The mid-pre-season blues

When I was racing in France there was a saying that went Fort en janvier. Mort en julliet. Strong in January. Dead in July. In French it rhymes! Basically it meant if you were flying around the track, dominating winter races and, in short, feeling strong, you were going to be burnt out by the time the important summer races came around.

January seems to be a particularly tough time for athletes I coach. They don't see the early gains they see when they first get started in October/November. There a no races to freshen up for and use as motivation. Plus it's dark and cold and sometimes wet. And the holidays are behind them.

Also, I'm a big cumulative fatigue guy. My athletes are generally, at this point of the season, training frequently and consistently. No one workout is crazy in length or intensity but they are training often and combined effects mean they are tired. Most of the time. Tired at the track, tired for the long ride, so they don't feel fast or strong within themselves or compared to other and that's just fine. Fort en janvier. Mort en julliet.

Really, when I was in serious training, I always enjoyed this time of year. I could focus 100% on the training without the interruptions of racing. Skills and techniques and strength deficiencies can be worked on without panic. With experience, I also enjoyed holding back at group workouts knowing that I was laying down a foundation for the season. The measuring and comparing could wait.

3 Basic Jobs For Race Directors

This article is not to suggest that the task of organizing a running or triathlon race is an easy one. But I do feel, with all the bells and plastic medals of the modern event, that a reminder on the fundamentals are in order. These are the three most important things to get right. The rest is fluff.

1. Measure the course

We're all checking our Garmins anyway, you could argue, but as we know they can be inaccurate and confuse things. It's even more important now than ever to have confidence in the official distance, especially at the longer distances. See this marathon that got it wrong not once but twice. Infuriating.

2. Time each person on the course

Mordern chip timing is great when it works. But there's no one who competes regulary who hasn't experienced it NOT work at least once (a season!). We seem to forget that you can actually achieve close to the same thing with a couple of volunteers a pen and stopwatch. I presumed that's why we're covered head to toe in numbers in the first place. I sometimes wonder how much effort is put into a backup plan.

3. Penalize cheats

As some races more closely resemble parades than competitions it may be a surprise that a significant proportion of racers still enter events to compare themselves to others. They can't do that fairly if the rules aren't being followed. Everything from entering the wrong waves, drafting, cutting the course needs to be thought about beforehand to be able to prevent and catch competitors messing up the results inadvertently or otherwise. Someone has to be nominated as race official and train volunteers to watch out for rule infringements and how to report them. 

There, I feel better now.

Ironman triathlon announce new flexible order rule

As part of Ironman's ongoing race development and improvements a new flexible order rule has been announced for all Ironman branded events effective immediately. Hot on the heels of the rolling start initiative, which allows athletes to start whenever they like, competitors will now be able to choose the order they complete the three sports that compose a triathlon.

The idea grew from concerns, first voiced on social media, that the marathon is always held during the hottest part of the day. Many, including the fast growing millennial demographic, felt that was a bit too hard. After effectively killing head-to-head competition with the rolling start, it was a natural next step for organizers to allow competitors to choose for themselves what order they complete the swim, bike and run.

"Just because some mustachioed hippie in the late 70s thought it should be swim, then bike, then run, doesn't mean it has to always be that way", explained Ironman CEO Andrew Hawtmessick. "Many of our customers prefer to finish with a cooling swim and get the marathon out of the way early. We're responding to a need."

The new flexible order rule did cause some consternation among the coaching fraternity. "All the coaching courses we take keep harping on the challenge of running off the bike," complained Dutch national coach, Faarten Mearings. "If our athletes choose not to do the run after the bike, what are we supposed to do with the "brick" workout?"

According to Ironman, however, the athlete response has been positive overall. Most of the questions received to their offices since the announcement are on whether or not the new rules will effect plans to get Iroman tattoos or stick 140.6 stickers to their cars.

Should Fog Cancel A Triathlon Swim?

Since this blog was published swims were cancelled or shortened at 2017 Santa Cruz 70.3 and 2018 Santa Rosa 70.3. No refunds or reimbursements were offered.

