Innehållsförteckning för November 2023 från 220 Triathlon

3 OF THE BEST LOW-ALCOHOL BEERS UNDER £1.70 ERDINGER ALKOHOLFREI £1.65 (500ML) This 0.5% alcohol wheat beer doubles as an isotonic drink, with 26.5g carbs, 18g sugar, 125 calories, plus 50% of your recommended folic acid and 26% of your vitamin B12. Taste is not bad, with malty, hoppy notes and a hint of banana and spice. uk.erdinger.de UNDER £6 ATHLETIC BREWING RUN WILD £5 (4 X 355ML) The Ironman World Champs sponsor presents a low alcohol IPA with each can containing 70 calories and 4.6g of sugar. Taste is generally decent with strong fruity aromas. athleticbrewing.com UNDER £7 LUCKY SAINT £6 (4 X 330ML) This unfiltered lager comes with 53 calories, 0.5% alcohol volume and just 0.33g of sugar. It looks and smells like a standard lager, while it…

Everything she’s touched has turned to gold for Flora Duffy in recent years: Olympic victory, a string of ITU world championship titles, a record-breaking number of Xterra wins. But she’s now experiencing the inevitable ebb and flow of life as a pro athlete as she finds herself sidelined by a knee injury that’s testing her mettle. Here we catch up with the triathlon doyenne to talk rehab, remaining positive and returning to racing... 220: How is your injury rehab going? Flora Duffy: Rehab is going well, for the most part, but it’s very up and down, which I think is pretty normal for rehab. I have good days and bad days, but overall I’m steadily progressing towards fully healing. I have a tear in my patella tendon and some related…

GUIDE TO THE OFF-SEASON FEATURE All the leaves are brown, and the sky is grey, I got dropped on the bike, and I lost a 10k As the last vestige of warmth leaves the sun’s rays and the muddy streak starts to appear up my backside from my mudguard-less rear wheel, it’s time to admit that the tri season is done for another year. Also, that once again I have narrowly failed to qualify for the Ironman World Championship, missing out by a mere two-and-a-half hours. Still, no point crying over spilt energy gel; the campaign for world dominance in 2024 starts here. It’s time to beat the dried 2022 mud off my XC spikes with a mallet and search through the stolen Ikea bag under the stairs for my arm…

OUR RATINGS 90+% BUY NOW A GENUINE CLASS LEADER 80-89% IMPRESSIVE ONE OF THE BEST YOU CAN BUY 70-79% GOOD A DECENT PERFORMER 50-69% AVERAGE IT’LL DO THE JOB WELL ENOUGH 0-49% POOR SIMPLY PUT, DON’T BOTHER!…

Q How long do energy gels take to kick in? A Well, that’s influenced by a multitude of factors. In fact, there are at least 42 of them including nerves, sickness, stress, sleep, altitude, temperature and speed of metabolism. Broadly speaking, though, with a drink or gel, glucose appears in the bloodstream in around 5mins; with a bar you’re talking around 10mins, so still pretty fast. That said, you’re talking minute traces of glucose. For all three choices, the bulk comes through after around 60mins. Q Are energy gels bad for you? A Not really, though like any sugary food, too much is a recipe for dental disaster. To that end, ensure you do what your mum told you and religiously clean your teeth morning and night for at least…

VELOFORTE DESTO (TART CHERRY & GUARANA) £6.59 for three (£2.20 per gel) We’re big fans of Veloforte’s range of energy bars that are packed with real fruit and nuts, but this is the first time we’ve tried a sachet from the gel range, in this case tart cherry and guarana. Each gel contains 22g carbs from two sources – fructose and glucose – to aid absorption and assimilation. They’re housed within a compact 33g sachet, so very easy to stow. The ingredients list is appreciatively minimalist: brown rice syrup, fruit juice concentrates, water, maple syrup, guarana extract and Himalayan salt. The latter two provide 75mg caffeine and 110mg sodium respectively, contributing towards more power and hydration. We also appreciate the lack of hyperbole and sensationalism as tart cherry’s shown to…

