Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2015 i Triathlon Plus

“Chatting to Jodie Stimpson for this issue was a total pleasure. Not only is she fun, enthusiastic and hardworking, she’s just like us in that she struggles to fuel herself properly. It’s a familiar balancing act of not wanting to gain weight as that makes competition harder but needing to be strong enough to climb hills and stay buoyant in the water. It’s a fine line, but while Jodie has a personal nutritionist on hand to help, we’re not all so lucky. That’s why in this issue we’ve spoken to experts to reveal exactly what you need to eat during training and how to get the most out of your body on race day (p36). Plus we take a look at how important race weight really is (TZ p11). This…

Thinking of upgrading your pedals to cleats? Practise clipping in and out on a turbo trainer first and wear cycle leggings rather than shorts to prevent bad grazes if you do take a tumble. If you’re only doing short distances consider going for mountain bike type shoes. They’re much easier to walk in and you can clip in on either side of the “pedal”. Plus they’re easier to clip in and out of. For longer distances, you’ll need road bike type shoes where the cleat is outside the shoe. Your foot is much more stable and doesn’t move about so much, but be warned – walking in them is like walking on ice!…

Beetroot is the latest superfood to get athletes all abuzz because of its high nitrate content. The dietary nitrate is thought to interact with enzymes in saliva to generate nitric oxide in the blood system, which increases the flow of blood and oxygen to the muscles, boosting strength and endurance. Research from Exeter University shows that between 400mg and 800mg of nitrate can be taken one to 12 hours before an activity. To save yourself peeling bags of beets, BEET IT has introduced a 100% super concentrated beetroot juice, which contains 3000mg of dietary nitrate per 250ml bottle. Available at beet-it.com from £5.99.…

• Your evening meal the night before is important. Swap cheese sauce for a tomato based one and avoid too much fruit and veg, as they can be quite heavy on fibre. An ideal meal is a rice, potato or pasta dish with some chicken, turkey or fish. Eat early (around 6pm) to give your body time to digest. • Look at your race start time and work back from there. A lot of Ironman athletes have breakfast at 3am on race day for a 6am start. Breakfast before a race should be two or three hours before so you can digest and get the energy. If that’s a struggle, start on energy drinks which are easier to digest. When you can eat real food, eat the same as training,…

Pad A comfortable pad is essential as the bike is the longest leg. Styles vary from simple fleece to sophisticated saddle-style chamois. They need to dry quickly after the swim and fade into the background on the run. Compression Many suits now incorporate compression panels to boost performance and ease fatigue. But some athletes can find compression panels overly tight. It’s personal, and comfort is your number one priority. Access Our testers agreed a front zip is preferable, both for ease of getting in and out and for offering extra ventilation on a hot day. Check for details like a zipper protector to prevent the zip from cutting into you. Fabric There’s an impressive array of technical fabrics and designs offering breathability, wickaway qualities and compression. A suit that wicks…

£3,999 Giant-bicycles.com GIANT’S PROPEL was the bike that always gathered an admiring crowd whenever we took a break from testing. But do the drop dead gorgeous looks translate into drop your mates’ performance on the road though? FRAME AND FORKS There’s no doubting that Giant’s bold solid orange front end and fork colour choice makes the Propel frame look superb, but there’s a lot of tech under the tangerine too. For a start the fork has custom TRP brakes mounted into the rear legs to minimise drag. The steerer tube at the top of the fork also uses larger than average “Overdrive 2” dimensions with a matching stem on top. All cabling is neatly internalised and the Di2 battery is hidden inside the aero seatpost. The teardrop seat tube is…

