To Defy The Impossible, every second counts. Aside from the talent and fitness of champion athletes Nicola Spirig and Kat Matthews, use of technology and strategy are seen as key in the attempt to finish a full distance triathlon in under eight hours at the Pho3nix Sub8 Project, Powered by Zwift.

Spirig On the Cutting Edge for Swim and Run

With two decades of sport under her belt, Spirig knows how best to get herself to a starting line fit and ready to race. She also has a wide network of partners and experts to consult in creating the equipment needed to go fast and how to best utilize her pacemakers throughout the race.

Spirig has worked with her wetsuit sponsor deboer on a specially designed full-sleeved wetsuit; to reduce drag, its surface imitates fish scale skin and the design prevents water from entering through the neck. The suit is also customized specifically to how she swims, providing greater buoyancy in the hip area but less in the upper body and legs. Deboer estimates that a person who swims at a pace of 1:45/100m without a wetsuit could potentially slash 10 minutes off their time wearing the wetsuit over the 3.8 kilometers of the full distance swim leg.

On the bike, Spirig consulted cycling experts as well as her longtime bike sponsor Specialized. While time trial bikes are commonly used in long-distance triathlon, because Sub8 allows pacemakers and drafting, Spirig has elected to use her regular Specialized road bike on the 180-kilometre bike leg, as she has always done.

She says, “The drafting seemed extremely important to us and so I will choose a road bike with which I can get the closest to the wheel in front of me while riding safely. Being in the draft means that the aerodynamics of my bike becomes less important, while factors like the ability to get the ideal draft, comfort, and using a position that lets me run the best off the bike get much more important.”

For the marathon, On Running has manufactured a shoe prototype for Spirig which has undergone multiple testing and feedback loops. Spirig reveals, “Tadesse Abraham just ran a new Swiss marathon record in my prototype a few weeks ago, so it’s good to see it’s working.”

Spirig is targeting a 50-minute swim with the help of one swim pacemaker, then a 4:19 bike split tucked in behind her cycling pacemakers so she can run a 2:45 marathon with her run pacemaker to finish in 7 hours and 54 minutes.

Matthews Using Proven, Top-of-the-Line Equipment

Given the short turnaround time for Matthews’ involvement in Sub8, there was no time to get things customized. However, through her sponsors she has access to the sport’s best for swim, bike, and run, used to great effect during the Ironman World Championship to produce a silver medal on debut.

Matthews will be swimming in the Orca Apex Flo wetsuit. It is the most advanced in the range featuring a combination of Orca’s signature ​​Yamamoto 44+ and 0.88 Free technology to provide maximum flexibility and mobility in the shoulder area, as well as buoyancy in the lower body through Exo-Lift and Aerodome technology.

She will ride the BMC Timemachine 01 Disc Premium Carbon with Vmax Aero Design and P2P Positioning System, using DT Swiss ARC 1100 DICUT wheels – DB 80 on the front and DISC on the rear – with prototype Hutchinson Racing Lab tyres. USE poles installed on a custom 18-degree wedge plate serve as aerobar extensions, helping Matthews hide from the wind and improve aerodynamics. To monitor power output, she will use a Wahoo Elemnt Roam bike computer coupled with a 4iiii power meter. A Shimano Di2 groupset running a 56×1 front derailleur and an 11-25 rear cassette, Selle Italia road saddle, and Wahoo Aero pedals complete the ensemble.

On the run, Matthews will use the Asics Metaspeed Sky+ shoe. Its FF Blast Turbo foam and propulsive carbon plate are touted to allow runners to extend their stride length, conserving energy and allowing them to maintain pace in the later stages of a race.

Similarly to Spirig, Matthews aims for a 50-minute swim split sitting on the feet of her two swim pacemakers. On the bike, she will tail a main domestique while three teams of two riders rotate on the front every three laps for a target time of 4 hours flat. On relatively fresh legs, a 2:40 marathon split with her run pacemaker will help her cross the finish line in 7 hours and 30 minutes, well under the 8-hour threshold.

That is, if all goes according to plan. These bold and ambitious athletes still have to turn up and put in the effort. And even then, the finish will be earned, never given.

When Lucy Charles-Barclay announced her hip fracture and subsequent withdrawal from the Pho3nix Sub7 and Sub8 Project, Powered by Zwift, not a few people started wondering what would happen if another athlete pulls out, especially since her head-to-head competitor Nicola Spirig had been in a cycling accident and was healing from a broken collarbone and punctured lung.

Unfortunately we have come to that situation now: Alistair Brownlee is out of attempting Sub7.

Just as Lucy found an understudy in Kat Matthews, Alistair will be seconded by fellow Brit Joe Skipper. Given the short timetable for a turnaround, it speaks to Joe’s caliber and confidence that he’s so quickly stepped up to the plate. Luckily he’s deep in a training block after skipping the Ironman World Championship in St. George due to coming down with COVID-19 the month prior.

Both Lucy and Alistair were knocked out by hip pathologies. Lucy’s injury was a stress fracture and edema. The press release from Pho3nix calls Alistair’s injury a “stress response in his hip”; a stress response is an early form of a bone stress injury and may lead to a stress fracture if no interventions are taken.

Training to race at the pointy end means that you are always dancing with the spectre of injury and illness. Despite the best coaching and experts available, each human body is a unique mystery: the workload one body can handle with aplomb, another may buckle and break under.

We wish Alistair a speedy recovery and rehab, and luck to Joe as he takes on Kristian Blummenfelt. History will be made regardless.

Full press release below:

Dual Olympic champion and Sub7 aspirant Alistair Brownlee has been ruled out of the Pho3nix Sub7Sub8 Project, powered by Zwift due to a stress response in his hip that requires immediate treatment.  Brownlee will be replaced by fellow Brit and PTO world number six Joe Skipper who takes his shot at making history against reigning Olympic and World Champion Kristian Blummenfelt on Sunday at the DEKRA Lausitzring in Senftenberg, Germany.

It is a cruel blow for Brownlee, who along with MANA Group CEO and Pho3nix Foundation board member Chris McCormack was part of the initial team that developed the concept of delivering the first sub-7 hour full distance triathlon in late 2019.

“We are extremely disappointed with the announcement, but when you are pushing your body to the limit like Alistair has been, it’s a fine line,”  said McCormack. “Alistair is a true professional and will be there to support Joe, who has been preparing for Ironman Nice at the end of June,  so in good shape to take on the challenge.”

“It’s not going to get easier with Joe,” said Blummenfelt. “He has a better full distance resume and a higher world ranking than Alistair. I’m looking forward to the  challenge.”

“Honestly, I’m devastated,” said Brownlee. “I was frustrated to miss St. George, and now this. I’m gutted. I was so invested in the process and loved working with my team. This was the goal that stimulated me again in the sport, on par with the  Olympics. I’ll do what I can to support Joe.”

Brownlee, who also missed the recent Ironman World Championships in Utah, will support Skipper by pacing him in the swim, and will also join the commentary team for the live broadcast on Sub7Sub8.com. Brownlee replaces Richard Varga on Skipper’s team, with Jonny Brownlee also dropping out to be replaced by German national marathon champion Frank Schauer. Skipper retains the support of the bike pacemaking team led by Alex Dowsett, who is fresh off riding in the Giro d’Italia.

Question: I’m a very strong swimmer, but mentally don’t go all out as I know I still have bike and run to come. How do you know your limits?

The fact that you’re a good swimmer means you know where you actually are fitness-wise. How do you know if you’re pushing hard enough to get the maximum out of your strength? Through training. It’s about understanding your numbers and knowing, ‘Okay I can swim ten 100s coming in off the 1:15, I shouldn’t try to go 1:13 because I will blow up.”

You learn that from your training, and then you need to have the strength of character or the confidence in yourself to implement that in a race when everyone else is starting off hot – the complete opposite. Have the confidence in implementing your own race strategy.

Question: In training I’m bang on the numbers and can push myself to the limit, but when it comes to a race the wheels fall off! Any help in how to replicate what I can do in training in a race?

That’s the magic question. If you’re getting the numbers right in training with the right parameters, then there’s no reason why you can’t execute on race day. So I’ll ask you this question: what are you thinking on race morning? What’s going through your head? Is it a nerves thing? Is it anticipation? Anxiety? Is it second-guessing yourself when things are getting tough? Usually when an athlete is not executing on race day what they’re showing in training, it’s a mental thing.

The other possible cause is a disconnect between your target training numbers and your desired outcome on race day. Always go back to the drawing board and be honest with yourself. Look at the numbers you’re aiming to hit in training and compare them to what your goal is. It’s like me saying I want to break eight hours for an ironman – but I’m only training at 240 watts. Sure, I’m hitting those particular numbers in training, but to attain my goal I actually need to put out 420 watts on race day. So are those things aligned?

Getting it right for all of us – pros and amateurs alike – is not a guarantee and that’s what makes racing so special and this sport so cool. There’s always something you can improve; it’s just a matter of being confident enough to ask the questions like you’re asking now.

Chris “Macca” McCormack is a four-time triathlon world champion with the biggest winning percentage in the history of the sport. He is a co-founder and partner in Super League Triathlon, CEO of the Bahrain Victorious 13 team, board member of the Pho3nix Foundation, and CEO of MANA Sports & Entertainment Group.

Running too much is very easy for a motivated person to do (as most triathletes probably are). We’re always told to take it easy and slowly in building up mileage, because there are some serious health risks to running more than your body can currently handle.

Fitness Level and the 10% Rule

If you’re only just about to start running, your level of fitness will be lower than that of someone who has been running regularly for years – the average runner runs 20 miles per week, including recovery days and easy hour-long runs. And it will be markedly lower than that of elite runners who may average 120-150 miles in a week with three or four quality/intense sessions.

Runners also follow something called the 10% Rule: total weekly mileage should increase by no more than 10 percent every week for three weeks. The fourth week should be a recovery week, with mileage decreased by 10 percent. (Increases can be lower than 10%.) As conventional wisdom holds, this should help decrease injury risk because it give the body enough time to adjust and increase fitness and strength to take on the gradually increasing demands on it.

Is it safe to run daily? This depends on the individual runner’s needs; if you’re injury-prone, haven’t trained in a long while, or have arthritis, it may be more prudent to run every other day and do cross-training like swimming, cycling, strength training, and yoga on other days to help you recover.

Additionally, varying the intensities of your run workout will help reduce the risk of burnout. You don’t need to set a new personal best every time you run, and a well-designed training plan will give you the variety your body needs to develop as a well-rounded runner.

Signs Of Running Too Much

Signs of overtraining may vary between individual runners. However, there are common symptoms such as fatigue, sleep disruption, changes in appetite, elevation in morning resting heart rate, slowing down of performance despite training well, and of course injury and illness.

Muscle aches and niggles can also be tiny whispers we need to listen to. When foam rolling your legs, soreness and discomfort can be a sign of building inflammation.

Manage overtraining with rest days and pulling back your training intensity and mileage, as well as getting advice from a credentialed coach. However, prevention is better than cure so here are ways to avoid overtraining.

Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Fast

Patience is always the key when trying to elevate your running game. Progressing gradually over time and allowing your body time to respond and recover is what will ultimately reduce the risk of injury, help keep you running, and make you a better runner in the future. Plan ahead, listen to your body, and eventually you will break through your limits!

(Featured photo by Capstone Events on Unsplash.)

With only four weeks to go until the Pho3nix Sub7 and Sub8 Project, Powered by Zwift, Kristian Blummenfelt and Kat Matthews came out in fighting form to shape the men’s and women’s races at the Ironman World Championship at St. George, Utah.

Blummenfelt claimed his first Ironman world title to add to his already-glittering collection of an Olympic gold medal and a World Triathlon championship. In what was only his second race over the full distance of triathlon – 3.8 kilometres swim, 180 kilometres bike, and 42 kilometres run – Blummenfelt’s winning time of 7:49:16 broke the existing St. George course record by 43 minutes.

This has also made Blummenfelt the first athlete ever to win an Olympic gold medal, a World Triathlon  Championship, and an Ironman World Championship in less than 12 months.

