As triathletes we’re very devoted to freestyle swimming.  That, combined with hours in the aero position can lead to some extremely tight pecs, lats, and triceps, at the same time leaving your back and upper shoulder muscles relatively unused.  If you continue in this manor without strengthening the opposing muscles, and stretching the freestyle specific muscles, you will more than likely run in to some shoulder pains that will leave you out of the pool nursing an injury.

These 5 simple exercises are perfect for balancing your back and shoulder muscles, helping to prevent needless injury in the pool.  Each exercise is done immediately following the previous, no rest, and about 10 reps per arm for each exercise. Twice through.  Choose a very light weight, the first two exercises will feel extremely easy, by the time you finish the 3rd and 4th the burn will set in making the 5th very hard.  You are not looking to bulk up with this exercise, it is more than enough to keep the weight light and focus on higher reps.  Your shoulders and swim times will love you!!

Standing Lateral Raise:

Forward Single Arm Raise:

Upright Row:

Rear Deltoid Fly:

Standing Shoulder Press:

Want to break 1 hr for your next Ironman swim? Be specific – “Swim 59:45 at Ironman”. Or, “Come top 10 in my age group at ….”. Whatever your goal is, let your mind know you can do it.

On a similar note, Chuckie V put up a great post over on his blog today – we put the meat and potatoes below. If you haven’t been to his site, we strongly recommend it. He’s got some amazing posts to help you as a triathlete.

Some things to keep in mind, care of ChuckieV

*Train for your worst possible day, not the one you hope to have
*Train to overcome self-doubt and to slay your inner demons
*Train for adversity, as adversity is omnipresent on Ironman day
* Train to want to be done
*Train to suffer
*Train for lock-up, as excessive eccentric loading is the name of the Ironman game
*Train to gut it out
*Train the gut
*Train to resist fatigue
*Train for pain

Items required for spectating:
Lawn chair, blanket, pillow – something to sit on or lie down on
Laptop, iPhone, netbook, other smart phone – something to get online with
Food and water
Money for buying beer, food, coffee, water
Camera
Map of the course
Start list with numbers

A book to read
Binoculars
Noise making device – bell or something to smash together
Flag and sign to cheer on your crew!!
Sunscreen
Stop watch
Skateboard, rollerblades, bike – something to navigate the run course effectively and watch from multiple locations.

Aside from watching your friend or family member come across the finish line, you definitely have to watch the swim start.  Don’t even think of sleeping in, 2000 people throwing themselves into the water at the sound of the gun is something that will spark your adrenaline and get you going no matter how tired you are.   Getting a good vantage point is hard, though, so stake your spot early and have some binoculars handy.

You also have to watch either the swim exit or the start of the bike.  It’s next to impossible to watch both except perhaps at the most spectator friendly Ironman venues.  Find shortcuts and RUN! Use noise making device here, great for camera time as well.

Now pull out that lawn chair or blanket and find yourself a spot on the course to watch the next available viewing point.  Most Ironman events are getting good at having the athletes come in and out of town for at least the first 30-40km of the bike – but there are events out there where your athlete will be completely gone for at least 5 hours.  This is where your WiFi or 3G enabled device comes in handy.  Check out this website: http://www.trakkersgps.com/, with that little piece of equipment you can track your athlete online and find out exactly how they’re doing.  Pretty cool stuff.

Grabbing a nap or going for your own little swim is a good idea while they’re on the bike.  It’ll keep you refreshed and ready to go once they come back into town.

Now they’re getting close to the run, hopefully you’re still cheering.  If not, you need more beer, coffee, and food – choose your weapon.  Mount your trusty steed (skateboard, bike, rollerblades, segway) and get out on the run course armed with your camera and motivational words to keep your athlete going.  Find out what they want to hear before the race starts.  Perhaps they’ve been working on a particular aspect of their run form – remind them to do it well.  Perhaps they forget to drink enough – remind them.  Maybe they want splits.  Maybe they just want you to keep quiet – that’s ok too!!

