That's Gold, Jordan! Gold!

IMNYC Winner Jordan Rapp has a tradition of answering all kinds of questions about how he raced in a forum thread.  The details for his latest win can be found here.

This kind of information is pure gold.  You can find out what equipment the fast people have proven to be important and how they execute race day nutrition and pacing.  My favorite part of this round is his confirmation that clincher tires work just fine instead of tubulars.  

Enjoy!

Remember - Ironman Started Out as a Bar Bet

Some people take triathlon a little too seriously.  I like to treat it as a means to an end.  Specifically, it's one of many paths to take to stay fit, learn about the world, and improve yourself overall.  

Ironman itself started out as an extremely ridiculous bar bet between some pretty looney guys to see who was most crazy fit.  As it became more mainstream, we see people acting like it's a little too legitamite of a way to define who's the best at being a human.  We've now got age groupers doping with EPO, people killing themselves trying to hillbomb faster on Strava, and zealots accusing somebody of running across the finish line with their kid at an Ironman as, "everything that's wrong with the world today."  Really?  Does Ironman kid crossings cause wildfires in Idaho?  Because that would be news to me.

When you start wondering if the sport is helping or hurting you, it is always nice to step back and take in some perspective.  Swimming, THEN biking, THEN running all in succession for 140 miles is just an invention by some guys that were probably drunk when they thought of it, taking something to the extreme.  It turns out it is a great way to show off, but a little nutso to base your entire life around.  If you're miserable getting the job done, then it's OK to back off a little and re-evaluate exactly what you are doing this all for.

The Problem with BlueTooth for Sports Devices

You are going to see a lot of sports devices, such as GPS and heart rate straps touting Bluetooth 4.0 or Bluetooth LE (low energy) hitting the market soon.  Unfortunately, there is one big problem - Devices can only pair with one other single device.  

Many athletes and coaches are used to ANT+ and it's ability to allow multiple sensors to cross-talk with each other.  For example, a coach can use a device to monitor an athlete's cadence while another device is mounted on the athlete's handlebars for him to watch himself.  With Bluetooth, that can't happen.  The cadence sensor is "locked in" to the coach's device, so the athlete is out of luck.

This is the nature of Bluetooth itself as a security and anti-crosstalk feature.  Once you pair your wireless headset to your phone and start talking, you don't want somebody else trying to pair as well and listen in.  In comparison, ANT+ "broadcasts" it's data for anybody to pick up.

Admittedly, this is only needed by a percentage of athletes.  But, this percentage is on the elite end of the spectrum and has a lot of "pull" with development.  It will be interesting to see what comes along to solve this problem.  In the meantime, be aware of the issue and choose wisely!

Podcast - Tahoe Swim 2012

Click HERE to listen to the show!

Join in as Morgan attempts to swim 22 miles across Lake Tahoe!  This is a truly epic episode, with interviews with some of the world's best open water swimmers, training tips, and much more.

Want more?  Hop over to the Zen Masters Area for the Training Log and much more!

Enjoy!

A Book of Five Rings - The Samurai Approach to Multisport

I recently got an email from my dad, who is a world-traveler, engineer, and military science buff, about a book called The Five Rings written by a master Samurai swordsman in 1645 A.D.

Very similar to Sun Tzu's The Art of War, this collection of strategies is an absolute must-read.  Miyamoto Musashi explains his training and fighting techniques he developed to win 60 duels, starting with killing a fully-trained Samurai at age 13.

He was revolutionary at the time for saying that becoming a master in just one technique was actually a weakness.  Rather, study and practice them all, become a slave to none, and remain fluid in the moment so you can use any tool at any time to win.  The point is to win, so anything else is a distraction and will cause your downfall.

In most of the artwork you can find of him, Musashi is holding a long sword in one hand and a short one in the other.  Before his time, this was considered bad technique - you should have just one sword and hold it with both hands.  But Musashi trained with both swords in either hand, making him the most deadly opponent in the land.  And because he didn't stick to one technique, there was no way to know what he'd do next.

Reading this in conjuction with Chris McCormack's I'm Here to Win illuminates great training and racing methods for endurance sports.  The races and conditions are so variable, that sticking with one method is a weakness.  In fact, quickly jumping from one method to another is a sure way to get much better results.  Rainy conditions? Switch tires.  Hilly course? Swap out gearing.  24 hour race? Use caffeine.  Longer swim event? Modify your training and stroke for stamina instead of power.  

Legendary triathlon coach Brett Sutton used just one tool to train his athletes - A stopwatch.  You need to get from point A to point B as fast as possible.  How you do it is irrelevant; just get there for the win.  Trying to keep your flatland cadence in the hills or deciding you don't like the course nutrition will just slow you down.  Sound familiar? Musashi would be proud.

The athlete who aggresively changes his tactics in both training and racing for the conditions at hand is much more advanced than the one that keeps doing the same thing, no matter what.  In Zen, we learn to let go of how we want things to be and deal with what is for better results.  Musashi's Book of Five Rings is a classic example of somebody who did it with wild success.  For those on the run, check out the audio version here.