Innehållsförteckning för April 2020 från 220 Triathlon

Immersing in icy water’s been a common post-exercise recovery strategy for years, the idea being that it decreases tissue temperature and bloodflow and so reduces inflammation. However, a recent body of evidence suggests it can do more harm than good. Cue a recent study by a team including protein guru Luc van Loon of Maastricht University. Twelve healthy males performed a leg-resistance exercise before immersing both legs in water for 20mins. However, one leg slipped into 8°C waters while the other enjoyed 30°C. They then consumed a drink containing 45g carbs and 20g protein, so they could take muscle biopsies to examine muscle protein synthesis rates. What did they find? Muscle protein synthesis rates were much lower in the cold-water limb than the warm limb, and muscle conditioning was impaired…

“Don’t be put off by the cost of triathlon. It’s not about how expensive your bike is – you still have to pedal it!” WINNING ATTITUDE After taking part in sprint triathlons and a couple of ‘bridging distance’ tris, I’ve signed up for my first 70.3 distance race in June. But I want people who are new to triathlon to know that you don’t need to spend a fortune to compete. For example, I’m riding a secondhand, five-year-old Cube Peloton bike with £14 clip-on aero bars and a £20 wetsuit, both from eBay, and a £50 tri-suit, which was a Christmas present. In my last race of 2019 I won my age-group! So, for all those who are thinking about taking part in their first triathlon but are put off…

The sores on my neck and body were excruciating. I’ve never known water like it. It’s something I carried with me for three weeks. Why did I do it? I love a challenge.” The words of ultra-endurance triathlete Claire Smith when reflecting on becoming the first British athlete – male or female – to complete the continuous Double Deca in Mexico last November. Brit Dave Clamp completed it in the old format of one iron per day multiplied by 20, while Smith ‘tamed’ the 48-mile swim, 2,240-mile bike and 524-mile run in 660hrs, 28mins and 58secs. So long is this ridiculous event that Smith started on 4 October. Along the way, she experienced the most toxic water she’s swum in, saddle sores and an ankle injury. “But no hallucinations,” she…

VISION TRIMAX CARBON SI £649.95 Are the Trimax worth investing in for long-course aero comfort? Vision’s aerobars are available to buy individually or can be spotted specced on numerous tri bikes off-the-peg. The new Trimax Carbon Si are right at the top of their range with a full carbon construction, plenty of adjustment and a flippable base bar. We tested the S-bend versions, which weighed in at an impressive 780g for the full rig. They’re also available in the arguably more comfortable J-bend if you prefer your extensions facing skywards in the ‘mantis’-style position currently utilised by many top Ironman athletes, including Lucy Charles-Barclay (although you can tilt these all the way up to 16° – more of which later). They’re described as ‘semi-integrated’ as you’ll have to fit your…

“Although there were some exceptions, the rank order of performance of the helmets was quite consistent across the various wind speed and yaw scenarios,” says Boardman’s Jamie Pringle. “The range of differences in the aero performance of the helmets is 5.9%, which is large given that all the helmets were aero race ones. “Consider that, for a normal 90min wind tunnel optimisation session, our typical saving in aero drag is 9-10%, but this is coming from adding up gains from a dozen changes, including bike position. That a single change of helmet can offer more than half of this total gain is remarkable. “Yet, with a Coefficient of Drag [CdA, used to used to quantify the drag of an object] of 0.22 to 0.24 m2 region, there’s scope for improvement.…

Because your legs provide power, balance and control to your stroke, the kick shouldn’t be neglected. And the off-season is the optimum time to rectify this. Another benefit of a strong kick is that it can help with rhythm. Some find moving the arms quicker is more comfortable; others will prefer a slower cadence. Your kick can help you achieve this rhythm, yet everyone is different and might even change depending on how fast or hard you want to swim. Generally, the different rhythms are a two-beat, four-beat, six-beat or, occasionally in sprints, an eight-beat kick. This is the number of kicks for each stroke cycle. It’s worth playing around with rhythms to find out what works for you. Some will find that kicking just a little quicker actually feels…

What’s imposter syndrome and how can you overcome it? It’s the feeling of inadequacy and self-doubt in your abilities despite evident success. Here are a few steps you can follow to quieten your inner detractor: acknowledge your feelings, talk about them, recognise your successes, remember nobody is perfect and stop comparing yourself to others. Can you do an Ironman as a relay? According to the official Ironman website, almost every Ironman 70.3 race and a few Ironman races offer relays. The Challenge brand host five full-distance events with both Roth and Madrid offering full-distance relay options. The UK’s full-distance Outlaw and UK Ultimate Triathlon also host a relay event. So in short, yes you can! How much difference do tribars make to performance? In short, a fair amount if used…