Seems like Ironman are very quick to pull the plug on the swim when conditions get tricky. Athlete safety is often cited as the concern. Although it seems hundreds of often moderately trained athletes cycling and running for over 12 hours in 100 degree heat doesn't classify as an athlete safety risk. There are inherent risks in the sport and changing environmental conditions is part of the sport's appeal. Are organizers doing enough to save the swim when things get tricky?

The Ironman 70.3 Austin swim was cancelled this morning because of fog and in an instant the hours of swim training and preparations of triathletes competing were for naught. 

The fog is hanging on. Delayed start. #ironman #austin #triathlon #purplepatch

A video posted by Sean B. Garick (@push_ur_limits) on Oct 30, 2016 at 5:56am PDT

Moments before the eventually cancelled swim leg at Austin 70.3

These events aren't cheap so perhaps resources could be allocated to solutions. How about a line a kayaks equipped with flares every 100 yards? Lighted lane ropes? Hold the swim parallel to the shore just beyond the break? Delay the start and extend the permits? None of these sound impossible. There are a mass of people. If the leaders are properly led and surrounded with some extra sighting support we should be able to get athletes from A to B.

Agreed, it's not ideal but were triathlons meant to be easy? For once, strong swimmers would have some difficulties to be able to distinguish themselves. And, really, what's the worse that can happen? Some athletes take a wrong turn and wash up on the shore. Is there actually a "threat" especially in a closed water environment of someone swimming to China? Triathletes should take some time to properly prepare in a variety of open water conditions and organizers should honor that work by holding the event whenever it's possible.

Mako Wetsuit Review

So I broke one of my golden rules and used the Mako Extreme wetsuit ($750) in a race without training in it first. I arrived late 20 minutes before the start of a mid-week swim/run event and threw it on for the first time.

My first impression of the Mako was that it was super easy to get on. It shouldn't really be an evaluating factor but it was nice not to struggle with a wetsuit for 10 minutes just to put it on. Especially when you're running late! It was equally easy to take off in T1. Which IS a performance advantage.

I had ordered an XL, which was my size from the online sizing chart and it fits well. I really like the long arms. Too often wetsuits will pull up too far up on the wrist but this one I was able to pull it over my shoulders properly and still cover the wrist completely.


The other thing I noticed was the flexibility around the shoulders and forearms. I've personally never had a problem feeling constricted in a wetsuit but I often hear from athletes that they feel like long-sleeved wetsuits work against them when they are lifting their arms out of the water. This will be used as a reason to go sleeveless (which is always a much slower option). The Mako was the most flexible suit I've experienced around the shoulders.

The other peculiarity of the Mako is you pull the zip down on the back to secure and up towards the neck to take it off. I prefer this method as I find it less awkward to rip off getting out of the water running up the beach but some people don't like it or aren't used to it.

The only potential negative I found was some pretty bad wetsuit rash around the neck after swimming in it. There are two seams around the neck area which I haven't seen in some other suits but if you're extra generous with the Bodyglide to avoid abrasion that resolves the problem.

Ironman Rolling Starts Are Bullshit. Here's Why.

Some moron at Ironman corporation sometime in 2013 decided that a "rolling start" was a good idea. I've previously ranted over chip time over gun time as the decider of running event podiums but I'm compelled to revisit this topic following this devastating example of anti-competitive, race convenience before athlete crappola.

Here's some results of the male 30-34 age group of the Ironman Chattanooga. First two qualified for the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii:

At face value, what an epic race! So little separating 2nd to 4th. A closely matched battle of guts and glory. Bitterly disappointing for 4th but what a race just to be involved in. A sprint finish after 10 hours of racing to claim every Ironman's dream, a coveted Kona slot. Right?

WROOOONG.

Mr. Sunn actually crossed the line about 20 minutes in front of the eventual 2nd and 3rd place finisher one of who booked their place to Kona. How does that work? For those that don't know, the rolling start is basically start whenever you feel like it, the clock will start as you cross the start line. His competitors started behind him. They raced in different conditions, different athletes around them, different time of day. One passing more athletes, one in clearer water and emptier roads up in front. On a hot day especially, the conditions, the wind and heat they rode and ran in, also would have been different. But what's more abhorrent is they didn't EVER get to "race". And essentially, that's what you're paying for.

