Sara’s Slam: Should…

Learning to swim is often the biggest hurdle for adults getting into triathlon. With all the literature and videos out there, is a coach necessary to get started? This month Sara McLarty debates Tim Edwards, a coach with North Coast Endurance in Cleveland, Ohio. Sara: With family and work schedules, very few people have the ability to train with a coach. Instead, it’s much easier to purchase a DVD or book that they can follow at their own pace. Most are cheaper than a session with a coach, plus you can also find free videos on YouTube. Tim: Most triathletes have Type A personalities and they are very driven by schedules. Getting together with a coach for an hour is not a huge hurdle to overcome. Newbies are often lost in the mountain of data. With so much to think about, they don’t have a logical progression to follow as they start their journey in the pool. A coach can break down the individual skills and move on only when they have mastered them. Sara: Triathlete recently outlined a simple way to create your own underwater video camera. You can film yourself in the pool and analyze your technique each week as you progress. Compare your video to professional swimmers online. Tim: Athletes can videotape themselves, but the feedback is delayed. They have to wait to download the video and spend time comparing. Trying a skill, having it analyzed by a coach, learning the corrections and trying it again is compressed into minutes—not days. This progression is worth the extra couple of bucks. RELATED: How To Analyze Your Own Swim Stroke Sara: I’ve coached some athletes who just won’t listen to what I say, even if I’ve told them a million times. They finally end up figuring it out themselves and when that happens, it sticks. Learning on your own forces you to think about what you are doing and why you are doing it. Tim: The swim usually creates the most stress for a new triathlete. A coach is able to mentally help out by being there in this new environment. I swim with many athletes the first time they are in open water, “holding their hands” as they get comfortable. No video or book will reassure them when they first encounter a breaking wave or a plant wrapping around their hand. Sara: I can’t really argue against having a coach with you for your open-water swim training. Other than going with a very experienced friend, I don’t recommend any athletes trying open water without some support system nearby. Tim: Empowering the athlete is excellent. Athletes who really want to reach that next level of competition need to have a high level of investment in the process. One of the best ways for athletes to learn is to combine video of their practice with analysis of the technique. Many athletes I have coached have finally “got it” when they can see with their own eyes. Triathlete final thoughts: Videos and books can get you started, but a great coach can take you much further in your swim training.

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Sara’s Slam: Should…

ITU, Xterra Form Partnership…

The 2012 Xterra Southeast Championship in Pelham, Alabama will host the 2012 ITU Cross Triathlon World Championships. See the complete press release below: The International Triathlon Union (ITU) is pleased to announce the 2012 ITU Cross Triathlon World Championships will be held in Pelham, Alabama, on May 19 in a partnership with the Xterra Southeast Championship.  The event will feature $20,000 USD in prize money for elite athletes, who will compete over a 1.5km swim, 30km mountain bike and 10km trail run.  Under23, junior, age-group and paratriathlon races will also be contested in Pelham. Marisol Casado, ITU President & IOC Member: “The triathlon and multisport family is extensive and far reaching and ITU is delighted to form a partnership with Xterra for our 2012 Cross Triathlon World Championships. We are confident the strong race organization and dynamic course will continue to push Cross Triathlon to a new level.” Dave Nicholas, Race Director, Xterra Southeast Championships “TEAM unlimited is excited about bringing the ITU Cross Triathlon World Championship to the USA.  By combining the Xterra series with ITU we are reaching new heights in cooperation between directors and the federations. Oak Mountain and Shelby County are the perfect place to host this event.” The course at Oak Mountain State Park in Shelby County, located in the southernmost part of the Appalachian Chain, is praised by competitors as being one of the most fun, fast, scenic and difficult on the Xterra schedule. Pelham will mark the second ITU Cross Triathlon World Championships, following last year’s successful event in Extremadura, Spain won by Canadian Melanie McQuaid and South Africa’s Conrad Stoltz. Both McQuaid and Stoltz are also the defending champions in Pelham. 2013 ITU Cross Triathlon World Championships ITU has also awarded the 2013 ITU Cross Triathlon World Championships to Den Haag (The Hague), Netherlands.  The event is slated for July 13, 2013 and will offer 35,000 EUR in prize money for elite athletes and will also hold under23, junior age-group and paratriathlon categories.  In preparation for the event, the city will host the European Cross Triathlon Championships this year.