Comparing his Olympics and Ironman World Championship campaigns, he says, “Eight hours versus 1:45 is one thing, but also the Olympics was 10 years of build up. This was one year, and also we have two chances this year. The Olympics you only have one every four years. It’s great to have been able to have done it all now.”

Matthews’ long-delayed debut in an Ironman World Championship race finally came to pass, with the European champion battling four-time world champion Daniela Ryf over the bike leg and holding off reigning world champion Anne Haug on the marathon to claim the second-highest step on the podium.

“I smiled at one point whilst I had a moment of realisation that I was racing at the front of the Ironman World Championship with Daniela on the bike and we were pulling away. It was incredible!” Matthews said.

She added, “I turned the pressure into confidence. It meant it wasn’t just me saying, ‘yeah, I’m going to  go win the World Ironman Championship’… Instead it was other people thinking I can do this. So, I [said] I’m going to give it a go.”

The focus for them now will be to recover properly and stay in peak condition to race the full distance again on June 5. Next time, the goal is not merely to win, but to be the first to go Sub7 and Sub8.

(Photo by Taker Vazquez / Orbital Studio)

Just like the proper bike fit, having the right saddle is important so you can maintain proper form, ride comfortably as long as you want to, and help you avoid injury. So what are the factors you need to consider when shopping for the best saddle?

Anatomy

No two riders are built the same. Even if you’re the same height as someone else, you may have different torso and leg lengths, wider or narrower hips, and more. That’s why there’s a wide variety of saddle shapes: wide, narrow, long, short, with or without anatomical cutouts.

The most important measurement you need to make is the distance between your sit bones. The further they are apart, the wider your saddle should be (which is why women generally sit better on wider saddles compared to men). The saddle should be wide enough to support your sit bones, but not too wide to cause chafing.

Cutouts in the saddle or even short- or split-nosed saddles help with pressure and friction issues in the external genitalia for both men and women.

Strength And Flexibility

Test how flexible you are by sitting on the ground and seeing how far you can reach with your hands. If you can reach your toes, then your hamstrings are flexible. Do you struggle to reach your toes? Then you’re less flexible.

Being less flexible means riding more upright because you lack the flexibility to rotate forward from your pelvis. You’ll need a saddle that has good cushioning and that will support your sit bones.

If you’re flexible in your hamstrings, you’ll be able to take a more aggressive position. You might require less cushioning in the back of the saddle, and more space in the front of the saddle.

Core strength also affects how well you sit atop your saddle; the more stable your core is, the less you move around while pedaling, and the less likely it is you will develop saddle sores or compensatory movement that can result in injury (e.g. bending from the spine instead of the pelvis, sitting more to one side of the bike, etc.).

Riding Style

Your saddle should fit the type of riding that you do on your bike.

If you’re a recreational rider doing short rides on a cruiser, urban, or commuter bike, chances are you sit upright most of the time; a bike saddle that’s wide with plush padding or springs will do wonders for you.

Road saddles are long and narrow to allow better knee extension when pedaling, with minimal padding for better power transfer. For long-distance road touring, you can get a saddle with more cushioning.

For mountain biking, because of the varied positions you can take while on the trail (standing, hanging back off the saddle, a tucked position) you need more padding for the sit bones, a streamlined shape to allow you to change positions quickly, and a durable cover for all kinds of conditions.

Test Your Saddle

Performance saddles for racing usually have minimal padding and narrower noses. Cushioning saddles feature plush cushioning to absorb bumpy rides. While which one you pick is up to personal preference, excessively soft cushioning can result in more discomfort because you tend to slide around on it.

Cutouts, indents, and short saddle noses help provide comfort for the area between the sit bones, relieving the pressure as you sit. However, depending on how you sit and how you’re built, each type might work better or worse for you.

This is why it’s vital to test a variety of saddles before committing to one. The better brands will have a rental or loan program which will allow you to test ride different saddles before you make your purchase. Also note that the saddle you use may affect your bike position, so it’s better to buy your saddle in conjunction with getting a proper bike fit so you can efficiently sit and pedal without pain and risk of injury.

Finding the right saddle for you goes a long way toward helping you enjoy the experience of cycling, allowing you to build fitness and become a better athlete.

(Featured photo by Alejandro Lopez on Unsplash.)

I’ve always said triathlon is not a sport you play. It’s Everest without the amazing view, leaving you puking your guts out on the side of the road only to come back for more. That’s the sport I fell in love with and was inspired by.

Triathlon at its root is a blue-collar sport; in comparison to golf  and tennis, triathlon is intensely physical and laborious. At the same time, it’s a sport anyone can set their hand to as long as they have the grit to grind it out for hours on end.

The people I grew up doing triathlon with in Australia were also the  same ones who did ultramarathons and adventure races, putting themselves  through punishing conditions and coming out on the other side – maybe battered and bruised, but very much feeling alive. As a young sport drawing from swimming, biking, and running we also didn’t have much in  the way of technology, but the athletes I looked up to accomplished extraordinary feats nonetheless.

I was young so everything seemed grander, but my idols seemed like superheroes doing this sport that no one had ever heard of. It was like a secret club of hard, gutsy people that you couldn’t buy your way into;  you had to earn your stripes and gain respect by taking on the hard races – the pinnacle of which was Kona.

I wanted to do the same.

With sport you very quickly learn that you will fail more than succeed; after all, there is only one winner among many also-rans. But  that doesn’t mean you stop trying, and athletes by their very nature  continually push. Failure makes the successes even sweeter, and many times it is failure that propels the changes that enable future success.  You just need to have the courage to go through that journey.

But it seems people don’t do hard races anymore; nowadays it’s all about going fast and setting new personal bests. When bragging rights have shifted toward who spent more on their new bike, who’s got slick and flashy posts on social media, and who went faster (never mind that  the course is short), there’s a palpable disconnect with the grunty, rough-and-tumble aspect of triathlon.

As any sport gets bigger, you draw more people with different motivations to get involved; some do it because they like the challenge,  some do it to improve their health, and some do it to show off, like peacocks. You look behind the scenes and triathlon is still just as hard  – maybe even harder at the top end because as a bigger sport and an Olympic one, you pull in the athletically elite. But now there’s this  impossible perfection that people feel like they have to chase: the suits and bikes have to be on point, the pictures have to be pretty, and  it needs to look easy.

Ultimately I think that fakeness doesn’t inspire. If that is the predominant image of our sport to the rest of the world, will we be able to captivate the hearts and imaginations of the youth who we look to become the future of triathlon?

This is why we do what we do: to paint a different picture and experience of triathlon. As the Pho3nix Sub7 and Sub8 Project race day looms closer, we see how the initial four athletes have each  dealt with the challenge of going much faster than anyone has ever  before.

Those who think going Sub7 and Sub8 will be easy because they have pacemakers do not understand a thing about the effort needed to go these paces and still make it to the finish line, or the fine line to tread training enough to go faster without your body breaking down. In Lucy Charles-Barclay’s case, we see how trying to solve that puzzle resulted in injury and has cost her the early season and opportunity for  a world title.

But this story also revealed a new challenger: Kat Matthews rose to the occasion and said yes, I believe I can do this. Taking this on, she shows she is made of exactly the same stuff as Alistair Brownlee, Kristian Blummenfelt, Nicola Spirig, and Lucy Charles-Barclay. The stuff champions are made of.

To me, going after what seems difficult and impossible is inspiring, and that is the heart of the sport of triathlon. Triathlon is hard, and we ought to take pride in that.

Chris “Macca” McCormack is a four-time triathlon world champion with the biggest winning percentage in the history of the sport. He is a co-founder and partner in Super League Triathlon, CEO of the Bahrain Victorious 13 team, board member of the Pho3nix Foundation, and CEO of MANA Sports & Entertainment Group.

Nutrition is key to performing well and avoiding the dreaded “bonk”, whether you’re just training or actually racing. This has somewhat been a bit tricky to master for triathlon, since there hasn’t been a lot of research when it comes to long endurance events spanning across swim, bike, and run. What works in fueling for a single sport might not for the physical demands of two or three different ones.

But with long-distance triathlon, the bike leg takes up a disproportionately large amount of time and energy. There’s greater opportunity to get your nutrition very wrong here and end up either under-fueled and hungry by the time you need to run, or over-fueled with your gut in deep distress. This is why we always encourage any of the athletes under our care to test their nutritional strategies in training; that process of trial-and-error helps you find what works for you individually.

Here are some good tips to get you well on your way to fuelling better on the bike.

Type Of Fuel

Training and racing nutrition is available in many different forms. There are liquids, gels, dissolving tablets, blocks, and bars – and then there are also things like sandwiches, spam musubi bites, and even stops at roadside restaurants and cafes. Some people might respond well to carbohydrates and electrolytes both dissolved in fluids, while others may need to take their carbs as solids, and hydrate with electrolytes and fluid.

Practice with different ones to see which works best for you. The more intense the activity the faster you need the energy to enter your bloodstream; carbs are absorbed faster in liquid form like drinks or gels. If the rides are more easygoing, solid foods are great for a slow fuel release. (Higher intensity may also cause the digestive process to slow down because your body is channeling blood flow into your limbs instead of your stomach.)

Amount Of Carbs

Typically, you should be consuming around 30 to 60 grams of carbs an hour, which varies per individual (smaller individuals need less calories in general). These can come in energy gels, which contain 20 to 30 grams of carb per gel, or energy bars which contain 20 to 25 grams of carbs per serving.

Prepackaged nutrition comes with directions for intake, e.g. one gel per hour, one sachet per bottle, etc. How do you know if you’re taking too much? Vomiting or a bloated stomach will tell you that you’ve taken too much, too fast. How do you know if you’re taking too little? You bonk.

Hydration

The more solid a food is, the more you need to take in water to help your gut to absorb it. There are some very liquid gels available which you won’t need to take with water, but more commonly you need to take a sip of water with each gel.

Water alone isn’t enough; to stay properly hydrated you need to replenish the electrolytes you lose in sweat. There are electrolyte-only powders or tablets if you prefer to take your calories in as solids and gels.

Timing

During a race, you can’t really take any nutrition while swimming. So you should take a gel in transition or in the first few kilometers of the bike leg, and then take succeeding ones at the proper intervals (based on instructions on the packaging as well as your personal trial-and-error).

Don’t wait until the last moment to top up. Unlike cars which you can keep driving until the tank is empty, the human body needs to keep its energy level constant to perform well. Many an experienced athlete can tell you the tale of forgetting to eat and drink during a race or dropping a bottle of nutrition and not stopping to pick it up, leading to a DNF or worse.

The main point of fuelling properly on the bike leg is so that you can ride well while still having enough energy to run and finish strong. Staying on top of your nutrition on the bike sets you up for success at the finish line.

(Header photo by Malik Skydsgaard on Unsplash.)

How does tattooing affect the body’s ability to sweat?

We’ve spoken about hydration and drinking enough fluid during training sessions and racing to ensure you stay adequately hydrated. But what about how the body cools itself? One of the key ways your body does this is via sweat.

Interestingly, those with tattoos may actually have altered their bodies’ ability to sweat… wait, what?!

You read correctly. Spending much time in the tattoo parlour may have changed how much you sweat, and how much salt there is in that sweat, according to a recent study. Researchers at Alma College examined how changes in sweating function in tattooed areas of the body.

Sweat Glands

Getting a tattoo involves puncturing the skin multiple times with needles that leave the dye for the tattoo in the dermal layer. This layer happens to contain the sweat glands which is where your sweat is secreted from.

Reduced Sweating

Whilst the study was small (only 10 people), the researchers found a 53% lower sweat rate and a higher sweat concentration (64%) in areas with tattooed versus non-tattooed skin!

Though further research is required to draw serious conclusions, sweat plays a key role in body temperature regulation; inability to sweat may have an impact on performance particularly in hotter race conditions, due to increased difficulty managing body temperature.

An interesting one to consider, particularly if you regularly race in hot conditions, and if you were considering a tattoo.

