Explore & Escape - 220 Triathlon Magazine - March 2021

RACE A SPRING DUATHLON! 8-WEEK TRAINING PLAN

GENE TICS G N I N I A R T VS WHAT MAKESTEA?N ELITE ATHLE

INDOOR CYCLING MASTERCLASS

PLUS | BIKE SADDLE TECH | RACING A DOUBLE ULTRA | TRAINING & MENOPAUSE

CONQUER YOUR FIRST TRIATHLON!

No. 387 £5.50 MARCH 2021

Beginners and pros share lessons from their irst race

MULTISPORT WATCHES

AERO ROAD HELMETS

ENERGY BARS ON TEST

The big 2021 tech test! Garmin, Polar, Coros and Wahoo go head-to-head

New buys from £40, but which performed best in the wind tunnel?

Ride longer with our pick of the tastiest sports snacks

JUST...

KE EP GOI NG! Due to global conditions we have never had a training base like 2020. Tough riding conditions still lie between us, but all being well 2021 looks set to reward those who persevere.

contents STA RT P 0 8 T H E B IG P I C P1 2 D R E AM BI K E P14 H OTT EST N EW G EA R P1 5 F R O M T H E VAULT P16 STAT E O F P L AY P17 W HY I T R I P1 8 QU I C K S CI ENC E

K I T ZO N E P 4 6 K I T ZO NE P 5 0 MULTISPORT WATCHES P 5 5 AERO ROAD HELMETS P 5 8 ENERGY BARS P 6 0 GEBIOMIZED SADDLES P 6 6 KIT GUIDE TR A I N I N G P 7 0 V R M AST E R CL ASS P 7 6 8 W E E K DUAT H LO N P L A N P 83 N U T R I T IO N P 86 AS K T HE DO N P 89 WOM E N ’S T R A IN IN G R EG U LA RS P2 0 FAO 22 0 P2 2 SU B SC RI BE P 92 H OW WAS I T FO R YO U? P10 0 R ACE CA L ENDA R P10 6 W E E K E ND WA R RI OR

KIT ZONE TRAINING KNOWHOW TURN OVER FOR MORE i 4/

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70 VIRTUAL-REALITY MASTERCLASS

The likes of Zwift and RGT have transformed the world of indoor training. We reveal how you can maximise technology to race fast in 2021

NICK HOWE

ON THE COVER

46 KIT ZONE A pair of Enves for less than 2K? Crazy! Plus Oakleys, Maurten and more

HISTORY IN THE MAKING?

24

Challenge Daytona promised an event that’d change the face of tri forever. We were in the US to chart the highs and lows

24

31

THE BEST: HOW ELITE ATHLETES ARE MADE

31

Nature or nurture, just what does it take to become a world-class athlete? Our exclusive book extract tells all

TOMMY ZAFERES

MY FIRST TRI

ON THE COVER

38

The great and good of triathlon reflect on dipping their toes into multisport waters for the first time… and what you can learn

SMASH A DUATHLON

76

All the tips and sessions you need to be at your run/bike/run peak – that’ll pay off for tri, too

38

LUKAS HEMMELER

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FREDERICO RODRIGUEZ

Testing the water first really doesn’t make it any warmer..!

Helen swimming through the winter at her local venue, Lake 32 in the Cotswolds

FROM THE EDITOR...

Indoors or outdoors? If last year revealed anything, it’s that a global pandemic isn’t going to stop triathletes finding ways to train and, if anything (time allowing), many of you came out of last year fitter and stronger and with a renewed set of goals, thanks to the need to adapt and train differently. This issue we have a special feature on maximising your turbo and treadmill time (p70) as well as an eight-week duathlon training plan that’s perfect if, like many, you’ve struggled to swim lately. While my turbo has its place, I’ll always be firmly in ‘team outdoors’ as, for me, fresh air and seeing the seasons change are the biggest motivators.

Wherever we train though, let’s hope we can use all that hard work in some epic races soon. Fingers crossed, 2021!

Helen webster, editor

NEVER MISS MISS A COPY OF 22O! EXCLUSIVE OFFER WITH FREE HOME DELIVERY We want to make it as easy as possible for our readers to get their copy of 220 Triathlon Magazine at this difficult time, so why not take out a subscription? Turn to p22 to find out how to get the magazine delivered to your door every month, plus new subscribers receive a pair of Huub goggles!

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DIVE IN INTO NTO THE WORLD OF TRI 8/

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the big pic

The inaugural Formosa Xtreme Triathlon in November saw 57 hardy individuals take on the almost 7,000m total elevation gain on the longdistance course in Taitung, Taiwan. Due to Covid restrictions, it was a battle of the local athletes. Only 20 competitors managed to complete the debilitating mountainous marathon and reach the finish line at the summit of snowy Mount Hehuan.

KENNY LU/WAYPOINT

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TOMMY ZAFERES

The world’s top pros battled it out for a share of the $1.15-million prize purse at Challenge Daytona on 6 December. The unique 100km course (2km swim/80km bike/18km run) involved multiple laps around the famous speedway track, which made for a flat course. Many racers, including Olympic champion Ali Brownlee, had to pull out. Victors of the day were Canadian Paula Findlay and the reigning Ironman 70.3 champ, Norway’s Gustav Iden.

Set in the mountainous Taitung region, Challenge Taiwan welcomed 5,200 athletes on 14-15 November for its Olympic-, middle- and long-distance races. An agegroup-only race this year, the long-distance course saw participants set off in Flowing Lake before taking on the 180km bike alongside the Carp Mountains and finishing off with a breathtaking run surrounded by rice paddies to Tie Hua village.

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/ March 2021

DREAM BIKE

Reap’s exclusively British built and designed tri bike offers a holistic approach to optimising aerodynamics with their fully integrated and adjustable design

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/ March 2021

REAP VULCAN

From £8,195 Reap’s ‘hyper-bike’ is a step up from their inaugural Generation 1.0, with an aerointegrated cockpit and BTA hydration system for “race readiness”.

Named after the velocity and range of the Avro Vulcan bomber jet, this British built and designed beam bike is made for speed. A “holistic design approach” steers the rider into a more aerodynamic position by use of a ballistic cockpit with forearm-hugging aero extensions. Drag’s further reduced by use of the same V-frame design of the 1.0 and a shielded front derailleur.

The fully adjustable set-up includes rotary dropout adjusters, a multi-position seatpost and choice of extensions height with angled shims.

Disc brakes, Ultegra Di2, with choice of Parcours Passista or ENVE 7.8 wheels complete the set-up.

Pros, including Elliot Smales and Fenella Langridge, are signed to race the Vulcan in 2021. reapbikes.com

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3 of the best NEW SPORTS BOOKS

UNDER £13

THE COMEBACK QUOTIENT £12.99 Matt Fitzgerald’s guide to building mental fitness in sport and life couldn’t come at a better time.

The book looks at how you perceive the challenges you face, and offers inspiration and tools to make the next great comeback your own.

UNDER £15

RUNNING THE WORLD £14.99 Nick Butter is the first person to run a marathon in every country on Earth. This documents the 674-day adventure, offering a unique perspective on our planet, a celebration of human diversity, and reflects on the power of running.

HOKA ONE ONE ROCKET X £140 Hoka’s latest carbon race shoes hit the shelves, aimed at all distances of triathlon

UNDER £20

THE BEST £20 Uncover the inner psychologies of your sporting heroes, find out how they tick and just how they perform such extraordinary feats in this new book from Mark Williams and Tim Wigmore. The book reveals how elites found the path to sporting greatness and achieved under immense pressure. Turn to p31.

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Released at a virtual launch with three-time Ironman world champ Jan Frodeno the guest star, the new Hoka One One Rocket X is the latest carbon-infused release from the Cali-based brand (the Carbon X2 is also out now).

Branded as an elite racing shoe, the Rocket X shares the same 1mm carbon plate as Hoka’s previous Carbon X, plus the unisex Rocket has an updated impact-absorbing compression-moulded EVA foam midsole and zonal rubber outsole.

Crowned as the lightest model in Hoka history at only 210g, it’s kitted

out with a stiff mesh upper, which has resulted in no structural need for overlay and toe-box. The early stage Meta-Rocker geometry shapes the subtle curvature of the sole, said to encourage an efficient stride motion. With a 5mm drop, it’s not as drastically curved as other rockers, aimed at an anterior landing pattern.

A stack height of 30mm is a full 1cm lower than the IAAF limit, giving the shoe enough cushion for the impact of Ironman, as well as being “primed for shorter distances.” Look out for a review very soon. hokaoneone.eu

hottest new gear

FROM THE VAULT ON SALE summer 2003

Dip into the 220 archives and it soon becomes clear that Marc Jenkins rivals his wife Helen, Tim Don and Spencer Smith as the athlete with the most 220 cover shots. This one is from the National Elite Champs of 2003, where Jenkins and another cover stalwart, Michelle Dillon, took the titles a year before both made memorable Olympic Games performances.

IMAGE BONGARTS/GETTY

ALSO IN 2003...

Australia’s Emma Snowsill takes her first of three ITU World Championship titles in Queenstown, New Zealand. Further ITU world titles would follow in 2005 and 2006 before the Olympic gold in 2008, with Snowsill’s athletic rivalry with Portugal’s Vanessa Fernandes one of the greatest tri has witnessed.

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DANIEL SEEX

CHANGING COURSE OF LONG-DISTANCE TRI TIM HEMING

Cutting through the spin of tri to address the issues that matter, Tim is a sports journalist who has written extensively on triathlon for the national press.

Covid has accelerated an already shifting landscape for pro triathletes – and Ironman is showing few signs of being up to the Challenge, believes Tim Heming The pandemic could signal a sea change in triathlon that takes elite competition away from Ironman – and even the hallowed lava fields of Hawaii. This isn’t simply a kneejerk reaction to what Challenge North America and the Professional Triathletes Organisation achieved with its big money showcase in Daytona (see p24). An equal contributory factor is Ironman’s own bearish insularity – and it’s a bear that isn’t reacting well to being poked.

The PTO’s chairman Charles Adamo uses a line from former US defence secretary Charles Wilson – “What’s good for General Motors is good for America” – as a metaphor for why he wants to see Ironman prosper, and the PTO has offered Ironman thousands in prize money to make its global

series more rewarding to elites. Yet Ironman turned it down. That may seem baffling, but is a mark of how previous criticism has stung and a belief the PTO investment will dry up.

It may also be a sign of where Ironman’s priorities lie – generating revenue from race entries and, more cynically, ensuring no one set of individuals becomes bigger than the brand.

And Ironman is some brand. Its cachet holds sway with sponsors, who – importantly – peg pros’ bonus payments to results. Yet with marketing budgets squeezed, and with prize money making up a bigger portion of income, athletes will be forced to reconsider that M-Dot allegiance.

Context is always useful, so let’s wind the clock back to 2019. Ironman paid out $4.5m, but each professional stumped up $900 for their pro licence.

The direction of travel wasn’t great either. The total purse reduced 6% in a year and 15% over the previous four.

If the omens were poor, Covid made them worse. When 2020 happened –

state of play

“How long before the PTO go all in with the global series of the Challenge brand?”

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or mainly didn’t – Ironman paid out $434k, while the PTO forked out close to $4m, riding in on benefactor Mike Moritz’s white chargers to pay out its year-end ranking in March and a bumper pot for Challenge Daytona.

Ironman’s prize money for 2021 looks like a further reduction. It’s quietly released a pro schedule with just 14 events and a total payout of $880k for the first six months of the year, while issuing a press release to say every full distance age-group race has sold out in the USA and Canada. In contrast the PTO has its $2m Collins Cup in May, and may yet fund another speedway style event in Miami to mimic the success of Daytona, plus the rankings pay-out will again be a lifeline for many.

Adamo says they’ll resist removing ranking points from Ironman events but, if the rancour continues, how long before the PTO go all in with the Challenge brand that has its own global series and would welcome it with open arms? The professionals would surely follow. They simply couldn’t afford not to.

“THERE’S NO FINISH LINE IN MY LIFE” Sam Beard lost over six stone to race the Cotswold 113 in 2020. The steakhouse chef tells Tim Heming about the impact tri has had on his life I completed seven marathons in seven days in 2015, culminating with the London Marathon, but fell out of love with running and started to put on weight – which is easy when you’re a chef! At my heaviest I was 26st 2lb. My weight has yo-yo’d because I’ve been lazy with my diet.

When I’ve not had something to train for, I haven’t eaten well – lots of takeaways, fast food and fizzy drinks. The turning point was when I realised that I wouldn’t be able to do my job for much longer. I was struggling to stay on my feet for 8-10hrs a day at work.

SAM BEARD

Sam Beard, 24, from Stroud, Gloucestershire, is a steakhouse chef who shed more than six stone to complete the Cotswold 113 in September.

Having only learnt to swim and ride a bike as an adult, it was his fourth tri, including an Olympic-distance race DNF in 2017.

My first crack at tri was in 2017. I was gaining weight and decided to take on an Olympic tri. I’d no idea what I’d gotten into and pulled out after the first lap of the bike leg. But I loved it and knew I’d do more.

What I didn’t realise is that it’d take me two years and a 10-stone weight swing (up and then back down) to get into triathlon properly.

“Iron(wo)men are some of the toughest people on the planet” I struggled a bit during lockdown, but never for longer than a few days. It was easy to train because of the free time, so I tried to make sure that something positive came out of it. It’s clear that people who are overweight – this still includes me, by the way! – can struggle more with Covid, so I think everyone should be trying to get healthy.

why i tri

I’ve known about Ironman as long as I can remember. The Hoyt family [Rick has cerebral palsy and was towed, pedalled and pushed to the finish in Hawaii by his father Dick] was one of my earliest inspirations, but anyone who’s done an Ironman inspires me. The age-group Ironmen and women are some of the toughest people on the planet.

I chose the Cotswold 113 because it’s my local event and the bike course is flat. Signing up wasn’t daunting. I’d a long time to mentally prepare and believe I can do anything on the day. It only becomes daunting if you’re under prepared when it comes to race day.

Thankfully, I wasn’t. I swam 43mins, but the bike wasn’t so good. I had mechanical issues from the start, then I punctured. I fixed it, but sat on the roadside for 37mins. I hoped for around 3hrs on

the run and finished in 3:16. Not so bad for a first crack. Bear in mind I’m still 19.5 stone!

The highlight was the support on course, and the events team letting me run the red carpet with my niece and nephew – and giving them both a medal, too!

I couldn’t have done this without the people around me. Tri is a scary sport when you’ve no clue about it and my coach, Chris Maxwell, has been incredible in getting me here.

Eighteen months ago, I couldn’t run for 10mins, swam with my head above water and when I started cycling had to put a pillow over my saddle on an indoor training bike because it was that uncomfortable!

My tri journey hasn’t properly started. I got into this sport to change my life and it’s already done that. Let’s kick on and inspire others to change their lives too. I’ve finished the Cotswold 113 and I’m straight into preparation for the next one. Next year I’m aiming for a sub 6:30 half iron and then I hope to do Ironman Wales in 2022.

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DANIEL SEEX

INGEST A NEW PB Recent research debates the effectiveness of supplements on high-intensity exercise…

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Unsure which supplements might supercharge your high-intensity sessions? Wonder no more thanks to a recent ‘narrative review’ of nutritional interventions that work (and those that don’t) in MDPI, a publisher of open-access journals.

The two favourites to eke out that little extra from your next fartlek are ingesting sodium bicarbonate or betaalanine. Both are shown to raise the pH levels of your blood, this increase of alkalinity widening the bandwidth of fatigue brought on by rising lactic-acid levels during all-out exercise. We’ve mentioned it before but just beware that sodium bicarbonate can cause stomach issues; that said, recent

work of Dr Andy Sparks at Edge Hill University has shown that an individualised approach of amount and timing can lessen this.

The researchers highlight the benefits of nitrates – from foods like beetroot – though suggest “the majority of research suggests limited training adaptations”.

Caffeine and creatine are both given a tentative thumbs up, although “longer-term studies are lacking”. They also question the effectiveness of a high-protein diet to maximise highintensity training, though conclude that a periodised approach to carbohydrate intake is a good idea.

With 2021 here, it’s a good time to play around with safe supplements.

quick science

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Your emails & pictures

COLD-WATER ARMY

star letter Got an opinion to share? Then email us at fao220 @220triathlon.com

WRITE IN AND WIN! 20 /

/ March 2021

I’m one of the many individuals, triathletes and swimmers who, as I write on 2nd January, continues to open-water swim in the UK. For me, my outdoor pool is in Clevedon, not too far from Bristol. I swim in the marine lake, which is one of the biggest in the world – and damn chilly over winter. My last swim measured around 6°C. I mention this because Clevedon’s marine lake is one of many outdoor bodies of water that are kept in existence – and a safe existence at that – by an army of volunteers and donations. This often-forgotten army ensures water quality is good and the lake, as much it can, remains open 24/7.

With that in mind, I encourage everyone to give cold open-water swimming a go, even if it’s more a plunge than a crawl. I feel much more physically and mentally with it after a short swim. And I can confirm that even the shortest dip results in the most fantastic sleep.

All I recommend is that you swim in pairs (apart, of course), cover your extremities – you can’t beat a woolly hat – and have something warm to slip into after. (And no, it doesn’t have to be a DryRobe – albeit I love mine.) Have a great off-season of outdoor swimming and thanks again to the volunteers that make it happen. Deborah Warden

STAR LETTER WINS W I OOFOS OORIGINAL RECOVERY SHOES WORTH MORE AT WWW OOFOS CO UK

Cold-water swimming, whether in a pool, lake or sea, delivers many benefits. Stay safe, be grateful, swim strong

“I encourage everyone to give cold open-water swimming a go, even it’s more a plunge than a front crawl” 220 replies: Deborah, we can only echo your sentiments. Whether it’s many outdoor pools, clubs and races, our sport simply couldn’t exist without the volunteers. We thank you all.

ELITE INSIGHT Can I say what a refreshing addition to your website the Tom Bishop diaries have been. I’ve followed Tom’s career for a while and really appreciate the insight he’s provided into the life of an elite triathlete – one which looks far from the life of a Premier footballer. I truly hope he makes the British Olympic team.

Bishop’s diaries also raise a bugbear of mine – top age-groupers who feel they could be Olympians if only they had the privileges of full-time athletes. As Bishop shows, his life is not one of molly coddling and having every whim tended to. It takes a huge amount of sacrifice and massive levels of internal motivation to wake day after day, week after week… to deliver optimum performance. I also think that those top age-groupers often forget that unlike many of them, these top elites managed the many

temptations of their late teens to keep training, to keep working toward their dreams.

But what I find interesting is the bits in between that aren’t given much coverage – the meticulous rest and nutritional plans, and managing that fine line between progress and injury. Good luck, Tom – here’s to 2021 Olympic memories.

Michael Smith

RACE HAPPY Triathlon is a great sport and one of the most welcoming I’ve ever known. I’m over 50, have played rugby, cricket, golf and have swum regularly, but the compassion and warmth with which experienced triathletes greet newcomers like me has been simply breathtaking. I hope I can be as welcoming when – vaccine willing – we can enjoy a pretty full season in 2021.

All I ask when things begin to ramp up is that you’re all sensible with losing weight. One of the least appealing aspects of endurance sports is a focus on hitting race weight. What does that mean? To me, there is no race weight. You train, eat healthy, but don’t abstain from treats 24/7 or life becomes dull and you’re on a path to erratic eating patterns.

I’ve always followed the 80/20 plan, meaning eat and drink well 80% of the time but go for it with a few wines and desserts 20% of the time. This keeps me mentally on an even keel and fit enough to challenge myself come the races.

So have a fantastic season – but don’t wait for that race finish line before having a treat. Trevor Grigg

you r

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1 @celebsuett Lovely ride this morning getting some cardio in before work, little drizzly but nothing to complain about. 2 @tri_dad86 Finished up this year’s @edtrisquad training with a solid 19min 5km TT. Not bad – 50secs quicker than this time last year. This session was the most poignant in my triathlon journey so far as I was awarded ET Squad Athlete of the Year 2020! 3 @jsafit What a

gaff this is turning out to be. Got an early Christmas present off my wife. New treadmill – less of the falling down potholes and getting soaked. 4 @fitbelvoir Back for more today. We’re not just fair weather swimmers! 5 @aodonovan.tri Early Christmas present. Hopefully the shoes that get me over the finish line in August for Ironman cork 2021. 6 @tri_dad86 Manic Monday! Work all

day meant earlier alarm for the 2hr set before work. 7 @trilifeofleigh Working on my mud tan lines. More work needed. 8 @emersandham Just glad to get out in the light today. December days are way too short... 9 @yiannis.christodoulou Cheeky 5min swim today! Been using this more over the past week. I feel my shoulders getting stronger but still trying to get this right.

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FEATURE

e g n e l l a h C

N A O T D AY

ED PROMOT S A W A N E DAY TO N AND H A L L EN G C ’S R AGINATIO E B IM M E E H C T E A PTU R E ACING D LIVER? ENT TO C A R FO R R V E E Y N DID IT DE T A L T U U N B IC O .

F L G H IF T D G TRIA VERTISIN A F T ER A CHANGIN S AND AD E E M C R ES A N G IE A D MY ZAFE AS LY AU ES TOM G IMAG H O P EF U L HEMIN S TIM WORD

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CHALLENGE DAYTONA

here was a lot on the line. More than $1-million and the reputation of the Professional Triathletes Organisation with its promise to beam hours of Sunday afternoon multisport entertainment to a global audience. “The greatest triathlon field ever assembled” was billed, and the mood music was set for the greatest tri show ever.

Daytona International Speedway in Florida might be more familiar with Ford Mustangs tearing up the 31-degree banking at 200mph, but despite Covid cases in the state soaring and arch-rivals Ironman cancelling everything until the end of the year, Challenge and the PTO were determined to get some rubber on the road for the PTO Championship 2020 at Challenge Daytona.

Now the dust has settled, was it money well spent?

Will it fast-track professional triathlon into the mainstream sporting consciousness? Or leave it stalled in the pit lane? Here’s what we learnt.

SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE One British pro reported Florida’s attitude to Covid as a little “laissez faire”.

But not at Daytona, where it looked as if Challenge had commandeered every elasticated face covering in the state.

Along with on-site temperature checks, it seemed to do the job. With no outbreaks linked to the event, it’s another tick in the box for socially-distanced tri.

2.

REINVENTING THE WHEEL?