P68 HOW TO MASTER DUATHLON DERMOTT HAYES Dermott has been coaching for 15 years, is head coach at Be Endurance and is the organiser of the Storm the Castle Duathlon. P73 4 RECIPES TO BOOST YOUR GUT KATE PERCY is a nutritionist and keen amateur athlete. She’s written three books on sports nutrition and founded Go Bites energy balls. P76 ASK BEN BRIGHT AND EXPERT Q&AS BEN BRIGHT Ben is a former triathlon Olympian (Sydney 2000) and head coach of British Triathlon’s Olympic Programme. P80 EXERCISE DURING PREGNANCY LAUREN DRINKWATER is a personal trainer and group exercise instructor specialising in ante- and post-natal fitness.…

TRAINING NUTRITION Do you only think about your ‘gut’ when you get stomach cramps after exercising too close to eating? Or when you get the ‘runs on a run’… enough said on that! The truth is there is increasing evidence that the gut plays a significant role, not just in our digestion, but also in our immune response and athletic performance. Within your gut exists a remarkable and intricate ecosystem, housing trillions of bacteria, yeast, and viruses collectively known as the ‘gut flora’ or ‘microbiome’. Among these microorganisms, some are beneficial while others aren’t, and maintaining a healthy equilibrium between the two is crucial. Remarkably, we can positively influence our gut microbiome by providing it with the right combination of prebiotic and probiotic foods. Probiotics are living organisms found in fermented…

THIS MONTH'S COACHING PANEL JANETTE CARDY Strength exercises for the menopause Janette is a fitness professional and tri coach with over 25 years’ experience. She now specialises in peri-post menopause for athletes. HELEN O'LEARY Best back stretches Helen is a chartered physiotherapist and owner of Complete Pilates. ANDREW SHEAFF Swim drills to improve every skill US swim coach Andrew has over 20 years’ experience, and specialises in helping triathletes improve their swim skills. EMILY KIER Best time to have protein Emily is a nutritionist in the health, wellness and fitness industry. She’s also been working with the leading sports dietician Renee McGregor since June 2020. → STRENGTH EXERCISES FOR THE MENOPAUSE Q What are the best strength exercises to do during menopause? Kathleen Kirtson A First of all, it’s important…

Smart indoor bikes cost a pretty penny. Wahoo’s Kickr Smart Bike would set you back almost three and a half grand. Now, though, the brand is trying to make such tech more affordable with the launch of the Kickr Bike Shift. Yes, at £2,699 it’s not exactly cheap, but it is some £800 cheaper than its stablemate. What do you get for your cash? Well, the Kickr Bike Shift is all about trying to give you an experience as close to real-world outdoor riding as possible. There’s a setup app to help you match the bike’s geometry to your outdoor bike, while virtual shifting and custom gears also allow you to utilise the same gear ratios, tooth counts and number of speeds as you use outside. HOTTEST NEW GEAR The…

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Patience Know that it is a process; it will take time and that’s okay. Can-do attitude Focus on what you can achieve, rather than what you cannot. For example, not being able to run makes it a great time to focus on swimming and cycling as well as working on the details to come back stronger. Consistency Be consistent with your rehab. Each day adds up, even if at the time it feels like there is no progress. The small details really do matter. It's your journey Don’t compare yourself to others and their injury rehabs. All injuries are different and have different timelines to recovery.…

I Christmas Pudding Run Pudding runs can be found pretty much all over the country and are specially coordinated to take place on the coldest, iciest day of the year. The nearest to me is organised by the lovely Sneyd Striders Running Club near Walsall, and for 10 miles of your toil and trouble you get a lovely steaming pud to go with your lovely, steaming body. II 12 Pubs of Christmas Every year, a group of like-minded athletes from Warwickshire go on a 12 mile run around Leamington Spa visiting a pub every mile. The only rules are you must drink in each pub and must dress as a reindeer, elf, Santa, Grinch or similar. The pubs we visit are the White Horse, Royal Pug, Cricketers Arms, Somerville Arms... after…