Strategies to Lower Body Temperature

So what happens if you are already heavily tattooed? Or even if you do often train in hotter conditions?

Aim to use other strategies to keep body temperature low: having icy slushies or other drinks available to drink during high temperature training sessions, doing tougher sessions during cooler times of day and utilizing ice baths (if available) cold towels and cold showers post training to help bring your body temperature back down.

Chloe McLeod is an Advanced Sports Dietitian and Accredited Practicing Dietitian for Pho3nix Club.

(Header photo by Allef Vinicius on Unsplash.)

No, it’s not an April Fools prank.

Ironman 70.3 world champion Lucy Charles-Barclay has announced she has an injury requiring immediate attention and at least four to six weeks of rest.

Lucy said in her vlog announcement, “I had an MRI scan on my hip which unfortunately gave us the news that there is a small fracture in the cortical region of my bone and there is also a large amount of edema [swelling caused by fluid due to injury/inflammation] in the bone… in the femoral neck.” She continued, “We don’t really know how long this is going to take to heal; it could take a matter of four weeks, it could take a matter of four months. We really don’t know at this stage.”

The break to heal and rehabilitate this injury effectively rules her out of the Ironman World Championship in St. George on the first week of May, and the Pho3nix Sub8 Project, powered by Zwift in the first week of June.

Pho3nix Foundation and Mana Group have released a statement, which reads:

“We are extremely disappointed with the announcement, but our priority is always athlete safety and well-being,” says Chris McCormack, Pho3nix Foundation board member and CEO of Mana Sports and Entertainment.

“I honestly believe Lucy was in the type of form to not just go Sub8 but close to the men’s 7.26 benchmark. We wish her a speedy recovery and look forward to having her in the commentary booth with us on our history-making race day.”

Lucy will still attend the event, providing expert commentary and will be engaged in many other aspects of the historic project.

We wish Lucy a speedy recovery and look forward to her return to the racing circuit, hopefully in time for the Ironman World Championship Kona in October.

So now the question is: how will the Sub8 Project continue? Will they have only Nicola Spirig (who is coming from her own injury battle from a bike crash) making the attempt to become the first woman to complete an ironman under 8 hours? Who else would be so bold and audacious? We have a few names in mind…

Stress is inevitable in life. Don’t try to escape stress; instead, deal with it by addressing the root causes, and also aiding your body in reducing the effects of stress on it.

One of the ways that we deal with stress is with food (we’ve previously tackled stress eating). Eating right and having good eating habits will help. Here are a few changes to the way you eat that will help you reduce the stress your body goes through.

Eat Less Processed Food, More Whole Foods

Unprocessed or whole foods are in their naturally-occurring state (e.g.: fresh vegetables, fish, and grains). Minimally processed foods have been cooked or cut or dried but have nothing much added to them. Highly processed foods have something added to them like sugar, oil, salt or other ingredients that preserve them.

Generally, processed foods contain less micronutrients and fiber and more calories from refined sugars and trans fats. All this makes you feel more sluggish than normal and also contributes to feeling stressed.

Try reducing your consumption of processed food and add more whole/unprocessed foods to your diet. You’ll find you feel revitalized and more energetic.

Include plenty of fruits and vegetables in your diet for antioxidants that help to negate the biological effects of stress. Include lean protein sources such as beans, lentils, chicken and trimmed meats, as well as healthy fats such as avocado, olive oil, nuts, and oily fish. Low GI, fibre-rich carbohydrates can also aid in creating a healthy microbiome for good mental health, as well as providing a dose of vitamins and minerals for stress reduction (think oats, sweet potatoes, quinoa and basmati rice).

Reduce or Time Your Caffeine Consumption

While coffee is a useful pick-me-up for many people, its high dosage of caffeine per serving can keep you from getting good quality sleep. This can hamper your physical and mental health.

Swapping coffee for green tea (which has half the amount of caffeine) will do wonders for your sleep while providing that caffeine boost you need to get through your day. You can also limit yourself to having coffee only before lunchtime so you can sleep at a reasonable time.

Dark Chocolate

Sweets are a known comfort food craved during stressful times. Dark chocolate is a good alternative treat because it contains stress-reducing magnesium and may improve your cognitive function. It also reduces your blood pressure due to its flavonoid and theobromine content.

Chloe McLeod is an Advanced Sports Dietitian and Accredited Practicing Dietitian for Pho3nix Club.

(Header photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash.)

You shouldn’t be running every session the same way: running at different intensities stimulates different energy systems and builds strength, speed, and endurance. (Here are the three essential run workouts all triathletes need to do.)

There are three ways of measuring the intensity of your run sessions: feel, pace, and heart rate. Each method has its own pros and cons that you can use to get the full benefit of your training session as well as fulfill the requirements of your training plan.

Feel

You can make use of your innate human ability to feel the intensity of your effort. We use the Rate of Perceived Exertion, or RPE. The traditional Borg scale is a rating from 6 to 20, from “no exertion at all” to “maximal exertion.” However most coaches use a scale from 1 to 10 instead.

Being able to identify where your exertion is on this scale is a useful skill to develop, since it provides you with instant feedback without needing additional tools and helps you make adjustments on the fly whether you need to apply the pressure or ease up a little bit.

The downside of training by feel is that it’s very subjective compared to training with heart rate and pace. Especially if you’re a beginner, you can interpret bodily sensations poorly, with a disconnect between your actual effort and how you perceive the exertion. Without any objective feedback either from devices or people, you can feel really good and fast while running but it’s really just because you’re unknowingly running at a low pace instead. Alternately you might feel you’re just running easy, but your heart rate is already nearing maximum.

Pace

Pace is a great way to measure your training intensity in real time. Increasing effort during your runs results in increased pace; there’s no delay in measurement.

The disadvantages of training with pace is that it doesn’t consider how hard you’re working to produce the desired output. There are days you might be putting out more effort to run at the same pace. It also doesn’t take environment into consideration; hillier terrain, higher elevations, and/or cooler or hotter temperatures can impact the effort you put into running at a certain pace. Lastly, attempting to reach faster paces on the monitor feeds your ego, which could increase risk of injury because you might be trying to train above the level you’re currently physically capable of.

Heart Rate

When the body is under stress or effort starts to increase, your heart rate increases in response. Training by heart rate is a classic way of checking how much effort and intensity you’re putting into your training session, and is useful for helping you hold back on easy days because you need to keep that heart rate low. Heart rate monitors (whether wrist- or chest-mounted) have made this much easier to do; no need to hold your fingers to your pulse point on the wrist or neck.

One downside of training by heart rate is that its response to a change in effort is delayed. This makes it an unreliable metric during short intense intervals. Temperature, terrain, and elevation can also impact your heart rate. Being dehydrated also makes your heart beat faster, since your blood is thicker which makes it harder for the body to circulate it through your blood vessels.

You also need to make sure your heart rate monitors are properly calibrated, fitted well, and aren’t running low on battery.

Two Metrics in Tandem

Coaches find that measuring effort and intensity using two metrics in tandem is best. Using heart rate alongside RPE will help you learn to identify exertion levels with their respective heart rate and training zones. Pace with heart rate will help you see if you’re pushing too hard even if your pace is telling you otherwise; tracking what pace you run at a certain heart rate over time can also tell you if you’re getting fitter and faster. Linking RPE with pace allows you to dial in the pace and run prescribed sessions even without using a device.

Use these metrics to train smarter, avoid injury or burn out, build your run fitness, and enjoy running even more.

(Header photo by Gabin Vallet on Unsplash.)

The transition from biking to running can be a daunting one during triathlons. Triathletes around the world at all levels of experience have had their legs feeling like a ton of bricks. But why is your ability to run so impaired after the bike ride?

Why Are My Legs Heavy Running Off The Bike?

There are two main reasons why your legs feel so heavy going from bike to run. First is because your body directs blood flow into the muscles that need it; in cycling, this is in the quads. When you get off the bike and start running, it takes some time for the blood to migrate to the other muscle groups associated with running, like your hamstrings and calves.

The other reason for brick-like legs is the nerve signals your brain sends out. When cycling, your brain is signaling your leg muscles to pedal. Your brain and nerves need time to adapt to the change in movement patterns, which can cause awkwardness in your motions as you transition from cycling to running.

Now that we know why your legs feel heavy, how can we counteract this to run faster off the bike?

Practice Through Brick Sessions

Simulating race conditions will improve your ability to run off the bike. Doing brick training sessions helps you get familiar with the discomfort of going from bike to run. A familiar discomfort is more tolerable than one you’ve never experienced.

Brick training will also help you understand how hard to go on the bike without affecting your pace and stamina during the run. Find out more about how to do brick training and how this will make you a better triathlete.

Increase Your Strength On The Bike

Being stronger on the bike allows you to ride at a much lower intensity, saving your legs for the run. Especially for longer-distance triathlon, the bike leg takes up a greater proportion of the race than the swim and the run. Doing a block focused on bike training not only improves your performance on the bike, but makes you a better runner as well.

If you get your training mix right, you can tune your bike-run brick sessions to maximise the strength gains on the bike. It is the run in the brick session that your body will have a hard time recovering from, so be careful with it. The faster you’re running, the shorter the run length should be; the longer the bike, the shorter the run off it should be.

Improve Your Run Cadence

While classical running form (the type you see on track runners and elite marathoners) requires a lot of knee lift and stride length, your movement pattern and position when cycling causes hip flexors to shorten, which affects range of motion when running. To maintain the same pace with a shorter stride length, you need to increase your cadence.

As a side effect, training to increase your run cadence helps you become a more efficient, less injury-prone runner. Here’s how to improve your run cadence.

Stay on Top of Nutrition

A lot of times, bonking on a triathlon run happens because you didn’t stay on top of your nutrition (and hydration) while on the bike.

Your body isn’t like a car where you can keep going until the gas tank is empty; you need to keep your glycogen/blood sugar and electrolytes topped up throughout. Pacing properly also ensures that the energy burn is even and consistent, especially over long distances.

Practice your nutrition strategy and products used until you have a plan for race day that leaves you feeling fresh and energetic when you get off the bike. Recommendations vary between 30-90g per hour in various research studies. Practicing your nutrition plan, and how much you will have multiple times in training, so you have it entirely sorted, and trust it 100% will make life much easier for you come race day. Here are the best practices for food timing during exercise, and here’s how to stay hydrated during a race.

While the discomfort of going from bike to run never goes away (you can observe this even in elite athletes!), there are ways to improve your run performance even after riding hard. As a wise man once said, “It never gets easier; you just go faster.”

Very enthusiastic triathletes obsess about training volume and intensity, thinking “More is Better”. But too much causes a plateau in improvement, declining performance during training and races, and worst of all: burnout.

As a piece of the puzzle, recovery is just as important, relieving your body of fatigue and allowing you to rebuild so you can get better. That’s where coffee rides come into play. But what’s a coffee ride anyway, and why should you do them?

Not Just About Drinking Coffee

Coffee rides are relaxing, slow-paced rides that don’t tax your aerobic or muscular systems, allowing your body to recover actively. It’s many experienced cyclists’ favourite kind of ride since they allow you to enjoy the social aspect of cycling with friends and getting outdoors.

True to its name, coffee rides normally start and end at a cafe. Coffee rides are best enjoyed in a small- to medium-sized group disciplined enough to hold an easy pace and allow the group to stay together. (Any time someone tries to go off the front, that’s no longer a coffee ride!)

Recovery

Coffee rides should be the easiest rides in a cyclist’s week. They increase blood circulation through your legs, allowing your muscles to flush any fatigue or lactic acid buildup from more intense rides. This aids in recovery and muscle repair.

As you get older, your body needs more time to recover, so you need to adjust when to do recovery rides or take your rest days.

(There may be a tendency to overindulge in sweet treats on coffee rides, especially when the cafe has some great pastries. Moderation is key!)