Triathlon’s attempt to boldly go where no triathlon had been before saw rivalries stoked, (many) wildcards issued, a countdown timer to build tension and a slick opening TV sequence, before drone footage introduced us to the sprawling 480-acre Daytona International Speedway. Could it be triathlon, Jim, but not as we know it? Regular Daytona vocalist Kelly Parsons Kwiatek belted out the Star Spangled Banner. Firecrackers lit the sky. The commentary team said hello.

The big names filed in for the swim start.

The nervous creep in the water before the blast of the miniature cannon – and then the reminder that, any which way you cut it, this is… swim, bike and run. The basics don’t change. You gotta love it. And love watching it?

HALL OF FAME If it were flipped to run, bike, swim then Britain’s Lucy Hall would win a lot more triathlons. The 28-yearold Olympian puts on a swim clinic every time she enters the water and was at it again in Lake Lloyd. When workers excavated this trench in 1958 to form two of the circuit’s fiercely steep corners, little did they know they were developing the venue for two further sports – powerboat racing (briefly) and tri.

Back to Lucy at the front and it was a sight to behold. Or rather, given how she made a beeline for the buoys, it was sighting to behold.

4.

UNIQUE AND COMPELLING

“Watch cyclists ride around a 4km concrete oval 20 times” isn’t an elevator pitch to raise the pulse, but what Daytona lacks in scenery, it makes up for with its capacity to both follow the action and create a fair race. There were no media vehicles moto-pacing the lead biker and traffic cones indicated the 20m draft zone, so it could be understood and more easily policed. Would you want to see every triathlon at a circuit like Daytona? No. But once a year, it’s different enough to be compelling and produce fair racing. X

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FEATURE

IMPORTANCE OF AERO Challenge’s 20m draft zone (an increase from Ironman’s 12m) seems to be universally loved as a way of preventing drafting, but does change the dynamic.

This was shown in the men’s race, where triathletes wanting to move up the field often needed to overtake a paceline of triathletes. With 45secs to make the pass and not being able to tuck in without risk of penalty, it made for a risky manoeuvre and laying down more power for longer than was comfortable. It might be one reason – other than the notable exception of young Dane Magnus Elbaek Ditlev – that we didn’t see the men’s race break up more on the bike. On what could have been wrongly deigned a pure power biker’s course, it also highlighted the role aerodynamics play.

Whatever size of athlete, there was little difference in bike splits. As well as putting out the watts, you need to know how to save them into the wind.

“On what could have been wrongly deigned a pure power biker’s course, it highlighted the role aerodynamics play. Whatever size of athlete, there was little difference in bike splits” 26 /

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CHALLENGE DAYTONA

rethinking lapping What does need a rethink is the protocol regarding lapped athletes. In this case it was most notable with Michael Weiss.

The Austrian was already a lap down coming out of the swim, but then led Alistair Brownlee… who was leading. Had the race taken its lead from the ITU and removed lapped athletes, it would have solved the Weiss situation, but would also have put Lionel Sanders, the eventual fourth-place finisher, perilously close to being lapped out straight from the swim too. However, it may be a problem unique to Daytona, and one Daytona will simply have to live with.

7.

STRENGTH IN-DEPTH

The leaderboard in the women’s race was dominated by Union flags, with eight British finishers in the top 20, despite there being no Jess Learmonth, Georgia Taylor-Brown nor Vicky Holland – GB’s three Olympic picks who’d all been offered the chance to race. It again underlined British women’s status as the number one tri nation. The pick? While the 2016 Ironman 70.3 world champion Holly Lawrence’s fourth place showed her class, Fenella Langridge delivered the widest smile of the day as she held on for seventh.

8.

GOODWIN ECLIPSES BROWNLEES The British male athletes were to the fore, too, but not necessarily the ones expected.

The Brownlees as ever took top billing, but Alistair pulled out with a calf problem and Jonny picked up a 2min penalty before wilting to 30th. Instead, it was two Brits we featured in the last issue that came through. Tom Davis was with the leaders from the start and led on the run before finishing in 12th. Ahead of him, George Goodwin ran through for third and a helpful $50,000. The biggest pay cheques of their short careers and a promise of what’s to come.

VARIETY OF FORM Anyone lamenting their own run technique should review the men’s race.

From the shuffling gait of Lionel Sanders to the body-flailing, heel-stomping of Matt Hanson, who ran the day’s fastest run split, it showed there is more than one way to skin a good run leg, even without aesthetically pleasing biomechanics. It also prompted US journalist and Twitter wag, Brad Culp to comment, “I guess Matt swims so slowly because he saves his arms for the run.” X

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FEATURE

12.

ENDURINGLY COMPELLING

Athlete attachment To buy into triathletes, you must care about their stories and the two Daytona winners provided contrasting, but heartening tales. Paula Findlay, the woman’s champion from Canada, had her “perfect day” as she biked at the front of the race and never looked troubled on the run. It was a throwback to a decade earlier when she dominated the ITU World Series, until, all of a sudden, she didn’t. As a nation expected ahead of London 2012, she was the last finisher in tears – the weight of injury and expectation had been too great. Findlay has slowly made her way back, including winning in Daytona last year, but this tops the lot. As for Gustav Iden, it was all about the lucky cap from a Taoist temple he found and wore to success at 2019’s Ironman 70.3 World Championship. He’s stuck with it and now the Norwegian has quite the following in Taiwan. It shows there are still ways to gain a following other than Instagram.

The live stream dropping out for many viewers just as the men’s race reached a climax was too big to ignore. However, while that was a blip, the bigger poser is whether the eight-hour broadcast will give enough impetus to grow a following. The PTO said Challenge Daytona would be shown in over 100 countries, including highlights on BT Sport. While perceived wisdom might be ever-shorter competition to keep viewers’ attention and fit TV schedules, triathlon is an endurance sport. The aim

must be to make it as compelling as possible without losing the core of the sport. Viewers will watch live events if they care enough about the outcome – and there are many sports that extend well beyond what we witnessed in Daytona. It’s about building drama and suspense. A filled grandstand and agegroup triathletes camping on the infield will help, and there was just a glimpse this time as home favourite Sam Long geed up what crowd there was in the final throes of a thrilling men’s race.

11.

LADIES FIRST

The women’s race was also broadcast first and centre stage. There was no getting caught up with male age-groupers on the bike leg, and no crossing the line behind a flaking 15th pro man. Instead, the women had the course to themselves.

In fairness, Ironman has adopted this in its 70.3 Worlds, but it was good to see Challenge Daytona follow suit.

democratic rewards While the prize money was a much-vaunted $1.15-million, it was also structured so that it paid out to every finisher. The PTO resisted the temptation for the first prize to top the Kona winners’ cheques and they should be commended for that. Similarly, huge winner-takes-nearly-all purses are short-term gimmicks and fast cash burners that do little to help develop the sport. In a year with so much physical and financial cost in the world, it would also be tone deaf to have put $1m on the line. As 12th-placed Brit Tom Davis said he was encouraged less by the six-figure sums for the top placings and more by the knowledge he could make the trip and wouldn’t make a loss. To build a depth of professional talent, that has to be the right track.

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CHALLENGE DAYTONA

15.

THE FUTURE…

“Where do we go from here? As the co-commentator said, it costs ‘$100k just to turn the lights on at Daytona’, and at some point the costs need recouping.”

Where do we go from here? From a fan’s perspective, Challenge Daytona was a success, but as the co-commentator said, it costs “$100k just to turn the lights on at Daytona”, and at some point the costs needs recouping. The PTO asking for donations to help beleaguered tri communities was a soft step towards payper-view, but demanding payment shrinks the audience when they’re hoping for growth. As for the venue, Daytona doesn’t have the history of Hawaii, but does provide intrigue and uncertainty. If the distance was thought to favour shortcourse racers, then the demands of the event made it a much more mixed picture.

Should a similar strength field turn up next year, it’ll be no clearer who’ll take the honours. However, this race had a captive start-list and audience. Next year, it’s unlikely to be the only show in town.

Ironman could have Hawaii and its 70.3 Worlds as competition, and triathletes may be forced to prioritise. But then the PTO has options. Thanks to billionaire Mike Moritz, the PTO has deep pockets and maintains it’s in it for the long haul.

The Collins Cup and its $2m purse should finally run in Slovakia in May. Triathlon fans should stay tuned.

ECLIPSING IRONMAN? Is this PTO-Challenge dream combo ready to topple Ironman? They’re heading in different directions. The prize money in real terms in Ironman racing has been reducing for years – and as the company tightens its purse strings due the pandemic, the paying age-grouper will be its focus. In contrast, the PTO has a remit to try and build the pro face of triathlon into something bigger than the sum of its parts by investing in the athletes. No doubt amateur competition will add an important revenue stream to that, but who wins out will come down to the power of the brand – and Challenge and the PTO have a way to go there.

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March 2021 /

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FEATURE

DELLY CARR/ITU MEDIA

OLYMPIC

STATS

£288m

Difference in UK Sport funding between the Atlanta (£69m) and Rio Olympics (£347m)

t the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Great Britain won one gold medal. In the Rio Games in 2016, Britain won 27 gold medals and came second in the medals table – three medals in triathlon from Alistair Brownlee (gold), Jonny Brownlee (silver) and Vicky Holland (bronze) – eclipsed only by the USA. In fact, Britain won more gold medals in Rio than the combined tally from six successive Olympics, 1976 to 1996.

In the recently published book from John Murray Press, The Best: How Elite Athletes Are Made, co-authors Mark Williams and Tim Wigmore include a chapter where they discuss the reasons behind this incredible change of fortune, from the greater investment from Lottery funding to the Sporting Giants programme, which aimed to turn athletes with the right physical characteristics into Olympic winners in handball, rowing or volleyball in 2012. Heather Glover was arguably its highest-profile success story, winning gold with Heather Stanning in the women’s coxless pairs at both the London and Rio Olympics.

Williams and Wigmore hone in on the English Institute of Sport, the sportsscience support funded by UK Sport funded once again by the Lottery, whose

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adoption of technology and multiple metrics ironically took the lottery out of potential success. The data didn’t lie – athletes either had the potential to win or they didn’t.

The sharp rise in investment, from £69-million for the four-year cycle up to Atlanta compared to the £347-million for the Rio cycle, and the constant monitoring contributed to a ‘winner-take-all’ culture that was subsequently criticised for damaging athletes’ mental health and creating bullying cultures.

For all the criticism, the investment reaped the medal rewards, proving particularly beneficial for athletes already in the system. While much was made of the Talent ID programmes, only 10 of Britain’s 141 medals in the summer and winter Olympic Games between 2012 and 2016 were won by those identified by national talent recruitment campaigns – 131, or 93%, were won by those already in the system.

But obviously those already in the system were, at some point, identified themselves. It raises a key question – how many people have the potential to be the best? How much of it is nature and how much nurture? This dissection of genetics versus environment is where we pick up the story…

9 Total GB medals at the Olympics and Paralympics, all won from 2012 onwards

93%

Number of GB medals won by those already in the system from 2012–2016

NATURE AND NURTURE

EXCLUSIVE BOOK EXTRACT The ability to reach the pinnacle of sport is “a very, very rare blend of a variety of aspects which could be physical, physiological, mental, and tactical”, said Chelsea Warr, a talent search manager from Queensland who relocated to England and took up a series of posts for UK Sport.

“In any prediction of talent it’s never one thing or the other, it’s a combination of things, and they come forward or they move back as you move through the pathway. What might be really important when you’re 17 years of age will be quite different when you get to 19.

“There’s got to be something about you that gets you above the rest of the population to start off with, and those things – no matter how hard you train them – won’t shift.

You’ve either got them or you haven’t. And then there’s a pile of things where you’re like, right, now if we apply a stimulus some of those things will kick on as well. It’s not always a physical thing – it can be a mental or technical issue. But there’s something that gets you to the frequent flyer club, and then you’ve got to get into first class.”

Warr estimates that about 10% of all people have the capacity – given the luck of when and where they’re born, picking the right sport, parental support, good coaching, and avoiding injuries – to be high achievers in professional sport. It’s impossible to assert such a figure with any scientific credence but [University of South Australia professor] Timothy Olds suggests that – with these caveats – 10% is a reasonable estimate for the

proportion of people with the potential to be a high achiever in one sport. For those with specific physical gifts the chances can be higher; about one in six American men aged 20–40 and 7 foot or higher are playing in the NBA, the writer David Epstein has calculated.

Genes matter in sport and in trying to understand elite performance. “Most researchers suggest that genetics contribute significantly to sports performance, but it’s very hard to put a number on it,” said Olds.

Studies of twins have shown that as much as 50% of muscle strength is determined by genetic factors, and about the same for aerobic capacity.

This would mean “you could explain 50% of individual differences in athlete performance in marathon runners, for example, by genes. The rest

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Left: Vicky Holland takes bronze for GB at Rio 2016; Above: the women's Olympic tri event at Hyde Park in 2012

DELLY CARR/ITU MEDIA

GB paratriathlon gold medallist Andy Lewis gives Rio Woolf a track lesson

CHRISTOPHER LEE/GETTY

is a matter of training and luck”. This suggests that nature and nurture are broadly of equal importance in the forging of elite athletes; naturally, both are intertwined and hard to disentangle.

The notion that exceptional performers at an early age are blessed with great genes is a significant overstatement. Genes develop unpredictably, in accordance with the environment to which someone is exposed. “Genes aren’t about inevitability,” wrote Robert Sapolsky, a biologist at Stanford University. “Instead, they’re about context-dependent tendencies, propensities, potentials and vulnerabilities.”

The way genes work can be changed by the physical and social environment, coaching and opportunity. The science of epigenetics studies how genes can be turned on or off, or up or down like a thermostat. The most contentious issue is the relative contribution of nature and nurture in the path to excellence. While people with the right genes are more likely to make the grade, many people who have the right genes never make it due to a lack of opportunity, desire or interest to pursue such a path. Yet any conclusion is impacted by the nature of the sport, its popularity, whether early or late specialisation is the norm, and the relative importance of technical, tactical, physical and psychological characteristics, as well as serendipity and environment.

In some sports, predictors of athletic capability may be identified with reasonable precision from analysing someone’s physique, physical fitness X

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FEATURE and their polygenic risk scores – a figure that predicts someone’s likelihood to have particular qualities based on their genes. “The easiest thing to predict would be someone who is going to be a good marathon runner,” Olds said. “If you can find someone who’s lean, a certain size – not too tall, not too short, not too muscular – and they’ve got aerobic fitness then we can steer them into running.” He suggested: “You’d probably need to be in the top 1% of polygenic risk scores for aerobic fitness to have any chance of becoming an elite marathon runner.”

Genes still matter in more multifaceted sports like cricket and football but these interact in a more complex way – technical and tactical skills are more crucial, and different athletes can thrive in completely different ways. If genetic differences alone explain around a half of the differences in performance among marathon runners, Olds suggested, they may explain substantially less variance in team sports such as cricket and football, where the impact of genes on technical and tactical skill development remains unclear. In general, a simple rule holds across talent identification in sport: the more multifaceted a sport, the harder it is to predict who will go on to become an elite athlete.

Yet even in sports in which genetic impact may be

Lauren Steadman took silver during paratri’s Olympic debut in 2016

TALENT ID IN PARATRI Tri4Tokyo was a specific British Triathlon Talent Identification programme aimed at finding talented athletes with the potential to become medallists at the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

British Triathlon ran a series of events through 2017 and 2018 to assess athletes across the tri disciplines, with the athletes now training as part of the British Talent Squad. The vast majority of the athletes who won medals at the 2016 Paralympic Games, the 2017 and 2018 World Paratriathlon Championships came through similar programmes on their pathway to international medal success.

greatest, there are limits to where genes alone can get you – just as there are, conversely, limits to where hard work alone can get you. And the exact nature of the contribution of genes to success – especially in the most competitive sports – is impossible to discern. “No genes have been discovered with any worthwhile predictive capacity, despite numerous publications in sports genetics,” wrote Yannis Pitsiladis, a leading sports geneticist in his study entitled ‘Genomics of elite sporting performance’.

This means that potential performance cannot currently be predicted with any reliability based on genetics alone. But this may change: so far, sports scientists have looked at ‘less than 1 per cent’ of the genome and mostly in non-elite athletes. “A complex multifactorial phenotype such as sports performance will never be dependent on a single performance gene or even a handful of genes but most likely a complex interplay or algorithm of a very large number of genes – 100s or even 1000s,” Pitsiladis said.

“Until such genetic studies are conducted that interrogate the whole genome in elite athletes, the use of genetic technology will continue to have zero predictive capacity in terms of talent identification and should not be used.”

BUDA MENDES/GETTY

WAGNER ARAUJO

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/ March 2021

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For all the hazards inherent in predicting sporting talent, as elite sport becomes more systematic, the athlete pool becomes more global, and the quality of performance rises accordingly, Olds and Pitsiladis both said that genes appear to be becoming more important in determining who the best athletes are.

“The evidence points towards the making of an elite athlete being very much genetically determined – obviously within the limits of the environment as well,” said Pitsiladis. “As sport performance levels continue to rise, it excludes those individuals who don’t have the genetics. So genes relating to physical prowess – size, power, endurance and so on – may be becoming more important.” A high VO2 max is becoming more and more important in endurance sports as the level becomes more elite or performance records tumble.

“If you don’t have a VO2 max above 75, say, you can’t run a competitive time. Forty years ago, you could.”

“Athletes in many sports have been getting taller and bigger over time, the rates of rise outstripping those of the secular trend,” Olds found in a paper he

co-wrote. The opposite effect seems to be at work in sports where being smaller is an advantage, such as gymnastics and horse racing. “In some sports it is equally difficult to find athletes small enough to compete,” the authors of the paper wrote. The best female gymnasts are 6 inches shorter now than 30 years ago, Epstein noted.

So both in sports that favour being larger and those that favour being smaller, the body types of elite athletes have become further removed from the overall population. “Selection drives extremes in whatever characteristics are required for success in any given sport, whether those characteristics be physical, psychological or a combination,” Olds said. “Throughout sport, professional athletes’ physical and physiological characteristics are becoming more and more extreme.”

Athletes themselves are likely to be “genetically much more similar now than they were 50 years ago, simply because, to succeed, you have to get people with the right genes,” Olds said.

“In elite sport, the demands are much greater, which means if you’re really going to identify X

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HELEN JENKINS AND TALENT ID Helen Jenkins is a two-time ITU World Champ who finished fifth at the London 2012 Games. Her strength across all disciplines suggest a born triathlete, but it wasn’t until 15 that she started tri. The Welsh star picks up the story. “In 1999, Welsh Triathlon didn’t have many youth athletes. It was all new to them but a number of us from my swimming club were invited to a really basic talent ID. I had to borrow a bike for it, and we went down to an industrial estate where we rode a circuit and then ran straight off the bike. The fastest ones got chosen to join the squad on a trip to race in Ireland – hence me getting a spot in the event, which I ended up winning.”

RYAN SOSNA BOWD

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FEATURE

DELLY CARR/ITU MEDIA

“If you're talking about getting to the very, very elite, for most people even 20,000 hours isn’t going to be enough”

THE BEST: HOW ELITE ATHLETES ARE MADE RRP johnmurraypress.co.uk

those top athletes, they have to not only have the best possible training but also you need to identify those who have the most potential at the start. Often, I think that’s going to be genetic. Genes are likely much more important now. Previously you could have taken someone with good but not exceptional genetic equipment and with hard work, training and dedication they could have become a top athlete.” In this way, Olds joked, modern sport has become “the opposite of the American dream – you can’t become anything you want”.

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Olds’s argument has particular credence in sports where physical and physiological characteristics are strong predictors of performance. In sports where technical, tactical and psychological factors may be more crucial to performance it is much harder to evaluate whether the technical and tactical ability of athletes has improved. It is unknowable whether, say, Virgil van Dijk can read the game better than, say, Bobby Moore, or whether Serena Williams is mentally tougher than Martina Navratilova.

While those with the requisite talent to reach the top cannot be identified with any reliability at a young age, however hard they work at a particular sport, not everyone has the qualities to make it to the summit. As Warr observed, “You can’t teach a brick to float.”

“Everybody can be trained and improved,” Yannis Pitsiladis said. “But if you’re talking about getting to the very, very elite, for most people 10,000 hours or even 20,000 hours isn’t going to be enough.”

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FEATURE

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MY FIRST TRI CSANSOMPHOTOGRAPHY

IT’S THAT UNFORGETTABLE MULTISPORT RITE OF PASSAGE BUT JUST HOW DO YOU FACE YOUR DEBUT TRIATHLON? HERE TRIATHLON LEGENDS TOP COACHES AND THE TEAM REMEMBER THEIR FIRST TIME AND SHARE THE LESSONS THEY LEARNT. IMAGE IGOR EMMERICH/GETTY

ALISTAIR BROWNLEE TWO TIME OLYMPIC GAMES CHAMPION THE RACE I can’t remember. It was a long time ago.

SUCCESS OR SHAMBLES? It must’ve been some sort of a success because I’m still doing it.

ADVICE FOR YOUR YOUNGER SELF? I wouldn’t. Naivety was probably a good thing.

TOP FIRST TRI TIP Enjoy it and prepare.

Prepare physically by training consistently in the lead-up. Prepare your equipment so that you’re confident that everything is going to work and you know what you’re doing across the three disciplines.

MA RK THOMPSON

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THE RACE Eton Super Sprint Triathlon, 2004

SUCCESS OR SHAMBLES? Despite, embarrassingly, running through the finish chute a lap too soon due to a miscalculation of distance (and it was only 5k!), the race was a huge success in that I

finished, came third, loved it and came back for more!

ADVICE FOR YOUR YOUNGER SELF? Make sure you count the number

IG

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X IRONMAN WORLD CHAMP AND GLOBAL HEAD OF HEALTH AT PARKRUN

S

FEATURE

E EL AG FAR ROW/GETTY IM

TOP FIRST TRI TIP Everyone was a beginner once. We all have the extraordinary within us if we dare to take that first step, to explore and to have the courage to test our limits.

of laps, and savour every minute as there’s nothing quite like the experience of losing your triathlon virginity.

ALEXANDER HASSENSTEIN

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MY FIRST TRI

CHARLIE CROWHURST

KATE MILSOM ’S EDITORIAL ASSISTANT THE RACE Ironman 70.3 Weymouth, 2018 PRE-RACE EMOTIONS Pure adrenaline and excitement. Setting up transition the day before in a full-blown storm promised challenging conditions on race-day. The swim start kept getting pushed back due to gale-force winds and freezing conditions, so by the time we hit the water it felt warmer in than out!

