Innehållsförteckning för May 2024 från 220 Triathlon

WHY I TRI I grew up playing team sports, but in 2018, my dad handed me his old road bike and after plenty of encouragement, I entered the Slateman triathlon in North Wales – even though I couldn’t swim a length in a pool! Celtman has always had this enormous pull for me. I’ve watched, read and listened to everything I could about the race and thought the people who did it were incredible, humble athletes who enjoyed an awesome day out! Arriving in Torridon was incredible. They say never meet your heroes, but none of it was disappointing! The prep for Celtman was delayed a year as I suffered a stroke two months before the 2022 race. I was as fit as I’d ever been and just won a…

WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS 01 @heather_louise_barker Swiss scenery, the gift that keeps on giving! 02 @court.granger Find a friend that’ll get you outside and ride in all weathers chatting about crap. @cjhazell 47 miles out to Osea for coffee then a 3 and bit plod run 03 @grantydude I’ve been getting back into training the last couple of weeks and it’s felt amazing. Exercise is great for the mind 04 @tigger_does_triathlon All set for the Exeter Gravel Race today. It’s going to be a wet one! 05 @berkshiretrisquad Sunny start this morning in Windsor for our group riders 06 @ckaypink 2nd ladies pair with @f_kesteven dragging my unfit ass around @roundsheffieldrun on Sun. Loved it #RoundSheffieldRun 07 @hastobehynes Sun – tick. Beautiful pool – tick. A lane all to myself…

MEET THE TEST TEAM 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! HELEN WEBSTER 220’s editor is also a qualifiedopen-water swimming coach. ROB SLADE 220’s content editor andresident adventure seeker. MATT BAIRD Has spent years testing tri kit and accessories for 220. JACK SEXTY A strong agegrouper focusing on top-end gains. JAMES WITTS He’s a published author writing about sports science. SAUCONY KINVARA PRO £200 To me, the Kinvara Pro feels like a strange offering. It’s a carbon-plated trainer with a stack height of 42mm, which means it can’t be used in competition, if you had…

TOP-END WETSUITS If your goal is to exit T1 first, you’ll want a suit that strikes the balance between flexibility, buoyancy and comfort, while also being super easy to remove on the fly. Aquasphere Racer V3 £558 Incredibly supple; improved hydrodynamics. Issue 417 uk.aquasphereswim.com Orca Apex Flex £589 Soft and flexible; ideal for good swimmers. Issue 417 orca.com Yonda Ghost 3 £589 Impressive mix of flexibility and buoyancy. Issue 417 yondasports.com Zone3 Vanquish X £699 A dizzying array of tech put to good use. Issue 415 zone3.com Sailfish Ultimate IPS Plus 3 £925 A classy high-end suit with a price to match. Issue 406 sailfish.com BUDGET WETSUITS Always try before you buy as sizes can vary massively between brands. Then consider your swim ability, as some features may be lost…

As the winter comes to a damp end and the days are growing longer, thoughts begin to turn to the racing. Part of your preparation should be stitching the component parts of your race together and working towards hitting race intensities – this is where the brick session comes in. There are myriad ways of implementing a brick session. It can involve all three sports or just two; it can be done at high or low intensities; it can be long, focussing on endurance or fast and working at or above race velocities etc. The type of session we will look at here is multiple reps bike to run, working at race speeds. This will help you to specifically prepare for the demands of your event, giving you the feeling…

START HOTTEST NEW GEAR Zone3’s taken an impressive lead in the sustainability stakes by launching the world’s first biodegradable wetsuit – the Terraprene Vision. Unlike the British brand’s original Vision that comprised neoprene, this eco-friendly option uses a biodegradable rubber called ‘Terraprene’. “Terraprene is a cutting-edge rubber by Yamamoto that offers the same quality and performance as our other Yamamoto neoprene wetsuits, but it has one key difference,” says Zone3. “Once it reaches the end of its life as a wetsuit it can be added to your normal waste, and in landfill the Terraprene will biodegrade by 30% in 522 days.” Zone3 is at pains to point out that suit will only biodegrade once it’s disposed of into compostable conditions and not while it’s in action! That’s not all. Once…

FEATURE HUGO MILNER Q&A Twenty-five-year-old Hugo Milner from Derby was a cycling novice and had barely paddled in the sea before switching to swim, bike, run two years ago. But in keeping with his Harvard education in environmental science, he’s proved to be a fast learner One of the best distance runners in the UK – particularly over crosscountry – he’s already making the triathlon world sit up and take notice. And while the Paris Olympics is arguably too soon, it’s not impossible, as Milner’s a man in form after World Cup victory in Japan last October and, more recently, success at the Europe Triathlon Cup in Quarteira. Just before his late-March victory in Portugal and having just returned from his first overseas training camp, Milner told 220 about his hopes…

PREP 5mins COOK 5mins SERVES 10-12 pancakes INGREDIENTS Dry ingredients: • 50g gluten-free oats • 50g ground almonds • ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda • 1 tsp gluten free baking powder • 1 tsp cinnamon • Pinch salt Wet ingredients: • 150g cottage cheese • 1 banana, mashed • Zest of 1 lemon • 1 egg The rest: • Knob of butter • 1 tsp cold pressed rapeseed oil • Cottage cheese, fresh fruit, nuts and honey or maple syrup to serve 1 Combine all the dry ingredients. 2 Combine all the wet ingredients. Blend together in a blender until smooth. 3 Heat a splash of oil and a knob of butter in a non-stick frying pan. Add a tablespoonful of batter for each pancake and cook over a low…

