EverymanTri.com

Triathlon Lingo 101 (part 1)

Ever wish you had a quick resource to pick up some common triathlon terms that are frequently thrown around by veterans, but sometimes confuse newbies? Look no further - here are some common triathlon terms to add to your vocabulary...

Common Triathlon Swim Terms:

Beach start: Starting from the beach and running into the water to begin a triathlon.

Buoy: The floating markers used on a triathlon course to indicated course layout, distance and turns.

Deck: The hard surface around the pool.

Draft: To swim directly behind or beside the swimmer in front of you, which makes it easier to swim.

Floating start: Starting from the water without the feet touching to begin a triathlon.

New German Triathlon team formed around 7-time IM champ Timo Bracht

European online retailer 21run.com unveiled its new triathlon team today, formed around Germany’s Timo Bracht the 7 time Ironman champion and 5th place finisher at the 2011 Ironman World Championships in Kona.

Joining Bracht on the team will be former commerzbank team mate, Ironman Florida winner and runner up at Ironman Germany in Frankfurt last year, Jan Raphael, as well as Horst Reichel and Georg Potrebitsch.

Head coach and sports director of the new team will be coach Ralf Elbi with entrepreneur businessman Jorg Mayer taking on the role of team manager. Physitherapist Dirk Lederer and mechanic Gerhard Paris round off the team.

In addition to the main sponsor of 21run.com, profile design an 21cycles.com support the new team. Individual athletes are allowed further sponsors (or “friends”) as in Garmin for Timo Bracht and Gothia financial group for Horst Reichel.

“We will be announcing more sponsors and more athletes friends in the next few weeks” said manager Jorg Mayer “the interest is very high!”

Video: Hypoxic Training Mask makes Tri coach look like Darth Vader

Don't get us wrong...Being based in Boulder, Colorado at an altitude of over 5000 feet above sea level we certainly understand the racing benefits of hypoxic (without air) training.

In the interesting video below this triathlete says that the way to "take you training to the next level," is to go completely hypoxic for an indoor training session includes the swim, the bike, the run and a few other exercises like working the punching bag...which he demonstrates.

Video: SH@# Ultrarunners say....

You might think that the SH@# Ultrarunners say wouldn't be much different from the SH@# triathlete say, but you'd be very wrong.

Thanks to Dax Ross who sent us this video and wrote, "I'm a long-time reader of your blog and I'd love to share this video with your readers. I know it's an old meme, but there was a glaring absence of a running-related video."

OK swimmers, now it's your turn. We still of course need to know what SH@# Swimmers say....

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Video: Ever wonder what it is like to swim from Cuba to Florida?

You may recall that during the seventies marathon swimmer Diana Nyad was the greatest long distance swimmer in the world, and one of the most popular endurance athletes in America.

She swam so much and so fast that she broke numerous records including the 50-year-old mark for circling Manhattan Island.

In case your wondering she swam around the island (7 hrs, 57 min) in 1975.

But perhaps her most famous (if unsuccessful) swim was when she tried twice to swim the 103-miles from Florida to Cuba.

Both times she did not make it and almost died trying to overcome the current, waves and sharks.

Fast Forward to 2011 and 60-year-old Nyad once again tried to swim from Cuba to Florida twice.

And as before she didn't make it as she was stung by jellyfish and overtaken by fatigue. In the video below, "she talks about how to prepare mentally to achieve an extreme dream, and asks: What will YOU do with your wild, precious life?" according to the video's description.

Click play if you want to hear about her adventure and her funny and inspirational advice on making the most of your life.

Video: More SH@# Triathletes say....

OK, this is getting a bit out of hand. When the first one of these videos hit YouTube it was smart and clever. It is still smart and clever but perhaps the 15 minutes of fame that SH@# Triathletes say videos.... is starting to tick down.

What do you think?

USA Triathlon Winter Triathlon National Championship set for Sunday

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - With national titles and Team USA spots on the line, USA Triathlon's 2012 Winter Triathlon National Championship will be held Sunday in conjunction with the Powder Hound Winter Triathlon in Butte, Mont.

The annual event consists of a 5-kilometer run, 10-kilometer mountain bike and 5-kilometer cross-country ski - all on snow. Action will begin at 10 a.m. at Homestake Lodge.Visit usatriathlon.org for complete event details or to register.
 
The top three competitors in each age group will qualify for Team USA for the 2012 ITU Winter Triathlon World Championships in Jämijärvi, Finland, on March 24-25. Additionally, the top three overall finishers will represent the U.S. in the elite race at the Winter World Championships.
 
Among those slated to compete this weekend is defending women's champion Emma Garrard (Park City, Utah), who also owns three straight top-10 finishes at Winter Worlds.

Ever wonder what it is like to take a VO2 Max test? We find out

If you've been to any triathlon, duathlon, running race, spinning class or masters group swim, you can't escape the term "VO2 max".

What's a test really like?  Lucky for you readers, my pain is your gain.

I knew it was a dastardly as everyone fears when during setup, the doctor and student said, "here's a towel that we can use to wipe up the drool.  You'll need it."  What?