Ironman was never meant to be a time trial. The legend of the sport was born on the back of Dave Scott and Mark Allen's epic side-by-side battle, the Ironwar, in 1989. That could never have happened with a rolling start.

What's the excuse for it? Anxiety reduction? Please, there's no evidence mass starts have anything to do with the tiny percentage of swim fatalities that occur in triathlons. All the rolling start does is take away the amazing, unique thrill of the mass start and the very soul of the sport.

PAUSATF Cross Country - The Secret California Race Series For Runners

Season opener of the Pacific Association Cross Country Grand Prix (photo: Gunnar Roll)

It was almost like they were hiding. A steep redwood lined single track opened up into a small field where there were a few tents and tables and a few hundred runners with their belongs strewn across the grass. There was none of the blaring "psyche up" music and race announcer noise we've become accustomed too at locally organized road runs put on by commercial race organizers. If even if there were, not many wouldn't have been there to hear it as they were on lengthy warm up or cool down runs from one of the three 4-mile races (open men, masters men and women). Probably fortunately, there was no sponsoring fitness club to encourage participants to do jumping jacks pre-run.

Registration for the UC Santa Cruz XC Challenge

If there was on-line registration I couldn't find it. You could save yourself $5 by mailing in a generic entry form but seeing the race was less than half what I'd paid earlier in the year for a race put on by a local shoe store chain I was happy to hand over $20 cash at the empty registration table which was at the parking lot beside three lonely looking porta pottys. I was handed a number and 4 pins.

Knowing what I was getting myself into I lined up right at the back of the Opens Men's event, which turned out to be very accurate self-seeding.  From my vantage point I observed a distinct lack of running store pushed paraphernalia; compression socks, fuel belts, GUs. Just mostly skinny guys in club singlets. There was no chip timing and the awards for 1st, 2nd and 3rd were announced very shortly after I stumbled over the finish line. The winning guys ran up and down the gravelly incline in around 5:15 min/mi pace. I boasted of a negative podium after the race (3rd last). There were no bars, cookies, hot chocolate at the post-race refreshments table, just some sports drink, cut up oranges and banana. I'm not sure if that explained why most around me were so skinny but I wasn't hearing any complaining.

Masters Mens race

Another unusual aspect was that there was money to be won. Both for individuals and the collection of USATF teams that were present. It doesn't amount to much ($50/$30/$20 of the winner of the Mens Open race), but better than the resounding nothing of most, much higher participation, local races offer. The teams dimension also added some extra motivation and the atmosphere was supportive with runners cheering their team mates from the sidelines.

While generally devastating for the ego, the Pacific Association Cross Country Grand Prix is a great reminder that, when you strip it away, being a good runner has a lot to do with, well, running. With races from August to November in locations from Santa Cruz to Sacramento and in between, lots can be learned by joining a PA USATF club and surrounding yourself with these athletes both young and old. Just don't expect to hear many inspiring stories about running changing lives. From the hot pace I suspect most of them started running at high school or college and just never broke the habit.

Why Is Bart Yasso Famous?

If you ask most people this question they will tell you "Yasso 800s". Turns out if you run 10 x 800m intervals your splits in minutes and seconds will be about what your marathon time is in hours and minutes. He thought of that...

The Obligatory Yasso Selfie. Source: Twitter

So, why is Bart Yasso famous? He's kinda old now so must have been some athlete in his hey day. Well, he won the Smoky Mountain marathon in 1998. That's right *the* Smoky Mountain marathon. And he was U.S. Biathlon Long Distance champion in 1987. Which is either shooting and running or cycling and running*. In any case I'm sure you all have your DVRs set to the next Biathlon Long Distance Championships.

So, maybe not athlete. How about coach? What with the workout and numerous published training schedules. He helped ______ to numerous victories and pulled _______ from obscurity to become one of the world's best.

I met Bart once (who hasn't) and he seemed like a lovely bloke to me. Friendly, humble and generous. He has a job which basically allows him to cruise around the world and do run races. Jealous? Yes, I am. Famous? Why not I guess.

*I did some research. According to wikipedia Biathlon is shooting and cross country skiing. No running involved.