Notes and key The Race List AT THE TIME of going to press, some race details were yet to be confirmed. Before entering a race, or if you can’t find your favourite event here, please contact the organisers for the most up-to-date information. Distances given are: for triathlons, swim/bike/run; for duathlons, run/bike/run; and for aquathlons, swim/run. Swim distances are in metres up to 999, then kilometres. Bike and run distances are in kilometres unless otherwise stated, with ‘M’ denoting distances are in miles. JULY SATURDAY 25 JULY CASTLE HOWARD TRIATHLON Distance: Various Castle Howard, North Yorkshire castlestriathlonseries.co.uk CASTLES CHALLENGE TRIATHLON 2015 Distance: Various Bamburgh Castle, Bamburgh, Northumberland, NE69 7DF castlestriathlon.co.uk SALTY SEA DOG SERIES TRIATHLON Distance: 750m/23km/5km Boscombe Pier, Bournemouth, Dorset, BH2 5AA votwo.co.uk SUNDAY 26 JULY BUCKLERS NEW FOREST…

PHIL MOSLEY Coaching editor Phil has coached dozens of athletes to success over every distance and competes as an elite athlete himself. This issue he explains everything you need to know to race your best ever sprint distance triathlon. GUY KESTEVEN After years of testing metal over the pot-holed lanes of Yorkshire, our gear guru at large must have been relieved to see the introduction of carbon fibre as a mainstay of bike manufacture. There’s barely a bike saddle he hasn’t ridden. AMY KILPIN Our columnist Amy is an age group long distance triathlete and a world champion qualifier in both ITU and WTC racing. She documents her journey from non-triathlete to triathlon success in both her Triathlon Plus column and on her website, amykilpin.co.uk. GILL CUMMINGS-BELL BA (HONS) MSC…

2016 WORLD SERIES CALENDAR The ITU has announced the calendar for the 2016 World Triathlon Series, with two cities debuting for the first time. Abu Dhabi once again kicks off the series in March before it moves to the Gold Coast Australia in April. The series then moves to Yokohama, Leeds (11-12 June), Stockholm, Hamburg, Edmonton (Canada) before the grand finale in Cozumel, Mexico. For the latest news visit triathlon.org A TASTE OF ITALY… IN IRELAND More than 3,200 cyclists descended on Belfast for the inaugural Gran Fondo Giro d’Italia Northern Ireland on 20 and 21 June. Former Irish international star and local boy Mark Kane won the 173km Gran Fondo event just ahead of his brother, Paul. In the 58km Strangford route, Chris McKeown from Greenisland took victory despite…

It’s not always feasible to join a club or pay out for a personal tri coach but that doesn’t mean you can’t benefit from some personalised training. The customisable running and triathlon online training system, gocoach! has just launched an English language version, with a four week free trial period. The online service is ideal for any level triathlete and uses algorithms to create tailor-made weekly training plans using your personal training routes and heart-rate ranges, a handy training log and customisable stats plus personal interaction and support from real coaches on hand. Prices start from £12 per month. Visit www.go-coach.com…

LIFT, LOOK AND BREATHE Good navigation is an essential skill according to triathlon coach Matt Dixon, author of The Well-Built Triathlete. Lift your head up and out of the water so that you can see ahead of you, as your left arm begins the recovery part of the stroke. Your mission is then to look for and see the buoy ahead of you that you are aiming for. A good tip is to think about taking a quick snapshot of whatever is in front of you and then process it as your head drops back into the water. Within one quick motion, lift, look and take a snapshot, before continuing to rotate your head to the right to breathe. If you look ahead and don’t see the buoy, continue the…

GREEN is the desired emotional temperature to minimise energy consumption and maximise performance. You can think clearly and retrieve skills that lead to optimal performance. Stimulate your senses by listening to the water or your breathing. Observe what you see when you sight or breathe. Feel the water on your skin and the temperature. Doing this is a subconscious way to not think about anything that could be a threat. YELLOW is when your stress hormones are in slight excess, causing fluctuations in skill retrieval and focus. Calm your breathing first, then recall thoughts such as your PBs or good workouts. Have a list prepared in advance. RED is an all-out state of panic, survival is priority and there is no ability to retrieve skills. Lots of stress hormones are…

“For pre racing fuel I try to involve anything that doesn’t give too big a sugar hit. There’s nothing wrong if it gives you sugar over a long period of time. I used to think I had to take a lot of sugar before a race because you naturally think you need it, but you don’t. I suffer from sugar ups and downs. If I have a big hit of sugar my blood sugar goes really high and then half an hour later it ends up far lower than it was before. Nutrition very much depends on the person and the event. Ironman is a completely different story to Olympic distance. For a pre-race breakfast I normally have porridge or simple wholemeal bread with an omelette. Something that’s not going…