Reprieve From The Stats

One of the reasons why coffee rides are great is because you can focus on enjoying the ride without having to worry about the numbers and the stats. Our member Tommy Morwood said it best: “Not all training has to be structured and tracked. It’s often really good to just get out and ride for the sheer pleasure of being with your friends and enjoying the outdoors! Coffee rides can be an excellent break from power, numbers, data and help you just rekindle your love of riding.”

Build/Maintain Fitness Base In The Off-Season

Consistency and habit in the off-season will drive your success when you start training and building into a race. Since the off-season is a cyclist’s downtime, doing coffee rides is an enjoyable way to maintain your fitness or start better habits to build a good fitness base.

Our member Robert Garren uses his coffee rides as an opportunity to ride where he doesn’t usually go. He says, “It’s something to look forward to. Nice to pick out new cafes and explore.”

Conclusion

Coffee rides are a part of cycling culture that should be celebrated and welcomed gladly any time they pop up in your triathlon training schedule. They allow you to meet with friends new and old, and are healing not just to the body but to the mind as well.

(Header photo by Obed Hernández on Unsplash.)

Most people start doing triathlon through short distance events like sprint or Olympic distance. The natural progression is to then move up in distance for increasing challenge and achievement.

But when you think about it, short distance triathlons when raced all out are truly challenging. They still hurt, just in different ways.

Sprint vs. Olympic vs. Half vs. Full

Sprint triathlons usually consist of a 750-meter swim, 20-kilometer bike, and 5-kilometer run. They’re about half the distance of an Olympic distance (or standard distance). Half ironmans are 1.7/90/21, half the distance of a full ironman. Supersprint triathlons (like the ones done in Super League Triathlon races) are even shorter than sprint tris.

But even if the distances covered in a sprint triathlon are far shorter than those in an ironman, it’s still primarily endurance you rely on rather than, say, the explosive fast-twitch efforts needed in a 100-meter dash on the track or 50 meters in a pool.

This is why most people start out short and build their endurance until they can eventually tackle the longer races. But those who have raced primarily ironman for a few years can find themselves laid out after they do a backyard sprint triathlon. And as anyone who watches World Triathlon and Super League Triathlon can attest, even the elites are spent after those super short distances. So what’s going on?

Intensity

If you’ve ever followed training plans for ironman and half-ironman you’ll have noticed a lot of emphasis on training in Zone 2 (aerobic) with occasional taps up into Zone 3 (tempo). That’s because these events are raced at a lower intensity to manage energy consumption so you make it to the finish line many hours after you start.

For sprint and Olympic, you run out of road fast. The elites race these distances in Zone 4 (threshold) and 5 (VO2max) to launch themselves into contention for the win.

What this means for your body: higher amounts of pain for a short time in the short distances, versus a duller/subtler pain over a long period of time for longer distances.

After a sprint you’ll probably have some muscle soreness and burning lungs but in a few days’ time you’re ready to go again – versus after an ironman where you need to take a lot more recovery time. (So if you’re someone who likes racing often, sprint and Olympic is where it’s at.)

Obviously you can always slow down if your goal is just to finish, but if you’re trying to clinch one of the top spots in your age group (or even overall!) you’ll find that going fast in a sprint is quite taxing and a worthy challenge.

Don’t underestimate the short distance triathlons; race them hard and you’ll make yourself proud.

(Header photo from Super League Triathlon.)

We’ve given you hints and clues over the past several months, but now the big reveal is here…

The Phoenix Sub7 and Sub8 Project, powered by Zwift will be held on 5th/6th of June 2022 (weather dependent) at the Dekra Lausitzring in Germany, an incredible racing complex and automotive  proving ground used by Europe’s premier vehicle manufacturers, the German Touring Car (DTM) Championship series, and the Superbike World Championship.

View the Sub7Sub8 course maps here.

Things are coming together for Alistair Brownlee, Lucy Charles-Barclay, Kristian Blummenfelt and Nicola Spirig to attempt to break seven hours for men and eight hours for women over the full distance of  triathlon.

The venue was chosen by event producers Mana Sports and Entertainment after an exhaustive global search for the fastest possible course which accounted for various factors including time zone, climate, wind, altitude, track  surface and layout.

Several venue possibilities were floated and rumored, but ultimately we head to a part of the world where triathlon is a treasured part of their sporting heritage – and a country where the current world records were set.

The ground-breaking attempt, where  the men are looking to shave up to 21 minutes off the current record and  the women just over 18 minutes, will begin with the swim in nearby Lake Senftenberg: a 1,300-hectare man-made lake approximately 10 kilometers away from Dekra Lausitzring. The size of the lake facilitates a straight point-to-point swim course to minimise turns and maximise speed. On this 3.8-kilometer leg, the athletes will need to match the average world record pace over 1500m by swimming 100 meters every 1 minute.

The athletes will then transition to  the bike course. Taking advantage of prevailing wind conditions on fast, open German roads to then blast into the Lausitzring’s 5.85km Test Oval, the track’s long straight stretches and no slow-speed turns will  bear witness to the athlete’s support teams (pacers) swapping in and out  on both the bike and run legs. The potential for significant gains is  greatest over the 180-kilometer bike leg and the athletes will need to  achieve an average pace of 45-50 kph, close to the maximum speeds maintained during the UCI Hour record, if they want to achieve the impossible.

With the swim and bike legs complete,  the athletes now face the final hurdle – the marathon. Where races are often won or lost and an athlete’s resolve tested, the last leg of the triathlon will be a 42.2km test of resilience and willpower to see who  can go Sub7 and Sub8. In order to achieve that, the athletes will need to average 5km, the popular distance run in parks across the world, in 20 minutes – more than eight times in a row.

Talking about how the course will help achieve the goal of going Sub7 and Sub8, Alistair Brownlee said: “The  Dekra Lausitzring is designed for racing and speed, so it is the  perfect location for us to attempt to break the mythical Sub7 and Sub8  barriers. Every element of the course needs to create optimal conditions for us to make gains and having a controlled environment to maximise results and minimise risk will be essential.”

For Lucy Charles-Barclay, the warm June temperature will play a pivotal role: “For me, the climate is really important as it will allow for an incredibly  fast bike leg where the most amount of time can be saved. The calm water swim will also create an opportunity to start the challenge in the best possible way – fast – and that is what I want to do so I can not only beat Sub8, but also match the current men’s time of 7h21m.”

Kristian Blummenfelt echoed this by saying, “It will be great to race at a venue that is synonymous with speed and offers the combination of optimal weather conditions and a quick, flat course.”

Talking about the course, Nicola Spirig added: “You  have to have control over the environment. So, for example, having a flat course is very important to achieve a fast time – the ultimate  goal.”

Speaking on the project, Mana’s CEO and two-time Ironman World Champion Chris McCormack, said:

“This  is an extraordinary attempt that requires everything to go right for our athletes. Having raced all over the world for three decades I know how important optimal conditions are to fast racing. Our attempt is about two key elements; speed and time. Dekra Lausitzring offers an unparalleled environment for our athletes to smash the barriers of human achievement and #DefyTheImpossible.”

For more information, visit sub7sub8.com.

Running is a sport that can be done on many kinds of terrain – track, road, trail, and more! Every runner has their preferred surface, but changing things up adds variety to your run experience. As an added bonus, running on certain surfaces can improve your run form and mechanics.

Each surface has characteristics to consider when it comes to what kind of sessions you can do on them and if you need any specialised equipment. We’ll help you to determine the best and worst surfaces to run on based on the risk and reward from running on them.

Snow

Snow softens the impact on your knees and can make for strength training because of the resistance from running (or slogging?) through inches-deep snow drifts. However, the danger of this surface occurs when the snow melts. The roads become slippery from the slush, increasing the chance of accidents. Deeper snow also hides rocks, holes, and other obstacles that may cause injury, making this one of the riskiest surfaces to run on. Make sure your shoes are quipped to handle snowy and wet conditions.

Sand

Similar to snow, sand is also great for strength training since it absorbs force, making you work harder. Since you have to pick up your knees and push off harder, you exert more effort overall. However, despite its soft surface that could cushion your joints from impact, the instability when sand shifts can also put you at risk of injury. If running on sand, you’re better off running on compacted sand rather than loosely packed sand dunes.

Paved Road

Running on concrete or pavement is very accessible if you’re a city runner. Its smooth surface (usually flat or with just a very slight slope to allow for drainage) allows runners to get into a rhythm very easily, requiring less situational awareness and surefooting than some of the other surfaces we’re discussing. However, concrete is one of the hardest surfaces to run on and transfers much of the impact from landing back up into your joints.

Trail

Packed dirt – the kind that Kenyan marathoners do their daily runs on – is great for your knees! Running on country dirt roads or forest trails is great for long runs, fartleks, and even intervals if you know the distance of the road you’re running. While the softer surface may ask you to push off harder, the strength you gain not just in your legs but also in your core coupled with the softer impact on your joints makes trail a great running surface. However, running on trails does require greater presence of mind and engagement in being in the moment so you can stay safe and away from pitfalls.

Synthetic Track

This is a great surface since synthetic track (also called tartan) is spongy yet sturdy. It is pretty easy on the joints, which is great for long as well as intense workouts. Tracks also have a fixed distance – usually 400 meters – which helps you track your pace even without a GPS sports watch. Of course, running around in circles can be boring, and running in just one direction around the track can lead to muscle imbalance. You’re also usually advised to run with shoes that have thinner soles, since an excess of cushioning can lead to instability when running on a track.

Treadmill

Another great surface for beginners, treadmill belts are softer than pavement. A lot of variables can be controlled such as incline and speed; this controlled environment gives you consistency. You also don’t have to worry about the weather or time of day hampering your training session. The biggest downside to treadmill running is the boredom of running in place.

Conclusion

If you have a choice, take the safer option (i.e. treadmill rather than running in snow in winter); if you have no choice, wear appropriate footwear to minimise slips and falls. Pavement one day and trail or tartan the next will allow your body to recover from impact and let you run more. Varying the surfaces you run on will allow you to make the most out of your runs and better prepare your body to be run fit for anything.

(Header photo by Omar Tursić on Unsplash.)

Triathlons are as much a mental challenge as it is physical. This is especially true in long distance events like Ironman. The longer you’re out there competing, the more your head tries to get in the way. The human body tends naturally toward conserving energy, and the mind often puts the brakes on long before you run empty.

When the going gets tough, can you find the mental fortitude within yourself to finish the race? Here are some great strategies to get you mentally tough and able to pull through adversity.

Don’t Think, Just Do

Retired professional triathlete Belinda Granger says her former coach Brett Sutton used to urge their squad to “Take your brain out at the door.” Sometimes we overthink a training session, which can lead to analysis paralysis and a loss of motivation due to dreading the hard work ahead.

But just focusing on getting the session done (or each interval of the session) gives you a valuable mental tool when you’re faced with an arduous challenge. The only way you’re getting through it is to Just. Do. It. Come race day, you’ll have trained your body to keep going, even when your mind isn’t into it.

Focus On What You Can Control

You can’t really do anything if other people pass you, or the weather isn’t to your liking. However, you can control how you respond to those types of situations – and this is what’s more important. Setting your sights only on things you can control conserves your energy and attention span so that you’ll have enough mental capacity to handle a rough patch and keep going. Always focus on the present and don’t look too far ahead into the future or look back into what has already happened.

Take Things Segment By Segment

The length of Ironman races can challenge even the most physically fit triathlete. Segmenting the whole race and taking it by kilometer or by goalposts you decide on will help you deal better. Two-time Ironman world champion Chris McCormack tells us in his book I’m Here to Win that he took the Ironman marathon one aid station at a time, focusing on fueling and managing his body temperature properly at each of them to tide him over until the next one.

Belinda used the same strategy to power through to her 15 ironman wins. She says, “I would just try and be the best I could be from one aid station to the next. I’d then use that aid station to slow down, get in the drink and the nutrition I needed, refocus, regroup, and start again… before you knew it you were halfway through the marathon and then you have 5k to go… You’re on the home stretch; you’re always going to make it home.”

By doing this especially during rough mental spots you won’t even notice how much distance you’ve covered until you’re feeling better and gotten further on your way to the finish line.