SUCCESS OR SHAMBLES? Since it was my first triathlon, I knew it’d be an achievement just to finish. I’m proud of myself for continuing when others had to be pulled out the water, and for managing to keep count of my laps on the half-marathon run!

ADVICE FOR YOUR YOUNGER SELF? Don’t over-think it and just enjoy the experience. Also, acclimatising before the swim start isn’t a masochistic myth, it actually works. In terms of fuelling mid-race, a diet of only gels is a recipe for disaster…

TOP FIRST TRI TIP Don’t limit yourself with what you think you can accomplish. If you believe you can finish a race, especially an endurance one, quite often it’s mind over matter.

Remember, it doesn’t matter how slow you go, you’re still an athlete.

MATT BAIRD ’S FEATURES EDITOR

IJ SC

AN UTILITY

TWO TIME ITU WORLD CHAMP AND COACH AT JINX SPORT THE RACE Liam Ball Tri, Ireland, 1999

ADVICE FOR YOUR YOUNGER SELF? Don’t get fazed out by your

TRAINING MEMORIES? I only

competition. I was daunted because other athletes had a better bike than me, or had raced a tri before so they’d be better. But, on the day, they weren’t. It’s always best to focus on yourself, just do your best and keep focusing on what you can control.

started riding a bike a couple of months before the race and I hadn’t done any form of specific running training before, so it was a steep learning curve. My Dad used to come out on the bike with me, and on the way home from swimming my Mum would drop me off and I’d run the last 5km home.

SUCCESS OR SHAMBLES? I can safely say it was a massive success as I won (although I think there were only six of us in the race). Looking back the standard was pretty low, we were all kids who’d barely trained for triathlon but, after years of trying to achieve a goal in swimming and failing, to actually win something felt amazing to me.

TOP FIRST TRI TIP Have a plan! I like to know the course well, know the transition layout, the start times. I plan what time I’ll get to the race, what time I’ll warm up and leave myself plenty of time for the little things that can seem stressful on race day, such as putting on a wetsuit or pumping up tyres. If you have a plan, you’ll leave plenty of time to do everything you need and won’t arrive to the start line feeling stressed.

THE RACE 220/Votwo Evening Series, Dorney Lake, 2009 PRE-RACE EMOTIONS Why is everyone wearing a wetsuit?! I didn’t own a tri wetsuit but luckily I’d borrowed a swimskin from a mate that I hastily retrieved from my car.

SUCCESS OR SHAMBLES? An athletic shambles. I’d never experienced proper open-water swimming, lost count of how many laps I’d done on my beloved £200 Carrera (still in use today!), and first experienced the concept of jelly legs on the run course. In my Adidas Sambas. Yet it was a huge success in terms of enjoyment – I still love tri 12 years later – and my mum bought me a huge ham sandwich and chips as a reward afterwards.

TOP FIRST TRI TIP Follow a training plan, and prepare for running off the bike. I expected the run to be the easy bit, but I just couldn’t get my limbs to move properly. And buy yourself a tri wetsuit and some proper running shoes.

HELEN WEBSTER TRIATHLON’S EDITOR THE RACE Shock Absorber Women Only Tri, Dorney Lake, 2014 PRE-RACE EMOTIONS The swim was the big thing. I was a complete non-swimmer, so learning to swim and getting in open water was a big deal. I found a coach for pool sessions and did some beginner group training days in lakes, which really helped. I was nervous but excited on race day – everything was so new to me that I ran around the venue before the event trying to understand how transition worked, while also trying to cram down my breakfast. Bad idea!

SUCCESS OR SHAMBLES? I absolutely loved it. The time was less important than completing my first race and ‘properly’ becoming a part of the tri world.

TOP FIRST TRI TIP Just get in there and smile your way through it.

Plus, all those little things you’re worrying about or feeling self-conscious about? There’s really no need, nobody will notice on the day and everyone will just want to support you.

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FEATURE

MARK KLEANTHOUS TOP COACH AND

TRI FINISHER

THE RACE The first-ever UK triathlon, Reading, 1983 PRE-RACE EMOTIONS I had to learn to swim but spent too much energy thrashing in a pool rather than developing my technique and sighting. I hated the cold water and was truly petrified of drowning. I prayed that I’d survive the swim. And there were no wetsuits allowed in 1983!

SUCCESS OR SHAMBLES? Back in 1983 we swam in trunks, changed into cycling kit then ran in run kit. Nudity was tolerated so there I was fighting my towel while trying to pull on my clingy cycle shorts! At the first cycle junction I fell off as my freezing fingers were too cold to brake. Yet almost last out of the swim, as a fast runner, I finished eighth overall… and then I had the triathlon bug!

TOP FIRST TRI TIP Mentally rehearse having a great tri and visualise problems that may arise. You’re teaching yourself to control your racing emotions so you can deal with unfortunate situations smoothly.

MARTYN BRUNT COLUMNIST THE RACE London Triathlon, 2003 PRE-RACE EMOTIONS I didn’t own a bike so borrowed one the day before. I bought some trainers from JJB that I wore for the first time at the race and I hired a wetsuit, so my first experience of open-water swimming ever was when I jumped into Royal Victoria Dock at the start of the race.

SUCCESS OR SHAMBLES? It took me 3:15hrs to finish. In the swim I was overtaken by someone doing breaststroke, while on the run I started walking and was heckled by some drunks outside a pub. I still have the finisher’s T-shirt.

ADVICE FOR YOUR YOUNGER SELF? Perhaps, considering the temperature on race day was almost 30°C, it would’ve been wise to purchase a bottle cage and to have a bottle of water on the bike.

TOP FIRST TRI TIP Don’t take your track pump into transition, because every bugger will want to borrow it.

ITU WORLD CHAMPION THE RACE BUCS Sprint Triathlon, 2009 SUCCESS OR SHAMBLES? From memory I finished third behind Lois Rosindale and Natalie Barnard, so definitely not a disaster. I do remember finding the event super tough, and being frustrated at how fast people went past me on the bike.

TOP FIRST TRI TIP Don’t over-think ADVICE FOR YOUR YOUNGER SELF? Don’t go off like a bat out of hell at the start of the bike – you’ll pay for it later on! And learn how to use your gears

JAMES WITTS CONTRIBUTOR AND AUTHOR THE RACE Windsor Triathlon, possibly 2004 PRE-RACE EMOTIONS I know I was nervous.

I’d completed run and bike events, played a number of sports, but never a triathlon; in other words, never an event that included an open-water swim!

SUCCESS OR SHAMBLES? My eternal Achilles heel, the swim, meant I’d cosied up to the side and the rear. All was fine until the turnaround where the current flipped back. It was like an Endless Pool. The Thames was cleaner than I’d thought it’d be. Bike was fine.

Come the run and the third lap, the climb to the castle felt like clambering up the Eiger.

ADVICE FOR YOUR YOUNGER SELF? Practise open-water swimming – in a wetsuit. I drove over to Windsor from the mates I was staying and tried my Ironman-branded wetsuit for the first time in the race car park.

TOP FIRST TRI TIP Nerves are part of the process and will make the finish that bit more euphoric (and please make neoprene your friend!).

LUKAS SCHULZE/GETTY IMAGES

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correctly; I think I rode half of the race ST UF ES OR AG in my small STER/GETTY IM chainring without realising, and wondered why I couldn’t go any faster!

it; get out there, enjoy it! Nobody gets it 100% right the first time out, so don’t be afraid to make mistakes – it’s the best way to learn and progress.

MY FIRST TRI

THE RACE Hillingdon Sprint Tri, 1988/9 (ish)

SUCCESS OR SHAMBLES? I was excited to be racing something new after 10 years of just swimming. I had a relatively uneventful race with a podium finish overall. The adrenaline was certainly pumping, and it was at that point

that I thought I want to give this sport called triathlon more of a go!

ADVICE FOR YOUR YOUNGER SELF? I had the body and engine of a swimmer with the mindset of a 16-yearold, all of which helped. I believe my relaxed attitude of not putting too much pressure on myself to start was a good one.

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X ITU WORLD CHAMP AND HEAD OF S COACHING

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NIGEL FARROW

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TOP FIRST TRI TIP Be patient – making mistakes is all part of the multisport journey. Social media, I believe, can put a lot of unnecessary pressure on individuals, so use it to learn from others but don’t over-analyse everything you’re doing. Remember to keep it light and enjoy the beautiful sport that is triathlon!

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FEATURE

NIGEL RODDIS

MIRINDA CARFRAE THE RACE Redland Bay Tri, Brisbane,

SUCCESS OR SHAMBLES?

1999

I just remember thinking how painful and hard and actually kind of miserable the Redland Bay Triathlon race experience was. Then I crossed the finish line in third overall in the women’s race. As soon as the pain stopped after the event, in typical triathlon style I was hooked and wanted more of it.

PRE-RACE MEMORIES I was full time at university, working part time, training for basketball plus training for my new passion – triathlon. It was non-stop and I remember the triathlon training being really hard work, but I loved it.

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ES

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X IRONMAN WORLD CHAMP AND AQUASPHERE AMBASSADOR

URT/GETT

AG Y IM

ADVICE FOR YOUR YOUNGER SELF? To enjoy it more. I put a lot of pressure on myself to race well.

TOP FIRST TRI TIP Similar to what I would’ve told my younger self. Enjoy the new adventure – it’s a tough sport but the people involved are wonderful. Soak it all in – you only get one first.

KIT ZONE THE LATEST GEAR - TESTED BY EXPERTS MEET THE TEST TEAM

HELEN WEBSTER 220’s editor is your go-to for women’s multisport kit.

£1,850

OUR RATINGS 90+ %

BUY NOW

MATT BAIRD

A GENUINE CLASS LEADER

Has spent years testing tri kit and accessories for 220.

80-89 %

IMPRESSIVE ONE OF THE BEST YOU CAN BUY

JACK SEXTY A strong age-grouper focusing on top-end gains.

70-79 %

GOOD A DECENT PERFORMER

50-69 %

AVERAGE IT’LL DO THE JOB WELL ENOUGH

0-49 %

POOR SIMPLY PUT, DON’T BOTHER!

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ENVE FOUNDATION 65 W

JAMES WITTS He’s a published author writing about sports science.

Cutting-edge rim tech at a relatively decent price

ho’d have thought a set of wheels for almost two grand wouldn’t raise a fiscal eyebrow? But compared to Enve’s SES range and other USA-made models that peak at over three grand, these are more affordable.

Unlike the SES, which exhibit the contemporary idea of different rim shapes and depths front and rear, both of the Foundation’s 65mm rims are identical.

Their design is still modern with a 21mm internal width and 28mm external width optimised for 2528mm tyres, while the rim itself is tubeless-ready and comes with a hookless design for easy set-up. The included tubeless valves create a leak-free seal and fitting is tight enough to prevent valve rattle. A caveat, though – keep your sealant topped up. An attempt to fit a standard inner tube in a roadside emergency was so painful that we’d recommend the Foundations as tubeless only.

Our test set tipped the scales at 1,640g, which is impressive for a wheelset of this depth and only 160g heavier than the equivalent topspec SES 5.6 disc wheels that retail for £1,500 more. Tubeless valves and tapes add mass, yet we were impressed with how well the 65s roll. The hubs use the same internals as the SES range but substitute ceramic bearings for more affordable steel ones. The freehub picks up power quickly, too.

As for the real-life impact of that 65mm rim depth, on still days these are phenomenally rapid. Typically, the deep section takes longer to get up to speed than shallower depths but, once at high velocity, it holds onto that speed with commendable tenacity. In strong winds, however, you’ll be pushed and pulled off-line.

In crosswinds, buffeting isn’t as extreme, but these rims are affected more than shallower sizes.

The risk with wheels this deep is too much stiffness, leading to discomfort. The opposite’s true here, with the 65s absorbing highfrequency road vibrations, feeling equally as good as the shallower carbon Fulcrums they replaced on our test bike. Over more prominent ruts they vocalise their displeasure with a solid clunk but, overall, they don’t feel harsh. There’s a ‘lifetime of incident protection’ (if you damage them in a crash Enve will replace the parts for free – you just pay for shipping), plus a five-year factory warranty.

If you’re looking for fast wheels for tri, TTs or simply for riding quickly over rolling terrain, we’d recommend the Foundations even over Enve’s more ‘Gucci’ SES models.

For the sake of less than a 200g weight saving and more care needed in high winds, we’ll take the £1,500 saving. Warren Rossiter saddleback.co.uk

85 %

VERDICT WELL MADE; HIGH SPEED HOLDING ABILITY; RELATIVELY GOOD VALUE

KIT ZONE

“Once at high velocity, the Foundation 65s hold onto speed with commendable tenacity�

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KIT ZONE

AFTERSHOKZ OPENMOVE £79.95

More affordable bone conduction headphones

ands up who likes running to Dizzie Rascal or Dua Lipa?

If yes, then the latest headphones from bone conduction pioneers AfterShokz probably aren’t for you. For those of us who spend our weekends listening to Neil Young on vinyl where booming bass isn’t so fundamental, they’re well worth exploring.

The USP of AfterShokz is that you don’t need to put them in your ears, with transducers sending micro vibrations via your cheekbones to your inner ears. The clear benefits are you can hear other road users on urban streets, the ring of bike bells on shared paths, and we’ve even started wearing ours at home so we can hear what walls our kids are climbing while still enjoying our best of grunge playlists.

On the move, you’ll need to take your phone out with you, but the linkup to Spotify via Bluetooth is

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SEALSKINZ ALL-WEATHER £50 Waterproof gloves ealskinz are the masters of the waterproof sock and glove with suprisingly good levels of breathability. And the All Weathers, from their new Fusion Control range, continue this theme.

The result is a refreshingly lean and dexterous pair of road gloves (we’ve also used them for hiking) that, no matter how much rain and hose pipe dousings we subjected them to, just didn’t let water protrude.

Comfort, especially around the wrists, and grip on the bars are further plus points, but the suede layers on the palm are already showing signs of wear. For bracing midwinter riding, they just didn’t feel as warm as our £50 Endura Deluge gloves, but for wet-weather sojourns we’ve experienced few better. MB sealskinz.com

S FREET PACE £80 Eco Brit barefoot brand ade from recycled coffee grounds, UK outfit Freet score top marks in both the eco and comfort categories. These are our dream outdoor slipper shoes for driving, school and Tesco runs, both sockless and socked. But for endurance runs?

There’s just too little protection from the slender 10mm-high sole (even with added 6mm insole), and the lean mesh upper certainly isn’t for winter or rainy runs. MB freetbarefoot.com

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77 %

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VERDICT DREAM COMFORT AND ECO POINTS, BUT JUST TOO MINIMAL FOR THE MAJORITY

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80 %

VERDICT SOME OF THE BEST WATER THWARTERS AROUND, BUT THERE ARE BETTER IN THE COLD

painless and stayed free from dropouts. The crispness of the sound when alone in the trails is genuinely impressive for the more entry-level price point, although city centre running saw Crazy Horse and co compete with the sound of Lidl lorries. Good for safety, less so for hearing the intricacies of 12-minute guitar solos.

Surprisingly decent sound clarity aside, other boons are the lean 29g weight, the wireless nature and the ability to answer calls – if you have to – mid-Fartlek. It took us time to master the location of the buttons, but track skipping was soon swift.

Battery life is 6hrs in continuous play and the sweat resistance is welcome. MB aftershokz.co.uk

85 %

VERDICT NOT FOR THE BASS MONSTERS, BUT A SMART ENTRY TO BONE CONDUCTION TECH

KIT ZONE

MAURTEN DRINK MIX 320 CAF 100 £51.60 (for 14 sachets) Unique hydrogel drink sachets aurten are a confident lot.

On their website there’s an ‘Unofficial Shop’ tab, designed for elite athletes to “use these un-branded products, even though they’re sponsored by other brands”. It’s quite a calling card for a product that was relatively unknown until 2017 when fuelling Eluid Kipchoge to a then fastestever marathon of 2:00:25. In 2019, they enjoyed another marketing injection thanks to Kipchoge’s 1:59:30.

We’ve enjoyed their products, including gels and powder, but a reminder of their USP: hydrogel.

This is produced from alginate (from brown algae) and pectin (found in fruits) and, though fluid in your bottle, morphs into a jelly-like substance in the acidic environment of your stomach, which results in smoother transport of carbs to the intestine where they can be absorbed.

Not only does this reduce gastro

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distress, but increases the amount of carbs you can ingest. Hence, the 320 features 80g of carbs per serving.

Sprinkled into the mix is 100mg caffeine, yet Maurten wisely say this acts as a top-up rather than standalone. Maurten’s known for a neutral taste, which rings true here, despite the bitterness associated with caffeine.

You can see why Maurten’s gained a following despite recent studies suggesting they’re no more useful than non-hydrogel products (these were lab based and it’s very hard to test Maurten’s gastro element without the nerves of competition).

Ultimately, we’ve used Maurten for a while and all is good, apart from a very hefty outlay. JW maurten.com

79 %

VERDICT ANOTHER IMPRESSIVE MAURTEN PRODUCT, BUT PRETTY DARN EXPENSIVE

REVVIES STRIPS OAKLEY SUTRO S £135 Statement eyewear gets resized to suit smaller faces his new release from the leading eyewear brand may look familiar, as the style graced a fair few faces in the 2019 Tour De France, including that of winner Egan Bernal. Despite being a lifestyle launch originally, the Sutro found favour with the pros thanks to those oversized frames and wide-vision lenses. Where the new S differs is it takes that original design and downsizes it a little to give an option for smaller faces (or female riders, our partner found they fit her much better), or for those who want a slightly more understated look. On this tester, we found the smaller frame size was still very comfortable and gripped well thanks to the angle of the arms and rubber nose pad. You do lose a little visibility with the smaller frames but not enough to be really noticeable and, overall, we preferred the less bulky VERDICT STATEMENT SUNNIES feel and look. Prizm lenses gave superb visibility in medium REDESIGNED FOR SMALLER FACES, light and served us well on winter rides, when the weak sun SUPERB LENSES AND COMFY, TOO % decided to peek through the clouds. Gavin Parish oakley.com

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£25 (10 x 5) Caffeine gum affeine’s the most proven ergogenic in the legal medical cabinet with its benefits of burning more fat, increased focus and greater power output. That’s why these strips are on solid scientific footing. They only contain 40mg caffeine but they’re designed to top up pre-exercise levels.

They dissolve on the tongue for faster absorption. JW revviesenergy.co.uk

C

81 %

VERDICT UNIQUE, EASY ON THE STOMACH METHOD OF EKING OUT A HARDER WORKOUT

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KIT ZONE

BUYER’S GUIDE

MULTISPORT WATCHES A well-chosen tri watch can revolutionise your performance, making you stronger, smarter and faster. But which is the best for you? We test six from £80 WORDS JAMES WITTS IMAGES STEVE SAYERS

elieve the claims and the right multisport watch will have Alistair Brownlee or Lucy Charles-Barclay chasing your shadow. But wade through the marketing hyperbole and a smartly-chosen tri watch will certainly have you at least training smarter and racing faster.

Just be aware of the pitfalls. Many a triathlete has been lured into purchase by a long and ‘scientifically-proven’ features list only to realise a month later that 99% of its capability simply isn’t required. If you’ve never used a heart rate monitor and are training for 3-4hrs a week, for example, will your tri performance benefit from spending upwards of £300 on a wrist device that monitors your aerobic capacity, run cadence and cycling fatigue rating?

Also, remember that some of the metrics offered – ground contact time, for instance – are useful but arguably maximised by the intervention of a coach. Then again, if you’re aiming for triathlon improvements, digging deep will be worth it. You’ll refine your training, resulting in greater gains for the same effort.

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MULTISPORT WATCHES

WAHOO ELEMNT RIVAL £349.99 This is Wahoo’s first foray into the world of tri watches and it’s a divisive offering. At the end of last year, I interviewed Wahoo founder Chip Hawkins, an interesting character who you’ll hear more from next issue. Chip highlighted that key to this debut was usability; they’d stripped out features they’d deemed redundant to focus on ones that they deemed useful.

The key usable hit comes in the form of touchless transition tracking, where you don’t need to press one of the five buttons to signal you’ve moved from swim to T1 to bike to T1 to run. Instead, it gauges your body position to determine discipline. It’s a cracking idea and, on the whole, works well, yet it was much quicker recognising the move from T2 to run than T1 to bike. Why, we presume, must be down to the more jarring nature of the run. Whatever the reason, you’re given the option to correct splits before downloading to the app. Another fine trick is syncing to a Wahoo bike computer so you can see your swim split and on-the-fly bike data as you pedal.

It covers up to 60 sports, but you could argue pays lip service to many. You see, in stripping things back, you lack the deep physiological and performance analytics of its rivals at the same price point. Polar’s Grit X is just £30 more and comes with many more useful features. Another complaint is that GPS is a little slow on the uptake and the charging clip isn’t as authoritative as we’d like. Despite that, we enjoyed its usability and ease of viewing on the fly. We just wish it came in £100 cheaper. uk.wahoofitness.com

74 %

VERDICT USABLE BUT LACKS FEATURES WE’D EXPECT AT THIS PRICE

GARMIN FORERUNNER 745

79 %

VERDICT SUPERB BUT LET DOWN BY BATTERY GO FOR THE 945 INSTEAD

£449.99 Garmin’s new FR 745 is essentially a slimmed-down FR 945 (see overleaf). A key advancement is its coaching capabilities where you’re given detailed daily workout suggestions based on training load. You can also tap into separate and pretty accurate cycling and running VO2max measurements (though not the swim but further swim metrics include HR data). As chest strap remains the wearable gold standard, the HRM Pro chest strap (£120) is a useful upgrade, and you can explore further run metrics.

Like the Fenix 6 and 945, it comes with a Pulse O2 sensor to measure oxygen saturation of your blood. This isn’t lab accurate but is useful for how well you’ve acclimatised to altitude. The coaching partner calculates how well you’ve adapted to the heat. You can utilise the ClimbPro feature for dissection of specific portions of climbs to help with pacing strategies; race-prediction time based on training history; accurate measuring of track sessions; PacePro, which allows you to upload a course and put in your hopeful finishing time before prescribing your pace; and even menstrual tracking.