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ITU, Xterra Form Partnership…

Race Shape Ready?

Many diets will help you shed pounds. The crucial ingredients in all of them? Motivation and readiness. Finally: a scalable strategy for getting leaner in 2012. In the summer of 2004, Jon Smith was as lean and fit as he’d ever been. Then he became a father and stopped training for marathons and triathlons. At the same time the New Orleans resident began dining out and eating mostly fatty foods due largely to his work in the wine business. Over the next two and a half years he gained 100 pounds. On New Year’s Day 2008, Smith got fed up with his condition and decided to make a comeback. He signed up for a triathlon and cleaned up his diet by removing the worst junk food from it, including fried foods and soft drinks. But by the time race day came around, Smith had lost only 15 pounds and he was not much fitter than when he started. Smith knew he needed to raise his game. So the lifelong meat lover took the radical step of becoming a vegetarian. Within several months he was back down to his old racing weight of 180 pounds and finishing Ironman 70.3 events with ease. The lesson is clear: To manage weight successfully, every triathlete has to become a vegetarian. Wait a minute—that’s not the lesson at all. Because for every Jon Smith there’s a Christian Peterson, a runner and duathlete from Maple Grove, Minn., who struggled to lose weight on what he describes as a “typical runner’s diet” that was low in fat, high in carbs, and almost meatless before switching to the popular and meat-heavy Paleo Diet and quickly losing more than 20 pounds. And for every Christian Peterson there’s another endurance athlete who has lost weight on a high-protein diet, a gluten-free diet, a low-fat diet—you name it. Triathletes are never more focused on losing weight than around the new year. If you’re looking to shed a few pounds ahead of the 2012 racing season, you’re probably looking for the best diet for weight loss. But as the examples of Smith and Peterson suggest, and as science affirms, there is no clear “best” diet for weight loss. There are many effective ways to lose weight. In fact, real-world and scientific evidence indicate that the specific diet that a person uses to shed fat is not especially important to success in the effort to lose weight. What’s far more important, it seems, is the motivation level and attitude of the person seeking weight loss. Men and women who are truly ready to commit to a particular weight-loss strategy are almost certain to succeed, regardless of the diet they choose (provided it’s healthy and realistic). By the same token, those who are not prepared to fully embrace their diet are bound to fail, no matter which diet they’ve chosen. Follow The Losers Ever heard of the National Weight Control Registry? It’s basically a national database of men and women who have succeeded in losing at least 30 pounds and maintaining at least 30 pounds of weight loss for one year or more. Whatever these people do, it works. It’s not theory, but practice. So what do members of the NWCR do? For starters, their diets are all over the place. Some are on low-fat diets; others are on low-carb diets; still others do Weight Watchers; some are vegetarians, and so forth. Another interesting characteristic of NWCR members is that the vast majority failed with weight-loss diets a few times before finally succeeding. The combination of these two characteristics—variety in successful diet approaches and failures preceding success—suggests that people succeed in losing weight when they are psychologically ready, and fail when they are not ready. Other studies support this idea directly. For example, researchers at Italy’s University of Florence recently used a standardized scientific questionnaire to evaluate the “motivation and readiness” of 129 obese individuals starting a six-month outpatient weight-loss program. Weight-loss results at the end of six months were significantly greater for those subjects who earned the highest scores for motivation and readiness.

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Race Shape Ready?