Now get yourself to the finish line and cheer them across.  The day is almost over. If you’ve done it right, you will be emotionally drained and exhausted, but hopefully not starving and completely dehydrated. Then it is on to waiting outside the med tent, helping pick up equipment, puke patrol, and hopefully a good party the next day!

What better place to test this stuff out then on the lava fields of Hawaii – so that’s what we’ve done.  A few different trials and we’ve found the perfect answer.  It’s extremely breathable, extremely water proof, and claims to be anti-aging (which by blocking UV and preventing skin damage is actually reasonable).  The key ingredient is 3% Zinc Oxide in a product called Hawaiian Blend Sport Sunblock SPF50.   We tried a couple others – Bullfrog works great, but not for long.  Similar findings for Coppertone Sport.  The worst was made by Banana Boat, even the sport sunscreen was very un-breathable and it makes you sweat from every pore. It also didn’t do much to block the sun after any time in the water.

Something with Zinc Oxide is by far your best bet.  3% is a good level, anything higher and you’ll be a white monster as it doesn’t rub in very well.  If you have a hairy body you may want to look for something with a bit less zinc for that very reason.  However, anything without it and it’ll be gone a few hours into the bike.

As the season starts to wind down, for most, it’s a great time to set some fitness benchmarks. Benchmarks are key to tracking improvement and ensuring that your training is actually doing what it’s supposed to do.  They’re also a good way to see how much you slacked off during the winter!!  Depending on the type of fitness you seek, you may want to keep track of more than just one of these tests.

Test #1 – A flat out 5km (3mile) run test keeping track of heart rate.  For the athlete concerned with speed – Olympic distance, Sprint distance type stuff.  As easy as it sounds, warm up really well, then giver!!  Keep track of your time and Avg HR.   In future tests you’ll be able to compare those two numbers and see where you stand.  It doesn’t have to be exactly 5km either.  Perhaps you have a favorite run route with no stop lights, doing the test there works just as well.

Test #2 – Low HR run test.  Sometimes called MAF (Max Aerobic Frequency) tests.  These are key for Ironman and Half Ironman athletes.  The longer you can run at a lower HR, the better off you’ll be over the course of a long distance event.  First step is to know your MAF – here’s a link for that calculation. Once you’ve got that down, you can get on with the test.  It is best to do this test on a track to limit variables between tests.  Warm up really well, at least 15 minutes.  Then peg your HR at your MAF and keep track of your mile splits as well as your average HR for each split.  Aim for at least 5 miles and as many as 12 miles if your splits are staying fairly steady.  If you see a drop off of more than 20% from your 2nd interval you can stop the test as you’ll be running REALLY slow by then.

Test #3 – Bike test.  You can do this a few different ways.

-Find a long hill (preferably over 45 minutes of climbing if you have that option), peg your HR, time yourself.
-Find a 10 minute climb and go up multiple times.  This will be similar to the mile split MAF run test on the track.  If you go up 6 times, keep track of each intervals time and HR.
-Or, get on the computrainer and put in a good 45′-1hr at a particular HR or wattage.  In you choose to peg your HR, keep track of wattage over the allotted time.  If you choose to peg wattage, keep track of HR over the allotted time.

Test #4 – Pool swim.  1000-2000 meter time trial and get a friend to keep track of your 100m splits.  Giver!!  This is a great tool to learn how to pace yourself properly too.

Really, there are endless ways to benchmark your fitness.  If you are serious about improving, you should definitely keep track of your numbers.  They will tell you about what you may be missing in training, and you will have concrete evidence to see what you’re doing right.

The people who run the Ironman show (WTC) had recently placed a ban on compression socks – but it does look like they’ve reversed that decision for Kona this year.  The issue was that they thought athletes were gaining an unfair advantage by covering up their respective age categories.  Sounds like they have eliminated the ritual of putting the athletes age on the back of the calf altogether.

One final thing – if you want to use them purely for recovery you can find the perfect pair for ~$15 at your local pharmacy.  These types tend not to be designed for training (thick cotton soles etc.) but if you want them solely for recovery,  they are way cheaper than the $50-$75 price tag found on compression socks in sports stores.