There’s also Garmin Pay and music storage for 500 songs, the screen’s easy to use and you can really dial down in the great Garmin Connect. Yet battery is down on the 945 – just 16hrs with GPS on compared to 36hrs – and it lacks the mapping feature. garmin.com/uk

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KIT ZONE

GARMIN FORERUNNER 945 £519.99 Whereas the Fenix 6 offers a classier, more expensive package, the 945 is Garmin’s flagship ‘plastic’ multisport watch. Its 2019 release saw many improvements over the 935, including the option to play music directly from the watch to your headphones via Bluetooth without your phone, improved battery life, a new optical heart rate sensor and a host of tracking and analysis upgrades.

The 945 adapts its feedback if you’re training in hot conditions or at altitude, and generally the training analysis is incredibly detailed. Straight after a workout, you can see how your session benefitted you aerobically and anaerobically, and the Training Effect feature tells you how the session will impact fitness long-term.

You’ll need to wear the watch almost constantly to maximise the Training Load feedback, yet what’s great about the 945 is that, no matter how deep you go, it’s intuitive to use. The screen is big and clear and the colours look vibrant when using the excellent mapping features, while the battery life is a whopping 36hrs in GPS mode (and we had no problems with satellite pick-up on land).

All the connectivity we’ve come to expect remain on the 945, including instant sharing to third-party apps and smart notifications. Future editions could be lighter and smaller, and open-water swim accuracy remains slightly patchy, but the 945 has everything the modern triathlete could possibly want or need. garmin.com/uk

92 %

VERDICT THE MOST COMPLETE TRI WATCH WE’VE USED TO DATE

KALENJI ONMOVE 500

69 %

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VERDICT SMART PRICE AND SYNCING, BUT MORE ISN’T ALWAYS BETTER

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£80 The tested tech masterpieces from Garmin on test here, while loaded with features, leave a sizeable dent in your wallet. That’s why it’s amazing that the OnMove 500 comes in at £80, but has an equally-lengthy checklist.

Wrist-based HR, GPS, smartphone analysis… it’s all here.

Sadly, corners have been cut. Regular readers will know we’re unconvinced by many optical HR systems and the same is true here. Yes, it’s from Philips, but it’s inaccurate, especially when sprinting. GPS pick-up and retention is moderate for both cycling and running, though suffers against a busy urban backdrop, and it’s not swim friendly. Impressively for the price it syncs with your smartphone to transfer data via Bluetooth for post-session dissection on the company’s Geonaute app. That value’s diluted somewhat by two key flaws: the app’s not the most intuitive and connection’s erratic. On the positive, once all the data’s transferred, the app is Strava compatible, ensuring your sessions are presented in a more useful manner. Then again, some have reported discrepancies over distance run between the two apps.

The nutrition alarm to remind you to drink and the interval-training setting are both solid additions and, ironically, highlights this watch’s main flaws. While its feature list and price are perfect for marketing, in use it’s bitten off more than it can chew. For £80, it might be worth a punt but we’d recommend seeking out a more reliable watch with fewer features. decathlon.co.uk

MULTISPORT WATCHES

COROS PACE 2 £179.99 Hold onto your run caps – here’s a second edition multisport watch that’s £70 cheaper than the original.

Which is good news for both Coros and triathletes as our model 1 review concluded: “Drop £50 and this’d be an absolute winner.”

When it comes to upgrades, Coros inform us its processor is 1.5 times more powerful, it has five times more RAM and four times more storage. That means a whole host of new features plus a 20% increase in battery life, up to 30hrs in full GPS mode. These include tapping into running-power metrics, which we can only see growing in 2021; the addition of training plans; and a neat night-mode that automatically enables backlight during workouts between sunrise and sunset. It’s also frighteningly light at 29g – they claim the lightest in the world and we can’t argue – and drops from the fourbutton original to a single button and dial.There’s a strength training programme, which could come in useful for home workouts this off-season. It includes over 200 exercises and autodetects your bodily movements via sensors and accelerometers to calculate effort output.

Things that have remained are the key ones – that this is still a full-on multisport watch featuring tri mode. So all the usual metrics related to swim, bike and run, many deriving from the solid GPS and optical HR measurer. All syncing nicely to the usable Coros app for further analysis.

With many usable features at such a good price, this is the watch Coros has been building up to. uk.coros.com

BEST VALUE

90 %

VERDICT COROS’ BEST YET AND A STAGGERING WATCH FOR UNDER £200

POLAR VANTAGE V2

78 %

VERDICT ALL YOU NEED BUT UNDERWHELMS AS A SEQUEL TO THE V1

£449 Polar’s original Vantage hit the market two years ago, with our resounding thumbs up concluding it was Polar’s best multisport watch to date. In the interim, the Finnish tech masters launched the Grit X, which proved arguably even better. So the V2 has a lot to live up to.

Unique to the V2 is a battery of fitness tests, from running to cycling to leg recovery, to gauge metrics like your aerobic capacity, functional threshold power and readiness to train. They’re useful, yet measurements like VO2max are often calculated in the background rather than requiring a standout day in your training plan. You’re also given neat music controls to tap into streaming services such as Spotify, though this is via your phone rather than the V2. Its battery life is impressive, too, at around 40hrs in full GPS mode.

They’re positive additions but the main upgrades over the V1 are taken from the Grit X, including Hill Splitter, offering you detailed performance about your ascents and descents; FuelWise, to guide you on beneficial factors like carbs per hour; and Energy Sources, to determine how much of your session tapped into fats and carbohydrates.

GPS is accurate; the optical heart-rate sensor’s not bad, either, but the usual caveats apply about lagging on highintensity efforts. You can also route plan via signing up to Komoot, measure sleep and chart running power, plus tap into the Recovery Pro feature, though that requires a£40 spend on an HR strap. All in all, it’s impressive but V1 and Grit users would find it hard to justify the spend. polar.com

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WELCOME

ADVERTORIAL

NO GREEN WITHOUT BLUE LEADING TRI BRAND ORCA ARE ELIMINATING PLASTICS FROM THEIR ENTIRE RANGE OF PRODUCTS FOR . HERE’S THE WHY AND HOW…

riathletes understand how polluted waterways can be with a reported 10% of all plastics ending up in the ocean; in fact, it’s estimated that by 2050, there’ll be more plastic in the ocean than fish. It’s depressing reading but there is another way. In 220, we’ve recently featured the tale of Craig Boggon (issue 384), who tamed the Croyde Triathlon in as eco-friendly a way as possible. Now we hear news from New Zealand that Orca, who’ve been creating wetsuits for over 25 years, are committing to eliminating the use of plastics in the packaging of their entire wetsuit line. “In addition, we’re in the process of eliminating plastics from our entire range of products for 2021,” says Tomás del Olmo, Orca’s Chief Marketing Officer.

Of Orca's RS1 Swimskin is made from renewable sources

Year when Orca will eliminate nate all plastic packaging triathletes who are wearing Orca wetsuits for over six years,” adds del Olmo. “Recently, we received a picture of a customer swimming in a wetsuit they’d purchased in 2005, which made us feel very proud.” Beyond the longevity, chapeau to this triathlete who could still fit into their wetsuit 15 years on!

the upcycle challenge recycling heritage Orca has form in this area. Take their triathlon Core and swimming ranges that comprise 78% recycled fabrics, while 99% of the polyamide used in the RS1 Swimskin derives from renewable sources.

Triathletes are high achievers. They seek peak performance at (nearly) all costs. That presents a dilemma when it comes to wetsuits as there doesn’t yet exist a better alternative than limestone-based Yamamoto that nearly all of you would have used on your way to a swim PB. Neoprene can’t be recycled, either. So Orca have done the next best thing and hammered home durability. “We often find

The sustainability ethos stretches to work Orca’s undertaken with the Ocean Recovery Alliance – a charity whose aim is to use new technologies to solve the ocean’s pollution problems. Orca has also launched a ‘Pick me up’ bag, where you can remove plastics from your favourite swim spots. And you can do your bit, too.

Orca’s launched an Upcycling Challenge (#OrcaUpcyclingAward) where you can upload how you’ve transformed your old Orca suit into something new and usable.

Our favourites so far are the incredible triathlon backpack and the innovative swim goggle holder. Find out more about all of these initiatives at orca.com.

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Usual lifespan in years of an Orca wetsuit

BUYER’S GUIDE

AERO HELMETS They’ll offer safety and speed for tri, but which aero road helmet is the best? We hit the tunnel and roads to find out WORDS MATT BAIRD IMAGES STEVE SAYERS

Our aero analysis at Silverstone’s SSE wind tunnel with the Bike Tailor and a £10k mannequin

he popularity of aero road helmets has exploded in triathlon, sending the longtailed TT helmet towards the margins as savvy triathletes have realised that aerodynamics, comfort and ventilation could come in one helmet package.

While the weight of an aero road helmet is typically higher than a standard road lid, our wind-tunnel tests at the Silverstone Sports Engineering Hub in late 2020 and at the Boardman Performance Centre in 2019 have shown an aero road helmet can be 3:22mins faster than a vented lid over a 180km Ironman bike leg, a healthy

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saving for those vying for age-group honours. Much of this, of course, depends on an athlete’s abilities to keep their head in the same aero position, but the drag penalties of moving one’s head aren’t as high on an aero lid as when riding in a TT helmet.

An aero road helmet should also provide better ventilation than a TT lid in summer racing and, as our year-round testing has proven, some protection from those beastly easterlies in the winter. Other key factors are the effectiveness of the retention system for comfort and fit; the ability of the buckle to be unclipped (especially with cold post-swim fingers); and the helmet’s often-overlooked modus operandi, safety.

All of the helmets here have passed the relevant European safety tests, but also look out for added safety features such as the MIPS system. X

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KIT ZONE

LIMAR AIR SPEED

S-WORKS EVADE II

£179.99 Limar have made a concerted effort to move into the tri market in the last couple of years, attracting British ITU racers into the fold and adding a magnetic buckle on the chinstrap for added transition appeal for cold, post-swim fingers. Limar’s own positive tunnel testing has only extended to athletes riding on the hoods, yet our tri-bar Boardman tunnel analysis confirms that this is one swift lid, regularly coming second behind the S-Works or Giro (especially at the key 45km/h speed and 0° yaw angle). In terms of safety, there’s no MIPS protection but the retention system is secure, while venting from the 12 channels VERDICT PLENTY OF TRI on hilly, sticky days is APPEAL AND SUCCESS IN acceptable. Weight is a decent THE WIND TUNNEL, TOO % enough 259g. mylimar.co.uk

£200 Specialized have spent plenty of time in their own Californian wind tunnel with the Evade II and our own Boardman tunnel results reaffirm this aerodynamic development (the Evade was the fastest overall on test in our Boardman tunnel sessions, especially at the speed of 45km/h but impressive across a range of yaw angles). The 12 deep, internal air channels are an improvement over the original (as is the new addition of the MIPS safety system) for warmer high-intensity riding, and the magnetic buckle is great for transition speed and numb finger use. Weight with the MIPS safety system is still a lean 262g but we’d prefer more VERDICT LIGHT, LEAN adjustment with the side AND PROVEN GAINS IN straps, which are oddly fixed in THE WIND TUNNEL % place. specialized.com

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GIRO VANQUISH MIPS

VAN RYSEL RACER

£219.99 The Vanquish MIPS is unique among the competition here as it comes with a magnetic Shield Visor. The visor provides good clarity but there’s a clear gap between that and the face, giving us concerns about detritus flicking up. Which is a shame, as the helmet offers sound ventilation via its 10 well-placed vents, there’s MIPS (Multidirectional Impact Protection System) and comfort from the Roc Loc system (the buckle is fiddly, however).

Our Boardman wind tunnel results saw it regularly come behind only the S-Works (it excelled at 0° yaw angle and 35km/h speed, even better in an aggressive aero position), and it doesn’t VERDICT SWIFT AND feel like a weighty 355g lid COMFY, BUT COSTLY AND when riding. Very high RRP, WE’RE NOT SET ON VISOR % however. zyrofisher.co.uk

£39.99 Largely blown your tri budget on a race spot and flights to Ironman Lanzarote? Then you could do far worse than picking this forty quid Decathlon creation as your lid of choice, given it offers fine ventilation and superior aerodynamics in crosswinds. While it performed poorly at 0° yaw angle (i.e. into direct headwinds), the wider the wind angle, the better the Racer performed. Our recorded segments even showed it beating the S-Works at 20° yaw angle when riding at 45km/h. The ventilation is amongst the best on test here yet it loses marks due to the firm front padding, a tricky to adjust retention system and straps that have a VERDICT FINE VENTING, tendency to loosen. We also AERO GAINS IN WINDS, prefer the other four available DISAPPOINTING STRAPS % colours. decathlon.co.uk

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AERO GT HELMETS

CUTTING EDGE

KASK UTOPIA

SMITH OPTICS TRACE

£219 The Utopia is the helmet of Team Ineos and the official lid of Ironman Europe, the former suggesting exhaustive R&D, the latter a huge marketing pot. And it’s the R&D we’re interested in here, with the Utopia reaching the promised land in our 2020 Silverstone Sports Engineering Hub tests – beating both Smith (easily) and Spiuk (much closer) at every speed and yaw angle.

Onto the asphalt and we’re a sucker for Kask’s leather chinstraps, while the multi-directional ratchet system and thick internal padding aid both fit and comfort. Ventilation via the nine vents is only satisfactory and we’d like a horizontal pad across the VERDICT SWIFT AND forehead to prevent sweat SLEEK, JUST SHORT OF streaming down. Weight is a OUR OWN HELMET UTOPIA % lean 235g. kask.com

£210 Of all the helmets on test here, the Trace is the most confidenceinducing when it comes to safety. That’s due to both the MIPS and Koroyd beehive core, also seen on helmets from Endura and, to a greater extent, the custom 3D-printed offerings from Hexr. It’s the helmet that we’ve got the most usability out of in 2020, joining us on both trail rides and road slogs. It’s durable, the ratchet is efficient and the internal pads are plump. Anecdotally, we found midsummer ventilation compromised by the beehives and, despite Smith’s claims of aero dominance from testing in 2018, it was consistently out-performed by both the Kask and Spiuk in our VERDICT VERSATILE, late 2020 Silverstone wind SAFE AND PRICEY, AND tunnel tests at every speed and OUTDONE IN THE TUNNEL % yaw angle. smithoptics.com

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HOW WE TESTED SPIUK PROFIT AERO £130 Given they made our first-ever tri-suit, we’ll always have a place in our tri heart for Spiuk. If their UK tri exposure has reduced since 2008, the Profit Aero comes with the backing of ITU World Champ Mario Mola and with plenty of multisport flourishes.

These include a magnetic buckle and Boa retention dial for T1 speed, while the brand’s aero focus has produced a helmet that delivers in the wind tunnel, coming only marginally behind the twice-the-price Kask (especially at 0° yaw angle). The nine vents are effective enough, but the limp padding and frustratingly fiddly straps show where some cost compromises have been VERDICT GOOD PRICE, made. Only two available sizes GREAT SHELL, LESS also limit the chances of IMPRESSIVE STRAPS % perfecting your fit. spiuk.com

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We’re proud to say that we’re the only publication worldwide to regularly test our aero helmets in the wind tunnel. The reason is that nearly every brand claims to produce the world’s fastest helmet, but still refuse to release the raw tunnel data from their own tests.

As our wind-tunnel results show, some helmets only perform at certain angles and speeds so, while a helmet may technically be the fastest at a 20° yaw and riding at 55km/h, that doesn’t mean it performs across a range of wind directions and riding speeds. Given that the vast majority of a 180km Ironman bike leg is spent riding below 10° yaw (98% at IM Arizona, 72% at Kona, for example), the 0° and 5° angles especially were the key focuses for us.

In addition to our Boardman wind-tunnel tests from 2019, we aero tested the Kask, Smith and Spiuk at the Silverstone Sports Engineering Hub under the watch of aero expert Stephen Roche (thebiketailor.com) in 2020. We tested each at yaw angles of 0, 5 and 10°, and at speeds of 35km/hr and 45km/hr on a tri bike with the mannequin for added reliability.

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BUYER’S GUIDE

ENERGY BARS Energy bars are a key consumable for fuelling your long rides and racing. But which of the four here provides the Holy Trinity of energy, taste and texture?

WORDS JAMES WITTS IMAGES STEVE SAYERS

ccording to market research, the global sports nutrition market could hit $44-billion by the end of 2021. That’s a stack of sugar and a stack of confusion with some companies tacking nonenhancing amounts of ingredients and plastering their mooted benefits over their ad campaigns until, in a moment of weakness, you input your bank details and await disappointment. Thankfully, the selection of products here come out of both lab and realworld testing where the science adds up.

So what’s important when it comes to an energy bar? Well, unlike a drink or gel, where glucose appears in the bloodstream in around 5mins, an energy bar takes 10mins. When it comes to a bar, you’re looking at around 60mins before peaking. So they’re beneficial during

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longer events – we’d say Olympic-distance upwards – or long rides. We’d also recommend consuming them only on the bike, the ability to maintain a pretty still upper body useful when putting more stress on the stomach.

As for composition, bars are a mixed bag. Some, though none here, add protein for the musclerepair process. Some, like a couple here, have a reasonably high fat content for both taste and potentially for longer, lower-intensity rides.

Some, again a couple here, are carb-heavy, their focus on sugar and fast-delivering carbs all about providing energy during high-intensity exercise. That’s not to say you can’t consume fats and protein during races – especially for Ironman – but note that they both slow down the metabolism of carbs. It’s why some bars are billed as all-rounders than pure racers.

ENERGY BARS

TORQ EXPLORE

OTE ANYTIME

ENERVIT HIGH5 SLOW COMPETITION RELEASE

£1.65 The carrot-cake option from Torq’s Explore range is delicious, and the same is true of the ginger-cake offering: that warming ginger hit particularly appreciated on cold rides. Don’t expect performance benefits like easing of nausea, though, as the ground ginger content is minimal. Do expect a similar nutritional profile to the OTE bar thanks to an overall calorie count of 263, with 8.1g from fat and 43g from carbohydrate. Arguably, that’s a stronger breakdown when undertaking exercise, yet its sunflower oil content isn’t ideal due to its inflammatory nature. On the positive, like all the ingredients in the bar, it is organic. As you’d expect from Torq, it lacks colouring, preservatives and artificial sweeteners, plus it’s veganfriendly. A box of 20 comes in at a not-bad £33. torqfitness.co.uk

£1.40 This is a terrifically tasty start to 2021, with a rich blueberry burst with every bite. And nutritionally? Well, as the name suggests, this is more everyman than pure racer, sending fat stores to a reasonably hefty 10.8g per bar.

Those fats heavily derive from vegetable oils, so not great due to omega-6 inflammatories.

Not surprisingly, it does, however, add a moistness often lacking in commercial energy bars. But it’s not all about the fats, of course.

Carbohydrate content comes in at 35.1g per bar with the primary source from the slow-releasing oats. These are gluten-free, so good for coeliacs; the bar’s also suitable for vegans and those with nut allergies. At 255cals per bar, it’s the second weightiest here so, when consuming on the bike, consume small and often. otesports.co.uk

£2 Enervit fuelled Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar, the Italian company providing the Slovenian with the full gamut of products from energy powders to gels and bars. Did he consume this, Enervit’s Competition Bar? Probably, but this is the least tasty bar on test. Yes, it’s a nice hint of orange, that citrus twang sharp enough to cut through any flavour fatigue. The problem is the texture, which is a touch old-school dryness for our liking. Okay, maybe not the Weetabix-alike specimens of times gone by, but not the smooth delivery we’ve come to anticipate of the contemporary bar. Maybe that’s why it’s recommended to ‘eat one bar with an appropriate quantity of water’. On the positive, this is a fast-acting race-focused morsel with 23g from carbs and less than a gramme from fat. amazon.co.uk/enervit

85 %

VERDICT DELICIOUS BAR FOR LOW INTENSITY RIDING OR SNACKING

80 %

VERDICT HIGH FAT BUT VERY TASTY AND WILL APPEAL TO MANY

65 %

VERDICT GOOD FOR RACING BUT BETTER BARS OUT THERE

£22 (for 16) High5 has established a reputation for serving up delicious energy bars at a good price. And they’ve achieved that balancing act once again with this parcel of apricot joy.

On face value, anyway. You see, while the others on test are more expensive, their energy content is significantly higher than the 151 calories seen here. Short changed?

Partly. While the fatty hit of 4.7g is much lower than seen in the Torq and OTE bars on the left, so is the 23g of carbohydrates. In short, they’re not like for like; in fact, this is a bar designed to consume solely for training and racing, providing a nice mix of slow- and fastreleasing sugars thanks to both the dried fruit and the addition of isomaltulose, which has a lower GI rating than glucose and sucrose. highfive.co.uk

82 %

VERDICT FOCUSED HIGH INTENSITY REMIT AND A GOOD PRICE

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In our hunt for increased Ironman aerodynamics, are we neglecting the importance of comfort on the bike? We meet gebioMized saddles, who are showing that pressure mapping is the future for picking your bike saddle WORDS TIM HEMING SADDLE IMAGES STEVE SAYERS

A

t first mention of the Secret Saddle Club a smile spreads across Daniel Schade’s face. “I’d say that was a ‘two beer idea’,” he says. “An evening when you sit with your buddies and discuss how to bring projects to the market.”

If the name resonates it’s because it takes inspiration from British Cycling’s fabled Secret Squirrel Club, the black ops development crew that helped forge GB’s track cycling Olympic legacy and a glut of gold in the process. This one, though, as the name suggests, is all about the saddle, and it also measures up well as a success story. “The saddle was on the podium of the Tour de France before we even announced we had a saddle,” Daniel explains.

If you hadn’t guessed yet, Daniel, the CEO of German cycling specialists gebioMized, is something of an expert. He even spent time in Manchester prior to London 2012 conversing with acclaimed bike fitter Phil Burt and the original Squirrels, and will wrap up our chat by saying, “I hope that wasn’t too nerdy for you.”

On the contrary, there’s fascinating insight to be gained from someone who has done more “pressure mapping” than the collective minds of the Royal Meteorological Society. And if it helps stop readers getting a saddle sore, even better.