Gels should be a staple in your sporting larder, their culinary convenience meaning you can bike and run to your heart’s content loaded with energy. They come in different sizes (but generally always convenient), different formulations and varying costs, but their goal is as one: to energise your performance, preventing the bonk and delivering a new personal best. The glut of new products hitting the market over the past few years gives the impression they’re a modern-day invention, but they’ve been around a while, albeit how long is open to debate. American outfit GU Energy Labs originally laid claim to that honour, thanks to the work of their founder, Dr Bill Vaughan, who was a biophysicist at the University of California. He began working on this new energy source to…

GOOD FLAVOUR PRECISION FUEL 30G CARB CHEW £7.99 FOR FOUR PACKETS OF TWO CHEWS Each packet contains two chews that combine for 30g carb delivery in all. They’re a great texture – not too chewy, not too loose – and the mint and lemon option is divine. precisionhydration.com CAFFEINE SHOT CAFFEINE BULLET MINTENSE £12.99 FOR FOUR PACKETS OF 16 CHEWS These aren’t about the calories – purposely low at 27kcals per chew – but all about the caffeine, each coming in at 100mg. Good for a burst of power or for cranking up fasted training. caffeinebullet.com…

When it comes to training with music, most of us have likely put headphones on to help get us through long running sessions or endless, painful hours on the turbo. But music while swimming is a little bit more unusual. Much of this is likely down to the specialist nature of swimming MP3 players - there aren’t loads on the market and playing music underwater has typically been a bit of a tricky proposition, as it’s harder to get the sound quality when your head’s immersed in a pool or lake. With recent innovations, though especially bone conduction - there’s a better range out there. Music can help get you through those long endurance training swims, can lift your mood in a 6am pool session and can help you add…

PREP 5mins COOK 20mins MAKES 10 portions INGREDIENTS • 200g jumbo porridge oats • 2 tbsps water • 2 tbsps sunflower oil • 2 tbsps runny honey • 1 tsp ground ginger or cinnamon powder • 100g mix of chopped nuts: brazils, walnuts, almonds and hazelnuts • 100g mix of seeds: chia, pumpkin and sunflower • 100g dried figs and/or apricots, chopped Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4. Mix together the oats, nuts and seeds with the spices, honey, oil and water. Spread the mixture evenly onto a large baking sheet. Bake for 20mins until golden brown, turning the mixture after 10mins for it to brown evenly. Leave to cool for 5mins or so. It will crisp up like magic. Add the dried fruit. Store in an airtight container…

Q Which muscles does cycling work? A Cycling is a fantastic sport for developing aerobic and cardiovascular fitness, but it also builds and tones muscles. So exactly what muscles does cycling use? Well, it predominantly works your leg and core muscles, which inevitably become toned as you clock up the bike miles. So think glutes, quads, hamstrings, calves and the core muscles (in the belly and the mid and lower back, and include transversus abdominis, obliques, rectus abdominis, erector spinae, longissimus thoracis, latissimus dorsi, and trapezius). A strong upper body is just as important as it allows us to hold a better aerodynamic position. The harmonious link between the lower and upper body enables us to apply greater consistent power, which leads to a faster and more competent cyclist. Q…

ORCA ATHLEX FLOW £379 Elasticity in the upper body and buoyancy in the lower body combined to make this an ideal suit for this race given my mediocre swim abilities, while the SCS coating boosted hydrodynamics, orca.com RIBBLE ENDURANCE SL DISC £3,399 The appropriately-named Endurance SL Disc is optimised for longer rides and increased comfort, and proved reliable in the build-up to and on race day. The ride was stable, Shimano’s 105 Di2 offered smooth, reliable shifting and the disc brakes offered assured braking in a range of conditions, ribblecycles.co.uk SOAR SAHARA CAP £50 With warm, sunny weather, the wide peak and rear canopy proved invaluable, soarrunning.com MONTANE GECKO VP 5L £130 The Gecko was a reliable, comfortable workhorse with plenty of space for essential kit, snacks and adequate hydration,…

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 BILATERAL BREATHING Breathing every 3 strokes swimming BRICK SESSION When you ‘brick’ two disciplines together, e.g. bike & run DNS/DNF/DQ Did not start, did not finish, disqualified DRAFTING Hitching a ride on someone else’s slipstream in the bike or swim INTERVALS Intensive training using repeated on/off efforts M-DOT Abbreviation for the Ironman logo often seen as a tattoo! T1/T2 Abbreviation for Transition 1’ (swim to bike) and Transition 2’ (bike to run) TAPER Reducing your training in the days just before your big race TRANSITION AREA The place where you rack your bike and swap kit between disciplines TRI-BARS Also known…