Michael Weiss To Remain In…

Michael Weiss will continue to be drug tested during his two-year suspension from competition. Photo: Nils Nilsen In accordance with the World Anti-Doping Code, athletes in the WTC Registered Testing Pool (RTP) are subject to out-of-competition testing and are accountable for maintaining accurate “Whereabouts” using the secure online Anti-Doping Administration and Management System (ADAMS). The WTC Anti-Doping Program also includes collection of blood samples in accordance with the WADA Code Athlete Biological Passport Operating Guidelines. “I called WTC immediately after I was informed about the suspension,” Michael notes. “We discussed my plans to return to professional racing and my wish to remain in the testing pool.” “Both Michael and the WTC agreed that it was important that, given his intention to return to Ironman competition, he remain in the WTC RTP for the period of his ineligibility,” said Kate Mittelstadt, WTC Director of Anti-Doping. “We will continue to monitor his whereabouts and test him so that there is no lapse in his test history or Athlete Biological Passport.” Read more: Miki-wiki.com

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Photos: The Ironman Finish…

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Going Pro: Meet 5 New Male…

Adam Bohach, 27, Clinton, Iowa A high school science teacher, Bohach has a thing or two to teach his students about being a fast triathlete. He wrapped up his final amateur season ranked first among men ages 25-29 by USA Triathlon (USAT), scooping up big wins at the Hy-Vee 5150 U.S. Championships in September and topping his age group at Ironman Racine 70.3 (his 4:12:06 finish was good enough for ninth overall, beating several pros). Bohach is also an accomplished runner, clocking 2:26:25 at Grandma’s Marathon in June and a 25:45 8K on the roads in 2010. Bohach, a biology major while at Luther College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is clearly a student of the sport: His senior project involved VO2, lactic acid, and cortisol levels in endurance trained athletes, for which he was awarded an NCAA post-graduate scholarship. RELATED: Meet 5 New Female Pros

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Middle Age Segment Of…

It took John Korff seven years to bring an Ironman triathlon to New York; it took nine minutes for the 3,000 race slots to sell out. Korff, a sporting events producer who runs 100-mile races and the Empire State Building stairs for kicks, had been wrangling and wooing city officials to host the event, a 140.6-mile endurance sport, which includes swimming and biking — and a 26.2-mile marathon tacked on the end. “I felt like a business therapist saying why they should do this,” says Korff, owner of Korff Enterprises. In 2010, USA Triathlon annual membership surpassed 135,000 compared with 15,000 to 21,000 roughly a decade ago. New triathletes are older, with the biggest growth in the 35-39 and 40-44 age groups, according to USA Triathlon. In fact, fortysomethings appear like whippersnappers compared to some triathletes. Just ask Stuart Chagrin, 68, a finance professional who has been competing in the New York City Triathlon since 2005. That race is the same distance as the Olympic event — a modest 32 miles. “You’re finding older people doing triathlons, older people doing endurance events,” says Chagrin, who began running in his 40s. “Older is younger these days.” Read more: Cnbc.com

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Middle Age Segment Of…

Emma Jackson To Kick Off 2012…

Olympic hopeful Emma Jackson will make her race debut for the year at the Seven Sunshine Coast Enduro Triathlon on Sunday Feb. 5, in what is shaping up as the biggest year of her young career as she embarks on her path to securing a place in the Australian team to contest the London Games in August. Twenty-year old Jackson finished the 2011 season as Australia’s highest ranked female, finishing fourth in the World Series. “This will be a great event to kick start my 2012 racing season, I am doing the race so I can get a good hit out before my major races start later in March and to see where I am at with my training. “I am hoping to have a solid performance at Caloundra in the different but tough short Enduro format,” she said. Brisbane based Jackson is taking nothing for granted despite her outstanding 2011 season and knows there is still a lot of work to be done to be considered for selection to join Emma Moffatt on the team, the only female nominated for early selection. Olympic champion Emma Snowsill will return from her South African training base in early March to contest the Mooloolaba ITU World Cup and opening round of the ITU World Championship Series in Sydney to press for selection. Read more: Trizone.com.au

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Photos: USA Triathlon Winter…

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Snack Time For Less Than 200…

The sports nutrition market is filled with bars designed for energy and recovery, but what if you just want a snack? Enter these four bars—all less than 200 calories—designed to be eaten in between workouts, at your desk or anytime your taste buds need a little pick-me-up. ProBar Halo $1.59 ProBar recently released its line of Halo bars, all dessert-y flavors, such as rocky road and nutty marshmallow, and all 150–160 calories. Triathlete editors sampled the honey graham flavor, and we tasted more honey than graham. Yet the bars are great for you: They’re certified organic, vegan and have a healthy dose of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Theprobar.com

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