FORWARD STRIDE Daniel is at gebioMized HQ in Münster, a small city north of Dortmund, close to the Dutch border

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and happily the “unofficial cycling capital of Germany”. He started as a sports-science student in 2002, working for mother company GeBioM that’s dedicated to biomechanics and specialises both in sport and orthopaedic solutions. In 2005, he was asked to help develop the first saddle pressure system for cycling. By 2017, gebioMized split to become its own private entity with Daniel as chief executive.

The name is a portmanteau of the founding company and customised. “It’s our own philosophy. We make products for cyclists, but we don’t customise, we gebioMize.” The challenge was that Daniel’s team needed to encourage the world to gebioMize, too.

“The market wasn’t ready to use technology to analyse bike positions,” he explains. “We developed all the technology and searched for early adopters such as bike fitters who wanted to offer our solution before equipping them with our software and hardware.”

As the market matured, enquiries rose. Even if fitters retained faith in their eye and expertise, they could now prove to riders how lowering the saddle by 2cm could stabilise them and reduce pressure on the undercarriage. With 800 gebioMized clients across the world, the logical next step was to produce their own saddles. Bring on the Sleak, Area and tri variant, Stride.

“The idea was to become the first biomechanical company to make a saddle. Other saddle producers have a line of saddles and

THE BRAND VISITS: THE BIKE TAILOR

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then put a biomechanical concept over the top. We defined the biomechanical background first.”

LOOKING FOR AN EVEN SPLIT Over 50,000 pressure mappings with thousands of cyclists has enabled the team to categorise riders by weight or cycling discipline and develop parameters for each group. Riders are tested in the lab to a defined wattage, cadence and duration, and mapped with the gebioMized system as to how they load the saddle. The higher the pressure and asymmetry, the more discomfort the rider feels, so Daniel is looking for a good contact area and even split of body weight.

The saddle must allow the rider to stabilise the pelvis or the core will over-engage at an additional energy cost. Less bounce also means less turbulence, which lowers drag, and a comfortable set-up should see the triathlete ditch the bike in T2 and feel ready to run.

“You can add some external things [such as grippers on the tri-suit or anti-slip marks on the surface of the saddle], but in our philosophy this is the last piece. Work on position first, otherwise you just focus on external stability and it still costs energy to stay in position.”

The Stride is made from a carbon shell, with titanium rails that tests have shown provide a little more flex and better dampening. The padding is EVA foam with the cover material including antislip markings. If the set-up is correct and the weight spread evenly, it should also aid the lifespan of the saddle.

Why does it need to be so well engineered?

Multiple reasons. Those who sit towards the nose tend to have problems with sensitivity of the pubic bone and numbness caused by lack of blood flow.

Riding in an aggressive position they also need balance between contact area and leg clearance because they want to avoid the inner thigh being impeded, which affects the pedal stroke. Those sitting towards the rear struggle with left-right symmetry and skin irritation around the sit bone.

“It’s the reason this range took two years to produce,” Daniel explains. “If you shift your bodyweight to one side, you can create a hotspot and there are consequences. It doesn’t feel good so you bring the knee in or out as you pedal.

“Sometimes you cannot reach the ideal position because of leg length difference or functional rotation of the pelvis. However, the product must not drive asymmetry and hotspots. The saddle model and riding position are of equal importance.

I can set up the best saddle in the world in the wrong position and you won’t benefit.”

KONA INSIGHT The Stride was developed using a new testing protocol that combines stability with aerodynamics. “We worked with all the big guys like Frodeno, Kienle, Lange, Wurf and Brownlee,” Daniel explains. “When we started thinking about a tri saddle, we knew we had a super high-quality dataset of pros to analyse. One year we had 16 of the top 20 in Kona pressure mapped.

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8:31:32 Anne Haug’s Ironman Copenhagen time in 2019, her first IM using gebioMized

15 Years gebioMized have been using pressure systems

80% Percentage of the Kona top 20 that gebioMized pressure mapped

50,000 Number of saddle pressure mappings gebioMized have produced

THE BRAND VISITS: THE BIKE TAILOR

“THE STRIDE IS NOTICEABLE FOR THE LONG CUT OUT CENTRAL SECTION TO REDUCE PRESSURE ON THE PELVIC REGION THAT HAS THE MOST NERVES AND BLOOD VESSELS”

only ones doing that,” he adds. “The sales numbers are pretty close. The soft is leading maybe 60-40 but there is definitely a need for both.”

There aren’t separate men’s and women’s ranges, though. When it comes to the pelvis, research shows there’s surprising crossover between the sexes. “In general, the Sleak works better for men than women because it’s a flatter surface. The Area saddle is a little more curved and generally works for a more flexible pelvis. But we don’t speak about women’s and men’s saddles as we’re after individual solutions.”

COMMON TRI MISTAKES

“But we also wanted a balance between pro and age-grouper, to develop a tri saddle that works in an aggressive aero position and for the rider who’s aiming to stay aero as long as possible. For a lot of amateurs, the biggest aero gain is not having to resort to sitting up for the last 30mins of the ride.

You might be able to ride the best aerodynamic position for 3mins in the velodrome, but after 10mins you start to move more and after 1hr you can’t stay on the saddle. It’s something that’s undervalued when it comes to wind-tunnel tests.

You have to make a prediction on what will happen in 4-6hrs of racing. When I see the pelvis moving way more with more drop or extension, the small benefit in terms of aerodynamics isn’t worth it.”

In gaining subjective feedback from riders, the team found a requirement for different saddle densities. As well as the neutral (N60) version, a softer (S50) was also produced. “I think we’re the

gebioMized utilises cutting-edge tech to ensure the most proficient, comfortable pedal stroke

The Stride is noticeable for the long cut-out central section to reduce pressure on the pelvic region that has the most nerves and blood vessels, but it’s also telling that it doesn’t follow the trend of utilising a split nose. “We tested it – and there’s a biomechanical reason,” Daniel says. “When you completely split the two elements and the rider loads one bridge more than the other, that bridge gets worn out faster and becomes lower – and as it drops the asymmetry worsens. By closing it, we keep the stability.”

While engineered to avoid irritable saddleshifting, it also offers different riding positions.

The first is for those looking for an aggressive aerodynamic position who’ll load the first 6-8cm.

The second option starts around 7-8cm back from the tip, providing a larger contact area to reduce the pressure on the pubic bone. “Some pros use both positions,” Daniel explains. “At some parts of the race they sit towards the middle of the saddle and enjoy relief from a larger contact area. When they attack they go to front and are more aerodynamic. So, you can use the saddle as a tactical element.”

What are the biggest mistakes Daniel sees? “I still see triathletes with 7-10 degrees of saddle tilt.” Typically, riders tilt a saddle to reduce pressure on the pubis, but then slide forward and increase pressure around the shoulders and lower arms in the time-trial position. The body weight shifts forward without the saddle offering stability.

“One trick is to lower the seat height,” he suggests.

“Saddle tilt is often related to seat height.”

Another area that few triathletes give much thought to is the difference between training in bib shorts then racing in a tri-suit with less padding.

“I’d advise that someone who gets a pressure mapping makes at least one measurement wearing their tri-suit to see the difference. The padding plays a role.”

So too does crank length. Longer cranks will mean the hip angle closes more through the

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pedal stroke. Pushing down on the right leg can mean a slight lift of the left buttock, the body briefly losing contact with the saddle before landing again. “Your body weight plus acceleration increases the pressure,“ Daniel explains. “We often see the correlation.”

Even a worn cleat can result in excess movement that has a direct connection to the pelvis, and it’s the same with adjustments made to the cockpit. “All three contact points with the bike are connected,” he says. “If you raise your base bar by 1cm it might bring your pelvis 0.5cm back on the saddle.”

HAUG POWER GebioMized support such a stellar roster of triathletes it’s probably quicker to form a list of the big names they haven’t worked with. Reigning Ironman champion Anne Haug is a particular favourite. “Her first race on the Stride was Ironman Copenhagen, where she set a German record [8:31:32 and one of the fastest iron-distance times ever]. The month we officially launched it she won Kona,” he says. “She’s made super nice progress in terms of pelvic stability just by switching to the saddle.”

Then there’s Australian super swimmer Josh Amberger, who only started working with Daniel in Covid-ravaged 2020. “I’ve never met Josh, and it’s

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There are a number of gebioMized approved bike fitters around the UK

my first remote fitting over 10,000km away,” Daniel says. “He’s using some technology I’ve sent him, with Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) sensors placed on the body when riding specific intervals. We share video and I analyse the data here from Germany. We’ve made five or six changes to his position already. It’s not a perfect scenario, but when I reflect on the year I’m happy with what we’ve done.”

Josh tends to agree. “I’m always the kind of guy who wants to change equipment and positions if training isn’t going perfectly – and I always want to do everything in one go, which is sloppy and risky,” says the 31-year-old 11-time Ironman 70.3 champion. “Working remotely with Daniel has been amazing because we’re focusing on making little improvements in key areas before slowly moving onto something else. I’m forced to give these changes the time and respect they need to become positively impactful.”

So how do you get your own gebioMized saddle?

Well, in true Secret Saddle Club style, first you have to be gebioMized. “You can’t just put one in an online basket and click to order,” Daniel explains.

“That would be against our philosophy. We want to give every triathlete a chance to find the right saddle, so we work with experienced bike fitters.

Have a look on the Secret Saddle Club website to see all the partners working with us.”

BACK ISSUES & BINDERS MISSED AN ISSUE? Issue 386 Sessions and strategies for your best season yet; the new wave of supplements and how they can help performance; meet Britain’s rising stars of Ironman; the best gear of 2020; pool goggles, women’s saddles and gravel bikes tested

Issue 385

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essential kit

All you need to train & race, as rated by our 220 Kit Zone expert testers

TRI SUITS Comfort is key for all levels, so consider pads, grippers and material quality. Fulllength zippers are also handy for midrace toilet stops.

90 %

2xu Perform Full £130 Performs very well on both the bike and run thanks to topquality fabrics.

Issue 378 2xu.com

93 %

tri-fit Evo £179 Comfort, aerodynamics and features… a standout suit for all distances.

Issue 378 tri-fitathletic.com

90 %

zone3 Lava Short Sleeve £190 Very comfortable woven fabrics and excellent temperature control.

Issue 378 zone3.co.uk

92 %

louis garneau Aero Tri Suit £287.90 Aero and comfort benefits combine in a fantastic iron suit.

Issue 376 garneau.com

91 %

endura QDC D2Z £349.99 The fastest suit on test in the wind tunnel, yet with comfort and style.

Issue 376 endurasport.com

TRIATHLON WETSUITS These hit a range of abilities. Newcomers will look for greater buoyancy, especially around the hips and thighs; more experienced triathletes will seek out greater flex.

RUN JACKETS When picking a lightweight jacket, think about what conditions you’ll be using it in and where.

And analyse the water-resistance and breathability ratings .

TRI BIKES The key here is fit and comfort.

Remember: the least aerodynamic thing on the bike is you, so have a bike fit to refine your position.

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87 %

DHB Hydron £110 Surprisingly buoyant and hard to fault for newbies.

Currently £88.

Issue 381 wiggle.co.uk

78 %

evadict Windproof £25 Easy to stash and carry, but will only deflect light rain.

Issue 385 decathlon.co.uk

78 %

giant Trinity Advanced £1,899 Upgrade the uninspiring training wheels and this is a reliably specced and affordable first tri bike.

Issue 382 giant-bicycles.com

89 %

2XU Propel P:2 £380 1.5mm in the shoulders and stretch zones equals freedom and speed.

Issue 381 2xu.com

85 %

omm Halo £125 No-frills design but impressive waterproofing.

Issue 385 theomm.com

91 %

orro Venturi Evo Tri £2,500 A road bike given a multisport makeover, with a tri saddle, seatpost, clipon bars and comfort.

Issue 382 i-ride.co.uk

90 %

HUUB Varman £475 Restriction-free front crawl with masses of tech. A cracking wetsuit.

Issue 381 huubdesign.com

87 %

inov-8 Trailshell £150 Stripped-back design and mean water thwarting.

Issue 385 inov-8.com

85 %

cervelo P-Series Ultegra Disc £3,899 Reliable, ready to race and with plenty of adjustment and integration for long-course tri.

Issue 380 cervelo.com

94 %

orca Alpha £549 Light and flexible for stronger swimmers, but less beginner buoyancy.

Issue 379 orca.com

92 %

montane Minimus £165 A top-end buy with top-end waterproofing.

Issue 385 montane.com

84 %

orbea Auro Team Etap £7,999 Nimble handling, loads of adjustability and impressively light, if lacking tri storage.

Issue 385 orbea.com

89 %

sailfish Ultimate IPS+ £800 A mighty price tag, but one that’s backed up by a mighty aquatic performance.

Issue 379 sailfish.com

89 %

soar Ultra Rain 2.0 £175 A hoodless gem that offers comfort and aqua resistance.

Issue 385 soarrunning.com

91 %

quintana roo PRsix 2 £9,895 If money is no object, then this is one of the best, most refined tri bikes you can buy.

Issue 383 windwave.co.uk

KIT ZONE

MILEAGE RUN SHOES Endurance training and long-distance tri may require more cushioning in a road shoe. A gait analysis at an expert running shoe shop is a good start. Here are our picks of the best mileage munchers.

81 %

361° Meraki-3 £120 A fibre-glass shank in the midfoot adds stability, while the upper’s breathable and durable.

Issue 383 361europe.com

80 %

hoka one one Bondi 7 £130 With a heel height of 33mm, this is full-on original Hoka with a hugely comfy landing and toe-off.

Issue 383 hokaoneone.eu

89 %

Topo Ultrafly 3 £130 The toebox will suit those with wider feet in a shoe that's adept at both racing and logging the miles.

Issue 383 topoathletic.co.uk

89 %

Brooks Glycerin 18 £140 The latest edition of arguably Brooks’ finest shoe is comfort personified thanks to the midsole.

Issue 383 brooksrunning.com

83 %

on running Cloudflyer £140 In their element during faster training runs, yet the Cloudflyer will rack up the miles with ease as well.

Issue 383 on-running.com

BIKE JACKETS Now that the offseason has arrived, a lightweight bike jacket is essential for endurance rides in the wind, rain and chills. Look for the magic combo of water-resistance and breathability.

88 %

van rysel RCR Ultralight £45 Practical, packable and affordable with decent water resistance.

Issue 384 decathlon.co.uk

87 %

altura Firestorm £80 Looks good, is breathable and reflective. And at a decent price, too.

Issue 384 blueseventy.co.uk

85 %

huub Core 2 £140 Not waterproof but shines for comfort and breathability in the autumn/spring.

Issue 384 huubdesign.com

87 %

gore C5 Active £190 Formidable in the wind and rain, but not packable and the rear pocket isn’t ideal.

Issue 384 gorewear.com

91 %

pearl izumi Pro AmFIB £200 Stylish, flattering and a fantastic all-rounder.

Not packable.

Issue 384 pearlizumi.co.uk

COLD WATER KIT Staying as warm as possible is imperative if you’re looking to keep open-water swimming throughout the tri off-season. This collection will help with the process.

85 %

DHB Hydron Swim Cap 2.0 £15 Gives good head coverage to create a budget way to stay toasty in the water.

Issue 383 wiggle.co.uk

88 %

orca Swimming Gloves £29 Warm, durable and dexterous, and very hard to fault for the price.

Issue 383 orca.com

92 %

huub Varme Thermal £35 An innovative swim balaclava and one of the best thermal buys you can make.

Issue 383 huubdesign.com

82 %

orca Wetsuit Baselayer £50 A great intro to cold-water upperbody kit that’s flexible and unrestrictive.

Issue 383 orca.com

90 %

zone3 Kneeskin £95 Versatile suit that’ll see action yearround on its own or under a wetsuit.

Issue 383 zone3.com

TRAIL RUN SHOES The multisport benefits of venturing to the trails are numerous.

To maximise them, you’ll need a grippy, comfortable and quick-drying pair of off-road specific shoes.

SWIM GOGGLES Choosing the right pair of well-fitting goggles can be make or break for your swim. Key attributes are antifog and comfort.

88 %

salomon Supercross Blast £100 A plush allrounder from the trail specialists that comes at a good price.

Issue 384 salomon.com

84 %

ZOGGS Zoggs Podium £25 A well-priced vertatile pair with little fogging and good clarity.

Issue 386 zoggs.com

92 %

hoka one one Torrent 2 £110 Lighter, leaner and more nimble than you’d ever imagine, and huge fun, too.

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P70 INDOOR TRAINING mASTERCLASS ASS JAMES WITTS

Freelance writer and former editor of 220 Triathlon magazine, James specialises in sports science and endurance training.

LUKAS HEMMELER

P76 SMASH A SPRING DUATHLON DERMOTT HAYES

has been coaching for 15 years, is head coach at Be Endurance and the organiser of the Storm the Castle duathlon.

EUGENIUSZ DUDZINSKI/GETTY IMAGES STEVE SAYERS

P83 HEARTY AND HEALTHY: 4 EASY RECIPES KATE PERCY

is a nutritionist and keen amateur athlete. She’s written three books on sports nutrition and founded Go Bites energy balls.

P86 ASK THE DON AND EXPERT X Q&AS TIM DON

is a multiple ITU world champion, a 3 x Olympian, and one of the fastest Ironman-distance athletes in the world.

March 2021 /

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TRAINING

INDOOR TRAINING THE GAMIFICATION OF CYCLING THROUGH THE LIKES OF ZWIFT COMBINED WITH A PANDEMIC HAS SEEN MORE TRIATHLETES THAN EVER HEAD INDOORS FOR OUTDOOR RACING GAINS. HERE’S YOUR GUIDE TO MAXIMISING THE TURBO AND/OR TREADMILL WORDS JAMES WITTS

t seems that every man, woman and their dog now indoor trains on a regular basis. Where once the turbo trainer was seen as an instrument of torture, now the smart trainer is seen as an essential tool to prime you for race season. The likes of Zwift and RGT have seen impressive uptake over the past few years with market-leaders Zwift securing a $120-million investment back in December 2018. The curve was steepening. Then the pandemic took hold and the curve hit the vertical. It’s the same at RGT. “At the start of lockdown one, within the space of 10 days, we did a year’s worth of business,” says James Vickers, head of marketing at virtual-cycling app RGT Cycling. Vickers is sensitive to reveal those figures because of the year we’ve all endured, but it highlights how indoor cycling threw a muchneeded sanity and stamina safety blanket over triathletes and cyclists everywhere. If you could indoor ride, of course. Remember when smart

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/ March 2021

trainers were rarer than hen’s teeth, the likes of Sigma Sport reportedly seeing a 900% uplift in smart trainer sales last spring.

Thankfully, things have settled down but with Zwift recently announcing a further $450-million of investment, it’s clear indoor training and gaming is here to stay. Which will be beneficial to your race performance, according to Professor Daniel Mestre. Mestre and his team had 12 subjects exercise on a static bike while firstly watching a cycle simulator and then doing the same but with added music. Not only did the video feedback-music combo encourage the subjects to work harder but they also maintained this type of session for a longer-term. A further study by Dr Jim Annesi showed ‘adherence’ to a 14-week training plan was greatest in a virtual-reality bicycle group over a standard bicycle group. And with that academic endorsement, onto the tips… X

NICK HOWE

INDOOR TRAINING MASTERCLASS

March 2021 /

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TRAINING

HOW TO MASTER VIRTUAL TRAINING

RGT CYCLING

Follow these essential tips and strategies to maximise your indoor cycling and running this winter

01

ALL THE GEAR

To tap into online cycling games, you’ll need the basics of a bike, computer or smartphone, and a turbo trainer or set of rollers. It’s this last one where, increasingly, the magic happens with smart trainers like those from Wahoo wirelessly syncing to the respective app for terrain-specific, real-life-mimicking changes in resistance. If you don’t have a smart trainer, an ANT+ or Bluetooth speed-cadence sensor should do the job.

02

IRON GUT

You’re an Ironman and don’t think training indoors will help you refine your nutritional strategy? I mean, who wants to spend six hours on a turbo slurping gels. “Few people are going to spend 180km on a turbo so you need to challenge the gut in different ways,” says sports nutrition scientist Asker Jeukendrup. “Instead, ride a shorter session at a higher intensity and increase your carb intake by around 10% compared with your race nutrition plan. This’ll help

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train your gut to consume more carbs. Try this around 12 weeks before your race.”

03

SIM OR ERG?

The two most common ‘resistance modes’ for your smart trainer are Erg and Sim. Sim mode is simulator mode and is used in all Zwift activities other than workouts. In this mode, an application like Zwift looks to replicate the feel of the VR environment via its resistance on your drivetrain. Erg mode, on the other hand, enables you to hit and hold a pre-determined wattage, forcing you to work at a certain level. This is particularly useful for pacing, especially to manage energy with the run to come.

04

KEEP UP THE CADENCE

Even that most basic of disciplines – running – now has a VR offering via providers like Zwift.

“When it comes to treadmill running, try and keep your cadence at 90 strides per minute or above,” says founder of ‘natural-feeling’ OESH shoes Dr Casey

Kerrigan. “If it’s any less, you’re overstriding, which imposes excessive forces through your joints, bones and tendons.”

05

RACE FROM HOME

06

FAN YOUR FURNACE

The secret to Gwen Jorgensen’s 2016 Olympic gold? Cuttingedge visualisation. Cue Samsung’s Gear VR headset, which the American used in the build-up to Rio. VR pioneer Joe Chen attached a bunch of GoPros to the hood of his car, matching it to the eye height of a cyclist, drove the Brazil course, converted it to the Samsung and voila – Jorgensen took mental imagery to the next level.

Whichever gaming system you’re running or riding to, one or more fans will mimic the air chill you enjoy from outdoor training. If you’re using just the one fan, choose one that’s at least 15in in diameter to ensure you receive the air coverage needed. It’s also worth the extra outlay for a remote-controlled fan to adjust speed as intensity rises.

INDOOR TRAINING MASTERCLASS

07

MAGICAL RIDE

High-tech prep isn’t the preserve of the elites. You too can tap into cutting-edge recce work, this time via the training app RGT. “Our Magic Roads feature means you could ride a real-life triathlon course on the Friday, upload the route when home and ride it in the virtual space on the Saturday,” says James Vickers of RGT. “This is great for understanding the physical and psychological demands of a course.” This feature requires a smart trainer and works for up to 100km.

08

ESCAPE THE ZOMBIES

VR isn’t all about indoors. The Zombies, Run! app adds a sprinkling of fear into your run programme by planting you in the middle of a zombie apocalypse and delivering a series of audio stories and missions for you to listen to as you run, which is mixed in with your own music. Simply stride, follow the audio prompts to collect supplies and fortify your zombie-beating base and save humanity. Simple.

