Multisport Strengths and how to use them

I read this article and it made me think a bit.  I followed her advice more accidentally than anything and it does seem to make sense.  I came into triathlon without really much of a background in any of the sports other than running (I suppose that is if you call playing soccer, running).  So, I had a lot to learn.  I had really no fundamental knowledge on the nuances of form in any of the sports nor how to train for any of them individually, much less all at once.  Well, my first year, I quickly realized my bike was really progressing. I’m not sure why, but potentially b/c I work out with a group that has some guys with extensive biking background.  Maybe that’s why, but I really have no idea.

Regardless of why I progressed that way, by my second year of racing, my bike times were near the top of the pack while my run and swim (especially the swim) lagged.  I focused on the bike that year b/c I knew that nearly 50%of the race was spent riding, so if I could make good time on the bike, that would

If you haven’t read this, you need to…

Every day there seems to be new sources of inspiration.  In times like these when you see so much evil in the world that you don’t know what humanity has come to (Newtown), it’s great to see stories like these and remember that there are still good people.  I didn’t think today’s source would be an 8 year old, but it has been.  What a wonderful big brother this kid is!  Here’s the link.  Please take just a second to read it.

Running Arm Swing For Endurance Athletes

Running Arm Swing For Endurance Athletes | Run Coaching, Ironman and Triathlon Specialists – Kinetic Revolution.

Base 1 week 2. On track

I was very pleased with the way this week went. Last week I missed a few workouts and my long bike really frustrated me as I had such a challenging time finishing what was supposed to be a relatively easy ride. This week I focused on hitting my times, staying in my zones (pretty much all zone 2 work for now), and working on my form. My swim is still coming along nicely. I have a great group I work out with at masters swimming and I get a nice challenge from that every week. My bike and runs are coming along as well. I calculate an input:output ratio for each workout so that I can compare and track my progress. Other than the occasional group ride, my bike and run workouts have been solo to date.

Base 1 week 1 for 2013, just getting started

My goal for this week was to get in just under 12 hours. I had planned 2.2, 5.4, 3.3, and 1 hours of swim, bike, run, and weights respectively. I didn’t get a good start as I missed both Monday and Tuesday and then I had nutrition problems on my first long bike ride of the year which led to an energy crash and the end of my week. But, all in all, I didn’t do too bad. I got in 2.4 hours of swim, 3.4 hours of bike, and 3 hours of run. I missed out on any weights and I missed my bike target, but I didn’t do too badly otherwise. However, I hope to follow the schedule a bit better from here on out. Consistency is key.

Steelhead 70.3 statistical data analysis

Once I downloaded the full data set for Steelhead, I was curious about the splits and to see if anything could be gained by checking age group splits and the statistics around that.  Below (after the jump), you’ll see the chart that displays the complete breakdown.

2012 Ironman participants by country

This is a pretty cool site that shows the Ironman data in a way that it’s typically not broken down – by country.  You can see how many people from participated globally from each country last year.  Link here.

Lactate Threshold training

It’s not the right time of year for me to do this just yet, but this will be a great resource come build time.

Part 1 – definition and description of what lactate threshold is

Part 2 – how to measure (or estimate) your Lactate threshold

Part 3 (not yet available)

Forefoot running – Good or bad?

Forefoot running for the ironman triathlete – This article goes into the fad (or revolution, depending on your view) of forefoot running.  He explains that it’s not necessarily the way that your foot lands that is important so much as WHERE it lands.  He wants your foot to land directly under your center of mass.  This article is written more with a slant toward ironman distances, but I believe it can be applicable to most triathletes.

Flip turn tips

Since I was never a swimmer before now (I hesitate to say I am even now), I have a lot to learn.  I’ve put the bulk of my focus on just the freestyle stroke.  I’ve not paid much attention to the turns although I obviously do a lot of them in a 25 yard pool.  However, now that I’ve started master’s swim practices, I get more and more pressure to learn to flip properly.  Here’s some interesting tips that I hadn’t heard before and thought they were worth reposting:

1. Pull with your bottom hand! Luckily, this is a common practice on pool decks, but it still needs to be reiterated as Larsen et al. (2005) showed elite swimmers initiate their swimming with their bottom arm off a turn. This makes sense, as pulling with the bottom arm likely aides in rotation. However, future research must analyze the effects of pulling with the dominant or non-dominant arm when the swimmer is parallel to the bottom (as seen in those performing longer underwater dolphin kicking).
2. Consider not kicking for the first 5-meters! Many anxious swimmers begin kicking immediately off the turn, likely impeding explosiveness from the push-off (Zamparo 2010). One study, found the highest velocity during the first 0.08 seconds off the wall (Wada 2010). Instead of kicking immediately off the turn, be patient and conserve same of your energy.