Tri Riding In The Wind

Lance Armstrong was famous for thriving in foul weather, and although he spent countless hours honing his skills, he mostly credited this edge over the peloton to his mental preparation. He knew the others would be suffering so he chose to embrace the rain, wind or extreme heat. Even if you don’t have Lance’s skills or extreme mental toughness, you can race stronger in the wind by following some basic guidelines. VIDEO: The Big Island’s Mumuku Winds

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Tri Riding In The Wind

Workout Wonderland: Give…

Embrace the elements this winter and strap into a pair of snowshoes. Snow-covered trails don’t need to hinder your training—they can actually enhance it with the right equipment: snowshoes. “Snowshoeing is a killer workout,” says triathlete and top snowshoeing competitor Scott Gall. “It’s a huge strength builder: You use hip flexors and quads in a way that’s very transferable to the bike,” says Gall, who owns a running store in Cedar Falls, Iowa. It also involves balance and core strength. He offers these tips: • If you’re mainly going to be running, invest in running-specific snowshoes. They’ll give you more agility on the trails. • Your snowshoe running pace will be naturally slower than your road running pace, but your heart rate will likely be just as high or higher. For example, if it normally takes you an hour to run 7 miles, then snowshoe for an hour—versus trying to run 7 miles. • Just try it: There is virtually no learning curve. Want to give it a shot? Try one of these upcoming races: JAN. 28: Bigfoot Snowshoe Race, Traverse City, Mich. (5K and 10K) This scenic, hilly off-trail run is a great course for all levels. In fact, a large percentage of people who do this race are first-timers and rent snowshoes. Runsnow.com JAN. 29: Curly’s Record Run, Pittsfield, Mass. (4 mile) This historical race utilizes part of the old ski trails of Berkshire County, and the area is a great spot for an impromptu winter vacation. Berkshiresports.org FEB. 12: Highland Forest Snowshoe Run, Syracuse, N.Y. (5K and 10K) The Highland Forest offers a beautiful setting for snowshoeing through the woods. Make a weekend of it at the new Skyline Lodge. Bikeloft.com Find more events at Snowshoeracing.com .

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Workout Wonderland: Give…

Cut Your Risk Of Blood Clots

Xterra athlete Wendy Simms sustained a large cut at a multiday mountain bike race in Europe in 2004 and flew home the next day, ignoring symptoms of sharp pains on inhalation. She wound up in the hospital for a week with a pulmonary embolism—a serious condition that occurs when a blood clot breaks off in the arm or leg and travels to the lungs—and spent six months on the blood-thinner Coumadin, sidelining her. Keep in mind the following risk factors, symptoms and ways to prevent blood clots from happening to you: Risk Factors – Traveling long-distance to competitions in a cramped position – Severe dehydration from racing a grueling event – For women who use birth-control pills, the combination of dehydration from altitude and racing plus travel without recovery – Sustaining even minor cuts during a race and promptly getting on a plane Symptoms – Swelling, pain or tenderness, usually in one leg – Reddish or bluish discoloration of the skin – Shortness of breath, sharp pains or difficulty breathing (go to the hospital immediately) Prevention Take walking breaks and stretch during long trips, stay hydrated and find out if you have a family history of blood clots. Finally, “lower-leg compression gear can serve a second purpose—to reduce [deep vein thrombosis] risk during long-distance travel,” says osteopathic physician Chris Miars.

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Cut Your Risk Of Blood Clots