THIS MONTH'S COACHING PANEL JOEL ENOCH Barefoot speed Joel is a sport scientist and triathlon coach who’s helped athletes of all abilities reach their multisport goals. DERMOTT HAYES Marginal IM gains Dermott has been coaching for 15 years, is head coach at Be Endurance and is the organiser of The Storm the Castle Duathlon. ANDREW SHEAFF Conserve leg energy Andrew is swim coach at the University of Virginia, who are the former NCAA champions. WILL SMITH Roadside repairs Will is an experienced bike mechanic who specialises in offroad bikes and wheel truing. → BAREFOOT SPEED Q I’m looking to race without socks. Can you help me prevent blisters? Marcus Bard A Running 5-10km at your best pace without socks should be no problem, but there are some things you can…

STAR LETTER Got an opinion to share? Then email us at fao220@220triathlon.com GO WITH THE FLOW The other day, in a moment of boredom as the rain continued to fall, I tidied up my garage that, for the most part, is my glorious pain cave. I wish I’d ticked off this cleansing job earlier as it stimulated an epiphany: that I’m married – if not manacled – to technology. One count threw up two bike computers (one old, one new), one electronic groupset, one training watch, a smart trainer, a power meter, an electronic set of scales… and even an electric blender to mix my post-session recovery drink. All useful bits of gear and all helping me to (hopefully) improve. But it got me thinking: is my approach too data…

There are several brands that, on mention of their name, are all about triathlon. Off the top of our helmet-haired heads, we’re thinking Zoot, 2XU and, of course, Quintana Roo. In fact, American outfit QR’s arguably the purist multisport brand around, as it launched its first triathlon wetsuit in 1987 and its first triathlon bike two years later. That’s some heritage and is why when QR releases a product, the industry takes note. Which is unavoidable with the Chattanooga company’s latest-generation V-PR, the V-PRi. The V-PRi is, says QR, an aerodynamic improvement on its predecessor, featuring deeper aero cross sections and QR’s first fully integrated cockpit. There’s also a cowling to shelter the front disc-brake calliper on the fork, while it retains slipstreaming innovations from the last iteration including a…

LAPONIA TRIATHLON Date: 6 July Location: Gällivare, Sweden Distance(s): Full, sprint Race fee: £228.50, £30 Scandinavia might not be the first place that springs to mind when planning a cheap tri, but this one’s surprisingly easy on the pocket. It’s a real bucket list race, too, offering you the chance to start the swim leg beneath the midnight sun – a phenomenon experienced in the Arctic Circle at the height of summer when the sun never sets. The undulating bike course (1,100m elevation) only has one climb of note, before a mixed terrain marathon concludes proceedings – and depending on your speed, you could be wrapped up before midday. Gällivare can be reached via Stockholm for £350 return, although you’re going to have to juggle two separate airlines, with Swedish…

“I really like these two tests plus and they are well suited to the new updates with the Form Smart Swim 2 goggles,” says Justin Tolle. “Both tests are almost completely sub-maximal in nature meaning they don’t have a negative effect on overall training balance.” 1. Graduated Swimming Step Test This comprehensive test allows us to determine your Critical Swim Speed (CSS) and monitor how your heart rate responds at various paces. Not only does it provide valuable insights into your current capabilities, but it also serves as a benchmark for measuring progress over time. This is a progressive workout that challenges you to maintain incrementally faster paces over a series of steps. By closely monitoring your heart rate at different speeds, we can pinpoint your CSS – the maximum…

ENERGY BOOSTER HARISSA PULLED CHICKEN WITH GOLDEN RICE PREP 10mins COOK 60-80mins SERVES 4 INGREDIENTS • 8 chicken thighs, skin on, on the bone Chicken seasoning: • 1 90g jar harissa • 3 preserved lemons • 1 tsp ground cumin • 1 tsp ground coriander • 1 tsp hot smoked paprika • 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed • 1 tbsp olive oil • ½ tsp salt and • Black pepper For the rice: • 300g basmati rice • Saffron • 1 cinnamon stick • flaked almonds To serve: • Tzatsiki • Fresh coriander, roughly chopped • 1 lime, quartered METHOD 1 Preheat oven to 180˚C. Cut the lemons in half and remove flesh. Chop the peel and transfer to a bowl. Add the rest of the seasoning and combine.…

Q How can I improve cycling uphill? A Adding hill training into your weekly bike sessions will make the world of difference to your riding. The best way to improve your climbing stamina is to get on the road, find yourself a decent hill and see how many repetitions you can manage to do up it. At first, this may only be one rep, but try to increase your capacity each session and challenge yourself to beat your personal record. Have a go at doing some out-of-the-saddle climbing, too, where you alternate between 1min seated and 1min standing for a hill of around 10-15mins duration. On all your hill reps, use the downhill for some muchneeded freewheeling recovery. For indoorcycling obsessives, it’s important to detach yourself from the turbo for…