Do Tough Training to Become Tough Mentally

Belinda says mental toughness for racing comes from training for it. When you can get through key sessions where things are tough, you develop the confidence and the skills needed to do the same in a race. “I think it’s really important that you’re continually asking yourself: ‘Am I giving 100% Can I give more?’ You’d be amazed how many times you think, ‘Actually I can push a little bit harder here.’”

Reward Yourself

Building a proper rewards system helps you to appreciate all the hard work that you put into your training and preparation, says Belinda. It also allows you to be excited to do the process all over again. Whether it’s splurging on new equipment, treating yourself to your favorite meal, or planning a holiday, rewarding yourself for your efforts is something that will help you overcome that feeling of eventual laziness when you’re not in the mood or want to give up.

Keep in mind that feeling demotivated and low during a race comes in waves. Ride it out and get to the other side of the rough patches, and you’ll be well on your way to that finish line.

(Header photo by Algi on Unsplash.)

Triathlon duo Lucy Charles-Barclay and Reece Barclay were on a podcast last weekend to talk about their dynamic as a couple who train for and race the biggest long-distance events in the world, as well as Lucy’s upcoming season. She aims to defend her Ironman 70.3 world title, become the Ironman world champion in St. George and Kona – and in between all that, race a full distance in an unprecedented sub-8 hours in the Pho3nix Sub8 Project Powered by Zwift. Maybe even sneak in an Olympic campaign?

Here are some of the best excerpts about what we have to look forward to from Team Charles-Barclay.

A Year of Two Seasons

LCB: “It’s going to be a pretty hectic year with the calendar that’s on offer. It’s great for the sport of triathlon to have so many big opportunities to race so there’s definitely no complaints, but it’s going to be a headache for not just me and Reece but obviously Dan [Lorang, her coach] as well to try and balance the training schedule and make the race calendar work.”

RB: “We’re breaking it down into two seasons, basically. First half of the season for Lucy would be to win [Ironman World Championship St. George] Utah and go sub-8… We’re literally treating the second half of the season as another season. Not to mention the fact that there’s Kona in there as well which has always been Lucy’s ultimate goal.

“The world championships in Utah is amazing, Sub8 is amazing, but I think [Ironman World Championship] Kona is in the heart of our sport, so there will be that at some point this year as well. But that’s such a big goal and such a distraction from two massive goals that are more pressing that we’ve literally just put a wall down the middle of the season and said we’ll deal with that afterwards.”

LCB: “Yeah, I think it’s going to be really important for us to just pace ourselves through the year so we’re not absolutely smashing ourselves in January. We still appreciate it’s going to be a really long season – and actually a big success would be if at the end of the year we’re not burnt out, we still love triathlon, and we still love what we’re doing. The main reason we came into this sport was just to enjoy what we’re doing, and so far we’ve been able to do that. So I think that’s kind of the key thing we always stick by.”

Planning for the Pho3nix Sub8 Project, Powered by Zwift

LCB: “I think the main thing that I really wanted to try and consider with my team is: the fastest time ever over the distance is by Chrissy Wellington who’s a British athlete. So I really wanted to try and have an all-British team of women so that we keep that time within Great Britain. So most of my team are Brits at the moment; it’s not fully confirmed yet.

“I think the biggest element of the day has without a doubt got to be the bike section. That’s where the most time gains are going to be made, so the least amount of energy I can use on that part and then be able to run quick off the bike is obviously the key part.

“Managing the fatigue from St. George is going to be a big factor as well, but I’m hoping if we plan it right, we get our tactics right, it should hopefully be the easiest full distance I’ve ever done. It should be the shortest day of the full distance I’ve ever done, but without a doubt there’s still a lot to consider in terms of pacemakers, tactics and equipment choices – which again is another big headache for us, but it’s super exciting.”

RB: “We’ve also been tapping the resources of all of our sponsors as well as all of the community scientists that we know. We’re basically just going all out, but there’s been a big crossover with Utah and Sub8, so some advantages that will also help in Utah will no doubt help in Sub8. Like Lucy said, the bike element is the crucial part of that Sub8. Hopefully you can just get around on that bike course going as quick as you’ve ever gone, but with the least amount of energy burn so you can execute the run afterwards. That’s basically what all of the testing and training will be geared towards.”

Paris Olympic Games?

LCB: “Coming from a swimming background where the ultimate goal is the Olympic Games and it always had been my ultimate goal from around eight or nine years old, there’s always this big pull to go and compete in the Olympics. There’s added motivation that we have got the strength and depth like no other nation in triathlon, and obviously that will just make it that bit harder but I always have loved a big challenge. So I guess if it was easy I probably wouldn’t be appealed to doing it, but because it is such a big challenge it definitely draws me in.

“Obviously this year is going to be super tough to fit in any short course racing, but we’ll have to see how the season pans out and then at the end of this year make some decisions whether that’s the route I really want to go down…. I can’t really think about it too much this year with everything else that’s going on, but it definitely still does excite me.”

RB: “One of the big difficulties we’re facing is that she just can’t get on any start line because the depth of the British field is so strong that Lucy’s continually on the waiting list. And even when she’s on a waiting list, that sometimes only means like in Leeds she only got 10 days’ notice. Abu Dhabi we were told, ‘Absolutely not, you’ll never get on that start list because everyone’s on it.’ And then all of a sudden, she’s on it. I think that process needs to be made better because it’s difficult enough to plan for a race if you were just doing short course, but when you’re trying to manage that around a busy long course schedule it’s impossible to do if you don’t have a clear race and date set. And unfortunately we still won’t have that. [To Lucy:] I don’t know if you’ll actually get any short course racing this year, but this year I don’t think you should focus on it anyway. I think it all needs to be concentrated on the long course goals.

“Arguably, that might be too late to actually tackle the Olympics if you don’t do any short course racing this year because the qualification window would have already started at the end of this year for 2024. But all that kind of stuff is a little bit, you know, we don’t stress about that kind of thing. We just do what we can do and take each step at a time. Hopefully by the end of this year you’re in a position where you can make a decision for short course or long course. Hopefully the door’s not closed for short course, but we can’t control that, so we’ll just go for whatever the situation is at the time.”

Staying Grounded even as World Champion

RB: “I think she’s always been super driven. [To Lucy:] You’ve been a champion in many different things throughout your life, it’s just now you’re a world champion. But i guess when you’re relatively in a small bubble, you know like when we were swimmers you were county champion, then a regional champion… It’s always that: ‘What can I do to improve? How do I become a national champion?’ when you were regional champion. And now you’re a world champion, your goal is ‘Just how do I go sub-eight hours?’ or ‘How do I go even quicker? How do I win the Ironman world championships?’ There’s always bigger goals and Lucy’s always super driven towards those.”

LCB: “Yeah, I’ve always had a huge amount of self-belief… Every race I go into, it didn’t matter whether I was the complete underdog or really new to the sport; I always was going to try and win the race, so that hasn’t changed.

“But I think one of the nicest things is: everyone can understand what a world champion is. So in our country, triathlon is a relatively small sport, particularly the long distance. We pretty much get zero recognition in our country for what we do, so it is nice to be able to say to someone, ‘Oh, I’m a world champion in what I do…’ it’s quite nice to just finally have that title. But I mean, day to day nothing’s really changed. We get home and our dog doesn’t care whether you’re a world champion; she only cares if we feed her and take her for a walk.”

(Header photo by James Mitchell.)

Lucy Charles-Barclay and Reece Barclay guested on a podcast to talk about their plans for the 2022 season. With the Ironman 70.3 world champion signed on to do the Pho3nix Sub8 Project Powered by Zwift, Team Charles-Barclay is looking for every bit of advantage they can muster to deliver the margin needed for Lucy to go under eight hours over the full distance of triathlon.

Each athlete is allowed to select 10 pacemakers to help them over the 3.8-kilometer swim, 180-kilometer bike, and 42-kilometer run. Lucy wants an all-British team, saying, “The fastest time ever over the distance is by Chrissie Wellington, who’s a British athlete. So I really wanted to try and have an all-British team of women so that we keep that time within Great Britain. So most of my team are Brits at the moment; it’s not fully confirmed yet.”

On the Professional Triathletes Organisation rankings, here are the top 10 British women ranked after Lucy (#1):

1. Emma Pallant-Browne (#6)
2. Kat Matthews (#9)
3. Holly Lawrence (#12)
4. Jodie Stimpson (#19)
5. Fenella Langridge (#21)
6. Lucy Buckingham (#23)
7. Nikki Bartlett (#28)
8. Ruth Astle (#30)
9. Laura Siddall (#37)
10. Kimberley Morrison (#44)

British triathlon definitely runs deep, and not just over the Olympic distance. Of these athletes, 2016 Ironman 70.3 world champion Holly Lawrence, two-time Commonwealth gold medalist Jodie Stimpson, and Lucy Buckingham race primarily over the half distance but are known to keep the pace up on the bike leg. Kat Matthews, Fenella Langridge, Nikki Bartlett, Ruth Astle, Laura Siddall, and Kimberley Morrison all put at least one ironman under their belt in 2021, while Emma Pallant-Browne last completed a full distance in 2018 when she clinched a bronze at Ironman Austria and qualified for Kona. Ruth Astle is a bike course record holder (Ironman Florida). Also of note, Nikki Bartlett acted as a race guide for a Paralympic athlete; if she is selected for Lucy’s pacemaker team she will already know how to pace and guide another athlete on to their goals.

The athletes Lucy may ultimately select will most likely be those who can help her on the bike leg. “That’s where the most time gains are going to be made, so the least amount of energy I can use on that part and then be able to run quick off the bike is obviously the key part,” she said.

“If we plan it right, we get our tactics right, it should hopefully be the easiest full distance I’ve ever done. It should be the shortest day of the full distance I’ve ever done, but without a doubt there’s still a lot to consider in terms of pacemakers, tactics and equipment choices – which again is another big headache for us, but it’s super exciting.”

(Header photo by James Giddins on Unsplash.)

Breathing is one of the first things you learn in swimming. After all, humans can’t breathe underwater! When done correctly, proper breath timing and technique allows an athlete to swim efficiently and perform at their best.

You’ve probably heard about two ways of breathing in triathlon swimming: Single Side Breathing, and Bilateral Breathing. These breathing patterns have their own advantages and disadvantages, so let’s break them down so you know when and why to use each one.

Bilateral Breathing

When we say bilateral breathing, this doesn’t necessarily mean breathing every three arm strokes; it can be breathing every five as well. This can also mean breathing to one side while going down the length of the pool, then switching to breathe to the other side coming back. The point is to develop the ability to breathe on both sides of your body.

Bilateral breathing is taught to novice swimmers for good reason. Every swimmer has a dominant side that they instinctively go to breathe. Beginners risk overcompensating to follow this instinct (by rotating too much, and/or lifting their head to breathe), which can disrupt rhythm and timing and also cause you to veer to the side instead of swimming in a straight line. When you’re able to breathe to both your left and right sides, your stroke becomes more symmetrical and you’ll also swim straighter.

In open water swimming, being able to breathe on both sides confers another advantage: you’re able to see what’s happening on each side which will help when sighting and trying to swim from buoy to buoy. Also, if there’s chop coming from one side, you’ll still be able to breathe to the other, protected side.

Now you might have seen some race videos where the pros are breathing every three strokes. Notice when this happens: it’s usually when they’re swimming at a constant pace just chugging along; breathing every three strokes allows them to keep swimming straight without lifting their heads to sight forward. But when they pick up the pace you’ll find they switch to breathing every other stroke. That’s because this provides oxygen supply more frequently which allows your muscles to work harder.

Note that breathing every three strokes requires a bit more processing and coordination from your brain to accomplish, since you’re alternating the sides you’re breathing on; for this reason we recommend a lot of practice before doing this in a race, if ever.

