label with the other. “What’s the most flattering thing you can say about another athlete?”

“Ah, that’s easy,” I sipped from my Bohe-

John Segesta/johnsegesta.com

Tinley talks

may 2010

3/12/10 2:40 PM

“I was not disappointed.

It’s magical, quick and intuitive”

“Truly a game changing technology”

“This group will blow your mind and out-perform even the highest expectations”

“It’s hard not to feel addicted to this new game in gear shifting”

“It is, without a doubt the best road group on the market” “The shifting is so fast, so precise, and so easy” EXPERIENCE THE EVOLUTION OF PERFECTION Over 35 years of evolution, an extensive team of engineers and millions of tests. A legend is refined to a new level of perfection; Delivering the most advanced shifting system ever!

Read the reviews at

Shimano_TriMag_0410.indd 1

DURA-ACE.COM

2/9/10 10:35 AM

TYR_TriMag_0510.indd 1

3/8/10 5:03 PM