Who Makes the Best Triathlete?

We were chatting on The Triathlete's Coffee Shop the other night about which athlete would make the best triathlete - a swimmer, biker, or runner.  Being a former swimmer, I supported my old sport just for old time's sake.

During the show, Triboomer started throwing down some awesome statistics.  It is incredibly rare for somebody to win the bike and then win the whole race.  Even more rare is for somebody to win the swim and then win the entire race.  At first look, the best runner wins the race.

I don't think that is the complete picture.  It is the person who restrains him/herself the most during the swim and bike and then unleashes everything on the run that wins.

If you go out too fast on the swim and bike, you are spent.  If you win either one of those events, you are trying too hard.  It's an individual sport, but it is still all relative to the competition.  Use your competition as a metric to pace yourself.  Even in the shortest races, you have to run 3.1 miles after you get off the bike.  If you went hard enough to win the whole swim or bike, you just blew your chances on sustaining the run.

So, It's not the great runner who makes the best triathlete.  It's the smartest swimmer/biker combo:  Trained to run like hell, but smart enough to remember and execute the correct strategy of holding back until the run on race day.  I got a heck of a lot faster in my races once I started holding back in the swim, staying within my limits on the bike, and then taking on the run with everything I had.  It really works.

Listen to the show to get Triboomer's statistics.  He did his homework.  Very impressive indeed.

Topeak Road Morph G Pump Review

I was at Lance's bike shop and asked if they had a portable pump that would handle more than 120 psi.  A lot pumps say they will go up to that, but if that's a pump's upper limit, what would time or manufacturing problems limit the psi to in the real world?

They knew exactly what I was talking about.  They said that if they were getting a pump, they'd get the Topeak Road Morph G.

The top and bottom fold out into mini floor pump handholds and foot rests, a short section of rubber tubing allows you to place the pump and tire into ideal positions, there's a gauge, an it goes all the way up to 160 psi.

It comes with a frame mount, but I carry it in my CamelBak,  It's not a mini pump, but it's plenty small.

I've had the opportunity to use it once and it brought a smile to my face.  The thing unfolds like a Transformer and lets you really crank on it. 

I'm currently carrying this on all my training and fun rides, saving the expensive CO2 cartriges for races.  It truly works that well.

Here's a link to it on Amazon with some reviews and it retails for around $30.  Support your local retailers by looking for it with them first.

King of Jester Test Run

I bike up Jester Hill in Austin for a test run for the big race.

How to Quit the Gym

(Note - There are plenty of reasons NOT to quit the gym. Don't do this if you feel you should still be going.)

Quitting the gym is not something most people would admit to, but I'm proud of it. Mixing in some Crossfit style stuff with my running, I have gotten to a fitness level without the gym that most people are not getting even with it.  If you are wondering how or why to do this yourself, here's some helpful info:

• Standing around and slowly lifting weights is not real fitness.  Sure you'll get strong.  Strong at lifting objects in a controlled environment.  That isn't what usually happens in real life. 
• Crossfit and P90x is much more of a real workout.  Watch some of the Crossfit workouts on YouTube and/or a P90x video and you'll see some very fit folks.  Not much equipment is being used, either.
• Rollers and trainers.  A lot of the reason I was going was to ride a spin bike.  First, I found that spin class wasn't challenging anymore, then I discovered rollers.  Wow, what a workout right at home.
• Combining push ups, pull ups, squats, and running is an amazing workout.  Aside from getting a pull up bar, the rest is free.  Try doing some every ten minutes while running and prepare to get ripped.
• Test yourself.  I can do twelve pull ups (hands forward) and who knows how many pushups when working out at home just a few times a week.  Most gym rats have great single muscle strength, but not good group muscle strength.  Give it a try yourself to see how many you can do.  Are you really getting your money's worth?

Now, my gym does not have a pool.  If it did, I would definitely still be there.  But if you start applying some of the above methods and find yourself not going to the gym anymore, pull the plug.  The thirty bucks a month you save ($360 a year!) could go a long ways towards a new bike or even some coaching.

Nice Race! You're Not Done Yet.

Hopefully you got to witness a fantastic race within a race during this year's Boston Marathon.  Zentri's own coached athlete MangoRunner squared off against his arch-nemesis, SpeedySasquatch. This thing had people so motivated, I was ready to sign up for the next 15 Boston's myself.

They were evenly matched and alas, Mango came in just 2 minutes behind his competition and the both finished just a hair over three hours.  Absolutely awesome running performance in a world-class venue.

I told Mango great job, and don't forget that he's not done untill he writes down his experiences.  Every race is practice for the next.  If you want to do better, you need to record what went right, wrong, what you should change, and what you should keep.  Write it down and keep it in your training log for next time.

As for being his coach for this particular race, I could care less if he beat or lost to another guy.  Once you're going long, this stuff is really all about you and seeing how far and fast you can go.  Running Boston in 3:05:59 puts Mango within the bracket of Armstrong speed.  Very nice, indeed.