09

An FTP test, or functional threshold power test, should be your first port of call this winter as this figure will help you to set your training zones. (This will pay off for subsequent efforts in Erg mode). This is defined as your maximum average power over an hour. There are a couple of workouts on Zwift. The most popular is the ‘FTP Test’, which starts with a warm-up, a few intense efforts and a 5min moderate effort. After a short rest, you perform a 20min maximum ride. Zwift then subtracts 5% from your average power during this test interval to extrapolate it for an hour. For instance, if your average is 250 watts, your FTP would be 237.5 watts.

Now you’re ready to train at different intensities for a variety of physiological and performance adaptations.

10

ZOMBIES RUN!

FIND YOUR FTP

FUEL YOUR EFFORT

What should you drink and eat during your indoor session? “If exercise is longer than 45mins or so, I’d advise a carbohydrate drink with some electrolytes, but the carbohydrate may be more important than the electrolytes,” says Jeukendrup. “Interestingly, there’s plenty of information around electrolytes but not a huge amount of evidence. Yes, we lose them in sweat, but that doesn’t mean we need to replace them immediately during exercise. And not many people would spend that much time on a trainer that they’d develop an ‘electrolyte deficiency’.”

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TRAINING

INDOOR SETS Crank up your riding fitness whatever your race distance with these essential indoor sessions

STEP-BY-STEP FOR SPRINT Coach Dan Plews Benefits A zone-five-focused workout featuring 90sec steps with short 30sec recoveries in between to build strength.

Kit Bike, bike apparel, smart trainer or turbo trainer with ANT+ or Bluetooth cadence sensor Nutrition Bottle of water

Warm-up 5mins @ 85rpm from 50 to 75% FTP

Main set 3 x 30secs from 95% FTP to 115% FTP with 30secs @ 50% FTP in-between. Then 2mins @ 50% FTP followed by 5 x 90secs @ 95rpm, increasing in 2% increments from 110% to 118% FTP. Have 30secs @ 50% FTP in-between. Then 5mins @ 50% FTP followed by another 5 x 90secs @ 95rpm, increasing in 2% increments from 110% to 118% FTP with 30secs @ 50% FTP in-between

Cool-down 5mins @ 85rpm from 50 to 30% FTP

HOWABOUTDAVE PHOTOGRAPHY

ENDURANCE STIMULATION FOR IRONMAN ATHLETES

CSANSOMPHOTO

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Coach Dan Plews Benefits This set’s designed to help you

Warm-up 6mins from 50 to 75% FTP

hold your IM power under fatigue and to build basic endurance. The last quarter of the Ironman bike is critical, which means holding good form. The aim of the 75min session is to build up fatigue in the legs before settling back down to IM power.

Kit Bike, bike apparel, smart trainer or turbo trainer with ANT+/Bluetooth speed and cadence sensor Nutrition Bottle of water or electrolytes; maybe an energy gel

Main set 2mins @ 50% FTP; 20secs @ 95% FTP; 40secs @ 50% FTP; 20secs % 95% FTP; 40secs @ 50% FTP; 15secs @ 110% FTP; 45secs @ 50% FTP; 15secs @ 110% FTP; 2mins @ 50% FTP; 4mins @ 110rpm; 3mins @ 50% FTP; 8mins @ 98% FTP; 2mins @ 50% FTP; 12mins @ 85% FTP; 3mins @ 50% FTP; 25mins @ 78% FTP

Cool-down 5mins from 55 to 45% FTP

INDOOR TRAINING MASTERCLASS

70.3 POWER DEVELOPMENT Coach Dan Plews Benefits This session’s designed to develop your 70.3 triathlon power.

For most people, 70.3 triathlon power is at around 83% of your FTP. The aim is to improve this by working slightly above and slightly below this power target for extended periods.

Kit Bike, bike apparel, smart trainer or turbo trainer with ANT+/Bluetooth speed and cadence sensor

Nutrition Bottle of water or electrolytes; maybe an energy gel

Warm-up 10mins from 50 to 70% FTP

Main set This is a pyramid set: 1 x 8mins, 1 x 6mins, 2 x 4mins, 1 x 6mins and 1 x 8mins for 36mins total work with 30secs @ 50% FTP in-between.

Start and finish with longer over/ under blocks at 88% FTP (over), 80% FTP (under). The middle two blocks are shorter but more intense efforts of 91% FTP (over)

Cool-down 7mins from 60 to 45% FTP

GETTY IMAGES

HIGH-INTENSITY RECOVERY FOR OLYMPIC Coach Dan Plews Benefits This workout is similar to a common FTP-building effort, the 2 x 20mins, but with a twist. By changing the threshold blocks to over/under intervals, you may also help to train your body to recover when effort goes just below your threshold power.

Kit Bike, bike apparel, smart trainer or turbo trainer with ANT+/Bluetooth speed and cadence sensor Nutrition Bottle of water or electrolytes

Warm-up 10mins from 30 to 80% FTP

Main set 3 x 3mins @ 106% FTP; 3mins @ 95% FTP; 15mins @ 60% FTP; 3 x 3mins @ 106% FTP; 3mins @ 95% FTP; 15mins @ 60% FTP

Cool-down 5mins from 75 to 45% FTP

PHOTOSCHMIDT/GETTYIMAGES

March 2021 /

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TRAINING

SMASH A SPRING DUATHLON IN 8 WEEKS! Eager to keep race sharp in the off-season?

Then get training for a duathlon and you’ll be fitter and ready to go once tri season starts 76 /

/ March 2021

8 WEEK TRAINING PLAN become a smart trainer Turn to page 50 for our test of the best multisport watches on the market.

TRAINING PLAN COACH DERMOTT HAYES

W

hile we’re waiting for the UK water to warm up – a long wait, granted – consider doing a duathlon to help fine-tune your transitions and bike-to-run pace. This eight-week plan for a standard-distance duathlon (10km run/40km bike/5km run) will provide you with all of the strength, speed and race-pace sessions that’ll get you ready for the world of run-bike-run. If you’re targeting a sprintdistance du, then use the plan but consider reducing the overall volume by 20-30%, especially on the longer endurance sessions.

Duathlon is a run-heavy sport so the plan overleaf reflects this.

If running is a weakness at this stage, the eight-week plan will improve your performance and can be carried through to the tri season. Due to the heavy amount of running, make sure you do an adequate warm-up and cooldown (warm-up = 5-8mins of gradually building intensity from easy to vigorous; cool-down = 3-5mins of easy cardio followed by stretches), and do the relevant

S&C work to stay run healthy.

This plan features a mixture of sessions, which focus on improving your strength through climbing sessions; speed through higher-intensity interval workouts; and plenty of pacing work. Also, there’s a focus on the longer aerobic sessions, which should see you comfortably cover the race distance. To make sure you don’t burn out, the fourth and eighth weeks are easier, plus recovery sessions are designed to be productive and keep you moving in the right direction.

As with any sport, it’s the specific workouts that’ll make sure you’re totally race ready.

So, in this case, it’s the brick session with a mix of longer, steadier race-pace sessions that gradually build in duration, as well as multi-brick sessions that have a greater focus on developing faster race-pace speed. If you’re struggling for time each week, don’t skip these brick sessions; they’re the ones that’ll give you an understanding of what the race will be like and how to make it a success.

There are no shortcuts, so don’t fall into the trap of thinking du is an easier sport for people that can’t swim. It’s tough, but with this plan you’ll hit the start line ready and raring to go.

LUKAS HEMMELER

COACH’S TIPS DUATHLON PREP

WELL-ROUNDED Concentrate on becoming a wellrounded, strong runner. A great duathlete is able to maintain great run form and understand the pacing demands.

BRICK SESSIONS Nail your brick sessions. Practise all types of brick sessions so you’re prepared for the run to bike to run.

You must be able to run well in that final stage of the race.

FUEL RIGHT Figure out how and when to use your nutrition in the race. Practise different scenarios of when to refuel and how you’ll do it, and how you’ll transport it in the event.

REVISE Try to understand your race course and any key segments where you can use your strengths. Knowing the layout of transition, for example. In short, do your homework.

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TRAINING

TRAINING PLAN - WEEKS 1 TO 4 MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

WEEK 1 – TIME TO GET STARTED! OUR PLAN BEGINS ON A MONDAY, BUT YOU CAN START ANY DAY OF THE WEEK RUN

BIKE

RUN

BIKE

6 x 1km moderate to vigorous • 60secs rest between reps • Use this session to help find race pace

45mins easy to vigorous as: 5mins easy; 5 x [5mins moderate/ 2mins vigorous]; 5mins easy

8-9km easy to moderate on a flat route • Focus on maintaining a sustainable pace throughout

6x [4mins moderate/ 2mins vigorous simulated climbing/2mins recovery] • Increase revs per min and gear to achieve high intensity

REST DAY

RUN

BIKE

8km easy to vigorous on an undulating route as 2 x [2km moderate/1km vigorous/1km easy]

30km easy to moderate • Aim to include some rolling hills, practise standing when climbing

WEEK 2 – THIS WEEK SEES THE FIRST OF THE PLAN’S BRICK SESSIONS – ESSENTIAL FOR UNDERSTANDING DUATHLON PACING REST DAY

BIKE

RUN

BIKE

50mins easy to vigorous as: 5mins easy; 5 x [6mins moderate/ 2mins vigorous]; 5mins easy

7 x 1km moderate to vigorous • 60secs rest between reps • Use this session to help find race pace

6 x [4mins moderate/ 2mins vigorous simulated climbing/2mins recovery] • Increase revs per min and gear to achieve high intensity

REST DAY

RUN

BRICK

8km easy to vigorous on an undulating route as 2 x [2km moderate/1km vigorous/1km easy]

5km run vigorous, just slower than estimated race pace • 30km bike vigorous, at estimated race pace including some hills

WEEK 3 – IT’S A BUSY TRAINING WEEK WITH PLENTY OF AEROBIC SETS CLOSE TO DUATHLON RACE DISTANCES RUN

BIKE

RUN

BIKE

8 x 1km moderate to vigorous • 60secs rest between reps • Use this session to help find race pace

55mins easy to vigorous as: 5mins easy; 5 x [6mins moderate/ 3mins vigorous]; 5mins easy

9-10km easy to moderate on a flat route • Focus on maintaining a sustainable pace throughout

6 x [5mins moderate/ 2mins vigorous simulated climbing/1min recovery] • Increase revs per min and gear to achieve high intensity

REST DAY

RUN

BIKE

9km easy to vigorous on an undulating route as: 3 x [1.5km moderate/1km vigorous/ 500m easy]

40km easy to moderate • Aim to include some rolling hills, practise standing when climbing

WEEK 4 – AFTER WEEK 3’S EXERTIONS, IT’S A LIGHTER MIX FOR WEEK 4 BUT STILL WITH PLENTY OF TEMPO CHANGES REST DAY

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/ March 2021

BIKE

RUN

BRICK

5 x [2mins vigorous/1min easy] 5 x [1:30mins vigorous/ 1:30mins easy] 5 x [1min vigorous/ 2mins easy] • Increase RPM and gear to achieve speed

5km easy on a flat route • Set yourself a target speed/ HR that you won’t exceed

3x • 1.5km run moderate • 6-8km bike vigorous • 2mins rest between reps

REST DAY

RUN

BRICK

10km easy to vigorous on an undulating route as 4 x [1km moderate/1km vigorous/ 500m easy]

4km vigorous run • 30km vigorous bike • 2km vigorous run • Run slower than estimated race pace; bike at race pace

8 WEEK TRAINING PLAN

TRAINING PLAN - WEEKS 5 TO 8 MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

WEEK 5 – IF YOU’RE TARGETING A SPRINT DUATHLON, REDUCE THE SESSION DISTANCES BY 20-30% RUN

BIKE

RUN

BRICK

4-6 x • Find a hill that offers a long challenging climb, aiming to run it moderate, keeping good form, use the downhill as easy recovery

6 x [2mins vigorous/1min easy/1.5mins vigorous/ 1.5min easy/ 1min vigorous/ 2mins easy] • Increase revs per min and gear to achieve speed

5km easy on a flat route • Set yourself a target speed/ HR that you won’t exceed

3x • 1.5km run moderate • 6-8km bike vigorous • 2mins rest between reps

REST DAY

RUN

BIKE

12km easy to vigorous on an undulating route as 4 x [1.5km moderate/1km vigorous/ 500m easy]

45-50km easy to moderate • Include 3 x 5km efforts at race pace, 10mins easy pedalling between reps

WEEK 6 – THE WEEK BUILDS-UP TO THE PLAN’S KEY TEST OF DU FITNESS: THE RACE-SPECIFIC 10KM/40KM/5KM BRICK RUN

BIKE

5-7 x • Find a hill that offers a long enough challenging climb, aiming to run it moderate, keeping good form, use the downhill as easy recovery

5 x [2mins vigorous/1min easy] 5 x [1.5mins vigorous/ 1.5min easy] 5 x [1min vigorous/ 2mins easy] Increase RPM and gear to achieve speed

REST DAY

BRICK

REST DAY

3x • 1.5km moderate run • 6-8km vigorous bike • 2mins rest between reps

BRICK

BRICK

20min easy bike or run • Include 2 x 3mins efforts at race pace

10km run • 40km bike • 5km run • Same distance as racing so use it to finetune all aspects of pacing

WEEK 7 – ENSURE YOU PERFORM A 5-8MIN WARM-UP AND 3-5MIN COOL-DOWN AFTER EVERY SESSION FOR THE PLAN BIKE

RUN

BIKE

BRICK

60mins easy to vigorous as: 5mins easy; 20mins race pace; 10mins recovery; 20mins race pace; 5mins easy

10 x 800m vigorous • 45secs rest between sets • Run pace is faster than 10km race pace

45mins easy to moderate • Set yourself a target speed/ HR that you won’t exceed

3 x 8km bike vigorous • 1.5km run moderate • 1min rest between reps

REST DAY

RUN

BRICK

6km easy to vigorous on an undulating route as 3 x [1km moderate/1km vigorous]

5km run • 30km bike • 3km run • Use it to finetune all aspects of pacing

PRE-RACE

RACE DAY!

20mins easy bike or run • Include 2 x 3mins efforts at race pace

10km run • 40km bike • 5km run

WEEK 8 – A LIGHTER WEEK IN PREPARATION FOR THE BIG DUATHLON RACE DAY. GOOD LUCK! REST DAY

RUN

BRICK

BIKE

5 x 800m vigorous • 45secs rest between reps • Run pace is faster than 10km race pace

3 x 6km bike vigorous • 1km run moderate • 1min rest between reps

30mins easy to moderate • Set yourself a target speed/ HR that you won’t exceed

REST DAY

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TRAINING

RUN STRONG OFF THE BIKE Innovative age-group and elite coach Tom Bennett on new science behind taming jelly legs… t’s well-known that running off the bike’s (triathlon running = TR) impaired compared to isolated running (IR),” explains top coach Tom Bennett. “This can’t be prevented – even Alistair Brownlee’s around 2mins slower over a 10km TR compared to a 10km IR – but performance deterioration can be minimised.

I

ECONOMY AND STIFFNESS “One established detriment to TR is glycogen depletion from the swim and bike, meaning a greater reliance on fat that governs speed.

Another explanation for a slower TR is higher respiratory muscle fatigue. But one neglected link is the relationship between run economy (energy cost for a specific speed) and stiff limbs, which appears to be a key driver of off-the-bike success.

“Leg stiffness is essentially how much the ankle, knee and hip flex

on landing, and research has shown that stiffer limbs are associated with superior run economy. In essence, the lower the leg stiffness, the lower the speed. This is new thinking compared to the misconception that triathletes suffer altered run biomechanics off the bike, leading to less speed.

Studies have shown that this isn’t necessarily the case.

“So how do you increase leg stiffness and reduce the chasm between TR and IR? Yes, bricks are useful but I’d use them sparingly – maybe once every three weeks; instead, focus on sessions that are proven to improve leg stiffness.

“One example is plyometric training, with research showing just four weeks of plyometric work improving leg stiffness. Also, undertake heavyweight strength training (around 90% one-rep max), comprising three to five sets to failure of three to five reps.

These will both help your TR.”

DARRENMUSGROVEPHOTOGRAPHY COM

THE SESSION WARM-UP 20mins with 2mins in each gear (stop one gear short of max if you have 11-speed) Maintain cadence as you increase resistance. Intermediates should include 6-10sec hard efforts in the middle to increase oxygen uptake MAIN SET 4 x 10mins as 5mins bike and 5mins run.

TOP TIP “Fasted running (say a 1hr effort before breakfast) in a low glycogen state creates positive metabolic adaptations, while mimicking the demands of running with low energy reserves associated with running off the bike. Just note that if your day job requires great concentration and thought, low-carb sessions can affect mental clarity.”

An example for a course featuring many corners is 5mins at RPE 8/10 or goal watts including a 6sec burst at the start of every minute followed by a run of increasing pace or intensity, so 2:30mins hard/2:30mins easy COOL-DOWN

JOHN AND TINA REID

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/ March 2021

200m easy Perform on the bike to minimise injury risk; simply an easy 10min spin that lowers your heart rate to below 120bpm

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TRAINING NUTRITION

NUTRITION

HEARTY, HEALTHY GRUB Dig into these nourishing and nutritional energy bowls to enjoy a delicious, performance-boosting start to 2021 s triathletes we’re short on time but long on ambition.

We also recognise the importance of good-quality, top-notch nutrition on making the most of each and every training session. But with minimal hours to play with, it’s often your diet that endures the greatest sacrifice. Which is exactly where these delicious, energy-

STEVE SAYERS

A

packed bowls of goodness come in.

They’re created in minutes but deliver benefits for hours.

First up is Sweet potato gnocchi with tomato sauce, which is a tasty and very satisfying way to make one large sweet potato stretch to a meal for four. Toss with a flavoursome tomato sauce and fresh rosemary for an immuneboosting training supper, packed X

March 2021 /

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TRAINING

with slow-releasing carbohydrate to keep your energy levels sustained.

You’ll love this Buddha bowl. It’ll do wonders for your Instagram page, too! The aim of a Buddha bowl is to provide a balance of carbohydrate, protein and healthy fats... in a bowl.

In this case we have deliciously earthy red rice, chickpeas and a rainbow of vegetables, including avocado, for a boost of healthy fats.

After a chilly ride in the saddle, warm yourself up with this simple and incredibly tasty Thai prawn curry energy bowl. A ‘go to’ to spice up your week. A fragrant broth packed with juicy prawns, rice noodles and crunchy fresh vegetables, it’s well-balanced with carbohydrate, protein and fat, and has the added benefits of ginger, garlic and chilies – anti- inflammatory foods, which can help towards muscle recovery.

Finally, this Chicken tagine with chickpeas, apricots and almonds.

Again, this can be prepped in advance. Loaded with goodness, the aromatic spices in this dish have anti-inflammatory properties to help muscle recovery.

Nutritionist and keen amateur athlete Kate Percy set up the #GoFaster campaign in 2009 and, following the publication of several sports nutrition books, now produces a range of all-natural energy balls, Go Bites (go-bites.com).

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/ March 2021

SWEET POTATO GNOCCHI WITH ROSEMARY Prep time 15mins Cook time 30mins Serves 4

INGREDIENTS • 1 large sweet potato • 1 tsp salt • 1 egg yolk • 100-150g spelt flour, sifted • 1⁄4 tsp grated nutmeg For the tomato sauce • 400g tin chopped tomatoes • 1 clove garlic, crushed • Pinch of sugar • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil • 1 tsp balsamic vinegar • 2 sprigs rosemary, chopped

METHOD Preheat oven to 200°C/gas mark 6.

Bake potato until soft – about 45mins. Make tomato sauce. Heat oil

1

in a frying pan, add garlic and salt, gently cook for 1min. Add rest of the ingredients and cook for 5mins.

Season well.

Once cool, peel potato, mash with a fork and transfer to a bowl. Add seasoning, egg yolk and half the flour.

Combine with a fork, adding more flour gradually until the mixture becomes a soft dough; just firm enough to handle and no longer sticky. Note: the more flour you add, the firmer the gnocchi.

Divide dough into four. On a lightly floured surface, roll each section into a sausage shape. Using a sharp knife, cut into 2cm pieces. Transfer to a floured plate. Boil a large saucepan of salted water. Cook the gnocchi for 2mins or until they float to the top.

Drain and serve with the tomato sauce and plenty of parmesan cheese.

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NUTRITION

BUDDHA BOWL Prep time 10mins Cook time 25mins Serves 2

INGREDIENTS • 100g Red Camargue rice • 400 g tin of chickpeas, drained • 3 large carrots • 2 courgettes • 200g tin sweetcorn • 1 small avocado • 1 small red onion, very finely sliced • 100g sugar snap peas • 50g watercress • 8 baby tomatoes, halved • 25g pumpkin seeds, toasted For the dressing 1 tbsp white balsamic vinegar • 2 tbsps extra virgin olive oil

METHOD Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil and cook the red rice for 25mins or according to the instructions on the pack. Drain and set aside to cool.

Grate or spiralise the carrots and courgettes.

Cut the avocado in half, remove the stone and scoop out the flesh with a spoon.

In a small bowl, whisk the dressing ingredients together. Arrange all the ingredients attractively in two bowls and drizzle over the dressing.

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THAI PRAWN CURRY WITH CHICKEN AND TOASTED CASHEWS Prep time 2mins Cook time 5mins Serves 2

INGREDIENTS • 1 can coconut milk • 2cm piece of fresh ginger, grated • 1 green chilli, deseeded, finely sliced • 100g green curry paste • 200ml hot stock (veg/ chicken/fish) • 100g rice noodles • 150g uncooked peeled king prawns • Zest of 1⁄2 lime • 2 tsps fish sauce • Pinch of brown sugar

CHICKEN TAGINE WITH CHICKPEAS, APRICOTS AND ALMONDS

METHOD

Prep time 2mins Cook time 18-20mins Serves 2

Cook the noodles as per the pack. Add the paste and 1 tbsp of coconut milk to a large saucepan and stir over a medium heat for 1min. Add the ginger, chilli, zest and prawns and sauté for 1min. Add the rest of the milk and stock. Bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer. Stir in the noodles, fish sauce and sugar.

Add toppings, e.g. pepper/cucumber/ lime, beansprouts and coriander. Serve and enjoy.

