Triathlon Blog

Ray Fauteux writes about choosing bike equipment for your first ironman triathlon:

Without a doubt the bike-equipment you choose can greatly influence the outcome of your first Ironman Triathlon.

However, don’t believe for a moment that the more expensive the bike, the easier and faster your bike split will be. The most important factor–and one that is often overlooked–is having the bike you choose sized just for you. Most bike outlets will supply this service. I just can’t stress how important this is. A proper fit means you will be getting full use of the proper muscle groups and will have a smooth, circular pedal stroke. Most importantly, it can make for a much more comfortable transition into the run.

Also, when you consider it, there’s not much point in spending thousands of dollars more for a bike because it is a pound or two lighter when you’re going to be packing five pounds of water and food on it for the race. For your first Ironman I would suggest a good reliable mid-priced bike. You can always upgrade if you choose to continue on with the sport in the following years.

Here’s something to think about. In 1984, on a brutally hot and windy day during the Kona Ironman, there were two cyclists under the 5 hour mark. Dave Scott was 5:11 and went on to run a 2:53 marathon and ultimately won the race. My point is, pretty well any mid-range priced bike you buy will be 10 times better than what these guys raced on that day. Think about it. Aerobars would have been HUGE that day. There was no such thing. Everyone had the old toe clips. The bikes were MUCH heavier. The tires were nowhere near as good as we can get now. There is just no comparison.

Ultimately your training and overall preparation—your athletic ability, and your courage are equally important ingredients to a successful Ironman bike ride.

Its about more than just the bike.

PROFILE BARS- I don’t believe they’ve invented an Ironman race yet that has no wind. Profile bars are a “must” to reduce wind resistance and conserve your energy for the upcoming marathon. If possible, try and have your shift levers mounted at the very front of your profile bars where your hands meet. That way you’re not sitting up or reaching down to shift gears. I have something called “swift shifters.” They are just perfect for the Ironman bike leg.

CYCLE COMPUTER-Some bike computers have way too many functions. All you need is cadence, speed, and an odometer to tell how far you’ve gone. That way you’re not forever pushing buttons to find the proper setting.

CLIPLESS PEDALS AND SHOES TO FIT-These were just a great invention. They are so easy to get in and out of and allow for a much smoother and more economical pedal stroke than the old clips we started out with. Its VERY important to have the tension set just right. You want to be able to get into them easily, yet not have your foot snap out at the worst possible time.(Like climbing a hill for instance). If you ski, its sort of the same idea as ski bindings. Just keep experimenting with it until you have to give your ankle a fairly quick, sharp twist for your shoe to come away from the pedal. That way you know its not set to loose. Also, make sure the bike has forward momentum when twisting out of the pedal. If you are almost stopped you could fall right over.

BOTTLE CAGES-Personally, I carry 4 water bottles. One inside the handlebars with a flexible plastic straw so I can drink without removing the bottle, one in the standard position on the frame, and a two bottle cage behind the seat. The water bottle on the frame and the two behind the seat were for my replacement drink…Gatorade etc. The bottle with the plastic straw was water. It has a top that snaps open, but stays attached and at aid stations I can just refill it with water if needed. When I wanted a replacement drink, I would take it from the bottle on the bike frame. When it was empty I would switch it with a full bottle from behind the seat. If I thought I would need more than three bottles of my replacement drink, I would leave one or two at the special needs station.

***If what you normally use for a replacement drink is being supplied on the race course, then you can do away with the two bottles behind your seat and just keep changing the bottle on the bike frame at the aid stations. Most of the time it was garorade or something else I didn’t use and I would just bring my own.

HELMET-You can’t race without one, so just find one that is comfortable, fits you well, and meets all safety standards. Remember, if its too loose, it will fall over your eyes when you lean forward into the profile position and that will drive you crazy. Also make sure it can be done up and undone easily.

SUNGLASSES-This is one piece of bike-equipment you MUST have for your Ironman training and racing. And I don’t really care if they cost $2.99 or $299. Just make sure you wear sunglasses to protect your eyes. Say you’re going downhill at 40 mph. And the bee coming towards you is travelling 25 mph. when he hits your unprotected eye. That could be REALLY, REALLY SERIOUS!! Always wear sunglasses and a helmet. Sun or not!! I found that yellow tinted sunglasses are excellent for overcast days.