8 Things Competitive Runners and Triathletes Can Do To Get Their Sports Back.

The Seventh Sign of the apocalypse came recently when Competitor Group, organizers of the Rock n' Roll Marathons, pulled support of elite runners from their events. It signaled a mainstream acceptance of the end of distance running and triathlons as sports and their re-categorization into what you could term "endurance activities".

Photo Credit: Pilot Roads

The vast majority of races have become endurance activities. Combined with running is entertainment (music, dress-ups, mud), marketing props (compression socks, fuel belts) and in some cases obstacles (paint, mud, fairy lights). These endurance activities have brought thousands upon thousands to the healthy lifestyle of running and triathlon.

Since the Competitor Group decision I've read articles from those that remember and enjoyed competitive running and triathlon before it they became participation events. They try and blame themselves and brainstorm ways to rescue the sport by integrating better with the endurance activities. To them I say, let it go, the horse has bolted. It's time to leave endurance activities to those that enjoy them and reclaim running and triathlon as sports again as a separate entity.

Running and triathlon can be competitive sports again but first, let's remind ourselves exactly what that means.

Essentially competitions were races to determine who was the fastest. To do that you had to pit yourselves directly against one another. The aim of everyone competing was to get yourself over the finish line first or as close as possible to first as your ability allowed. The winners were celebrated and rewarded because that was what was important. No, scratch that, it was more than important, it was the whole fucking point.

If you are interested by competition, and would like triathlon and running reinstated as a sport, there are a number of actions you can take to change and support a competitive event culture.

1. Boycott races called 5K that aren't

Facebook Ad for Rebel Race

What is most irritating about the [Mud, Color, Rebel, Fire, Paint, Glow Stick] phenomenon is they continue to co-opt the "5K" bit which gives the impression the event is a running competition. These events have more to do with pornography than running.

2. Boycott races that raise money for charity or that forces you to raise money to enter.

Whoa! Confronting. But when you think about it charity and competition really have nothing in common. The connection is purely arbitrary.

The lines used to be clearly drawn between fundraiser and athletic event. Runs to raise money were called "Fun Runs" and were clearly separated from normal running events. Similar to the way  "Swim-a-thons" are different to a regular competitive swim meet. You knew what you were getting into before you signed up. Now, it's almost impossible to enter an endurance event that is not connected to a charity. It's also becoming increasing common for you to be discriminated against entering unless you are raising money by having special slots reserved for charity entrants.

3. Boycott races with an Expo

Most endurance products don't work so trying to tie a sprawling marketing expo of endurance junk to any competitive event is a distraction. Check my product reviews for more on that. I'm not against sponsors but it doesn't need to be a never ending proliferation of crap that's being marketed to those involved in endurance activities.

4. Support events that offer prize money or decent swag to the winners.

This is important to encourage the best athletes to compete. Many endurance activity organizers have made it very clear this is not a priority.

5. Boycott runs that use chip time over gun/clock time to determine the winners.

Awards based on chip timing reduces any potentially competitive situation into a meaningless personal time trial. Essential competitive elements such as tactical surging are nullified if you are consider that the athlete you are pacing off might actually be five seconds in front of you because of where they lined up on the starting line. More detail here.

6. Boycott triathlons that implement wave starts or rolling starts for no reason.

As well as preventing direct competition excessive use of staggered waves destroys the spectacle that is the mass start. There is no proof that swimmers are dying in triathlons because there are other swimmers around them. Absolutely none. Hundreds of competitors setting off together at the sound of the starters gun was one of the sports great thrills and experiences. There are exceptions for short races if the bike course would truly become too congested and cause drafting but this should not be an issue for long distance races. A wave of 50 people is ridiculous.

7. Boycott any race that offers a medal to everyone.

The New York Times article Losing Is Good For You was written about kids sports but it applies equally to endurance activities. It boils down to fact that there's no motivation to perform if everyone wins.

8. Join a club

Contributing to the strength of clubs can add an extra layer of competition to an event through team competitions. Of course there are events that try and kill even this layer of competition by offering participation points and points for arbitrary things like volunteering. A strong club can also hold their own events which are more likely to be competitive in nature.