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2

INGREDIENTS • 1⁄2 tsp cinnamon • 1 tsp each turmeric, ground ginger, black pepper, ground cumin • 1⁄2 tsp salt • Juice of 1 lemon • 2 tbsps olive oil • 6 chicken thighs, cut into chunks • 1 tbsp flour • 1 onion, sliced • 4 cloves garlic, crushed • 1 cinnamon stick • Handful dried apricots • 100g whole blanched almonds • 400g tin chickpeas, drained • 200ml stock • 2 tbsps each coriander, mint and parsley • 1 tsp smoked paprika

METHOD Mix together cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, pepper, cumin, salt, lemon juice and 1tbsp oil. Add chicken and turn to coat.

Heat 1tbsp oil in pan and sauté onion for 5mins. Add chicken, marinade and sauté for 5mins. Stir flour in for 30secs.

Add garlic, cinnamon stick, apricots, 50g almonds, chickpeas and stock. Boil then simmer until chicken is cooked and sauce thickened. Add herbs and paprika.

Toast 50g almonds in a dry pan for 5mins. Remove, chop and sprinkle over the tagine before serving.

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TRAINING

EUGENIUSZ DUDZINSKI/GETTY IMAGES

POPPING A 2021 PERSONAL BEST? Can you tell us what supplements you use now and have done in the past? Did they help your performance and health?

TIM DON

is a multiple ITU world champion and a 3 x Olympian. Now one of the fastest Ironmans in the world, he’s here to answer all your racing questions and concerns.

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upplements, where do I start?

So many bold claims, it’s just mental. But do I take supplements? Yep, always have, always will. It started as a kid when my parents gave me chewable vit C tablets and cod liver oil tablets. I hated those burps!!

From when I was a junior, one thing I’ve had to look out for was that they were WADA approved. Now, they’re vetted by Safe Sport and have a batch number. As a pro, it’s just a no brainer, but even as an age-grouper it’s common sense to know what you’re taking has passed strict tests.

Right now, I take a multi-vitamin, iKOR CBD oil twice a day as well as Athletic Greens and a Marine Collagen liquid shot.

So here’s the deal – if you take a supplement and within five days you’re just like, “Wow, I feel like superman,” then you’ve probably been massively deficient in said supplement. It’s more likely that you’ll take it for a few weeks and realise, “Yeah, I’m recovering a little bit better or I’m not feeling not so sore after those hard

S

sessions.” Or even better, after a hard winter, you realise you didn’t fall ill once.

In my old ITU days, I tried beta alanine.

God, it made me have an itchy face. WTF! Not sure if it buffered any lactic acid for me, though. Echinacea was also big back in the late 90s. I’ve taken iron supplements when hitting altitude, but it took a while to find one my body would absorb and also not make me shit black cannonballs.

Terrible, just terrible. I’ve heard of people snorting their own urine to build up their immune system. True story. Crazy.

It’s such a personal thing. I’d never say this is it, the Michael Jordan of supplements, you’ll be bulletproof if you take this. If anyone claims that, it’s bullshit. At the end of day, we want to be consistent with our training. That is king.

So we need to train; no missing sessions or going hard when it’s easy. Don’t try to cut corners and get fit quickly – that always ends in tears or an injury. Trust me, I know.

We need to stay injury free and stay healthy, so sure supplements have their

COACHING Q&A

THIS MONTH’S COACHING PANEL DERMOTT HAYES

Picturing a PB Dermott has been coaching for 15 years, is head coach at Be Endurance and the organiser of the Storm the Castle duathlon.

JAMES WITTS

Running Power Freelance writer and former 220 editor James specialises in sports science and endurance.

place but please do your research and give the new product a few weeks if not months to see if it works for you. But eating a healthy, balanced diet is the biggest supplement out there. Stay hydrated big time and sleep – sleep lots and lots. Remember: you don’t get a medal for training!

JOHN WOOD

Can You Kick It? An award-winning multisport coach of 10 years, John is also a former international swimmer.

strengths; and picture that finish line of the run. Also consider the use of smart software, like Zwift, that allows you to ride or run courses from around the world. The ability to train on the race course and ‘put’ yourself in that world is hugely useful.

Dermott Hayes

RUNNING POWER Need advice from The Don? Send an email to askthedon@220triathlon.com

ASK 220 PICTURING A PB

Q A

Are there any benefits to visualisation during winter training? Nigel Sinton

Regardless of the time of year, and where a triathlete may be in their training cycle, the use of visualisation is incredibly helpful to boost performance.

Firstly, it acts as a source of motivation to keep training focused during the darker months. It raises the mood by picturing how your race will be in the summer time, with the sun on your body and with you in the best possible racing shape. That image is what you’re striving towards and feeds your desire to keep working all winter.

Secondly, the inclusion of visualisation into sessions can be completed at the same time as ‘race-pace’ intervals to deliver that real-world effect to what you’re doing.

Training sessions must, of course, remain focused on the physical objective, so I’d suggest that you include specific blocks of time in a workout where you’ll let your mind visualise a scenario in your key race. Picture the position on the race course, see other competitors around you, you overtaking them, and being powerful and in control.

You should use the internet to research previous race footage. Watch the swim course and consider the start and exit; see how the bike course allows you to use your

Q A

Is it worth me training with a run power meter in 2021? Jane Watson

Running power meters are a relatively new tool in your training armoury.

They’ve transformed the way serious triathletes cycle, delivering an objective, repeatable measure of fitness. The aim of running power meters like Stryd, and data from watches like Garmin and Suunto, is to achieve similar. Which is all well and good but what are the specific benefits?

• More precise workouts. Like cycling, you can set power zones to stimulate certain physiological and performance adaptations, whether it’s raising aerobic capacity to boost stamina or anaerobic threshold to boost speed-endurance.

Zones are based on your run FTP (functional threshold power), which you can base on a hard 10-15km run.

• Better technique. Running power meters are a good way to see how running form correlates to energy cost. As an example, if you’re looking to improve cadence, you can see how increasing from, say, 130 strides per minute (spm) to 150spm affects power output.

• Improve your pacing strategy. Whether it’s hilly, on a trail or on the flat, pacing by power means you’ll be in the optimal zone for every scenario. Hitting the same power numbers, for instance, might see you run slower uphill and faster downhill, saving energy and increasing overall speed. James Witts

CAN YOU KICK IT? Could you give me some advice on the benefits of a leg kick to a triathlete and how to improve mine? Dave Abbott

Q

Freestyle kick is an important part of the stroke. Firstly, it helps keep the body – and stroke – balanced. This is both

A

JOEL ENOCH

Feel The Squeeze?

Joel is a sports scientist and triathlon coach who’s helped athletes of all abilities reach their multisport goals.

QUICK-FIRE Small gains still mean seconds off your PB...

Ignoring the extra cost, why should I go organic?

The general benefits of organic are many: fewer pesticides; richer in certain nutrients; and, when it comes to animals, they’re not pumped full of hormones.

Also, for those looking to hit race weight, a study showed that choosing organic burns more fat.

Twenty-five researchers undertook a metaanalysis to examine how nutritional content varied between organic and non-organic red meats, and discovered that organic meat contained 47% more omega-3 than its more affordable alternative. That’s good news for calorie counters because this polyunsaturated fatty acid has been proven to increase fat metabolism.

How can a snorkel improve my swim?

A swim-specific snorkel means you can expire and inspire with your head submerged, leaving total focus on your stroke. This level head position also results in improved spine alignment, raising your hips in the water and making it easier to practise perfect body-roll technique. A still head ensures you can observe your hand action beneath the water, too.

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TRAINING

in the long axis – from front to back (keeping the feet level with the head) – and also in the short axis – across the body (helping with body roll). Secondly, the kick helps with the stroke’s rhythm and should kick in time with your arm pulls. That’s whether you kick on the two, four or eight beat; in other words, one kick per arm pull, two per arm pull or even four with a fast kick. Finally, your kick should add propulsion although, as a triathlete, if you’re able to generate more than 15% of drive from your legs, you’re doing well.

The reason that your legs don’t generate much power is that kicking is inherently inefficient (most of the force is in an upward/downward plane rather than backwards). As a result, the aim’s to make your leg kick as efficient as possible, wasting little oxygen and glycogen, while keeping your legs as high as they can.

When you kick, your legs should be moving from the hip – it’s a full limb movement. Your legs should remain reasonably straight, but not stiff like boards. The ideal cue for the whole leg is “loose” or “floppy”. A favourite practice of mine is to get people balancing on one leg and swinging the opposite leg back and forward kept straight. Press your thumb into the glute (bum) on the swinging side and feel that muscle working. Now do the same again, but just flicking that foot backward and forward, keeping your knees close together. You should feel that your glutes go soft, not working. This is the engagement we want to feel.

In the water, try this: push off the wall, face down, keeping your spine as long as possible. Keeping your arms by your sides, press your thumbs into the sides of your bum, and kick gently up and down until you’re short of breath. Pop your head up and get some air – then swim normally down the length, feeling for your legs doing the same thing as they were at the start.

Remember, your brain will likely want your legs to kick quite hard/fast – your challenge is to keep your rhythm calm and smooth. John Wood

FEEL THE SQUEEZE? With compression and noncompressive run tights available, which should I choose and why?

Eleanor Sutton

Q

Ultimately, comfort is the most important factor as any garment that’s uncomfortable or restrictive will impact how you train, how you recover or whether you wear them in the first place. Sort the

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QUICK-FIRE (CONT’D)

Is it possible to enjoy aerodynamic feedback away from the wind tunnel?

It is thanks to sensors like the Notio Konect, which mounts to the underside of an outfront computer mount and features a ‘pilot tube’ that protrudes from its body. Among many variables, it measures wind speed. By comparing this windspeed data to the rider’s speed, the unit can estimate CdA. Aerodynamicist Xavier Disley uses the Konect and once told us, “One of the key benefits of these is that you can accurately answer race-specific questions, like whether you should sprint out of the saddle or remaining seated. Or when climbing, whether a rider’s more efficient sitting up on the tops, staying on their hoods or hitting the drops.”

Have you any ‘unique’ ways to fast-track technique improvements?

Focus on swim skills 24hrs after a highintensity run or bike session. A Canadian team put 16 athletes through a ‘motorsequence test’ – namely moving a cursor over a series of targets on a screen – and showed that they performed better after cycling at over 75% maxHR the day before. The authors suggest it’s likely down to increasing the rate of motor memory revival. This has connotations regarding neurologically learning a skill and with respect to improving reaction times – both favourable traits in triathlon.

STEVE SAYERS

right garment, however, and there are rewards aplenty.

While there’s little research out there on non-compression leggings, it’s clear that additional layers will retain heat in the working muscle. Research shows that warmer muscles are less prone to injury and ‘slow-twitch’ muscle fibres are used more effectively, saving the more carbohydratedependent ‘fast twitch’ fibres. That potentially delays fatigue and reduces lactate build-up.

Compression garments use pressure to squeeze the muscles, theoretically improving the return of blood to the heart while decreasing muscle oscillation (or wobbling!). But with compression garments often more expensive, does this actually make any difference to your performance?

A review article in 2016 suggested that runners’ time to exhaustion could be slightly improved by wearing compression wear. It also reported improved biomechanics and running economy, as well as reduced perception of effort, muscle damage, pain and inflammation during recovery. This is in line with research showing that muscle power’s better maintained when wearing compression clothing. It’s also been shown that such benefits can be maintained during moderate exercise for up to 30mins in temperatures up to 30°C. Ultimately, the choice is down to your personal preference, but if you do go for compression, wear them during and after your more stressful sessions rather than all the time and choose items that offer ‘graduated compression’. Joel Enoch

Both compressive and non-compressive run tights have their benefits

WOMEN'S TRAINING

TOM WERNER/GETTY IMAGES

s n e ' m o W TRAINING The perimenopause is misunderstood but can have a big impact on you, your health and triathlon performance.

Here’s how to manage the situation… ossibly because it’s seen as an ‘old lady’ topic and taboo, women are often unprepared for the perimenopause. That’s why when changes occur, some women face barriers that result in giving up their sport altogether. But it needn’t be so…

What is perimenopause? It refers to the timeframe before a woman reaches menopause and typically begins around age 45 but can begin in your thirties. The menopause itself (average age 51) is a point in time whereby a woman has had no menstrual cycle (no periods) for 12 months. Beyond that date, she’s considered to be post-menopause.

Over time, ovaries produce less eggs, and during perimenopause the hormones that regulate your menstrual cycle – oestrogen and

P

JESSE LAMBERT-HARDEN

Jesse is a nutrition and lifestyle coach and personal trainer, specialising in female health and performance. She is one of the expert coaching team at Her Spirit.

progesterone – fluctuate before decreasing and then flatlining.

alcohol and spicy foods, so keeping a food diary will help you to identify these.

HOW DOES IT AFFECT WOMEN? Oestrogen is a protective, feelgood hormone. Its reduction affects our body’s ability to regulate mood, temperature, muscle, bone integrity and more. There’s also an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance and low bone mineral density (osteoporosis).

Throughout perimenopause, women will experience a varying degree of symptoms and periods will begin to fluctuate. Symptoms include weight gain, hot flushes and night sweats, and can impact women to varying degrees of severity. Thankfully, there are things you can do for better symptom management…

ADD WEIGHTS AND INTENSITY Endurance sport burns body mass including muscle (catabolic). As our hormones decline, it’s harder for our body to preserve this muscle mass. To combat this, adapt your training. For instance, switch out some longer rides for short intervals to increase the intensity.

And incorporate anabolic resistance and power training (heavy weights) to build and retain muscle mass.

This is also an important factor in body composition, reducing the risk of osteoporosis, is heart health protective and improves vasomotor symptoms (hot flushes and night sweats).

KEEP A DIARY

PRIORITISE RECOVERY

Diarise your menstrual cycle, any changes and other symptoms that appear. Some symptoms can be intensified when consuming particular foods such as caffeine,

Take positive steps to ensure that your recovery’s optimised and your body’s stress levels aren’t compounded. Your body now needs more attention to recovery to avoid

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TRAINING stress and more catabolism of muscle. Active recovery such as walking and yoga all count.

EAT ENOUGH

ATHLETE TIPS “I began experiencing restless legs and fatigue, which impacted my motivation to train. With oestrogen gel (HRT) and improvements to my diet, they’ve improved and I have my mojo back.” Emma, Brighton “I talked to my doctor about HRT. I’m sleeping better and the majority of symptoms have disappeared or greatly lessened.”

AbiG, HerSpirit community member “My embarrassing leaks during training were just something I thought I had to live with. After a bit of core and strength training, these leaks have almost gone away.” Anon, Brighton

Weight gain during perimenopause is normal, particularly around the mid-section. Often this leads women to under-eat and overexercise. As an athlete, this’ll hinder your recovery and stress the body further. Focus on eating wholefoods with recovery fuel around your workouts.

Also, maintain muscle mass and aid recovery from your workouts by choosing good-quality protein that contains the amino acid leucine (found mainly in animal produce and some vegan and vegetarian sources). Eat protein at every meal and consume after a workout to aid muscle protein synthesis.

And choose your carbs wisely.

Susceptibility to insulin resistance and resultant blood-sugar rollercoasters mean that it’s wise to choose complex carbs and minimise, but not eliminate, simple ones, which are still useful during racing and training.

SLEEP AND STRESS Hormonal changes impact women’s ability to deal with stress. This coupled with an increased likelihood of anxiety and depression and insomnia can prove a poor cocktail for recovery.

Interrupted sleep due to night sweats and anxiety are caused by

the decline in hormones like melatonin, which can disrupt your circadian rhythm. If not addressed, these issues can become worse and result in a domino-like effect.

Solutions include relaxation techniques, recovery, sleep hygiene, therapy, meditation and yoga.

Melatonin supplementation can be discussed with your healthcare provider to improve your circadian rhythm. An alternative is cold tart cherry juice 30mins before bedtime. Magnesium’s a common deficiency and is associated with fewer hours of sleep and reduced quality. Magnesium glycinate supplementation may help you sleep and, because it plays a role in mood regulation and stress, it may help reduce the progression and onset of depression and anxiety.

CONTROL THE HEAT Hot flushes may interfere with training as your body has to work harder to regulate its temperature.

Maintaining sufficient levels of hydration, particularly in the heat, is key. An electrolyte and water drink is ideal, as is a protein recovery drink post-workout.

Wear loose-fitting clothes and train outside where possible, and have cold towels either to hand or ready for when you’ve finished training to help you cool down.

LOOK OUT FOR ATROPHY Muscle atrophy in the pelvic area compromises the integrity of the

PETER DAZELEY/GETTY IMAGES

“Add specific core and pelvic-floor exercises into your training plan ” pelvic floor. This can result in incontinence, pain and vaginal dryness. It can be embarrassing and impact your ability to run or ride a bike. Add core and pelvic-floor exercises into your training.

Medical treatment is available so don’t be shy to talk about vaginal problems such as frequent UTIs and leakage to your GP.

SUPPLEMENT YOUR TRAINING Ultimately, always talk to your GP. Take your diary, which will assist with diagnosis. They can then help you with treatment from a medical standpoint. It’s a myth that Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) causes breast cancer. It’s a powerful first-line treatment and a preventative of many of the previously mentioned health risks.

That said, there are other options should you not wish to take HRT. Because supplements aren’t regulated, it’s important to do your due diligence. Also, discuss with you GP in case of any contraindications with existing medical conditions or medication.

It’s key to distinguish between standard supplementation and non, as the latter are often promoted as treatment for menopause.

Standard nutritional supplements for perimenopause are: magnesium glycinate; vitamin D; calcium; omega 3; and B vitamins. Some other non-standard supplements that you may come across but have little evidence to date are: adaptogens; black cohosh; maca; chaste berry; phytoestrogens; and DIM/DHEA.

The Her Spirit community provides a fun, safe and supportive space for every woman to get fitter, stronger and healthier with useful tools for mind, body and fuelling.

Meet new friends online and locally, and take part in virtual and real world events, challenges and experiences. Download the free app or visit herspirit.co.uk.

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how was it for you?

DARKNESS FALLS No stranger to a mighty challenge, Claire Smith has spent the past decade racking up ultra triathlon feats. And for 2020? A DUTOR (Double Ultra Triathlon Off Road). In the depths of winter. Cue mud, hallucinations, two sunrises and even more mud WORDS CLAIRE SMITH IMAGE KATHI HARMAN

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DUTOR

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how was it for you?

’m pretty sure it’s Sunday, but I’ve no clue what time it is. All I know is that I still have over 150km left on the bike. I’m sat in the back of a van and my mum is trying to make me eat something.

I can’t look at her or Kathi, who is crewing for me, because if I do I will break. I desperately want to stop, to give up and go home.

My back is screaming at me and the pain in my hands is excruciating. My brain is coming up with clever excuses and brilliant reasons why ending this ordeal is the best idea right now. But I know this game, I’ve played it many times before. Without making any eyecontact, I get up slowly, trying not to let Mum see how much my back is hurting. I stuff a banana into my back pocket and walk over to my mud-covered mountain bike.

“150km. I can do this,” I say to myself. I have to do this.

After completing a Double Deca (20 continuous iron-distance races) in Mexico last year, you’d think that doing a Double Iron would be really easy. A few of my friends had even laughed when I told them what I’d planned this weekend. “That’s like a Parkrun for you,” one of them said. I laughed with them, but in the back of my mind a little voice had told me that this was going to really hurt. The main reason wasn’t the distance, but the terrain. This Double Iron was off-road.

FROM JOGLE TO DUTOR

MEET CLAIRE

Claire Smith raced her first triathlon at Ironman 70.3 UK at Exmoor in 2006, and has since gone on to race Ironman UK, the Enduroman Double Iron, the SwissUltra Continuous Deca Iron and the Double Deca Iron in Mexico. She’s also the founder and organiser of the Brutal Extreme Triathlons.

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I started in ultra-triathlon back in 2009 when I completed my first Double Iron. From that, I really got the bug and went on to race many more ultras, including a Quin (five Iron distances) and Deca (x10) triathlon in Switzerland. And yet it’s never come easy to me, as I struggle with my pace and also with a back condition called Hyperlordosis, which causes me huge amounts of pain on the bike sections. I’ve DNF’d many races over the years, but I’m incredibly stubborn and seem to ‘enjoy’ the pain that you get when you push yourself to your absolute limits. I keep coming back looking for longer and harder challenges.

For 2020, I was attempting my biggest challenge yet, the TransAM Triathlon. This monster event spans the United States, starting with a

50km lake swim, followed by a 3,200km self-supported bike ride from Florida to California. Finally, the 402km run goes through Death Valley and you finish with your feet in the Pacific Ocean. This was the first year it was to be held. And then Covid happened.

With all race plans on hold, I began to look for ways to get my endurance fix. After completing a self-supported JOGLE (running from John O’Groats to Land’s End carrying all my own kit and no crew) in 23 days, I wanted something else.

In stepped the DUTOR (Double Ultra Triathlon Off Road), the idea of ultra-triathlon legend Wayne Kurtz. The problem was I’d never ridden off road before and didn’t own a mountain bike. But I’m not one to let small details like that stop me and, after a quick trip to Halfords and a £300 dent on my credit card, I was the proud owner of a Carrera Vengeance. The name seemed fitting.

My training consisted of one wobbly five-miler and a 37km lap of the DUTOR route in the New Forest that I’d have to complete 10 times to make up the 370km required. I loved it and afterwards asked myself why it’d taken me so long to discover off-road riding. I replaced the swim section of my solo triathlon with a 7.72km paddleboard leg in the River Stour at Christchurch, Dorset, due to the water temperature in late November being way too cold for such a long swim. Finally, I plotted the lap that’d make up the 84km

off-road run section. This would be the only familiar part of this event for me. With all plans in place, I was ready to take on the DUTOR…

THE EASY BIT? A mountain of clothes, shoes, assorted kit and nutrition sits before me on my living room floor. Even though this is my own event and there are no cut-offs or other competitors, I’m feeling the pressure of taking on 450km offroad during the winter. Daylight hours feel minimal at the moment, and I pack all the lights and battery

DUTOR

“It seems that I’m not even moving and I get pushed into the bank. I lower myself to my knees for more stability”

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how was it for you?