RICHARD SMITH Tri coach, athlete and race organiser Richard currently heads up TRIbal Triathlon at Vobster Quay, Somerset. Q I’m 71 years old and keep very active despite having bilateral hip replacements. I can comfortably swim 40 lengths freestyle of my local pool but it’s virtually all arms as I have next to no leg kick. Can you recommend some land-based drills/exercises to improve my leg kick? Alan Vamplew A Firstly, fantastic that you’re keeping so active. Resistance exercise is really important for maintaining your bone and connective tissue health. And the following exercises will not only help to develop your swimming leg kick, but will also help to maintain your strength and stability. “Resistance exercise is really important for bone health” LAND-BASED Single leg balances Standing on one leg,…

We take gear testing seriously – you need to know that the kit you buy will help you reach your goals in all three disciplines and work as hard as you on race day. Our test team is made up of experienced triathletes, cyclists and runners who test each product that appears in 220 to the max during training and racing, rating it honestly for performance and value. JACK SEXTY A triathlete since blowing his student loan on a bike, sub-2hr Olympic athlete Jack moved to Ironman at Lanzarote in 2016. Favourite winter sun destination? “Without a doubt, Girona in north-eastern Spain. Plenty of hills and not a car for miles.” HELEN WEBSTER 220’s editor made the move from marathons to tri seven years ago. Happiest when in the open…

“Swimming took my mind off the pain, it was a huge turnaround” Four years ago, I was out training on the bike, about 10 miles from home, and that’s when it happened. It felt like I was seeing blood. I started to feel a bit weird and there was sharp pain. I took my glasses and helmet off, thinking a stone had chipped me, but I couldn’t find anything. I couldn’t get my helmet back on – I just couldn’t work out how to do it. Amazingly, I rode home one-handed, holding my helmet in the other hand. As soon as I got through the door I collapsed. About seven hours later someone found me. I have aphasia, which is to do with speech. I’ve got permanent vision loss in…

A listair Brownlee is a two-time Olympic champion and the only athlete to ever retain an Olympic triathlon title. He’s also the guy who “crawled” along the Queen K in the Ironman World Championships last year, trailed in 44th in his one World Triathlon Series outing in front of a home crowd in Leeds, and got shown a clean pair of heels by a Norwegian upstart in his ongoing quest for a first Ironman 70.3 World Championship crown. Yet the 31-year-old sits across the table with a cup of tea – having finished wind-tunnel testing in the high-tech surroundings of the TotalSim engineering hub in Silverstone – and explains how he plans to go full throttle for the unprecedented challenge of winning both the Olympic Games and the Ironman World…

CHRISSIE WELLINGTON In 2009, the Brit claimed her third straight Kona title in a course record 8:54:02. In the process, she finished just 33:41mins behind men’s winner, Craig Alexander – the shortest difference between the two genders in the history of the race. She also beat all but one man at the Alpe D’Huez Tri in 2008. JACOMINA EIJKELBOOM “She’s the current female record holder for the Arch to Arc [87-mile run, 21-mile channel swim, 180-mile bike ride] in 66:56hrs,” says Claire Smith. “I’m attempting it this year. She’s an amazing athlete and so down to earth.” SARAH THOMAS In 2018, 37-year-old Sarah Thomas was treated for breast cancer. Twelve months later, the American become the first person to swim across the English Channel four times non-stop. CORINNE FAVRE “CCC…

The Giro Air Attack started the aero road helmet revolution in 2012 and the popularity has exploded in triathlon, sending the TT helmet towards the margins as savvy triathletes 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 Boardman Performance Centre in 2019 and this January reveal an aero road helmet can be 3:22mins faster than a vented lid over the 180km Ironman bike leg, a healthy 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…

For something that started out as purely a safety product, race-day helmets have developed a lot over the past decade, with removable visors, Venturi effects and thermal ports all present here. If you believe the team at Hexr 3D-printed helmets (see 220tri.com), there’ll be developments to come in the next decade but for now the tunnel and the tarmac prove that (most of) the current crop are producing comfort and speed in one lid. Abus and Giant didn’t make the tunnel cut due to their asphalt performance, respectively, while the Poc seriously underperformed in the Boardman Performance Centre for a helmet of £270. The Scott stands out for its additional bungs for aero or thermal gains (although it strangely performed better at slower speeds), as does the Giro for its…

Thankfully, the days of just grinding out steady-state winter miles in the name of base training have largely been consigned to cycling folklore. In these more enlightened times, the importance of maintaining a degree of intensity is more widely recognised. And, especially as we enter the back end of winter, you should definitely be putting in some harder efforts. However, as triathletes, you can’t turn it up to 11 for every workout. Also classic workouts, such a 2 x 20mins at threshold, are really tough, both physically and psychologically. So if you’re not quite feeling up for it, it’s easy to get psyched out, demotivated and skip the session. But by dialling the intensity down a fraction to ‘Sweet-Spot’ (83-97% FTP, functional threshold power, i.e. the highest average power you…

JOHN WOOD Chlorine allergy An award-winning multisport coach of 10 years, John is also a former international swimmer. JOEL ENOCH Running cadence Joel is an award-winning coach with the Edinburgh Triathletes Squad and has competed for the GB AG team at world and Euro champs. BRAD BEER Joint use in tri Brad is the founder of POGO Physio, author of You Can Run Pain Free! and the physio for Super League Triathlon. NIK COOK Ankle position mid-ride Cycling writer Nik is a competitive multisporter who’s competed for Team GB in duathlon.…

