I’m looking for a Calender of triathlon events. It would be best if it was global, but had a way of filtering the events to more specific locations. If you know where we can find such a calendar or something that would serve the same purpose, please post about it in our Triathlon Forums.
A recent post on Branding Unbound says that Hawaii’s 2007 Ironman will utilize mobile content and marketing. This will allow triathlon fans and other interested parties to keep up with event through their mobile phones. For example, cellphone users can get automatic text message updates when specified participants reach checkpoints on the race.
It is always amazing to see how technology affects our world, even mostly non-technological things like triathlon races. I can not imagine what it will be like in 10 or 20 years.
Dom Clacy recently reviewed the Dambuster Triathlon:
It was the day I had been waiting for…further that, the day I had been training for. The winter base and months of following training would all amount to this race, the Dambuster.
The Dambuster Triathlon, one of pacesetter events finest would be my first Olympic distance event. Not only that, it would be the qualifier for the world championships later this year in Hamburg Germany. How badly did I want to qualify? Badly enough to have already written the date in my diary and ensured that there would be nothing going on in the two weeks before the event so I could progress through my taper without any disruption!
Set in some of Leicestershires most spectacular scenery with the centre point being a Dammed lake in Rutland I would never have even dreamed of the gruelling challenge that lay before me.
Upon arriving at Rutland Water on the Friday (22nd) me and my dad, who I must add always travels with me to all my events, set up camp near to the lake before heading off the check out the course. We had already driven the famed ‘Rutland Ripple’ on the way in, a punishing set of up hill drags that seemed keep repeating themselves just when you thought they were over! My dad of course, always keeping a sensible head reminded me that “For every up, there is always a down!”, a comment that would stick with me when edging up those hills the next day. The swim was a diamond like route, 1500m around 5 buoys, fantastic! There is nothing worse for me than a straight out and back swim, it just looks so far! Onto transition to find that I actually had me own named area of transition set apart with a little sticker, I would have felt like a professional had the same not been done for everybody else. Still a great touch, well done pacesetter! The run route would take me and all the other potential qualifiers around the lake and out to the dam where an interval type sprint out and back across the dam twice before heading back to the start would make up the 10km. With everything planned out it was back to the tent for some sought after grub!
A typical campsite, with groups of men/women all staying together would typically be expected to be noisy through most of the night. One of the things I absolutely love about triathletes that would seem peculiar to anyone not accustomed to the sport is that we all need our sleep, and we know it! Half past ten and the campsite was dead to the world, not even a whisper! Fair enough really when the first wave of swimmers was off at 06:40! In fact even if you weren’t in the first wave, you still had to be in transition for 06:00, that mean getting up at 5:00 for me for an early breakfast!
Oats and bananas, thats what I have found works best for me over the last year or so. Still feeling full after a mountain of pasta the night before I had to keep breakfast reasonably light. I decided to get into my trisuit early, why not be prepared? I`m the kind of person who needs to have everything planned, probably due to the fact that I have to live my life by timetables in order to fit all the training in for 3 sports. As well as this I have a girlfriend, Rachael, probably the most understanding person in my life, who always stands by me with my sport but I would hate to take more time than necessary away from her. Hence all the timetables;to ensure I am getting everything done at times when it doesn’t affect anything or anyone else, this normally means the mornings! After racking up I applied the baby oil and got into my wetsuit. It was 0630 so I headed down to the water.
The mass start for the swim was brutal, I didn’t want to start at the front because I didn’t deem myself quick enough, there were 90 of us in the 18-24 category and I was in the middle of the pack. After a few kicks taken and a few handed out I found a bit of space and swam parallel to another guy, who I kept track of because I recognized his Orca wetsuit. I find normally when I swim I pass the time by counting my strokes per length, in open water there are no lengths…the swim seemed to go on forever! 26minutes to be exact, 4 minutes over my pool time. I couldn’t believe it, to qualify I needed to be in the top 4, I was 50th out the water!
After a reasonably quick transition jumped onto my bike and begin to pedal….there was a problem, I was spinning more than a washing machine….my chain was off. What are the chances, the most important race of the year and my chain fell off! After solving the problem I knew I had to make up alot of time, it was a case of just putting your head down and pedalling. After 6 or so miles we hit the Rutland Ripple, I say we because it was almost like a queue of traffic up the hills. This was where I could make up my time, I was used to hills, I train on hills and so I decided to stay in the saddle and spin up the hills. It hurt, the expression on my face in the photos says that, but I managed to overtake a fair few cyclists until that is, on the second hill, half way up my chain came off again….I cannot state the words that came out my mouth! But it had happened, so I jumped off, flicked it back on and continued with the struggle!