Here is a great article on compression socks from wisegeek.com.  In fairness to them we’ve only put half the article up here in the hopes that you’ll read the rest on their site.

Compression socks are specialized hosiery items designed to provide extra support and increased blood circulation for their wearers. Some compression sock manufacturers may also use the term support socks to describe their product. Compression socks are not to be confused with traditional dress socks or non-compression diabetic socks, although they may look similar. The main purpose of compression socks is to provide graduated pressure on the lower leg and foot. Traditional dress and athletic socks offer some degree of compression, but not enough to be considered therapeutic.

The key to understanding compression socks lies in their graduated pressure application. Throughout an average day, the body pumps blood to all of the extremities as equally as it can. However, gravity often causes blood to pool in the lower legs and feet, causing circulatory problems such as edema, phlebitis and thrombosis. At the very least, all of this blood pooling can cause fatigue and leg cramps. Elevating the legs and feet may alleviate the pain temporarily, but it often returns after a few hours of constant standing or walking.

This is where the use of compression socks can be extremely beneficial. Compression socks use stronger elastics such as lycra, rubber or spandex to create significant pressure on the legs…


Read more at: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-compression-socks.htm

Things  to consider:

-The aerodynamic position on a triathlon bike allows your hips to stay open.  If you were to put your back into the same aerodynamic position on a road bike, you will more than likely have a tighter hip angle, pinching off some of the blood flow and comfort you’ll need to perform well.  If you have tight back and glute muscles, riding in any semblance of an aero position while on a road bike is going to be extremely uncomfortable.  If you have a barrel chest, big gut, large breasts – same thing holds true.  Your quads will be hitting your upper body on a road bike with aero bars.  Moving the seat forward relative to the bottom bracket (which is basically what a tri-bike does) will open up your hips and give you more room to breath and stay comfortable,while all while being more aerodynamic.  In our opinion this is what most people neglect to look at.  They think because their body won’t allow them to be aero, they don’t need a triathlon frame with a steeper seat angle.  TOTALLY wrong, it will help in a big way for the reasons mentioned above.

-More power when further over the bottom bracket.  Have you ever seen professional cyclists when they’re giving it 110% in a Time trial or a solo breakaway?  They’re sitting as far forward on the saddle as they can to generate the highest amount of power.  Competitive cyclists have specific rules that keep their bike saddles from being too far forward – not applicable to triathlon and it’s good to take advantage of it (to a point).  If you’ll be doing a lot of climbing out of the aero bars, you can generate more power by sitting further back on the saddle so you don’t want to take the forward saddle position too far.

-Braking and cornering on a road bike is more responsive. If you’re a nervous rider and don’t feel confident with your bike handling skills, a road bike is going to offer more forgiveness and security when it comes time to round a tight corner at speed or hit the brakes in an emergency.

Those are the salient points in this decision.  But, don’t forget to keep in mind the enjoyment factor.  Riding a road bike set up in training is a lot of fun if you’re out to simply ride with friends and see the countryside.  If triathlon is looking to be a large part of your life, we would recommend jumping on to the triathlon specific frame set up.

Not all energy gels are created equal. 100 calories of this product, is not the same as 100 calories as that product…at least as far as your body’s ability to absorb and digest those calories is concerned. The carbohydrates are still there, but your body may reject that particular type of sugar so having more than one option could save your day. We have had much better success with carbohydrate products that have multiple types of sugar.

For example, some gels have only Long Chain Maltodextrin. Great if your body wants it, but not too helpful if it doesn’t. Other sugars to look for in gel products are; Ribose, Dextrose, Trehalose, and Fructose.  Some types of sugar i.e. fructose have anecdotal evidence showing that they cause digestive upset, but everyone’s stomach seems to respond differently (especially with the stress and intensity of a race situation). We’ve had bad bonks, and bad GI issues with single sugar gels.