Bikes on test BOARDMAN AIR 9.4 DI2 £3,999.99 GIANT PROPEL ADVANCED 0 £3,999 CERVELO S3 ULTEGRA DI2 £3,999.99 BMC TMR01 DI2 £4,000 Tech talk BB30 Oversized axle standard using an alloy 30mm diameter axle rather than a steel 24mm diameter axle on the chainset. Aero drop bar Drop handlebar using a flattened or teardrop top section to reduce drag. Compact chainset A chainset using a 50 tooth large ring and 34 tooth inner ring rather than a full size 53/39 tooth pairing Di2 Shimano’s electronically controlled and motorised gear shifting system. Internal routing Gear or brake cables that are hidden inside the frames. Hybrid carbon rim A rim with an alloy braking surface/tyre trough on a carbon body. PF Bottom bracket bearings that ‘Press Fit’ into the frame rather than…

£3,999.99 Cervelo.com THE MOST popular bike in the annual Kona count for years, proven killers in the wind tunnel and arguably the bike with the highest pose value here puts Cervelo in a strong position before the S3 even turns a pedal. But how does it shape up at the sharp edge of testing? FRAME AND FORKS Cervelo have deliberately designed the S3 to be a user friendly all rounder so you’re getting conventional front of fork and seatstay brakes to make adjustment easier and keep control feedback clean. The wind tunnel shaped main tubes are kept deliberately stout for strength and stiffness with minimum weight and it’s flared for correct aerodynamics with a bottle in its cage. The oversized BBright bottom bracket is extra stiff too and big chainstays…

Scientists have discovered that simply shifting the angle of the bench while doing bench presses could make pectoral muscles work harder. Experts asked 14 fit, resistance trained, young men to perform a free-weight barbell bench press while horizontal, then tipped at 30, 45, and 15 degree angles. The greatest muscle activation was recorded when the bench press was performed at an incline of 30 degrees, working both the upper and lower pectoralis major. It’s important to ensure correct form, keeping elbows close to the body, and to have someone “spotting” (ready to take the weight if it gets too heavy).…

Psychology experts discovered a short-term target while working out can improve speed, boost motivation and make exercise seem easier. The study focused on the effects of “attentional narrowing” focusing on an object up ahead as opposed to letting your attention wander. Participants walking with ankle weights were asked either to look ahead to a traffic cone which marked the finish or look at their surroundings. Those focusing on the cones perceived them to be 28 per cent closer than the other group and reported the test required less physical exertion. Speed up your training or race by picking an object in the distance to focus on and you’ll get there quicker.…

MINI TEST NEW GEAR PUT THROUGH ITS PACES 1 FAST FORWARD JERSEY £53 paligap.cc The slender cut is designed for racing snakes as it’s both aero-fitting and short, although good hem grippers keep it in place. There’s an internal rear pocket for a race radio (it would double as an MP3). Up close the fabric is a honeycomb-like structure with only the thinnest of mesh covering thousands of small holes, which means it’ll keep you cool when your temperature soars – just remember to zip it up before you cross the finish line, arms aloft in a victory salute. OVERALL 2 DHB BLOK MESO JERSEY £39.99 wiggle.co.uk Targeted squarely at the sportive rider, the Blok Meso jersey boasts three deep, open pockets and a fourth zipped pocket for phone, cards…

WRITE IN AND WIN A LAZER TARDIZ AERO HELMET LETTER OF THE MONTH MADISON.CO.UK WRITE TO: TRIATHLON PLUS, KELSEY MEDIA, CUDHAM TITHE BARN, BERRY’S HILL, CUDHAM, KENT TN16 3AG debbi.marco@kelseymedia.co.uk triradar.com YOUR NEWS, OPINIONS AND INSPIRATIONAL STORIES IT’S MORE THAN a year since my daughter appeared in Triathlon Plus (issue 64) talking about how, at 20, she became one of the youngest ever Ironmen after years of battling with her weight and being bullied. Shortly after that interview she entered a gruelling event, the Brutal, in North Wales last September. If you think Ironman is hard, the Brutal is doubly so. It’s not just an extra four miles on the bike, but the last 10 miles of the run involves an ascent and descent of Snowdon. There were times when…