9 Secrets To Sighting

Photo: Hugh Gentry Triathletes spend hours in the pool practicing perfect stroke technique, but on race day, following buoys and staying on course is equally important. Sighting is a skill that needs to be practiced and perfected before race day. Follow these tips for your next open-water swim. 1. Lift your head only as high as necessary. In calm bodies of water, like a lake or river, lift just your eyes out of the water. 2. In wavy ocean conditions, time it so you’re sighting on the top of a wave for the best view of the course. Feel your body rise and fall on the swells and sight accordingly. 3. When conditions are choppy and unpredictable, lift your head extra high but try to minimize the total number of times you sight. Use landmarks and other swimmers when breathing to the side. 4. Do not breathe while looking forward. Separate the two actions by sighting forward and then immediately rolling your head to take a breath to the side. 5. As you prepare to sight, press down with your hand and arm during the catch phase of your stroke. This will slightly lift your upper body and make it easier to raise your head. 6. Arch your back while lifting your head. This will allow your legs and feet to stay near the surface, minimizing drag under the water. 7. Kick extra hard for a moment while you are sighting. This will help maintain forward speed and also keep your feet from dropping. 8. Sight 2–3 times in a row (during every other stroke). Use the first sight to locate the buoy, the second sight to adjust your angle and the third to verify your direction. Swim straight for 20–30 seconds before repeating this system. 9. Practice, practice, practice! Make a point to practice sighting drills in every second or third workout. Sighting drills for the pool Tarzan: Swim the entire length of the pool with your head out of the water. Use this drill to practice arching your back, kicking extra hard and maintaining a good body position. Where’s Waldo?: Use good sighting technique to locate your coach on the pool deck while swimming a single lap. 3 Right/3 Left/6 Regular: Sight three times while taking a stroke with the right arm and then three times with the left. Take six regular strokes and then repeat. Swim Blind: Find an empty lane at the pool and swim straight down the middle with your eyes closed. Based on which lane line you bump most often, you know which direction to compensate for in open water. More swim training articles from Triathlete.com.

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9 Secrets To Sighting

Let’s Get Vertical

Photo: Nils Nilsen Vertical kicking is a challenging drill great for promoting an efficient flutter kick. Instead of kicking across the pool along the surface of the water, vertical kicking takes place in a stationary position in the deep end. The challenge of this drill lies in keeping your nose and mouth above the surface. It’s very tiring and should be performed in short intervals near the wall so you can rest as needed. The lesson is to develop a quick cadence with the legs. The flutter kick is most efficient when performed with quick, short kicks. Remember: The kick starts at the hip and uses the entire leg for propulsion. Beginners should start with their arms under the water. You can make small hand movements to help keep the body afloat and stationary. Minimize arm sculling for support and focus on the legs to develop a good kick. The next step is to eliminate upper-body assistance by locking your hands together and keeping them tight to your body. When this is no longer a challenge, try raising the tips of your fingers out of the water. Efficient and strong kickers can raise their hands, forearms or entire arms out of the water while keeping their head above the water! Set 1 Go to a place in the pool that’s deeper than your height and has a good view of a pace clock. Push away from the wall a few seconds before the interval starts and use your arms to place yourself in a vertical position. When the clock starts, lift your hands to the surface and use a flutter kick to keep your head above the surface. Keep your eyes on the clock. Train with a buddy and alternate your vertical kicking. • 6

Disguise Your Strength Work

Photo: Nils Nilsen Most cycling and triathlon coaches consider strength training an essential component of a sound training regimen. Done right, it enhances cycling performance, reduces injury risk and slows the gradual loss of muscle strength that occurs after age 30. Despite these benefits, most cyclists and triathletes don’t include strength workouts in their training. Who can blame them? It’s hard enough to fit time-consuming rides between work, family time and household chores. Making time for another type of training just isn’t realistic. But who says your strength training has to be separate from your on-the-bike training? Not Tim Crowley. A Massachusetts-based coach to 10 elite triathletes, including 2008 Olympian Jarrod Shoemaker, Crowley has come up with creative ways to build strength work into the rides his athletes are already doing. And now you can follow suit. Enhanced Indoor Intervals Cyclists and triathletes often classify hill repetitions and high-gear intervals as strength work, but according to Crowley these things don’t truly build strength. “Even in a short, 30-second interval, you’re completing about 50 pedal strokes,” Crowley explains. “You wouldn’t expect to gain any strength from 50 leg presses using a load that is light enough to lift that many times.” As an alternative to hill repeats, Crowley uses enhanced indoor intervals to develop strength in the context of bike workouts. Instead of pedaling at a low intensity to recover between high-intensity intervals on a stationary bike, hop off the bike and perform one leg exercise, one core exercise and one upper-body exercise. For example, between a warm-up and a cool-down, do 5