Single-Side Breathing

Single-side breathing comes naturally since you’re not fighting your instincts and dominant side in the water. This is why beginners pick it up easily. Instead of forcing your brain to learn to breathe on both sides, doing it only on one side allows your brain and muscles to master the coordination needed to do it much faster. Additionally as noted above, single-side breathing allows you more chances to take in oxygen since you’re breathing every two strokes instead of at least every three.

However, when you breathe exclusively to one side you can miss out on the advantages we’ve outlined in the section above: a more symmetrical stroke, open water sighting capability, and breathing adaptability.

If you’re used to breathing only to your dominant side, you can build the ability to breathe to both sides by incorporating breathing drills in your warm-up, cool down, and during recovery laps. Our training plans and video library include swim sessions with these built in.

When it comes to breathing, it’s a matter of “horses for courses”: use the breathing pattern that will best suit what you are trying to accomplish.

(Header photo by Aldrin Rachman Pradana on Unsplash.)

By Jenna-Caer Seefried

Triathletes are realizing the benefits of strength training, especially these days as more and more top-level pros like Lucy Charles and Jan Frodeno are starting to talk about how it keeps them strong and injury-free.  It also doesn’t hurt if you’re gearing up for a Kona underpants run since it has an innate ability to change how one’s body looks, as well as build physical properties like strength and explosiveness.

There are people who believe your body weight is all you need. And then there are people who religiously engage in weight training, preaching bench, squats and deadlifts as the end-all be-all.

But which approach is better, and what benefits can you reap from these types of training?

The Differences

Bodyweight Training is the activity of using your body weight to perform certain exercises under the force of gravity, without any equipment or added weight. Simple enough, right? Now on the outset this can seem like it’s low intensity, but I don’t know about you but for me after off-season, that body weight work is a little tougher.

Some of the most common bodyweight exercises are movements like push-ups, squats, pull-ups, lunges, split squats and dips.

On the other hand, weightlifting involves the use of barbells, dumbbells, bands and machines to create resistance.

Basically if you are using an outside source to increase intensity, you are weightlifting.

Now if you’re already wondering which type of training is superior, let me tell you this: both types of training are effective and can be utilized to leverage strength, performance, speed and injury prevention for endurance sports.

However, which one is superior depends on the context and the goal the individual has, so let us take you through the advantages and disadvantages of both types of training.

The Benefits Of Body Weight

Bodyweight training is most of all a good way to establish fundamental strength and muscular development. Especially these days with gym restrictions and shut downs, it’s an effective and easy way to support your endurance training.

Because, well, being able to lift your own bodyweight before moving on to lifting weights kind of makes sense, doesn’t it?

This fundamental relative strength can then give you the opportunity to ease into weight training and maximize your potential for physical development.  Beyond that, however, as you are strength training to support your endurance sport training it can be an appropriate workload for several movements to prevent injury and activate muscles for efficiency.

The down side of bodyweight training is that your body is very adaptable and eventually you need to increase the training stress. That can be done through volume, speed, or starting to introduce weight.

The Benefits Of Weight Training

In the context of maximizing growth and strength potential, weight training is ideal.

The principle of both types of training is the same: creating resistance. However, with weight training, the resistance and muscular tension is generated by an external force.

Additionally, weight training can help you target muscle groups that are harder to dial in through body weight.  For example, if you are doing rotational shoulder work to prevent injuries in swimming, that is better done with a band than body weight to really activate the correct muscles.

It’s also the ideal method if you are looking to increase strength to help increase FTP, if you are trying to correct imbalances, or increase activation of larger muscle groups.

Weight training at its very essence allows you to do more intense work, during which you can easily increase the resistance by adding extra weight on the bar or picking heavier dumbbells.

Which One Should YOU Choose?

Here’s a wild idea: you can combine both types of training, but focus more on the one that resonates with your goals best.  For triathlon training, it is ideal to use a combination and periodize it with your training.

Off-season is a great time to get into some heavier lifting, building some foundational strength.  This is the time of year your training should be least specific to race intensity or peak training volume, so it’s ideal to get into more fatiguing and muscle building work.

In-season is the time to keep building some strength with more focus on full body exercises, single-side work, balance work, rotational work, plyometrics and slightly higher reps.  You are starting to train more specifically for race day, and strength training is there to support your training, keep you balanced to prevent injury, and activate muscles so you are moving well.

Peak season is the time to go into an activation phase.  At this point, you are not looking to build muscle but to activate muscles so you are moving efficiently and keep working on preventing imbalances so you prevent injury.  The overall training stress from weight training should be low as you are moving towards taper and freshening up for race day.

Final Thoughts

The human body is capable of a LOT and it has plenty of potential lying within. It’s just a matter of YOU taking the necessary action to unlock that potential and realize it and strength training in various forms can help unleash it.

Both of these types of training offer amazing benefits and can help you reach your potential in endurance sports especially when used in the correct times of year based on your goal races.

Stay strong!

(Header photo by Jonathan Borba on Unsplash.)

Super League Triathlon has announced the host cities and dates for the 2022 Arena Games Triathlon powered by Zwift: Munich on April 9, London on April 23, and a Grand Final in Singapore on May 7.

With the recently announced partnership between SLT and World Triathlon, these events will count toward the World Triathlon world ranking – and athletes who collect the most points over the three events will be awarded the first-ever triathlon esport World Titles in Singapore. New for these Arena Games: a live spectator element where fans can watch these events in-person (of course, according to local safety protocols)!

Think back to September 2020 when the first Arena Games were held in Rotterdam, and look how far they’ve come in creating a new esports format and world title for our sport’s athletes to contest.

SLT co-founder Chris “Macca” McCormack spoke to Tri247 about these developments. “We always see opportunity in difficulty, and the Arena Games was that,” said Macca. “When we tossed the idea around to many people inside the sport they laughed and said that is a dumb idea, but we threw a bunch of resources at it and used it as an opportunity to test the waters in a new space. It was a massive success.”

Macca says the biggest challenge for SLT is to work with World Triathlon and other organisations on an optimal racing calendar that gives athletes the space to build and shine, as well as create and leverage content and storytelling opportunities to create interest from others outside the sport. “We see so much opportunity in building this sport. We just have to be prepared to commit and do it consistently.

“It’s like preparing for an ironman. You don’t feel the improvement until you keep doing it day in and day out, and then suddenly you turn up to race day and you realise all that consistent, no-fuss work was worth it.”

Will you head over to Munich, London, or Singapore to watch an Arena Games event?

Rim brakes or disc brakes? Choosing which kind of brake to use for your ride has become a recurring debate, as more bike brands begin releasing and promoting disc brake-compatible frames. But is it time to move on to disc brakes, or is there space still for rim brakes in triathlon?

Industry Trends

Disc brake calipers apply braking force to rotors mounted on the wheel hubs, while rim brake calipers apply that braking force directly onto the brake track on the rims of the wheel. As a result, disc brake and rim brake systems are not compatible with each other, and you can’t convert a rim brake-compatible bike frame to use disc brakes.

The bike industry seems to be pushing disc brakes more and more, with all World Tour cycling teams using disc brake systems now. However, the muddy 2021 Paris-Roubaix race has seen a debate on whether or not rim brakes would have served cyclists better with slower wheel changes and certain types of disc brake pads not working in the conditions.

Weight and Aerodynamics

Rim brakes are lighter than disc brakes. If you include all the parts that come with a disc brake set such as the rotors, calipers, and other components, it will add an additional hundred grams to your bike.

However, with the developments in disc brake design and new integrated calipers in the bike frames, disc brakes are becoming more aerodynamic than earlier iterations with wind tunnel tests showing that they might even perform better than rim brakes in some conditions.

Performance

This is the area where disc brakes perform better than rim brakes. Disc brakes can hold up better in any kind of weather condition partly because the discs are farther from the moisture and mud coming from the wheels. Especially in wet conditions, rims are more slippery which make rim brakes less effective.

Because of the larger surface area granted by the rotors, disc brakes can produce more friction (=braking power), so you can brake later and take more speed going into dead turns, for instance.

Hydraulic disc brakes (with fluid-filled brake lines like the ones motorcycles use) have even better stopping power, needing less effort from your hands than mechanical disc brakes which rely on cables to press the brake pads to the braking surface.

Maintenance

Rim brakes are simpler and cheaper to install than disc brakes, and are usually designed with lots of clearance to make sure the calipers and wheels fit properly and don’t scrape against each other when freewheeling.

Disc brakes need a bit more specialised skill to install and maintain, especially the hydraulic disc brake systems. While it’s true that hydraulic disc brakes save you maintenance time because they are self-calibrating as the brake pads thin out, you’ll still have to check the pads regularly. The hydraulic lines will also need to be bled regularly to ensure no air bubbles are in the system so they can work properly.

However, rim brakes cause more wear and tear on wheel rims, meaning the whole wheel will need to be replaced instead of just the brake pads. Even though both rim brakes and disc brakes heat up with prolonged braking, this is less of a problem with disc brakes (which is why they’re the preferred brake of downhill mountain bikers). Excessive heat in the rims may cause damage to tubes, tires, and the rims themselves.

The advantage of rim brakes in this regard is that rim brakes are easier on the fork legs than their counterparts. Because rim brakes are stationed high on the fork near the stem, there is less force being put on the fork legs. And because the brakes are placed near the rim, there is less strain on the spokes, ensuring that your wheels last longer (except if you wreck the braking surface).

Price

Rim brakes are generally cheaper than disc brakes, partly because they are simpler and consist of fewer parts. You don’t need rotors in rim brakes because the rim acts as the rotor. Disc brake parts are generally more expensive, especially the rotors, calipers and brake pads.

(Bike frames compatible with disc brakes tend to be on the pricier side as well. Because braking force is applied on the non-drivetrain side of the bike frame, the frame has to be built with stiffer material.)

Disc brake parts are also harder to find than rim brake parts. This is especially true when you live in or are traveling in remote countries that don’t carry disc brake parts, requiring you to ship them in at a higher cost.

Are you someone who prefers to be on the bleeding edge of technology, with the resources to sink money into a brake system even the pros use? Or are you more comfortable knowing you can readily repair and maintain your bike brakes yourself and spend less upfront?

In the end, the decision is up to you, what your needs are, and what fits your budget.

(Header photo by Viktor Bystrov on Unsplash.)

When one of the greatest athletes the sport of triathlon has ever seen says not only is breaking the 7-hour mark over the full distance possible but that the time will be “blown away” by the athletes attempting it, you pay attention and listen.

Six-time Ironman world champion and ITU world champion Mark Allen spoke about the Pho3nix Sub7 Project Powered by Zwift on his “Mondays with Mark Allen” Youtube series. In this week’s episode, he laid out how he believes Alistair Brownlee and Kristian Blummenfelt can not only achieve a sub-seven hour time, but end up smashing it. His estimate? 6:33.

“Every sport has its Holy Grail – those barriers people think: ‘Is it possible? Is it even humanly in our capabilities genetically to do it?’” said Allen. “We have seen a lot of those barriers fall. [Eliud] Kipchoge’s sub-two hour marathon… of course there was a little bit of assistance in the sense that he had runners in front of him blocking the wind, but his time of just under two hours was only two minutes slower than his world record of 2:01:39. Triathlon has the same thing coming up this summer in the Sub7 and Sub8 Project.”

Allen has thought about how he would go about trying to break the 7-hour mark, concluding that he would try to swim 3.8 kilometers in 45 minutes, followed by riding 180 kilometers in 3:45. The elapsed time would then be 4:30, leaving two and a half hours to run a marathon.

Considering how Jan Frodeno achieved a time of 7:27 in the Tri Battle Royale event without pacers, Allen said the Sub7 Project’s use of 10 pacers per athlete would help bring times down even further. “I would have three people helping me on the swim, making a little triangle I could slide in right in there. I would have four others helping me on the bike and I’d probably have three more on the marathon.”

Allen broke this strategy down even further over each leg.

“If you just give a two- or three-second advantage [per 100m] to actually being able to draft looking at [Frodeno’s] swim time alone in Tri Battle Royale, that puts you at about 44 minutes in the swim.” Allen referred to Brownlee swimming at 1:08/100m pace in his 2012 Olympic win and extrapolated from it. “If you add, let’s say, three seconds per hundred onto that time and expand it out to an iron distance swim, that’s going to be about 45 minutes.”