I can think of at least 8 or 10 times over the years that something has hit my sunglasses hard enough to do lots of damage if I my eyes were unprotected.

Hopefully these few tips will help you in your bike equipment choices.

About the Author: My name is Ray and I’ve been an endurance athlete for over 25 years. I’ve competed in over 30 marathons, 2 - 50 mile races, 14 Ironman triathlons and countless shorter races. I’ve created a website called “Ironstruck.” The main purpose is to provide training and racing tips for the beginner triathlete and novice Ironman. Come for a visit at triathlon-ironman-myfirstironman-ironstruck.com. Also, “Ironstruck” the book, has been published online and can be viewed at www.lulu.com/content/543252. It is available in paperback or download and may well be the most valuable Ironman Triathlon guide you might ever purchase.

Kevin Koskella says to count strokes for a better triathlon swim:

You may have had coaches that make you count strokes throughout the workout, either by mixing it into drill sets, the main set, or at the end of workout. Some coaches recommend making a habit of always keeping track of your stroke count. As a coach of distance swimmers and triathletes, I believe stroke counting is a necessary part of most swimming workouts.

If you stick with it and do it on a consistent basis, stroke counting in swimming is an excellent way to increase your DPS (Distance Per Stroke). The world’s best swimmers are faster than you because they travel further with each stroke, not because they are moving their arms faster. Keeping track of the number of strokes you take per length will allow you to begin to lengthen out your stroke, as well as add more speed and distance while keeping your heart rate down and allowing you to save your energy for later in the swim or race.

The goal should be to bring down your average stroke count per length. Great swimmers like Alexander Popov or Ian Thorpe may be able to scoot through the water at record speed while taking 30 strokes per length (50 meters), but this low stroke count does not have to be your golden number for improving your stroke. First, determine what your range is. Try to swim most of the time at the low end of your range or below your lowest stroke count. Don’t worry about speed at first- you can influence this later, perhaps as you begin to learn what your “ideal” stroke count is. Here is an example of a set that can help lengthen your stroke, as well as build endurance:

50+100+150+200+200+150+100+50

-Take 10-30 seconds between swims

-Count your strokes each length on the way up.

-Try to maintain or lower your stroke count on the way down while keeping the same pace.

Another fun set that you can play with is free golf. For example: 6×50’s Free on 1:05. For each 50, count your strokes AND check your time. Add these 2 numbers together to get your golf score. Try to lower this score through the set. The tricky part is, trying to add speed without adding strokes, or subtracting strokes without sacrificing speed.

Consistently incorporating stroke counting into your workouts will, over time, help you to swim longer (or “taller”) in the water, and use less energy to go the same speed or even faster. And for those that don’t consider swimming to be their strength in a triathlon, this saved energy is sure to translate into a better bike and run!

About the Author: Kevin coaches masters and triathlete swimmers in San Diego, CA. He operates the website www.triswimcoach.com/, a resource for future or current triathletes needing help with the swim. The site features a free email newsletter offering tips and articles on triathlon swimming. Kevin has also written an electronic book titled “The Complete Guide to Triathlon Swimming” which is sold on his website www.triswimcoach.com/ in downloadable form.

Kevin Koskella gives 10 steps to improving your triathlon swim:

As technical as the sport of swimming can be, it is tough to narrow down the answer to the often-asked question, “what should I concentrate on?” So, I came up with a “top ten” list of steps to improving your swim for a triathlon. These aren’t necessarily in any order, but should go a long way in helping you achieve your goals, whether you are a beginner or trying to go pro.

1. Hand Entry. Slice your hand into the water right about at your goggle line, and drive it forward. Many swimmers attempt to get as much “air time” as possible by reaching the hand out before entering into the water, but it is actually more efficient to go through the water with your hand as you rotate from one side to the other.

2. Head Position. Keep looking straight down when swimming freestyle. It’s important to keep your head down with only a small part of the back of your head out of the water. Also, as you rotate through the water, try not to move your head with the rest of your body rotation.