Trend We Love: Guided Running…

Just because you’re traveling doesn’t mean you should succumb to the hotel treadmill to maintain your mileage. Instead, join a guided running tour. Achilles Running Tours – San Francisco A love of running, racing and the Bay Area led Adam Zelazny to found Achilles Running Tours. “Thanks to the relatively small size of San Francisco, you can experience many of the city’s unique and famous sights and sounds in a very short distance,” he says. Achilles generally offers 3- to 5-mile tours with customized tours available. Most popular tour: The Downtown Tour (4 miles), including a stop by the iconic Coit Tower. Heard on the run: The first slot machine was invented right along the Downtown Tour route. Achillestours.com RELATED PHOTOS: The Escape From Alcatraz Swim

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Trend We Love: Guided Running…

Ask A Pro: What Are The…

Illustration by Hunter King. “Where do you keep your horse/gun/skis?” Any variation of the above indicates that the word “triathlon” has not quite sublimated into popular culture. People hear the word “thon” and assume I either compete in the ski/shoot sport of biathlon (I get this more in Canada, where we Canadians have snow on the ground for six months) or occasionally, modern pentathlon, an obscure five-event competition dominated exclusively by Swiss ex-military and the British royal family. So where do I keep my horse? Under the bed with my guns and skis.

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Ask A Pro: What Are The…

Preventing Hamstring Injuries

The hamstring muscles (biceps femoris, semitendinous, semimembranous) are located at the back of the thigh extending from the buttocks to the knee. They are a prime mover in running gait, working extremely hard as they lengthen (eccentric contraction) to slow the leg down at the end of the swing phase. This quick and powerful eccentric contraction is essential to running and running fast, although it can also make the hamstring susceptible to injury. Athletes who tear or strain a hamstring muscle can easily tell you the day and time it happened along with immediate symptoms of pain, a pop and possibly bruising. This most frequently occurs during intense interval or track workouts. Just as common is the athlete who experiences a more gradual onset of pain without a specific, known cause. In this instance, diagnosis becomes more challenging, and it may be necessary to seek a physical examination to determine if it’s a pelvic stress fracture, sciatica, piriformis syndrome, hamstring tendinosis/tendinitis, sacroiliac joint dysfunction, etc. Photo: Nils Nilsen You can prevent hamstring injuries by focusing on muscle strengthening, hip stability exercises and balanced lower extremity flexibility, such as in these exercises below. Romanian deadlift with twist: Keep your back flat and lean forward until you feel a stretch in the hamstrings. Tighten glutes and push hips forward to return to standing. Bend back down at the hips, with a twist to the right and then left. Make it harder: Add weight. Supine ball hamstring curls: Lie on your back with your ankles on a stability ball. While keeping abdominals tight lift pelvis and roll the ball in. Hold the ball in position for 1–2 seconds and then slowly lower back out to starting position. Make it harder: Do the curl with a single leg.

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Preventing Hamstring Injuries

Four Triathlon Resolutions You…

Haven’t hammered out that resolution list yet? Here are four goals to go for this year—and tips on how to get ‘em done. For more ways to make your triathlon goals happen this year, check out the story “No Excuses” in the February 2012 issue of Triathlete , on newsstands Jan. 10. Resolution #1: Run Better Off the Bike Even the most seasoned runners fall victim to that familiar “dead legs” feeling after dismounting the bike, but there are ways to power through.  “As triathletes, we never run fresh,” says pro triathlete Tim O’Donnell of Boulder, Colo., one of world’s top-ranked long-distance racers. “So we need to learn to how to run fast when tired.”  A longtime swimmer, O’Donnell’s transformation to a triathlete entailed completing all of this runs off of the bike or out of the water. “For long runs, I would spin for 45 to 60 minutes before the run to adapt,” he says. “I would also do my easy runs after hard swim sessions on the treadmill.” RELATED: Running Vs. Triathlon Running

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Four Triathlon Resolutions You…