We spend so much time focusing on improving our swim stroke, biking further and running faster, it’s easy to forget that the key to effective training and a successful race day can be found in the fridge. Eating the correct food at the right time can help you speed up, go long and grow as a triathlete. Not all food is created equal in the world of triathlon so we spoke to Emma Barraclough, SIS senior sports nutritionist, to find out what to put on your plate. TRAIN YOUR STOMACH When it comes to food and training the most important thing is to go into your sessions adequately fuelled, especially if you’re planning to train at high intensity. If you’re only doing a steady shorter recovery session then it’s fine…

“You do get a bit of nerves but that’s good. You’re ready for it.” Q. You’ve been injured of late. What was the problem? All the pain was in my Achilles but it was my big toe that was the problem. Basically when you run you want to go over your big toe but because my big toe wasn’t flexible or strong enough it put more pressure on my Achilles. I didn’t run at all for five weeks and that took me into the Gold Coast, then I came home and got it diagnosed properly. Q. Have you been in rehab? Yes, I’ve been on an Alter-G [an antigravity treadmill]. You strap yourself into a treadmill and it takes up some of your body percentage so it allows you to…

Triathlon is not all that glamorous. You swim in dank lakes in a mosh-pit style fist fight frenzy, spend hours on a saddle with the smallest surface area known to man, then run at the end like an extra in a zombie movie, red-faced, sweating, maybe even crying and smelling worse for wear. This is why we love it, right? It’s not really an advert for female participation, and perhaps that goes some way to explain the gender gap, which is so apparent in triathlon. It’s also steeped in an historic past of low visibility as a sport, which probably hasn’t helped. Only now is triathlon becoming more mainstream, but how do we encourage more women to participate? This year has been abuzz with campaigns to encourage more female participation…

£3,999.99 boardmanbikes.com THANKS TO the Brownlee brothers, Boardman’s smoothly sculpted AiR bike is one of the most successful machines in triathlon. But is the 9.4 Di2 version a suitably gold medal performer? FRAME AND FORKS The first thing to point out is while the frame is exactly the same as the AiR 9.8 used by the Brownlee brothers, the forks aren’t. The 9.4 here still uses an aero sculpted full carbon fork, but it has a conventional front mounted Ultegra brake calliper. In contrast the 9.8 uses a unique fork with an extra deep upper section that means a side pull brake can be hidden entirely out of the wind “inside” it to reduce drag. Otherwise you’re looking at exactly the same carbon fibre lay up with smoothly elongated junctions…

£4,000 Evanscycles.com BMC’S TIME Machine Road is a well proven champion on the pro road circuit. Does the literally cutting edge technology translate as well to real life riding? FRAME AND FORKS The aggressively angular look of the TMR01 is obvious from a distance but there’s even more detail close up. The front of the fork legs and tubes have a distinct “Sub A” step set into the curve of the face that’s designed to deliberately “trip up” surface airflow creating a layer of turbulence that reduces overall drag. The back sides of most of the tubes also use a blunt trailing edge that again creates a flexible “virtual tail” of turbulence designed to keep overall airflow cleaner than a fixed teardrop in crosswinds. The front brakes are not only…

Phil Mosley Coaching Editor The brain behind Training Zone is Phil Mosley, an elite triathlete, former national duathlon champion, and coach with a degree in sports science. He also trains individuals at myprocoach.net In this issue’s Pep Talk I want to talk about something I’ve noticed a few of my athletes doing lately. Maybe you’re doing it too? I’m talking about when people add random stuff to their existing training in the belief that it will make them faster. Here are some examples. One of my clients has started riding 20 minutes to work in addition to the other swim, bike and run workouts I plan for her. Another of my athletes has started running harder during the recovery sections of the interval sessions, while a third client is doing…