It will be a long road back but following these 8 suggestions may encourage some race directors to put on triathlon and running competitions again. Any other suggestions?

Five Ways to Avoid Paying the Race Entry Fee

I could have written a bitchy post complaining about the price of entry fees for endurance events and how, back in the day, a sprint triathlon used to cost $20 back yadda yadda but instead I've decided to be helpful and compiled some ideas on how to avoid entry fees altogether.

Volunteer

One of the huge challenges of putting on a running or triathlon event is finding and coordinating volunteers. How profitable event companies convince people to work for them for free in the first place is a mystery to me (note to self for future blog post).

However, this common need for free labor can be seized upon and many race directors will be prepared to dish you a free entry for a future race if you offer, or recruit someone else, to help out at one of their events. I've even helped out the day before at registration (which is a far better job than being stuck on a street corner with an orange vest and a flag for hours) and raced the next day. It was a nice little arrangement.

Win

On the couple of rare occasions I've won an event I've usually been invited back the next year for free. It's worth asking if it's not offered to you. Unfortunately, attracting fast athletes to races seems less and less of a priority (see Competitor Groups recent decision to dump support of elite athlete fields) so simply having good performances might not get you a comped entry.

If you're speedy try sending a nice resume, and promising some collateral marketing, like a blog post previewing the race and some social media love and you might get in for nix. Finish Line Productions in California has the novel idea of giving away race credits as age group prizes at its events to use for future events.

Corporate

Team Building! Running a relay with your work buddies is a much better option than falling back into each others arms in the conference room IMHO. I've had great times at corporate paid events; a team adventure race at the Sea Otter Classic, Seagate paid my entry for years to the Wharf to Wharf when they were the major sponsor and Tuesday I've taken the afternoon off work to go run the JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge in San Francisco. If you work it right you can get time off work, and travel reimbursed as well, in exchange for your competitive endorphin fix. Win, win, win.

Don't wait around for it to be offered the opportunity either. Find a team event, some sporty work mates and pitch it to your Corporate Communications people. If you do it right you'll come across as a motivated team oriented employee and not distracted endurance junkie who can't wait to get out of the office.

Competitions

I'm struggling to think of a specific example but some events will raffle off free entries (most times long before the event) to promote it. Follow your favorite events on Twitter and Facebook in case something comes up. International destination races are particularly susceptible to these types of promotions.

Sponsors

Oftentimes, as part of the sponsorship package, a limited number of free entries are given to businesses or clubs officially supporting the event. These might not even be taken advantage of by the recipients so it might be worth shmoozing up to a sponsor if you have a connection. Offer to race in their t-shirt at the event and they might happily hook you up with a free entry.

Core Power and an Ironman Champ vs. this piece of chicken

Cooooore Powerrrrr is packed full of protein. You need protein after a workout to recover properly. That's why Craig "Crowie" Alexander drinks it (when you're looking) and he is a three-time Ironman Triathlon World Champion. The sucky thing is, if you drink Core Power, you don't automatically become Craig Alexander. That's because he does 30+ hours training a week and, well, who has the time and motivation for that?

Anyways, enough about exercise, this is about recovery and you can recover just like Craig Alexander with Core Power. It has 26g of protein. So, as it happens, does 4oz of chicken breast. 4oz of chicken covers about the size of the palm of your hand.

Let's compare:

corepower.com

Chicken has chicken in it (boring) so let's move to the ingredients of Core Power. Core Power is basically milk and sugar and some synthetic compounds. Not sure where the extra protein comes from because I can't see anything in the ingredient list that could contribute to extra protein compared to regular milk. Any ideas readers? Core Power also brags about having Vitamin D which you can get by going outside.

Carrageenan is an interesting one. Researchers have reliably linked dietary carrageenan to harmful inflammation. Read the latest full independent report. The body is already inflammed after exercise and I'm thinking the fact "Carrageenan so reliably causes inflammation that scientists actually use it to induce inflammation in biological experiments" would not be so super.

Core Power costs about $3 a bottle and that tiny amount of organic chicken would cost about $1.50.

So I'm going to side with the chicken but facing off against Crowie and these dominators is tough.