On the hour I had completed 22.5miles and so coming back into transition I had a fairly fast time of 1hr 12mins for 26.6miles. My legs felt good and I had pulled back a number of places. Now I was onto the run, I ran off the bike quickly, with my dad running parallel shouting advice. The run was mainly track but also a little cross country. The backdrop of the lake was great if you wanted to take your mind off the run. I decided to run the first 2km under 20min 5k pace. I wanted to get under 40mins for the run so badly, I originally opted for 36mins. I can run a 17min 5km and so though 36mins for 10km would work. Straight away I knew that was out of the question. Still I stuck with my plan for 2km and then cooled after a little for the next 4km. Running out and back across the dam meant I could see the opposition heading back the opposite direction. They were fast, some wearing GB tri-suit-what was I trying to do? Qualify against these guys…still anything was possible. I tried to run the last 4km hard but I was already too far behind. I finished the run in 40mins 30secs. Not fast enough but still a personal best over 10km.
I ended up 17th in my age group and so didn’t qualify for the Worlds. Disappointed…yes but coming back from 50th to 17th is something I am personally proud of. I have the Wakefield triathlon in a couple of weeks, a last change to qualify. Although this will be the national age group championships as well and so the race will be by no means easy. I just hope that since there are 8 qualifying places per age group I will stand a better chance of getting a place!
Richard Pettinger wrote an article explaining what to think about when racing:
Any sporting achievement requires good preparation and the right kind of training but winning margins are often very small. The difference between winning and losing can often be the matter of a few seconds. To make sure we optimise our performance we need to make sure we have the right attitude to racing on the day.
1. Prepare in advance of the race.
Make sure all your equipment is ready and prepared the previous day. There is nothing more stressful than adjusting your brakes 30 seconds before you are due to start a national championship. If you know your bike is working well it is one thing less to worry about. It allows you to just concentrate on your race.
2. Be focused on your own race.
Don’t spend time thinking of your opponents and thinking how fast they are. Just concentrate on getting yourself ready. To be concentrating on other competitors will mean you lose focus and you may feel inferior and unable to beat them. These kind of thoughts do not help at all.
3. Don’t allow negative Thoughts.
Negative thoughts undermine your capabilities and capacities. If you worry about how badly you do, you are more likely to perform disappointingly.. If such thoughts come, don’t pay any attention to them; just let them go. Either think of nothing or try to think of something positive. A clear mind is a real boon to getting the most out of your racing capabilities.
4. Visualise your best performance.
Before the race you can visualise in your mind performing how you would like to. If you bring into your mind the idea of going very fast it will help you to be focused.
5. Don’t lose concentration midway through the race.
Sometimes when racing halfway round you may find yourself thinking about something completely unrelated. It is often at such times that your effort levels will have fallen. To race at your highest level you need to actively work to maintain a highest effort level.
6. Be wary of your mind, which wants to hold you back.
The top riders all share a common ability to ride through the pain threshold. There are times when we need to hold back but at the same time we should avoid finding numerous false excuses to slow down.
7. Visualise your competitors racing from behind.
When you feel your competitors are behind you it will give you extra motivation to go faster.
“If somebody is chasing you, your speed will be faster than if somebody in front of you is pulling you toward him with a rope. If you feel that a magnet is pulling you to the finish line, you will run fast; but you will run faster if you feel that somebody is chasing you and you are running for your life.” (1)
8. Don’t be overly disappointed or overly excited on your result.
We can’t help be happy when we do well, but if we perform worse than expected we should not feel miserable. Often to make progress we cannot improve in a straight line. It is necessary to have peaks and dips. If we become miserable because we didn’t fulfil our expectations then can lose motivation to train.
(1) Excerpt from Carl Lewis: The Champion Inner Runner, Part 1 by Sri Chinmoy.
Richard Pettinger is a member of Sri Chinmoy CT. He competes in UK time trials from hill climbs to 100 mile TT. He finished 4th in the national 100 mile TT championship. http://www.srichinmoyraces.org/cycling
I like the funny title of Ben Greenfield’s article, How To Absolutely Suck In Your Next Triathlon. Read the article below:
For some of you, this article comes a bit too late. You’ve had a great season and it’s too late to mess up in any more races. For others, you’ve still got time to bite the bullet and suck it up in your next event.
Ready for me to spill the beans on how to have a horrible race, and maybe even a PR (Personal Ruin)? Read on, O Ye of Low Self-Expectation.
1. Don’t warm up for your three sports. That’s right. Forget to print the Mapquest directions, arrive at the race late, and have barely enough time to dip your toes in the water before the starting pistol fires (who am I kidding…does *anybody* use a firearm anymore to start a race?). Since a warm-up in each skill - running, bicycling, and swimming - will distribute blood flow for specific individual muscle requirements, allow for enhanced lactate buffering, and improve heart stroke volume and respiratory muscle elasticity, you want to completely avoid this step. Especially avoid any race pace accelerations, which remove any overnight staleness and heat the body’s core temperature to necessary pre-race requirements. I suggest tucking a small pillow or hammock into your race bag. That way you can take a pre-race map, and awake to the sound of the other athletes churning into the water.