On the bike leg, Allen said drafting would allow you to go a minimum of two miles an hour faster than Frodeno’s pace of 28.7 Mph. Riding just a bit harder than that, a bike split of 3:24 would provide a 20- to 21-minute buffer. Running a 2:49 marathon would still see you break seven hours.

MANA Group CEO and Pho3nix Foundation board member Chris McCormack has the inside track on how Allen can be so confident in his assertion. One of the driving forces behind the Pho3nix Sub7 Project, McCormack has seen what the athletes are doing in training as well as the science, technology, and strategies their teams are deploying to go faster than we once thought possible.

McCormack said in an interview with Tri247, “We are talking about a 30-minute improvement almost [from the current world record], and you don’t find that on the bike ride alone. Every single discipline needs to be maximised and the run speed needs to drop to sub-2:25 marathon pace. Their science and coaching teams will be with them literally all day monitoring their output to make the time.

“It is a huge record, but to be honest I think both Alistair and Kristian will get very close and their competitive nature will push them to one of the biggest spectacles in our sport’s history. It will be tight but I think they will scrape under it by a couple of minutes. This will hurt like hell.”

But Allen believes there’s potential to go even faster. “If you can actually hold let’s say a 5:30/mile pace the entire way through that marathon, which I think is possible, you’re going to run a 2:24.

“If you add it all up, that somebody could go 6:33 for an ironman distance race. You might think I’m crazy, but I don’t. I think Alistair Brownlee, Kristian Blummenfelt – one of those guys has a chance of going that fast and blowing everybody away on what human beings can do for an ironman distance race.”

For more information about the Pho3nix Sub7 and Sub8 Powered by Zwift, visit sub7sub8.com.

In long-distance swimming (the kind we do in triathlon), the ability to delay fatigue is key if you want to exit the water with fresh legs. But if you’re already tired after swimming only a length or two in the water, the issue is about more than just strengthening your lungs and muscles.

Effortless Swimming expert Brenton Ford is here to help us learn how to swim efficiently and control our effort level in the water so we stay fresh for the bike and run.

Breathe Properly

Inhaling and exhaling properly while swimming helps to keep your heart rate down and keep you relaxed in the water so yo can swim longer than 50 or 100 meters without needing to take a break.

Brenton says, “When you exhale, most of that should be done through your nose. If you do it all through your mouth, then a few things tend to happen. You get a bit of buildup of carbon dioxide, you tend to go in a bit more of a panic state.” Exhale while your face is in the water; you can do bubble-bubble-breathe drills to help you with the timing as well as becoming comfortable exhaling through your nose.

Avoid Over-kicking

“Your legs are made up of the biggest muscles in the body,” says Brenton. “Even if you’re a great swimmer, if you are kicking very, very hard for one or two hundred meters your heart rate is still going to be elevated. If you’re a weaker swimmer and you’re kicking that hard, then it’s going to be very difficult to swim more than 50 or 100 meters without needing a break.”

It may be difficult to know when you’re over-kicking because when in the water, you don’t really feel like you’re exerting much more effort than you’re used to. What you can do to avoid over-kicking is to decrease your effort, especially when you’re swimming for distance instead of sprints. “You will hardly need to put any effort at all into your kick because if you’re looking to swim 1 to 3 kilometers and you’re kicking harder it’s not going to be sustainable.”

A good way to quiet that kick is to use a pull buoy while kicking. Brenton adds, “Basically it takes care of the balance [lifting your legs to horizontal] so you don’t feel like you actually need to kick as much.”

Kicking should be more about timing than effort if you want to preserve your strength.

Maintain a Balanced Body Position

Your body needs to stay in a horizontal position in the water for you to conserve energy. If your hips and legs are angled down instead of parallel with the water, they create drag and you’ll need to increase the amount of effort to combat this.

Brenton suggests maintaining a “proud posture” when swimming. Chest out, draw your belly button into your spine and lightly engage your glutes to promote this posture. “If you let your glutes go, then there’s a good chance that you’re going to bend through the waist and you’ve basically got no option then except for your legs to be dropping down and for your quads to be creating a lot of drag.”

He also names another swim error that causes you to lose proper body alignment. If your hand entry is too slow, it can cause your legs to drop. “If you think of holding two or three kilos above the water [the weight of your arm], the balance of your body, your legs will always drop there.”

Brenton recommends, “Instead of coming over and being very slow and being very gentle and just placing your hand on the water, you need to be somewhat assertive with that hand entry and get it into the starting catch position with the fingertips a little bit deeper than the rest of your shoulder.”

Watch Your Head (Position)

The way you position and move your head while swimming can also affect your body position. Brenton notes, “If you are lifting your head up and it’s just your face in the water, that’s holding too much weight up above the surface of the water which will again cause your legs to drop.”

To help your head stay parallel to the water, try to press your chest into the water and feel the water break at the crown of your head. Also, always be breathing out when your face is underwater; holding your breath creates too much buoyancy in your lungs and will consequently cause your legs to sink.

Lifting your head to breathe is another one of the most common mistakes that Brenton sees, affecting how much effort you exert in the swim. When you lift your head above the water to breathe, you inadvertently push your legs downward, making it harder for you to kick and gain forward speed.

Brenton says you can visualise your body on a lengthwise skewer, just rotating to the side to breathe. “What we want to try and aim for there is looking straight to the side when you’re breathing. You may have part of that bottom goggle in the water but as long as you’re getting that breath as low as you comfortably can and you’re looking to the side and you’re not lifting the head too high up above the water, that’s also going to help you keep your legs up near the surface.”

If you’re having difficulty correcting body position while still breathing properly, Brenton sees no problem with using a front snorkel to take the breathing out of the equation.

(Header photo by Adam Cai on Unsplash.)

Cadence has become the talk of the town when it comes to measuring your running efficiency.  Cadence, or the number of steps that you do in a minute, multiplied by stride length typically measures how fast the runner is going. Many fitness watches have the ability to measure your cadence and other metrics while you’re on the run. Knowing this, why is cadence an important metric in measuring running efficiency?

The Importance Of Measuring Cadence In Running Efficiency

There is a reason that running cadence is the most common metric used to measure efficiency in running form. If your cadence is low, you’ll most likely have a longer stride. While this might seem great on paper, having longer strides makes you more likely to land on your heel in front of the body (overstriding), which brings a lot of impact into your knees and hips. This makes you more susceptible to injuries and also creates a “braking” motion which in the long run makes for slower running.

Increasing your cadence is much more than just moving your feet faster on the run. An increased cadence means changing where your foot lands in relation to the rest of your body. Having a higher cadence allows your foot to land underneath you nearer to your center of gravity. Doing so shortens your stride, focusing your body’s momentum toward forward motion instead of oscillating up and down.

Increasing your cadence also helps prevent injuries since you’re limiting the amount of force that your foot has when hitting the ground, and decreasing the amount of ground contact time. Less ground contact time, less impact on your legs, less risk for injury.

Measuring Your Natural Run Cadence

A lot of fitness bands and watches will measure your running cadence for you, but you benefit from knowing how to measure it the old-fashioned analog way. Compute your run cadence by counting how many times both of your feet hit the ground in a minute. If you’re having trouble doing that, you can also just count the steps one foot takes in a minute, then multiply it by 2. This method is actually more accurate.

While many numbers have been thrown around about what the perfect cadence is, your actual running cadence varies due to a number of factors like the terrain you’re running on, your biomechanics or how you run, your height and most importantly, your speed. So, how can you determine a running cadence tailor-made for you?

This becomes a matter of picking the right time during your run to measure your cadence. Your cadence number is relevant only when you’re running at an easy pace because a majority of your runs should be done at this pace, so you should strive to be more efficient at this pace.

How To Improve Your Running Cadence

Studies show that many recreational runners will benefit from increasing their cadence even by a little bit.

First, find your current run cadence and increase it by 5 to 10 percent. Then increase your cadence to that level for one to two runs per week or for short stints in each run session.

Increasing cadence will usually result in increased pace, but you don’t want that during these practice sessions. Using a treadmill can help since you can set a certain speed that will remain steady even if your cadence changes. To promote faster turnover, imagine yourself running on hot lava!

Finally, test out your new cadence in a race, preferably a 5K. Once that’s done, you can add another 5 percent if you want to and just repeat the process.

You will find diminishing returns at some point where an overly fast cadence makes you expend more energy than you save with form efficiency. But the key is to work incrementally to find those improvements for yourself so you can run efficiently, injury-free, and faster.

(Header photo by Fitsum Admasu on Unsplash.)

Nutrition is the one of the most vital elements of performance; some may even say it’s the backbone of any great athletic achievement. Nutrition planning provides athletes with the energy needed to train harder and the nutrients needed to recover faster. It’s essential for sustaining your active lifestyle and help you be at your best.

There’s no better way to see the importance of good nutrition highlighted than in an Ironman, where human endurance is pushed to its extremes.

So how can an Ironman triathlete create a good nutrition plan? Here are some things you can consider, according to 15-time Ironman champion Belinda Granger.

A Customized Nutrition Plan

Since every athlete has different body types and needs, your nutrition plan has to cater to your specific needs and goals whether it’s to lose weight, gain strength, enhance endurance or more!

Belinda says, “Nutrition is a very individual thing and you need to work out what actually fits you and what works for you and your lifestyle.”

When you know your body, you can do what works for you. That includes what you eat, when you eat and how you eat your meals. Consulting with a licensed sports dietitian will make this an efficient process so you can get to doing it right away, instead of relying on trial and error.

Additionally, cooking your own meals will make counting calories and macronutrients easier since you can flavour it to your liking, measure the serving size to your requirements — as well as know exactly what goes into your body.

Carbohydrates Are Your Best Friend

Most athletes are scared of carbohydrates and tend to avoid it like the plague because they believe it makes them fat. (This thought process is especially the case if you entered triathlon as a way to lose weight.) Conversely, there are other athletes who consume too many carbs, or fail to time their consumption correctly.

Carbs aren’t actually what makes you fat; it’s eating absurd amounts of carbs and eating them late at night that’s causing the bulge in your tummy. Doing a five-hour bike ride does not give you the excuse to consume plates of pasta and rice like your life depended on it.

Belinda says, “You need to eat smart, you need to eat well, but in smaller amounts and throughout the day.”

Eating the right carbs at the right time (an hour before your training session, and a small bit with some protein afterward to promote recovery) provides you with a great boost of energy that makes you train harder and have the energy to continue your day. Eat to train, not train to eat!

Top Up Your Electrolytes

Belinda sees not having enough electrolytes in your body as one of the worst mistakes that a triathlete can commit, especially on race days in hot climates. She recommends taking a sweat test early in your training block to know how much you sweat, and how much water and electrolyte you lose in that sweat. This will help you replenish them in the right amounts during and after your training session or race.

You also should be training with the electrolyte/hydration strategy you aim to use during your race so you can make adjustments: how sweet your drink will be, whether you take your electrolyte through liquid or by salt tablets, or even how much you can take in at any point. For instance, you can start getting stomach issues when you try to take an electrolyte drink that’s too high in sugar, but don’t have enough blood flow through your gut (this can happen when the intensity of your exertion or the prevailing temperature increases).

She stresses the importance of getting on the electrolytes early during hot races, saying “The number of people I see starting with water on the bike leg is insane, because you’re already behind the 8-ball from halfway through the swim.” Start with two bottles on your bike, both containing electrolyte. The only time you really need to have just water is at the aid stations pouring it over your head and a little bit in the mouth just to get rid of the sweet taste of electrolyte drinks.

Good Nutrition Is A Lifestyle

Belinda highlights the importance of practicing good eating habits and consuming nutritious food everyday. The importance of this is on par with doing the right type of training.

Good nutrition “is not something that you think about leading to a race. It should be part of your daily routine.” It needs to be incorporated from the time you start your training program up until the start of your offseason, and even beyond.