If you wish to support the fight for chicken to become a sports recovery beverage, please buy a chicken coop...

Help Educate Olympians on Benefits of Compression Socks

I stumbled across some photos of the 2012 London Olympics and noticed something shocking. None of them were wearing any compression gear!

Uninformed Olympians

Anyone who's done a triathlon or half marathon knows compression totally works to make you faster by stopping muscle vibrations, lactic acid build up and preventing injuries not to mention helping you recover faster. Why haven't any of these so called Olympians figured it out yet? I must say I'm surprised as they always seem to be looking for the edge over their competition. Some even take drugs! Compression socks are totally legal.

Fit ladies totally rocking the compression
socks (credit: www.bitchyrunners.com)

So what I've done is formulated a three point plan that we can all participate in to reach out to Olympians so they're all clued in before Rio Olympics in 2016.

1. Send them to Race Expos

Elite athletes sometimes have to go to press conferences, skip registration and train before the event so they might be missing out on the pre-race expos they have at their events. There are tons of companies that make awesome compression gear. Many of them go to the Expos and all of them have experts at the booths that can help you formulate a recovery plan. They are just there to help and educate you. Oh and you can buy the socks right there on the spot so make sure they know to bring their credit card. Convenient, huh? Some of the consultants I've spoken to even run themselves.

2. Tell them about Meb Keflezighi

Meb, if you don't know, wins nearly every Rock n' Roll Half Marathon he enters. He's an American so he probably has better education and access to resources than some of the runners from East Africa and Sudan and such.  Some of those countries can't even afford roofs on their schools.

Meb looking tired before he
 knew about compression

Meb knows about compression. Like all of us who wear them, he has totally PRed in them. His PR is 2:09.08 which is seven seconds faster than when he wasn't wearing them. Seven seconds might not sound much to regular runners like us but it's MASSIVE for an Olympian.

Awesome testimonials from real runners.

He probably wouldn't like this but if you run across one of his African competitors tell them about compression socks and that Meb wears them. If they don't believe you tell them to get a Competitor magazine. He's in every issue wearing them. Competitor magazine is free too so they shouldn't hassle you for money either if they are from one of the poorer countries.

3. Get them into Social Media

Facebook Fan pages and mommy runner blogs are great sources of information for everything running and endurance. Try and friend an Olympian and send them some links of good running sites so they can educate themselves on what we already know. They can read the comments themselves and see how stoked people are on their compression socks.

I've also made this ready-made tweet for you to raise awareness:

Help Us Educate Olympians on Benefits of Compression! http://bit.ly/141MaB7 @tricoachmartin #runchat #runnerds

What's a FuelBelt for? No, seriously...

A picture of the
useless thing (flickr crab68)

Updated: 11/17/2018...Still useless

The hydration belt, of which FuelBelt is the best known, is a ridiculous invention for triathletes and runners that consists an elastic strap with tiny little holders that fit tiny little 7 oz (200 ml) bottles. The most pointless use for them involves filling them with fluids. After fumbling with each of your various four bottles you'd probably have enough fluids to sustain you for about an hour of exercise. In this time, if you were using it for racing, you probably would've passed by two or three aid stations, offering similar sugary substances, handed straight into the palm of your hand by a volunteer.


BUT ALL THE PROS USE THEM!
Yes. Yes they do. Mercifully for them they are paid to. But how do they minimize the damage? Well, I couldn't find any evidence of their sponsored athletes actually using any FuelBelt products (aside the elastic band) while racing. If they do use them, they're using the two bottle over the four bottle version (interesting) and they fill them with gels. So, yeah, at least that way the contents of the bottles will last them the entire event. At the end they lug an empty belt of empty bottles over the finish line for the cameras. Personally, I suggest using whatever is on the course unless you're getting paid to.

OH, NO BUT I *MUST* HAVE THE STRAWBERRY FLAVORED GU BRAND I'VE BEEN SPECIFICALLY TRAINING WITH.
Grow a pair, ironperson, vanilla is not going to kill you. Or, if you're really that sensitive to various food flavor additives, find out what flavor gels they are giving out on the course and train with those. Try and get the most out of your over priced entry fee.