3. Pull. In freestyle, your hands should pull all the way back past your hips. The last part of the stroke before recovery (arms coming out of the water) should be an acceleration behind you, and not up out of the water.

4. Kick. Try minimizing your kick as you train for swimming. Most people will kick extra hard to make up for lack of balance in the water. Minimizing your kick will allow you to improve your balance, as well as conserve energy.

5. Training Intensity. The best way to measure your training intensity is to count your heart rate immediately after each swim. You can estimate your heart rate by counting your pulse rate for six seconds immediately after each swim. Add a zero to this count, and you will have your approximate exercise heart rate per minute.

6. Master’s Swimming. Move to a slower lane to work on stroke improvement. If you belong to a masters team, don’t feel that you always need to keep up with your lanemates at every workout. Masters teams typically have many people with many different swimming goals. It’s important to do your own thing! Remember that technique comes before all else and if this means swallowing a little pride to make improvements, just think of how much faster you will be for this in the long run.

7. Habit: Keep your arm from crossing over. One of the most common bad habits I see in swimmers is the arm crossing over to the opposite side on the pull. Breathing on your left side results in your right arm crossing over, breathing on your left side results in your right arm crossing. Often times this happens when one goes to breath, but sometimes it’s caused just from over-rotating. To avoid this, make sure your head isn’t moving with the rest of your body, and try to pull more in a straight line (still bending the elbow) and ending the pull on the same side you started (i.e. right hand slices into the water, pulls back and hand ends up near right hip).

8. Keep the Feel. If swimming is your toughest sport, it is important to “keep the feel” for the water, and get in the water at least every other day (no, showers and baths don’t count!) This way, your body maintains its kinesthetic awareness of being balanced in water.

9. Work Those Lungs. Mix in some hypoxic training sets into your workouts. For example, do a set of 4×100’s breathing every 3-5-7-9 strokes by 25, with 15 seconds rest in between each 100. Your lungs will thank you for it towards the end of the swim part of your race!

10. Work Your Weakness. In the sport of triathlon, most coaches agree that you should spend the most time working on your weakest of the three sports. For many of you this will be swimming! Within swimming, the same concept applies. Spend the most time working on the weakest part of your stroke. If balancing on your side is an issue, do some kicking drills on your side. If moving your head is a problem, focus on head position most of the time. Whatever it is, you will gain the most by spending your pool time improving on that weakness.

About the Author: Kevin Koskella coaches masters and triathlete swimmers in San Diego, CA. He operates the website http://www.TriSwimCoach.com, a resource for beginning through intermediate level triathletes looking for help with swimming. The site features a free email newsletter offering tips and articles on triathlon swimming. Kevin has also written an electronic book titled “The Complete Guide to Triathlon Swimming” which is sold on his website in downloadable form.

In her article, Top Ten Tips for a Fast Transition, Lynda Wallenfels explains the importance of a fast triathlon transition:

Newbie triathletes generally regard the transition area as a place to rest and regroup - a place to celebrate the completion of one leg of the race and prepare for the next. Sometimes, it feels like the gravity in transition areas is ten times normal with food, drink, sunscreen and friendly volunteers happy to chat.

Out on the race course everybody is pushing forward in the same direction but in the transition area, athletes are milling around in all directions and the sense of racing can disappear. How many hours of swim practice would it take to lop two minutes off your swim time? Probably hundreds, maybe even thousands. How many hours of transition practice would it take to lop two minutes off your transition time? Maybe only one!

What do you think?

We started a mix of running and walking on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I still swim Tuesdays and Thursdays, but an article by Terese Luikens says to swim a minimum of three times a week:

Swimming three times a week is the minimum amount of time you will need to set aside if you are hoping to swim in a sprint triathlon. Three times a week allows you to vary your practices.

What do you think?

Low Jeremy provides the following article about the importance of training for a triathlon:

A plan remains to be a plan not until some action pushes it to realize its potentials. All of us are capable of making a good start and see our start to its end with each plan that we do. However, our greatest fear is not that we cannot make them. It is the fear that we know our capacities yet we never maximize them nor use parts of them.