(Header Photo by Munbaik Cycling Clothing on Unsplash.)

Even though triathlon is an outdoor sport, this doesn’t mean you can’t train in the comfort of your own home. Indoor cycling is especially useful for triathletes that want an efficient workout regardless of ongoing weather and pandemic restrictions outside. There are plenty of advantages to cycling at home, but it’s also important to note its limitations. We’ll be discussing the benefits and drawbacks of indoor cycling in this article, so read on to know more.

How To Train Indoors

Each indoor session should be at least 60 to 90 minutes long depending on the level of the cyclist and the goal for the training session. An app to monitor your heart rate, distance covered, cadence, and optionally power is crucial when training indoors to maximize the advantage that your controlled environment gives you.

If using power, you’ll need to know your FTP (functional threshold power) so you can work efficiently within your training zones and achieve the appropriate length and intensity of the training session.

You should also strive to maintain good cycling form when indoors; the calmer environment will help you build habits faster, so make sure you’re holding your posture consistently and pushing evenly on those pedals.

Advantages

Time Efficiency

Your home is the perfect training environment if you already have a jam-packed schedule and cannot afford to lose more time by traveling for training. Using a bike trainer also helps you avoid cancelling your session due to the weather. (No more excuses!)

Another thing you can do more efficiently indoors is highly specific interval training. Since you can’t coast on the bike trainer like you can on a real bike, the intensity will also increase. This is why most people say that 60 minutes on a bike trainer is equivalent to 90 minutes riding outside.

Speaking of interval training, using a bike trainer offers controllable intervals where you can measure power, RPE, and heart rate among others.

Controlled Environment

Since you’re riding in the comfort of your own home, there’s no threat of ongoing traffic that can cause unwanted accidents. Doing so helps you focus solely on your performance and mindset without having to worry about external factors (e.g., you can do an all-out interval without worrying whether an animal will suddenly cross the road).

Building better habits is crucial to a cyclist’s success. Your posture and pedalwork will improve as you hold your position on your bike and pedal continuously, helping you retain your form when under fatigue that carries across to race day.

Having a controlled setup can also help you easily adjust certain variables so that you can properly train with specificity – for instance, bumping up your heater thermostat so you can do some heat training in the dead of winter, or using an adjustable trainer attachment to simulate hills if you live in a very flat region.

Disadvantages

You Can’t Simulate Everything

The outdoors provides an ever-changing environment that you just cannot prepare for completely when you’re training at home. At some point in time, you’ll need to ride the bike outside so can apply the techniques you’ve learned in your indoor stint and adjust as needed.

Some courses are very technical as well, which puts a premium on bike handling and skills – and you can’t train for that with your bike clamped to one spot!

Lastly, training outdoors allows you to develop and hone a road sense/situational awareness which will help you deal with encountering traffic in a race (whether from vehicles or fellow cyclists).

Boredom

Since you’re not actually moving around the house when doing indoor cycling, it can get really boring after some time. With no one to compete with, talk to, or even a change of scenery, you might be persuaded to give up much faster than you’d like.

You can add a little variety by integrating stuff such as music, watching shows or tracking your progress to counteract your impending boredom. Platforms like Zwift have also been a boon for those training mostly indoors as these provide challenge (different routes to discover, features to unlock, and badges and KOMs to collect), competition, and some element of socialising.

Indoor cycling can be an effective and efficient route to building a stronger bike leg when you return to racing triathlons. Do it wisely, and reap the benefits of “going nowhere, fast.”

(Header photo by Munbaik Cycling Clothing on Unsplash.)

Having a good, efficient kick brings benefits to your swim stroke and speed. A strong freestyle kick adds propulsion, making you faster in the water. It also aids in rotation and timing, which are vital in good swim technique. Lastly, an effective and efficient kick helps you maintain good body position, reducing resistance in the water and letting you slip through like a fish.

However, a lot of triathlon swimmers tend to neglect training their kick because it can be exhausting, especially with two other leg-heavy disciplines like cycling and running to train for.

Swimming expert Brenton Ford is here with five tips to a more effective kick.

Do Kick Sets

One of the best ways to develop your kick is just to do more kicking. Brenton says, “There’s no way around developing an effective kick apart from just doing the work and doing some kicking sets in training.”

For beginners, Brenton will throw in some 50-meter (or yard) kick efforts using a snorkel or kickboard, and optionally fins. Isolating the kick allows you to understand what is or isn’t working in your kick technique. “If you do have an underwater camera, film yourself when you’re swimming so you can see what you’re doing in the kick.”

Narrow Kick

Keep your kick narrow. “If you’ve got a normal-sized bucket, double that should be roughly where your feet stay in your kick,” says Brenton. Having your legs spaced narrowly during your kick concentrates most of the power in a small space behind you, like a torpedo.

Kicking inside that imaginary bucket also reduces drag, since you’re keeping your forward-facing surface area small. (Reduce drag even further by keeping your legs close to the surface.)

Controlled Knee Bend

The freestyle kick is made of two parts: the up kick where your leg draws closer to the water surface, and the down kick where your leg moves down to propel you forward.

Aside from helping to lift your legs closer to the surface, tensing your glutes also allows for a more effective up kick with a straight leg to prepare for the down kick. Brenton says, “If you are bringing the leg up only by bending your knee, it’s going to slow you down.” Bending your knees to a 90-degree angle creates a lot of drag versus the amount of propulsion you might get from the down kick.

Then keep the knee bend within a small range of motion through the down kick. Brenton notes. “We need to make sure that we are bending the knees the right amount. I’ve seen people go both ways: one, they’re too straight and stiff with their legs, and the other way is they’re bending their knees too much.”

You won’t get much propulsion from kicking with straight legs (knees at a 180-degree angle) because you can’t transfer force from your glutes and hip flexors down your leg in a whip or wave motion.

1500-meter freestyle world record holder Katie Ledecky bends her knees asymmetrically with one leg straight and the other leg kicking with a 130-degree knee bend, according to Brenton. But it seems as if 130 degrees is the Goldilocks range for a knee bend: not too straight, and not too bent. It allows you to keep that narrow kick, but still propels you forward.

Pointed Toes

Brenton says, “We want the toes to be somewhat pointed back towards the end of the pool behind you.”

This doesn’t mean pointing your toes aggressively like a ballerina: that can actually cause foot cramps. But allowing the tops of your feet to reach away from your shins lets you use your feet like flippers or swim fins and give you more surface that will be pressing down and backwards as you’re kicking.

Additionally, dorsiflexed feet with your toes angled towards shin can cause a lot of drag. In fact, if you kick using a kickboard with your toes pointing down, you’ll go backwards!

Many strong runners and cyclists have poor ankle flexibility, but this shouldn’t stop you from plantar flexion (verses “dorsiflexion”). To help you point your toes, turn your big toes towards each other like a pigeon, which gives you more flexion even with tight ankles. When kicking, you can tap your big toes together to remind your body to keep this alignment.

Proper Timing

“We want to time the catch on the right-hand side with the down kick on the right-hand side,” notes Brenton. This gets the catch, rotation, and kick all working together in the kinetic chain that makes up the freestyle stroke, propelling you forward more efficiently as well as reducing drag from poor timing.

“If your catch and your kick are happening together, that’s the right timing and that is really the key to an effective kick for middle- to long-distance swimmers.”

(Header photo by Hussain Badshah on Unsplash.)

Injuries are part of the risk you take on when you engage in sport. At some point you may get injured during training or in competition, which can be very frustrating especially if the injury is severe enough to put you on the sidelines for extended periods of time. A lot of athletes, especially pro athletes struggle with this frustration. They spend most of their waking hours training with all they’ve got, but then they get a last-second injury that robs them of a chance to compete for a title or a championship.

Due to this, many athletes tend to rush getting back into the swing of things even if their injury hasn’t fully healed.

Belinda Granger, a retired professional triathlete with 13 ironman wins to her name, has seen it happen to many pros over her career spanning two decades. She says, “They think that the injury is gone and they come back too early, too hard. Then their injury flares back up again, or they’ve got another injury somewhere else.” Instead of being patient and nursing the injury back to full health they lose more time by aggravating it, which doubles the frustration they’re feeling.

We can make it easier for ourselves to deal with injury and stay on track to recovery through a mindset change and keeping proper perspective.

What can you tell yourself to stay motivated when recovering from an injury?

Belinda believes patience is key. “Even if you take a week longer, it’s better than taking a week less,” says Belinda. Taking more time and letting your injury heal reduces the chance of re-injuring it, or overcompensating with other muscle groups and making them prone to injury.

Trusting in the rehab is also important and will help you overcome obsessive thoughts and fears about losing fitness in your time off. You are coming back a stronger athlete by doing a less intense or lower-impact exercise to strengthen the recovering body part as well as shoring up any muscle imbalances that could have led to the injury.

Strengthening your mental game when injured revolves around focusing on what you can do instead of dwelling on what you’re temporarily not able to do. And in the case of most injuries, there’s always something you can do to improve.

(Header photo by Joshua  Jordan on Unsplash.)

Triathletes need to balance training for three disciplines; often, trying to add more training in one of them means sacrificing training in another.

You might have come across the dogma that you need to run a minimum of 100 miles every week to become a better runner. In reality, your training plan should prioritize mileage quality over quantity to ensure you’re getting the best out of each session and avoid so-called “junk miles” that do nothing but waste time, energy, and opportunity.

To help you out, we’ve simplified it down into the three kinds of run workouts a triathlete must have in their training plan. (Read to the end for a bonus workout time saver!)

Long Run

The long run is considered to be the cornerstone of a good training program, because aerobic endurance is the foundation upon which your performance is built.

Long runs paced properly improve your body’s capacity to use oxygen, store glycogen, and produce energy on a cellular level. Completing these long runs consistently over time encourages your body to form more capillaries, meaning more blood can flow to your muscles. Long runs also increase the size of your mitochondria (the power source of your cells), allowing them to produce more energy.

To produce these adaptations, you should do your long runs at around 50-75% of your 5K pace. You will get nearly the same benefits running in the lower end of this range as running near the top end, so keep your long runs easy.

The length of your long run depends on the distance you’re training for. Sprint triathletes will want to do at least 6.1 miles or 8 km. For Olympic distance triathletes, they should aim for 15 km. Middle-distance (half ironman) athletes will want to cover at least 23 km and Ironman competitors should cover at least 33km.

The Speed Run

The goal of any race is to finish faster than your competition, which makes honing your speed important. Many triathletes run a lot of miles expecting to become faster, only to find out that their pace plateaus or even becomes slower! This is mainly due to running the same speed all the time, doing easy runs too fast and fast runs too slow.

Instead, try to polarise the training. When your workout requires fast, you go FAST. This may require longer rest periods or bringing it down from jogging to just walking between intervals, but you want to be able to push at maximum during the speed interval.

The Tempo Run

Tempo runs are comfortably hard, sustained efforts at around 75% of your maximum. It’s around what some call “stutter pace”: you can get a few words out, but can’t comfortably hold a conversation like you could when doing a long easy run.

Maintaining your tempo pace builds running strength; for longer triathlon distances, it’s all about strength because the winner is usually the one who slows down least. This is why most Ironman plans won’t have you doing track sessions, which are pure speed builders.

For variety, a training plan may alternate between tempo runs and hill runs to help build that strength, especially early in the season.

BONUS: The Brick Run

A brick is doing two different triathlon disciplines in the same session one after the other with minimal interruptions.

A brick run specifically means running after either a swim or bike effort. As triathletes need to be able to run after biking, brick run workouts help you prepare for the switch in body position and muscles used, while simultaneously recovering from the toll that the previous discipline took on your body. They also help you understand what your goal race pace feels like off the bike (vs. running fresh) and learn pace control.

Aside from providing specificity in training, brick runs help you get in some additional time on your feet especially if you’re having difficulty fitting in a completely separate run.

Our Pho3nix Club training plans are built with these key run sessions in mind so you have the confidence that on race day, you can run your best.

(Header photo by Martin Sanchez on Unsplash.)