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 ANAEROBIC How much energy your body can produce without using oxygen AQUABIKE Race with just swim and bike elements, no run BILATERAL BREATHING Breathing every 3 strokes when swimming BIOMECHANICS The forces applied to your body during exercise BONKING Running out of energy mid-race or training session BRICK SESSION When you ‘brick’ two disciplines together, e.g. bike & run CADENCE Pedal rate on bike, in revolutions per minute (rpm) CARB-LOADING Eating a carb-heavy meal prior to a race to boost energy CATCH The…

What is it about triathletes? Why is it that, when confronted with a sport that is frankly hard enough already, we go out of our way to find different ways to make it harder? I suppose it might be because the creation of the sport came from the idea of taking three already tough events and combining them into one, thus inventing something that attracts mainly nutcases. I’ve certainly noticed that other sportspeople don’t generally go in for constantly searching for ways to make life more difficult for themselves. Rugby, for example, is a tough game but you don’t hear anyone saying: ‘I really enjoyed that 80-minute match last Saturday so this week we’re going to make it two hours each way.’ “Their kind of challenges make leaving the Royal…

Whether you’re a swimmer, cyclist, runner or team sports athlete eyeing a move into multisport, triathlon will throw up a host of unique challenges. How do you improve in one discipline and not suffer in the other two? Increase your training load without becoming injured? Understand how to fuel your performance? And gain confidence for that introduction to open-water swimming? If you’re troubled by any of the above questions, then fear not. Because over the following pages, we’ve given a newcomer to tri – former runner Tomos Whitmarsh-Knight, 30, who’s aiming for August’s Carlisle Sprint Triathlon – their very own multisport MOT, courtesy of Matt Luxton at the Tamar Performance Centre in Devon. Cue mindset and nutritional advice, technique analysis and guidance on how to find that elusive tri-and-life balance.…

SWIM Some athletes really struggle with eating solid food while swimming long distances, so find something that works for you before the event. That might mean liquid calories from sports drinks or meal replacement shakes. Or you might find that bananas or flapjack works well. BIKE Whether you’re doing a double iron distance or a deca, the bike section’s going to be long. This means that you need to be as comfortable as possible. Most ultra-endurance athletes split their time between a time-trial and road bike. Or they spend the whole bike section on a road bike, but with an aero set-up. Choose what works for you. RUN Ultra requires more walking during the run section. But that doesn’t mean you have to lose too much speed. Fall into a…

No one likes a show off, but 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. That’s why we again found ourselves at the Boardman Performance Centre’s wind tunnel under the watch of Boardman’s head of science and technical development, Jamie Pringle, this winter armed with the…

Most of us enjoy running outside, rightly so, and it should be the cornerstone of your training. But, while the popularity of, and benefits from, cycling indoors have become widely accepted, less of us tap into the similar gains indoor running may offer. But treadmills allow you to control factors such as pace and incline, as well as removing variables like wind, people and surface changes. You can test and retest with greater accuracy, it’s light and safe, getting ready can be quicker, and mirrors offer the chance to see yourself run so you can build a more efficient stride. You can do any session on a treadmill, but this session is designed to help build or maintain speed. While long, steady runs are the default for many during the…

1 The American Triple-T (29-31 May) involves three consecutive days of racing, covering 225km over the weekend in Ohio. americantriplet.com 2 Perfect prep for Ironman Wales is Tenby’s Long Course Weekend Wales (3-5 July), which involves a 3.8km swim on the Friday, 180km bike on the Saturday and finishes with a Sunday marathon. lcwwales.com 3 The Monster Triathlon (5-11 July) witnesses athletes swim 5km in Loch Ness, before a 955km ride to Windsor and a 50km run into London. monstertriathlon. org 4 Now booking for 2021 is Rat Race’s Maltese Falcon (7-10 Oct), which involves swim, bike and running over the Maltese islands of Gozo, Comino and Malta. ratrace.com…

WETSUITS Build quality, comfort, flexibility and insulation – the four key factors when choosing your neoprene. Spend more and the quality for each factor tends to increase. LOMO Prime Wetsuit £100 Lomo’s best wetsuit yet; secure construction, close fit and buoyant. Issue 374 lomo.co.uk ORCA Equip £239 Peerless comfort and flexibility for the price. Great for frugal swimmers. Issue 366 orca.com ROKA Maverick Comp III £325 Superior arm flexibility and reach, plus assured buouyancy. Issue 365 roka.com AQUA SPHERE Racer 2.0 £399.99 Striking graphics, a decent price and a superior build – winning! Issue 365 aquasphereswim.com/uk YONDA Ghost 2 £549 A highly comfortable and superb all-rounder wetsuit. Issue 364 yondasports.com ENERGY GELS Carb and caffeine content, added extras (such as electrolytes and salts), digestability, and, of course, flavour and texture…