BUT WHERE AM I GOING TO STORE MY GELS?
In your pockets. They have them built into your tri suit now to justify charging you $150 for a piece of lycra.

HANG ON, DOESN'T HEATHER JACKSON WEAR AND WIN IN A FUEL BELT?

View this post on Instagram

Race week!💃🏼💃🏼💃🏼 Lots of hydrating with @herbalife24 electrolytes all week ... and snacking on @chiquitabrands 🍌😹 #IMAZ #arizona #ironman #triathlon #herbalife24 #bananapower #🍌 #electrolytes #CR7Drive #herbalife💚 📷 @topho

A post shared by Heather Jackson (@hjacksonracing) on Nov 13, 2018 at 11:16am PST

Well, she wins in a belt. There's not actually any fuel attached to it and in reality she seems to prefer taking fluid from paper cups at an aid station. Still, that doesn't stop FuelBelt sponsoring her. I'm waiting on the wind tunnel test results to see how much faster that piece of elastic is compared to others.

BUT MY RUN LEADER AT THE FLEET FEET RUNNING GROUP TOLD ME WE NEEDED ONE FOR OUR TRAINING RUNS?
Shut up.

Inspirational Running Poster

Weekend Bike Rides for Dads. Six Rules For Success

1. Leave early
You're up anyway, you may as well go. And you absolutely must be back for your wife's yoga, coffee session, pilates, walk whatever it is at 10 a.m. Be back on time. I don't care if your front crank got caught in your back spokes and tore your chain into five different pieces. Be back on time.

2. Go with other dads
Even if they were to get up early enough to go with you your single friends are no longer good company. You don't want their Friday night tales reminding you of a by-gone area and they don't want your analysis of the latest trends in playground equipment.

3. Wear what you like
No one cares. There will be no swilling of lattes, shaved legs outstretched, watching people in the sun for hours post-ride and you don't have the disposable income for the latest new pro team kit now anyways. Wear the yellow socks with the cheapest Pearl Izumi knicks you can put on your hairy legs. Knock yourself out.

4. Be inappropriate, swear, ogle joggers
Get it out of your system, fella.

5. Take the safe route
You may still be convinced you're not going to die on your bike but someone is actually depending on you now. Stay away from steep, tricky descents and weaving through busy intersections. Previously spurned bike paths are perfect dads bike riding fodder.

6. Don't skip it
You might think you are doing your family a favor by staying home to help out on a weekend morning but you're a hyper-active, frustrated pain-in-the-arse mess whenever you do. Go ride. Just don't expect to sit down when you get back.

Why Yoga for Triathletes is a Bloody Waste of Time

It's everywhere. Every second article I read is about how important yoga is to the endurance athlete's routine. Macca does it. Terenzo Bozzone swears by it. But you? Really? The working triathlon age grouper that probably has 8 to 12 hours in the week to swim, bike and run. You're going to take one or two of those precious hours to get in a downward dog or whatever it's called and sweat like a pig? Please...

What does this have to do with triathlons?
 (Flickr: o0bsessed)

Passive stretching (which is, let's admit it, all yoga really is) has all but been proven to do not very much in the way of endurance performance or injury prevention. Oh yeah, it strengthens your core. So does doing a plank. I'll tell you the main way yoga helps with injury prevention. It prevents you from getting your running miles in. And, unfortunately, there's inconvenient positive correlation between the amount you run and the chances of getting injured from it. What is not disputed is that running really, really does help you get faster at running. So use your limited time doing that.

I'm not going to argue, that for a professional triathlete, who has nothing to do between their two or three workouts a day but put their legs over their head, doesn't have an advantage of a slightly more strengthened core and a meditative state. Yoga might help them, all things being equal, gain those precious seconds needed to close the gap on their competition. But, you, dear amateur triathlete, have more pressing issues. Do you have any idea how much better you'd be doing three instead of two hours of running a week? Or how much using that extra hour a week to get your swimming stroke corrected could help your swim split?

I could probably even argue that swimming does more for your recovery than yoga and that's one of the three sports you'll ACTUALLY be doing in the next triathlon you've paid $200 or whatever ridiculous amount triathlons cost these days. Most of you are forced to sit on your butt for eight hours a day anyway. How many more "recovery techniques" do you think you need exactly?