Popular gel contents:
PowerBar Gel: Maltodextrin, Fructose
Hammer Gel: Maltodextrin
Carbo Pro 1200: Ribose, Dextrose, Trehalose, Maltodextrin
Gu: Maltodextrin, Fructose
CarbBoom: Maltodextrin, fruit puree
Clif Shot: Brown Rice Syrup, some flavors have fruit puree

Another option to look at are the gels that avoid processed sugars entirely. One that’s come to our attention recently is Chocolate Agave #9 (Ingredients: Organic Agave, Cocoa). One of our main criteria for a good gel is the viscosity of the product – it needs to be easy to swallow and this one is.

As promised in the last tip about avoiding orthotics, here’s some great ideas to get you going on strengthening your feet. Having strong feet will help eliminate the need to throw corrective support into your shoes, and help you get rid of those lingering injuries. Essentially, what you’re doing with orthotics, is making up for something that’s missing (or wrongly thought to be missing) in your basic foot structure. Pronation or is not necessarily a bad thing, it is your body’s way of cushioning some of the blow from the impact of a run stride. You simply have to have strong feet and ankles to keep from getting injured. A great way to see this is to walk bare foot. If you’re pronating while walking bare foot – why try to correct it with supportive insoles? If anything, orthotics or supportive insoles are a band-aid. They’ll help the problem for a while, but then that part of your body will get even weaker and further problems will arise. We’ve personally had issues with this. We have high arches and assumed we needed some sort of support underneath. What this did was make them weak from under-use (an arch after all is a structure that gets stronger when pressed on from above), and we both developed some annoying pains in our heels and toes. Thankfully we caught it quickly and didn’t simply upgrade to the next most supportive insole.

If you look back into the 70’s when marathons were taking off and most of North America was running WAAAAAYYYY faster than they are now – then you look at the injury rate and the shoes they were wearing – you’ll bring up some puzzling questions. Plantar Fasciitis: quite possibly non-existent until the advent of the well supported, well cushioned running shoe. NOT TO SAY supportive and cushioned shoes are bad, they have their place. Stress fractures are bad. We’ve simply forgotten how to keep our feet strong in today’s ‘latest and greatest do-dad’ shoe market. The well supportive shoe also brings up issues of poor run stride. I.e. They allow you to run with poor form because you’re no longer concerned about how hard you hit the ground with each stride.

Anyway, people have written books on that topic and I think you hopefully get the point. So, how to strengthen you feet.

#1. Bare foot running. I first heard about someone bare foot running while reading Jasper Blake’s blog a few years ago. At the time I dismissed it as something funny, or something he simply did for the pure joy of it. Finally, this year Chuckie V introduced us to the real benefits – it is still fun, however. Key thing to remember is to start slow and short. 5-15 minutes at the most, a couple times per week at the end of a normal workout or on a recovery day. Use proper run form (perhaps our view of proper run form will come up in a future tip). You can slowly increase the frequency, but really the volume doesn’t ever need to get excessive. Soon enough you’ll find you can run without orthotics or supportive insoles and start to done some racing flats (very light running shoes with not much cushion). We do stress, however, that it takes time and you have to ease into it. You also have to pay attention to run stride, but, simply running (very slow jogging, actually) bare foot will more than likely help with that issue. You will not be able to land on your heel without that protective cushion helping you along. Head out on soft surfaces; grass without debris, a rubber track, or grab yourself a pair of Aquasocks so you can jog on some slightly rougher terrain but still have freedom of movement for your toes.

#2. Towel pulls – for lack of a better name. Quite simply, lay down a towel on the floor, stand on the end, clench your toes and pull the towel towards your heel.

#3. Barefoot tiptoe raises. Like they sound. Lifting your heels to stand on your tiptoes and back down. Eyes closed is good for balance. Focus on your feet muscles.

#4. Dexterous toes. Grab things with your toes. Try to pick them up. Practice moving you toes indepentendly of one another.

Soon enough your feet will be stronger and more resilient, allowing you train longer and harder with less risk of injury.

So, we’ll have another tip coming shortly. Hopefully something useful for those of you that may have nabbed a Kona spot or hope to do so in future years.

Thanks for reading