In a game of endurance, we have to understand that we should optimize our full strengths and work on our failures as we flex our physical and mental muscles to work.

Proper training may help you gather majority of their benefits yet there are always some things that you inertly have which largely contribute to your mastery of the sports.

It all starts with a plan, a goal that is workable. Achievable goals are more likely to lead you to success than those placed beyond your reach. Triathlon training will not only accustom your physical body to the risk of joining the game, it will also recreate your willingness to continue despite the fatigue and the ever-present negative voice that tells you “you wont make it, quit it now or race in vain”.

Triathlon trainings vary in length. A few months may move you through a short sprint triathlon but stuffs like Iron Man Triathlon competitions must be taken seriously as to take a minimum of 1 year training period.

Considering that the event covers three endurance sports, it is no wonder why even professionals takes years before they can actually master the techniques to win the title.

Anyone has his or her weak sport. And as a rule in triathlon training, one must focus more on the weak sport and save the latter training on your forte.

Someone said if you train on a slow mode, you’ll get a slow result. If you however modify your training towards the fast mode then the result will also be fast. There must be some truths on this. The sad part though is that we normally can’t train consistently.

Your training must not only include routines that will facilitate improvements on the sports involved. You must also get enough practice on adapting yourself on the transition stages.

Having the edge on any of the sport would never be enough if all the distance you gathered are bargained with tripping on your swim-run transition. Switching from one momentum to another is not inertly equipped within our system. We must teach our bodies to adjust.

About the Author: For more info from Low Jeremy on Triathlon, please visit triathlon.articlekeep.com.

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Low Jeremy provides the following information about knowing your triathlon training schedule:

For a plan to become feasible, it must be definitely defined and the time table must be properly set, that way, the trainee will be able to adjust well on the transitions of each training modes.

The Triathlon Training

The onset of the training for a triathlon must be set months or even a year before the actual race. It would be good to lay the foundations early than spread them late. If you are serious with making triathlon competitions your lifestyle, then you must atleast be properly acquainted to the fundamentals years before your decision to join.

Why does it have to take that long you ask. Triathlon is simply a game of endurance made from three endurance sports, which create thrice the effects. If you fail to train on due time for one field then the domino effect of late training is likely to occur.

Training does not only include the development of the physical muscles but also the mental prowess that will determine your mind set during the game. Attitude can still create the difference, especially once the muscles start to give way on the final leg. It will be attitude that will flicker the encouragement to keep on running.

The Triathlon Race

Most athletes don’t get enough sleep the night before the race. This must not be the case since lack of sleep might spoil your investments on training months (and even years!) before the scheduled date.

All things must be prepared days before the race. The worse things that you might do is to forget to do an essential thing just before the race and find out that it’s too late to start again. Your gears must be in good order, your suits, your equipments and most especially yourself.

An hour before the competition, competitors will be given time to arrange their stuffs. Be sure to put these in strategic positions. Afterwhich, try to gather yourself and release tension, from the crowd and from yourself. A good joke will do or start day dreaming. But never loose sight of your goal, work towards your visualization.

During the race, it would be best if you will focus on the activity itself but don’t be too rigid. Try to relax even while you swim. That way, pressure will be lessened.

After the Triathlon

Normally, because of overwork or overstrain during the competition, athletes experience muscle injuries. After the race would be the best time to relax and enjoy the experiences.

About the Author: For more info from Low Jeremy on Triathlon, please visit triathlon.articlekeep.com.

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Low Jeremy provides the following information about knowing iron man triathlon:

“Whoever finishes first will be called the Iron Man”, is the tag line that has revolved around the competition that produced the survivors of the game for the fittest.

Iron Man Triathlon is simply a game for the bold. It takes tons of courage, will power and endurance to start the race and make it to the finish line. In fact, the very first Iron Man triathlon competition held in 1978 was completed within 13 minutes before the day’s half ends.

Over the years, Iron Man triathlon has become a pool of multisport events that cover sports like running, cycling, swimming and sometimes, skiing. These have varying distances of multiple combinations of course sequences. However, the original event is still embodied in the Kona events that actually call the winners as Iron Men.