Now that's my kind of torture!  You will sweat.  You will drool.  You will not get as far as you think you can.  You will lose chest hair if you are a guy not shaving your chest.  Maybe some women, too, but that's a different topic for another day.

It all starts with reading the test outline, going over medical history and signing the consent form.  I think I heard the phrase; "you can stop the test at any time" uttered 20 times throughout the experience.  Very comforting.

Ever wonder what it is like to run in zero gravity? We find out

In running circles, the Alter G treadmill is all the rage. Differential air pressure allows a person to run at various percentages of their body weight all the way down to 20% of full body weight. What a revolutionary idea, and the implications for rehab and recovery are endless. According to the Alter G website, their treadmill is, “a highly effective athletic conditioning tool for both recreational and competitive athletes by allowing the user to train longer, run faster, gain additional strength, and enhance cardiovascular performance while minimizing impact and stress on their joints.” And I thought it was just a cool toy.

A few short months ago, Boulder had nary an Alter G. It was an extravagance normally reserved for professional sports team, the Olympic Training Center and elite running groups. Now, Boulder boasts three of these monstrous machines.

Breaking News: WTC puts a formal end to triathlon distance discrimination ;-)

For too long now Olympic distance triathletes have been shut out of racing the longer half and full Ironman triathlons. 

Of course the same held true for the champions of the longer IM races going Olympic or even Sprint.

But not any more, today the World Triathlon Corporation announced that the 2011 winners of the Hy-Vee 5150 U.S. Championship, Ironman World Championship 70.3 and Ironman World Championship will each recieve an invite to all three championships putting an end to championship triathlon distance discrimination once and for all ;-)

Video: IM World Champion Craig Alexander takes a spill on a Mechanical Bull at CES

This video is a bit of a funny commercial for one of Ironman Champions Craig Alexander's sponsors (Jabra), but on the other hand watching Crowie try to ride a mechanical bull is certainly entertaining.

However, he should probably stick with his day job, and the camera guy (or gal) shooting this video should stick will shooting the main subject of the video...or they might just miss the best part.

Check it out below to see what we mean.

Video: 30 minutes to Midnight at the 2010 Kona Ironman World Championships

Perhaps the most magical time during any Ironman race is the last half hour before midnight. Seventeen hours seems like a long time to cover 140.6 miles, but for some amateur athletes that last 30 minutes is the most important.

It is in that last 30 minutes before midnight that all of the training and effort comes to a glorious crescendo of victory. Watch as the clock the clicks down to midnight at the 2010 Ironman World Championships. You might even be surprised at who crosses the finish line in this short video that captures the Spirit of Ironman.

Follow on Twitter @everymantri or view latest videos on YouTube.

Ouch: another video disses the stuff that SH@# Cyclist say....

Ryan Van Duzer is a cyclist and TV Host and all around funny guy. So naturally the Boulder, Colorado based Renaissance man has jumped on the SH@# Cyclist say bandwagon and created this entertaining video.

So far we have Melanie McQuaid with her version of SH@# Triathletes say HERE and now we have the video below that lampoons cyclist.

OK, we just need the runners and swimmers to get in the act, and we'll have a full set of SH@# amateur endurance athletes say videos.

Check out the SH@# Cyclist say below:

Ouch: Melanie McQuaid's video disses the stuff that SH@# Triathletes say....

Canadian XTERRA triathlete Melanie McQuaid has won about every XTERRA race in the world at one time or another including the XTERRA World Championships...three times!

So she's a pretty tough chick to say the least.

In this funny video Melanie takes it to SH@# Triathletes all around the world with the hundreds of excuses, boost and crap they like to say.

In the video's description McQuaid writes, "I kid because I love and... it takes one to know one. Sh@# Triathletes Say can go on and on :)

However, the PR one is totally and bonafide triathlete lexicon. Everyone is constantly checking their watches. As is "I'm so tired" since every IM athlete is 100% of the time in the basket."

Check it out below to see which one of these  SH@# things you've perhaps said.

Chrissie Wellington's top tips on how to find your swim, bike & run motivation muse

It can be challenging to get motivated to swim, bike, and run in middle of winter. 

But Chrissie Wellington has some interesting tips in THIS recent story in Britain's Guardian Newspaper.

Of course the one tip that we found especially useful was, "I also have a dog-eared copy of Rudyard Kipling's poem If – and I write lines from it on my water bottles when I race."

In case you are having a hard time finding your triathlon training and racing muse, below is the poem that Chrissie keeps close to her heart. Feel free to write some of the lines on your morning mirror, fridge door, or even your water bottle.

Vanhoenacker and Swallow win Spec-Savers Ironman 70.3 South Africa

Marino Vanhoenacker of Belgium and Jodie Swallow of Great Britain won the 2012 Spec-Savers Ironman 70.3 in South Africa.

Vanhoenacker put together a solid swim, bike and run to cross the finsihline ahead of second place finisher Ronnie Schildknecht of Switzerland in a time of 4:06:25.

While on the women's side of the race it was all Jodie Swallow of Great Britain who lead the race from beginning to end and beat second place finisher Lucie Zelenkova of the Czech Republic in a time of 4:39:01.