2. Hold back on the swim start. Don’t charge out into the water, fight for your space, and psyche-up mentally and physically for a fantastic, fast race. Instead, wade timidly into the water, ease yourself into race pace, then get kicked in the nose by multiple other slow starters as you try to weave your way through the crowd. A good method to achieve this objective is to tie two bricks to your feet with a small piece of twine, then remove the bricks at about the halfway point, when you finally feel like trying to swim fast.
3. Never practice or attempt the “shoes-on-pedals” start. You’ll never be able to do it anyway, right? Just fumble with your cleats for awhile, hope that you won’t have to run any more than 2 feet before clipping in, and add 30-40 seconds to your transition time. As a matter of fact, don’t practice swim-to-bike transitions at all in your training. There’s so much more to worry about, and who cares about free time? You can just run 10 seconds faster for every mile to make up that lost time.
4. Avoid the aero position at all costs. Stand on every hill and every pass, come out of aero for all your hydration and nutrition, and sit up for all the corners. No matter that the momentum transfer is an enormous waste of energy, and that wind tunnel tests have verified that the aero position is (shock!) the fastest. Besides, it’s uncomfortable, your back hurts, and even though you plan on racing in triathlons for the next decade or so, that $100 biomechanical fitting fee just can’t be worth it.
5. See number 3. Also don’t try “shoeless dismounts” coming off the bike. Even though this shaves precious seconds off your transition time, and makes you look like a rock-star, practicing this in a non-race situation might result in an inconvenient foot rash or maybe even crashing your bicycle in a grassy park while traveling at a neck-breaking 8 miles per hour. The same rule still applies - don’t practice transitions, bricks, or any of the “logistical nightmarish activities” in your training. What a headache, anyways.
6. Walk the first mile of the run. It feels comfy and nice. Nobody wants to endure that death march through the first 5000 feet or so, when those precious quads are still bombed from the bike. What is this, a race or something?
7. Do not estimate your fuel and hydration needs, or take into consideration the fact that your body can assimilate 4.1-4.6 calories of carbohydrate per minute, and needs the equivalent of approximately 1 water bottle per hour, not to mention regular electrolyte dosing, and small amounts of protein and fats, as well as a pre-race meal with low-glycemic index carbohydrates and minimal fat and fiber. It is a pain to do, often requires a calculator, and may even necessitate a bit of pre-race planning and packing. Instead, see what yummy suprises are in your race swag bag, and eat these colorful morsels when you start to feel hungry on the bike. If you’re not full, continue to eat, perhaps accepting the peanut butter and jelly sandwich another racer offers you as you stand by the side of the road, attempting to change a flat tire, which you’ve never attempted to do, but it can’t be that difficult…
Ben Greenfield runs Pacific Elite Fitness at http://www.pacificfit.net, an online portal for personal training, triathlete coaching, and free fitness and multi-sport advice. He resides in Liberty Lake, WA, where he works as director of sports performance for Champion Sports Medicine, a training and testing lab for athletes. Ben graduated from University of Idaho with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in sports science and exercise physiology, and is certified as a personal trainer and coach by the National Strength & Conditioning Association. Ben also offers individualized personal training, multi-sport coaching, training program design for athletes, lifestyle wellness and diet advising, and corporate consulting for workplace fitness programs. To learn more, visit http://www.pacificfit.net or e-mail Ben at elite@pacificfit.net.
Kevin Koskella writes about surviving the triathlon start:
The start of a triathlon can be nerve-wracking, tiring, intimidating, frustrating, and even discouraging (why do we do this sport??). But don’t let all this get to you! The start for everyone is a crazy cluster of splashing, starts and stops, physical contact, and swimmers trying to separate from each other. Here are some tips to deal with what some consider being the toughest part of any triathlon:
1.Expect the worst. Go into the event expecting that the start will not be easy. Know that you will bump into people, others will bump into you, but 99% of the time it is all by accident. Also know that the chaos at the beginning will not last for the entire swim, it will break up quickly as different speed swimmers separate.
2. Don’t panic. Keep your breathing from getting short. Stay as relaxed as you can while everyone else tries to get pole position. Don’t let others being frantic affect your state of mind.
3. Stay to the outside. Many will try to stay to the inside, as close to in line with the first buoy as they can get. Don’t follow the pack. Start outside and work your way in as you approach buoy #1. You many not get perfectly clean water, but you will save yourself from much of the madness.
4. Run until the water level is at your knees. This will maximize your time on land without being slowed by running through water.
5. Use shorter strokes to get through the chop. If you are swimming in the ocean and it is a choppy day, this technique helps tremendously. Once you get to some smoother water, go back to long strokes to maximize efficiency and conserve energy.
These 5 tips should help you to at least tolerate, if not enjoy, the beginning of a triathlon!
About the Author: Kevin 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.