When I was at school I hated most sports, but I raced butterfly and breaststroke as a teenager. During medical school, though, I didn’t have the time to train properly. I’d join a gym and never go. I did the London marathon when I was 30. It took me 6.5hrs and I loved it, but I said never again. Through my husband I got into cycling, but I wanted a sport just for me, so I looked into triathlon. Like a typical surgeon, I read every magazine and bought every book. My husband got so fed up of me never actually doing one that he signed me up for the Olympic-distance London Triathlon just after I turned 40 in 2014. In 2015, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I wondered…

DREAM BIKE START Swiss bike brand BMC revealed a new triathlon bike in early September, which has been developed over five years in partnership with Red Bull Advanced Technologies (RBAT). As the name and partnership with Red Bull suggests, this bike was built to go fast, with an aero-optimised frame and even a unique ‘SharkFin’ spoiler beneath the fork crown. A lot of thought and time has also gone into other key pillars, too, particularly handling, with the bike carrying the concept of ‘driver feel’ from Formula One into cycling. The bike is optimised for disc brakes and 28mm tyres (but can take up to 30mm), while a lot of time has been spent refining the steering geometry and weight distribution to deliver predictable handling, confidence and, as a result, speed.…

COROS PACE 3 £219 The latest Pace from the masters of battery life Ladies and gentlemen, we have a confession to make. This tester is a technological idiot; a man who has yet to successfully transfer a GPX file or change a microwave’s clock. We long applied this digital dizziness to our tri training, until the arrival of the original Coros Pace in 2018. Here was a sports watch that was easy to use, lacked superfluous features and excelled in both its GPS pick-up and battery life. That original Coros Pace is still giving us a host of metrics (VO2 max, running fitness, predicted race times...) today. But here comes the Pace 3, which, like 2020’s Pace 2 (£179), continues with a single button and dial but adds a touchscreen for…

WHEN TO USE ENERGY GELS There are lots of energy gels on the market, containing varying amounts of carbohydrate, often a modicum of electrolytes and sometimes caffeine. They’re perfect on the run as their consistency means you can consume them without water and they’re easily digested, even when your body’s bouncing up and down. They can also be used on the bike, though energy bars or rice cakes can provide a solid break from liquified offerings. If you go for caffeinated, do so judiciously. Around 20-30mins before a tough section of the race, like a stiff climb, is the ideal, and don’t overdo them as there’s a fine line between caffeine boosting performance and the shakes. HOW ENERGY GELS WORK Here we need to begin with an understanding of the…

TORQ GEL (COLA CAFFEINE) £32.25 for 15 (£2.15 per gel) Caffeine is arguably the most proven (legal) supplement around, with its mooted main benefits – increased muscle contractions, greater alertness and better decision making – down to stimulating the central nervous system. It’s also been linked with boosting fat metabolism, though evidence suggests that doesn’t necessarily mean improved performance. Studies show gains can be tapped into from around 120mg, but caffeine tolerance and your size do factor. The 89mg here from guarana is a good hit. It doesn’t taste bitter due to the cola flavouring and the texture is good – light enough to flow smoothly, but with enough depth to contain 29g carbs in each of the 45g sachets. Carbs come from the tried-and-trusted 2:1 maltodextrin and fructose mix.…

Run speed is the outcome of the following equation - cadence x distance per stride. If you want to run faster you have to improve one or both of these. So we’re going to look at how to improve running mechanics, specifically your distance per stride, with the session below. Why is improving running mechanics important? Specificity. Triathletes are never unfit, particularly elite athletes, but the same can be said for anyone normally training more than 8-10 hours per week. If you’re training that much you’re going to have a good base level of fitness. The key question is whether you’re specifically fit. An elite triathlete will be generally more aerobically conditioned than an elite 5km runner, but an elite 5km runner will beat a triathlete in a 5km run…