The Hawaii still holds the World Championship for Iron man Triathlon though the governing body hosts other competitions around the world that also provide the title of Iron Man for the winners. Nevertheless, the title is owned by the World Triathlon Corporation.

Other multi-sports competitions unofficially call the events as Iron Man triathlon, only hidden under the terms such as Half-Iron man, or Iron Distance.

The Iron Man Triathlon held annually in the Kona Bay is an annual amount that is hailed to be the most popular of all triathlons. Following the standard of the triathlon, this event starts with swimmers crossing the bay of the Big Island which takes 2.4 miles of swimming, afterwhich the 112 mile biking and another 26.2 miles of coast marathon.

While the competition is held in Hawaii, qualifying events are held in various countries such as Canada, Australia, Canary Island, Japan, USA, Europe and South Africa.

While many people might be mistaken with calling all similar competitions as Iron Man Triathlon, it is still good to note that this practice is technically incorrect. Iron Man races are supposed to be not used as a generic term for a number of multisport events.

This competition had its debut during the awarding ceremony for the Oahu Perimeter Relay, which then was a running competition that included teams, composed of 5 members. Incidentally, the competitors in the said event were runners and swimmers who for sometime, had been debating on who stand as fittest. In the said ceremony also, Commander John Collins noted that a Belgian cyclist holds the title for the highest oxygen uptake which eventually lead to the conclusion that cyclists probably are the fittest.

Thus, the birth of a competition that involved all the said sports.

About the Author: For more info from Low Jeremy on Triathlon, please visit triathlon.articlekeep.com.

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Munyaradzi Chinongoza wrote an article about how to get triathlon swim training right. She writes:

Dating back to ancient Greek times, a triathlon tests the skills of athletes in a competition comprised of three different events. The most common triathlon involves swimming, cycling and running. In this order, it is the swimming portion of this competition that sets the tone for the rest of the contest. Athletes participating in modern triathlons usually tackle all three events back-to-back. The official time received by athletes is a combination of their overall performance, including clothing changes and transition times from one event to another.

Training for these individual events includes learning techniques that help to preserve the energy and endurance of an athlete. There are various strategies and training approaches that both amateur and professional triathlon athletes adhere to. Not all triathlons are the same in distance or details. For example, the Ultraman Triathlon, held every year in Hawaii, takes three days to complete, including 320 miles of total distance.

Triathlon Swimming

The start of the triathlon begins with the swimming portion of the competition. Athletes prepare for the swim by changing into appropriate swim gear. Different starts are used for various races. This will depend on the number of people in the race or how much distance will be covered. Traditional Iron-distance races use a mass start, where all athletes enter the water at the same time. Another approach is the wave start, which allows athletes to begin the race in intervals. This is a common practice used in amateur competitions.

Athletes swim around numerous marked buoys, completing the race at the same place where they started. Once the athletes are out of the water, the next phase of the triathlon begins that requires a change of clothes into cycling gear.

Triathlon Strategies

When preparing your game plan for the competition, you should aim for going long, easy and fast. This takes a lot of practice to master. Most cyclists and runners believe that the endurance they already possess will make them a better swimmer, but this is not always true. Cyclists and runners need to strengthen different muscles for the swim.

Triathlon Training Tips

1) Start your training early for best results.

2) Always take heed of the importance of proper breathing, have a relaxed state of mind and body, maintaining good body position and having a positive attitude.

3) While training, avoid movements by any part of your body that may slow down your forward movement. This includes no deep kicking and minimal head movement.

4) To increase the speed of your swimming, interval training is a must. Rotate timed trials using very short, medium and long rests. A popular training exercise is the 2000 ladder, which consists of 400, 4×100; 300, 4×75; 200, 4×50; 100 and 4×25.

5) Join an organized group to swim with that will eventually push you towards a higher level of competition, filled with an extra boost of confidence and encouragement.

6) Consider the use of fins during training to burn calories, strengthen legs, increase speed and improve stroke.

About the Author: For more information on triathlon swim training please visit my site triathlon swim training or more information on triathlon wet suits.

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