Who needs a carbon bank-buster? Claire’s Carerra Vengeance cost just £300

packs I own. I also need to plan for having a puncture or mechanical in the middle of nowhere. Not only will I have to carry food and water, but also all my bike tools, pump and a spare inner tube. And there are no arrows on the course, so I’ll need to navigate using my phone. Finally, I pack all my warm and waterproof kit as it’s late November and the cold is my Achilles heel.

I give my bike a check-over, add it to the rest of the kit and stand back to take a breath. I have everything.

I’m ready. The alarm goes off at 6am and, after a strong coffee, Kathi (who is my crew and photographer for the weekend) and I make our way down to the river where I’ll complete the paddleboard leg.

Today I’m on the water, not in it, and I’m looking forward to this part.

It’s windy and the water is moving fast. I make it down to the turn point quickly and, although I’m aware that going back will be harder, I wasn’t expecting it to be so hard. It seems that I’m not even moving and I get pushed into the bank. I lower myself to my knees to get more power and stability. After what seems likes hours, I can finally see the van and prepare myself for the last push. But try as I might, I can’t get into the bank. The swirling water current and the wind are just too strong. After 15mins of continuous paddling, sweating and

swearing, I have to admit defeat.

The minute I stop paddling, I lose all the ground I made up in seconds. I look around for a suitable place to get out. Rather shakily, I pull myself and the board out of the water. That was supposed to be the easy bit.

We make our way to the New Forest to start the bike section. The first lap is fun, and I return to the car park grinning and covered in mud.

Towards the end of second lap, it starts to get dark and I switch on all my lights and make sure I’ve my spares and battery packs. But I’m only 8km in when the light on my helmet flashes, warning me that it’s about to run out even though I’d charged it before the event. I stop and pull out the second light. This one doesn’t even switch on. It’s flat.

What the hell is going on?

DARKEST BEFORE DAWN I’m in the middle of nowhere and it’s pitch black, so we decide that the only way to get through the next 13hrs of darkness without my decent bike lights is to change the bike course to something more manageable. We also have to try and fit my running head torch to my bike helmet.

The forest is an incredible place to be at night and all I see are bright green eyes looking at me, which are quickly followed by white, heartshaped rear ends of the panicked

“The forest is an incredible place to be at night and all I see are bright green eyes looking at me” 96 /

/ March 2021

CLAIRE’S DIY ULTRA TIPS Don’t just plan your route online, get your feet (or wheels) on the ground. The last thing you need is any surprises on the day. It’s even worth considering a back-up course in case any issues arise.

1

Recruit a great crew. Whether they’re making you a cuppa or running some miles with you, having some company is a real morale booster.

2

Get social media involved.

Yes, it’s a solo event, but you can still get lots of support.

3

Consider a tracker.

There are a few companies (like www.geotracks. co.uk) that offer GPS tracker hire for personal challenges. And everybody loves dot watching!

4

Pack well.

Unless the DIY challenge is based at your house, you need to ensure you’ve enough clothing, spare shoes, lights, battery packs and plenty of food!

5

DUTOR

how was it for you?

Is that really a Terrier?

Claire experienced hallucinations on the run

deer racing away. The night seems to last forever but, as the sun rises, so do my spirits. I still have many miles left to go and I’m frustrated as the heavy mountain bike and the rocky, muddy paths make for slow progress. My back is painful and I’m having to tell myself that I’m not giving up. But all I have is a negative record playing over in my head. One lap at a time, Kathi reminds me.

The day passes and goes into another night. I’m broken, but at least I can see the end of the bike leg now. Once I’m finished, I say to Kathi that I’m done with longdistance cycling and I’m never doing it again. “Yes, of course,” she says with a wry smile. I may have said this once or twice before…

After a short sleep in the front of my van, wrapped in a DryRobe and two sleeping bags, I start the run.

The back pain disappears. I feel good again. It’s pitch black and the course is covered in roots. Within the first hour I’ve already tripped over half a dozen times and I need to be careful.

Just before dawn, the temperature plummets and I start shivering, violently. I also begin to fall asleep whilst running. I down some tepid coffee to try and wake myself up.

THE SUN RISES AGAIN The sun rises for the second time during my challenge and the dog walkers start to fill the quiet forest that I’ve had to myself all night. I’m not eating enough and my energy levels are dropping. I stop at the van for some cereal and sugary tea. That hits the spot and I’m also able to take off clothing, as the day gets a little warmer. My daughter arrives at lunchtime to run with me. This picks me up, although I need to tell her to slow down as her pace almost kills me. When she has to return to work, I plug in my music and try and get into the zone, but it’s hard. I’ve

98 /

/ March 2021

Claire’s near-60hr adventure concluded with a ‘gentle’ 84km trail run around the New Forest

now been on the move for 55hrs. It wasn’t supposed to take this long!

The last 15km are torture. My feet throb and all I can do is painfully shuffle my way to the finish. Lap after lap, hour after hour. Will it ever end? As it gets dark again, I start to hallucinate. Trees become people, sticks become snakes… At one point I jump and cry out, as there’s a man hiding behind a tree.

Except there isn’t. I try to focus only on the path ahead of me and ignore all of the strange things apparently going on around me. Eventually and after nearly 60hrs of cold, wet, muddy trails, I finish the first-ever DUTOR in the UK. I’m exhausted

DUTOR DETAILS

First leg 7.72km paddleboard Second leg 370km off-road bike Third leg 84km trail run Total time 59:12hrs Bike cleaning time 90mins More info brutalclaire.co.uk

and lean against the van with my hands on my knees. “Good god, that was hard.” Kathi looks at me and laughs, “Let’s get you home.”

The next day I can barely walk. My knees are swollen from the hours spent on the mountain bike, and my hands and fingers are numb from the pressure of the handlebars.

Other than that, I’m happy. There were a few moments when I’d thought that I couldn’t possibly go on. But, somehow, I managed to keep moving forwards. And I also learnt a lot of new things about offroad riding. Oh, and I’m definitely getting a gravel bike for the next time I do it…

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INTERVALS UNCOVERED

Essential tips on how to add intervals to your tri armoury ahead of race season

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RATED AND REVIEWED

Tri backpacks, bike computers and Jan Frodeno’s new Canyon superbike March 2021 /

/ 99

race calendar Pick your races and plan your season with the 220 Knowhow event guide

KAI OTTO MELAU

OULTON SPRING PARK DUATHLON

28 MARCH 2021 Enjoy an early-season race sharpener with a choice of sprint-, standard- and middledistance categories

PLEASE NOTE: DUE TO COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS, THE SITUATION WITH RACES IS CHANGING DAILY, SO PLEASE REFER TO INDIVIDUAL RACE WEBSITES FOR THE MOST UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION. TRI SPEAK

Wondering what the ‘washing machine’ is, or where to find your M-dot?! Make things easy with our guide to common tri terms…

‘A’-Race The most important race of your season Age-grouper Non-pro triathlete (most of us!)

Aerobic Aerobic exercise involves or improves oxygen consumption by the body

2021

FEBRUARY 3

GO TRI LOCAL MALLORY PARK (1.5km R/7.5km B/ 1.5km R).

Mallory Park Race Circuit, Kirkby. racerapid.co.uk

6

DUATHLON 12 – TEAM CHALLENGE (2km R/15km B).

Geraint Thomas Velodrome, Newport, South Wales. cyclone24.co.uk

Anaerobic How much energy your body can produce without using oxygen

7

Bilateral breathing Breathing every 3 strokes when swimming

ESSEX DUATHLON (various distances).

Debden Airfield, Essex. activetrainingworld.co.uk

bonking Running out of energy mid-race or training session

100 /

/ March 2021

DORNEY DUATHLON (various distances).

Dorney Lake, Eton. dorneytriathlon.com

14

OULTON PARK VALENTINE’S DUATHLON (various distances).

Oulton Park, Cheshire. opevents.co.uk VALENTINE’S DUATHLON (4.5km R/29km B/4.5km R). Ulverstone Leisure Centre, Lancashire. ulverstontriclub.com

MARCH 20

ASHBRIDGE DUATHLON (10km R/44km B/5km R).

Ashbridge House Estate, Hertfordshire. activetrainingworld.co.uk

28

EAST LEAKE TRIATHLON (400m S/22km B/ 5km R).

East Leake near Loughborough. endorphinsport.com HALESOWEN TRIATHLON (400m S/23km B/5km R).

EUROPEAN CHAMPS QUALIFIER

WORLD CHAMPS QUALIFIER

Halesowen Leisure Centre, West Midlands. halesowentri.org OULTON SPRING PARK DUATHLON (various distances).

Oulton Park, Cheshire. opevents.co.uk BUCCANEER DUATHLON (various distances).

Bucklers Hard, New Forest. entry.challenging.events

MAY 9

GREAT NOTLEY SPRING DUATHLON (4km R/20km B/4km R).

Great Notley, Essex. born2tri.com

STRATFORD TRIATHLON (various distances).

Stratford Leisure Centre, Warwickshire. uktriathlon.co.uk OUTLAW HALF NOTTINGHAM (1.2mile S/56-mile B/ 13.1-mile R).

National Watersports Centre, Holme Pierrepont, Nottinghamshire. outlawtriathlon.com EXMOUTH TRIATHLON (various dists).

Exmouth, South Devon. sportivaevents.co.uk

25

23

APRIL 18

TORBAY TRIATHLON SPRING (various dists).

Paignton, South Devon. sportivaevents.co.uk BRITISH AG CHAMPS

16

CHESHIRE TRIATHLON (various distances).

Barony Park and Nantwich Swimming Pool, Nantwich,

TRI ENGLAND NATIONAL CHAMPS

Cheshire. uktriathlon.co.uk SWYD TRIATHLON (various dists).

Barry, Wales. allornothingevents.com

31

ARCTIC ONE TRI & PARA-TRI FESTIVAL (various dists).

Dorney Lake, Eton, Berkshire. arctic1.co.uk

fishguardtriathlon.com DARTMOUTH TRIATHLON (various dists).

Dartmouth, Devon. sportivaevents.co.uk CELTMAN (3.4km S/202km B/ 42km R). Wester Ross, Scotland. cxtri.com

12-13

JUNE

SLATEMAN TRIATHLON (various distances).

Llanberis, Wales. alwaysaimhigh events.com

5

13

BRECA GOWER (swim-run of various distances).

Gower Peninsula, Wales. brecaswimrun.com/ breca-gower-swimrun

6

EASTBOURNE TRIATHLON (various dists).

Eastbourne College, East Sussex. eastbournetriathlon.co.uk ULTIMATE TRIATHLON (3.8km S/180km B/ 42.2km R). Alderford Lake, Whitchurch, Shropshire. uktriathlon.co.uk

12

THE WALES TRIATHLON (1.2mile S/56mile B/ 13.1mile R). Fishguard, Pembrokeshire. walestriathlon.com FISHGUARD SPRINT TRIATHLON (0.5-mile S/13-mile B/ 3-mile R). Fishguard, Pembrokeshire.

IRONMAN 70.3 STAFFORDSHIRE (1.9km S/90km B/ 21.1km R).

Chasewater Country Park, Staffordshire. ironman.com

19-20

SLATEMAN

12-13 JUNE 2021 After its 2020 postponement, the Slateman celebrates its delayed 10th birthday in 2021 SPORT PICTURES CYMRU

CHOLMONDELEY TRIATHLON (various distances).

Cholmondeley Castle. castletriathlonseries.co.uk

1,000km B/50km R).

Loch Ness to London. monstertriathlon.org

20

26

LAKESMAN TRIATHLON (various dists).

Keswick, Cumbria. thelakesman.com THE BUDE SHORELINE TRIATHLON (500m S/11-mile B/ 3-mile R).

Bude, Cornwall. shorelineactivities.co.uk

20-26

THE MONSTER TRIATHLON (5km S/

ST MARY’S TRIATHLON (various distances).

St Mary’s Loch, Scottish Borders. durtyevents.com

27

BIRMINGHAM TRIATHLON (various distances).

Sutton Park, Birmingham. uktriathlon.co.uk CARDIFF TRIATHLON AND DUATHLON (various dists). Cardiff,

Wales. alwaysaim highevents.co.uk DARTFORD BRIDGE TRIATHLON (various distances).

Dartford, Kent. bridgetriathlon.co.uk

Brick session When you ‘brick’ two disciplines together, e.g. bike & run

JULY

Catch The part of the swim stroke where you pull on the water

4

IRONMAN UK (3.8km S/180km B/ 42.2km R). Bolton, Greater Manchester. ironman.com OUTLAW HALF HOLKHAM (1.2-mile S/56-mile B/ 13.1-mile R).

Holkham Hall,

Carb-loading Eating a carb-heavy meal prior to a race to boost energy

DNS/dnf/DQ Did not start/Did not finish/ Disqualified Drafting Hitching a ride on someone else’s slipstream in the bike or swim

IRONMAN 70.3 STAFFORDSHIRE

13 JUNE 2021 A reservoir swim, hilly bike and rolling run awaits in Staffordshire

Duathlon Usually a run/bike/run format Elite Another word for a ‘pro’ – e.g. the Brownlees HIT High-intensity training HRmax Your maximum heart rate Hyponatremia A deficiency of sodium in the blood

CHARLIE CROWHURST/GETTY

Intervals Intensive training using repeated on/off efforts

March 2021 /

/ 101

TRI SPEAK (CONT) Lactic acid Produced in high-intensity workouts, it can inhibit oxygen movement around the body and slow you down Main set A block lasting 40-50% of a session where the heart rate is elevated

JURASSICMAN

15 AUGUST 2021 This point-to-point irondistance triathlon’s a beast, featuring over 8,600ft of climbing on the bike and around 3,675ft in the coastal-path run

M-dot Abbreviation for the Ironman logo – often seen as a tattoo!

overpronation Foot rolls inwards on impact rather than outwards overtraining Common symptoms of training too much with inefficient recovery include insomnia, headaches, moodiness, loss of enthusiasm and increased illness due to a suppressed immune system PB Personal best Pull The mid part of the swim stroke where the hands and arms accelerate using the purchase from the catch reps Pre-fixed distances covered and pre-fixed recoveries maintained

BRUTAL EVENTS

Rest interval (RI) Period of rest between reps Sighting Looking ahead/at an object while swimming to keep on course

T1/T2 ‘Transition 1’ (swim to bike) and ‘Transition 2’ (bike to run) Taper Reducing your training in the days just before your big race

102 /

/ March 2021

Norfolk. outlawtriathlon.com ENGLISH RIVIERA TRIATHLON (various dists).

Paignton, Devon. sportivaevents.co.uk HEVER CASTLE FESTIVAL OF ENDURANCE (various dists).

Hever Castle, near Edenbridge, Kent. castletriathlonseries.co.uk ZONE 3 SWYD SWIM RUN (various distances).

Barry Island, Wales. allornothingevents.com

various distances).

Coniston, Lake District. brecaswimrun.com/ breca-coniston

PEMBROKESHIRE COAST TRIATHLON (1.5km S/43km B/ 10.6km R). Broadhaven, Pembrokeshire. pembstri.org.uk BRECA CONISTON (swim-run of

CASTLE HOWARD TRIATHLON (various dists).

Castle Howard, York. castletriathlonseries.co.uk

10

HENLEY TRIATHLON (various dists).

Henley Leisure, Oxfordshire. uktriathlon.co.uk

11

(2.4mile S/112mile B/ 26.2mile R).

National Watersports Centre, Notts. outlawtriathlon.com TORBAY TRIATHLON (various dists).

Paignton, Devon. sportivaevents.co.uk BIRMINGHAM TRIATHLON (various distances).

Sutton Park, Birmingham. uktriathlon.co.uk

24

27

24-25

AUGUST

CASTLE TO COAST (1.9km S/108km B/ 21.2km R). Windsor-Brighton. castletocoasttri.com

25

OUTLAW NOTTINGHAM

YORK TRIATHLON (various dists).

York Sports Village, North Yorkshire. uktriathlon.co.uk COWMAN, CALFMAN AND

1

STAMPEDE TRIATHLON (various dists).

Emberton Country Park, Olney. big-cow.com DORNEY LAKE TRIATHLON (various dists).

Eton, Berkshire. theraceorganiser.com EVOLVE MIXED TEAM RELAY (250m S/10km B/ 1.5km R).

Spring Lodge Lake, Pontefract. evolveendurance events.co.uk BRECA LOCH LOMOND (various distances).

Loch Lomond, Scotland. brecaswimrun.com/ breca-loch-lomond

7-8

1

YORK TRIATHLON (various dists).

York Sports Village, North Yorkshire. uktriathlon.co.uk

14-15

MIDNIGHT MAN TRI (various dists).

Dartford, Kent. bridgetriathlon.co.uk ABERFELDY MULTISPORT FESTIVAL TRIATHLON (various dists).

Aberfeldy, Scotland. aberfeldytriathlon.com

15

JURASSICMAN (3.8km S/ 180km B/42.2km R).

Budleigh Salterton, Devon. brutalevents.co.uk

21

SOUTH COAST TRIATHLON (various dists).

Seaford, East Sussex. uktriathlon.co.uk

SEPTEMBER 2-5

UMUK (various dists).

Swallow Falls Hotel, Betws-y-Coed,

North Wales. racingquest.co.uk BRECA JERSEY (swim-run of various distances).

The Mumbles, Gower Peninsula, Wales. brecaswimrun.com/ breca-jersey

South Wales. eu.ironman.com

4

18-19

11

19

THE BRUTAL EXTREME TRIATHLONS (various dists).

Llanberis, Gwynedd, North Wales. brutalevents.co.uk

11-12

WOBURN ABBEY

TRIATHLON (various dists).

Woburn Abbey, Bedfordshire. woburnabbey triathlon.co.uk

12

OUTLAW HALF BOWOOD (1.2mile S/56mile B/ 13.1mile R).

Bowood House, Wiltshire. outlawtriathlon.com IRONMAN WALES (3.8km S/180km B/42.2km R).

Tenby, Pembrokeshire,

SANDMAN TRIATHLON (various dists).

Newborough Forest, Anglesey, North Wales. alwaysaimhighevents.com AVIEMORE TRIATHLON (various distances).

Loch Morlich, Cairngorms. durtyevents.co.uk

25-26

Threshold run A run at about 80% of your max heart rate for no more than 20mins time trials A setdistance session, where the aim is to swim as fast as you can over the allotted distance Transition area The place where you rack your bike and swap kit between discipline Tri-bars Also known as aerobars, they help you race aerodynamically

HEVER CASTLE TRIATHLON (various dists).

Hever Castle, near Edenbridge, Kent. castletriathlonseries.co.uk

Tumble turn Fast way of turning at the pool wall by performing a forward roll, push off and a twist to return to the initial stroke position

26

Turbo trainer A frame that attaches to your bike, turning it into a static trainer

OUTLAW X (1.2-mile S/56-mile B/13.1-mile R).

Thoresby Park, Thoresby, Nottinghamshire. outlawtriathlon.com

OCTOBER 2-3

CRAGGY ISLAND TRIATHLON (various dists).

Isle of Kerrera near Oban. durtyevents.co.uk

V02 max A measure of the body’s maximal ability to use oxygen to produce energy Waves The groups which triathletes are put in to start a race, usually split by age.

BRECA JERSEY

4 SEPTEMBER 2021 Swim-run returns to the Channel Islands where you do battle with some of the world’s most relentless tidal movements

ANDY LE GRESLEY PHOTOGRAPHY

March 2021 /

/ 103

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DANIEL SEEX

THIRD TIME’S A CHARM Brunty bemoans his lockdown injuries, in a classic example of what not to do in the lead-up to race day…

MARTYN BRUNT

Martyn is tri’s foremost average athlete and is living proof that hours of training and endless new kit are no substitute for ability.

Bad news comes in threes they say, and so it has for me this year. In true 2020 fashion, I’ve somehow managed to pick up three injuries in less than 12 months. That means I’ve endured my most injury-hit year ever, in the same year that I have completed the fewest number of races – a truly remarkable achievement even by my haphazard standards.

Like most of you, my plans for tri-world domination have been put on hold for a year. That’s no bad thing considering the reward for being a good triathlete this year was to do lap after lap of Challenge Daytona, a sort of seaside Holme Pierrepont. However, the few races I’ve done were completed in agony thanks to a succession of small but exquisitely painful injuries.

/ March 2021

It started in January, when I tore a muscle in my foot while running in the Midlands XC Championships at Warley Woods. I was making a late charge through the field of runners, having employed my usual tactic of two laps of dossing and two laps of trying. I’d just overtaken two flagging teammates with whom I shared some smug words of patronising encouragement, when suddenly something in my foot went ‘ping’ and I felt like I’d trodden on an armoured wasp. Because I’d just passed some teammates, I, of course, had to keep going at the same pace and avoid being humiliatingly re-passed.

To make matters worse, I was due to run the Gloucester Marathon the following weekend. After seven days of walking around with an impressive Herr Flick limp, I finally gave in to the nagging of my family and physio and solemnly swore to them I wouldn’t compete. This was a lie, of course. I snuck off early the following Sunday morning. The race will forever stick in my mind for two reasons: firstly, because I must be the only person in marathon history to be already hobbling at the start

weekend warrior

“Something in my foot went ‘ping’ and I felt like I’d trodden on an armoured wasp” 106 /

SOMETHING GOES PING

line and secondly, because I was so slow that they opened the roads before I’d finished.

I’d plenty of time to recover from this mishap thanks to Lockdown 1.0. By the time my next race came around, my foot, like my form, was a distant memory. Giddy with freedom at being released into the world, I immediately entered the first local race I could find. That just so happened to be the Black Country Ultramarathon, a 56km jaunt around the towpaths of Tipton.

SOMETHING WENT TWANG Having survived the perils of Netherton Tunnel and a bunch of p*ssheads in Aldersley, I got to 51km in the Black Country Ultramarathon when something behind my right kneecap went ‘twang’. I was left to complete the run looking like I was warming up for the 100m hurdles. It took a lot of time, tape and swearing before I was able to put my socks on unaided after that race.

Injury three happened just a few days ago. In a bid to keep up my fitness during Lockdown 2.0, I started doing home circuit training.

I should’ve known better than to think I could suddenly introduce some vigorous movement to them and get away with it. Sure enough, halfway through doing something called ‘hill climbers’ , a muscle in my arse cheek went and left me with a pain throughout my whole inner thigh area and another impressive hobble.

This injury is again deplorably timed because I’m due to run a trail marathon across the Shropshire Hills in a few days. Once again, after nagging from my family and physio, I’ve solemnly sworn that I’m not going to do it…

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