There's one more argument I'm bracing myself for "...but it FEELS so good!" Great. So does sitting on the couch with a beer after an extra hour of cycling. Namaste, clowns.

Chip Time or Clock Time?

One of my pet peeves is final placings in races being determined from what is known as chip time. With the majority of running races using electronic timing now it is possible for organizers to provide you with the time from when you cross the start line to when you cross the finish line. Nothing wrong with that. Nice to know. What gets up my goat is when it is used to determine your final position in the race. A race should be, by definition, to the finish line (aka clock time). Who can get to the finish line first after the gun goes off, right? Take the following example from the Oakland Half Marathon.

Gaylia, who happens to be one of my athletes (adding further fuel to my fire!) finishes 14th but crosses the line in front of both ladies who finished 11th and 12th. Imagine the possible scenario where she ran with these ladies for last 8 miles only to put in a massive effort in the last mile to kick past them and climb up the overall standings only to go home to her computer and find she'd been placed behind them. Disappointing, no?

How far can you take this? Can you start the race a half an hour after the race starts and run it by yourself away from the stresses of competition? I'm not asserting that chip time shouldn't be published or even claimed as your personal record but it shouldn't be used to rank athletes. When I bought this up with the race organizers of Oakland I was told it was "industry standard". Presumably standards can be changed if they don't make sense.

If there are congestion problems at the big races it's the event directors responsibility to organize corrals with seeded runners up the front. It would be a small extra cost to collect PRs off athletes wishing to start up near the front. This would improve congestion for everyone, not just up front. No beginner wants someone blasting past them at the start.

Protect the sanctity of the finish line!

Nike Women's Marathon Race Results 2010 Conspiracy

I wonder whether they do it on purpose? Nowhere on the official website does it show where or when the results for the 2010 Women's marathon would appear. Most event websites have a results tab. Here, nothing. Just a series of blogs with information about the event.

Maybe by looking for the results you do a whole lot of clicking before you give up and start looking at their ads? Who knows...

The 2009 results are also nowhere to be found either on the main site although I did find them on the eternal timing site. Maybe they'll turn up there eventually...

I was able to find this article on the San Francisco Chronicle website that the winner, Leah Thorvilson, ran 2:46. At least the finishing time was decent this year.

Update (8:30pm): here is a direct link to the timing companies results for the event. Not live as yet.

Short of cash but need a race fix? Hit the trails..

Santa Cruz Sentinel, April 10th, 2009. Original version of article here

So you’re laid off or worried you’re about to be. That new triathlon bike you’ve been eyeing in the window at the Spokesman, or that multi-stage adventure race in Alaska have suddenly become unrealistic. But does that mean you have to throw in all your athletic ambitions?
Hell no. After all, you’re going to need to stay fit after losing your health benefits.
So, you might think about taking up trail running.
Trail running has experienced a boom in recent years. More events have sold out faster and trail shoes are flying off the shelves.
Some of the appeal may be traced back to the grass roots, back-to-nature feel of the events. Trail running flaunts its minimalist approach. Its cult hero is two-time Leadville 100-mile champion Anton Krupicka. He runs shirtless, doesn’t appear to have a barber and sleeps on friend’s floors to support his addiction to the Colorado outdoors.
Santa Cruz boasts an endless credit line of interesting trails to train on and an upswing of low cost races to fuel your competitive fire. Pogonip and Wilder Ranch and Nisene Marks state parks are well known for their great single track, but there are also hidden pockets of dirt you may be able to reach from your front door. Some possibilities: Arana Gulch, DeLaveaga and Schwans Lagoon.
When it comes to races, trail runs can also be dirt cheap. Entry fees are generally less expensive compared to their road equivalents due to the fact race directors don’t have to pay for pricey road closures.

So, no need to give up those exercise induced beta endorphins in down times. Boost the economy with a new pair of shoes and go explore one of the best trail running towns in the world.

Martin Spierings was the top local finisher at the Sentinel Triathlon last year and coaches endurance athletes.
His column on running and triathlon will appear monthly in Outside. Contact him at www.tricoachmartin.com.