Get In Amongst It.

GET IN AMONGST IT! 

Taking on your first triathlon should be a fun experience. 

Or Maybe’s it not your first but your looking to improve on a few areas? 

We hope the read below will motivate, relax, entertain and ultimately help you have fun and race faster. 

THE TRIATHLON:

TIP ONE

Embrace the challenge and throw yourself in there to have a good time. 

Getting stressed won’t help, So stay relaxed and Get In Amongst It.

TIP TWO

When searching for advice on how best to prepare for your race/event. Choose one person in the know. Don’t get advice from every single person you meet on the street. This will just leave you confused and overwhelmed as every-one will have an opinion on how you should be “triathloning”. Look for a coach or someone who’s been in triathlon for a while as they will be able to steer you in the right direction without sending you a spreadsheet on aerodynamics. 

TIP THREE

Train for your triathlon.

This might be coming in a bit late for this weekends event. But there is always another event around the corner. So get those knuckles to the grindstone. (Just kidding, training is fun so enjoy the time and use it as ME TIME)

But what If you don’t feel motivated? And what if it’s raining? These are good questions. 

If it’s a motivation issue!! Put on your favourite music, maybe that’s Madonna or Disturbed and go do it anyway. You’ll feel better afterwards I promise. 

If it’s raining and you have a ride, ride on the indoor trainer and watch something on Netflix.  OR swap your days around so you run instead of ride. 

TIP FOUR

Enjoy the process. Triathlon is so much fun. It’s a great way to get out there and meet like minded people while exercising and having a great time. Racing is the icing on the cake when it comes to triathlon, It is the reward for the hard work. So enjoy the process and then enjoy the race even more. 

TIPS FOR SWIM/BIKE/RUN

SWIM: If the swim makes you a little anxious or you are a little nervous,  I have found the following things help. Wait a few seconds for the quicker swimmers to take off before diving in. Don’t put yourself in the middle of your start wave. Put yourself to the side away from the chaos. 

BIKE: Build into it. Finish at the same speed you start. It’s easy to get excited and go to MAX during the early stages of the race. But an even paced ride will mean you ride faster and leave you feeling fresh for the run.

Also focus on hydration! The bike is the easiest place to take in fluids and those fluids will be needed for the run.

RUN: Quick feet are happy feet. 

The run is generally the toughest part AND the most rewarding. If you’re starting to struggle think quick feet are happy feet. Picking up your cadence on the run can help speed you up without you even knowing it. 

The less time those feet spend on the ground the quicker you will run. This can happen without a huge increase in effort. 

Here are a few more picture related tips.  Some of these quotes might be slightly left field. (Just go with it)

1: Never Give Up!! Go get that goal!!

2. Temptation: Triathlon is a temptation you MUST TRI. “you’ll love it” 

3. Yeah probably don’t Skydive. But triathlon is 100% for you. It’s all about having a go and enjoying yourself. 

4. Ok I can’t think of a good reference, except for “go get yourself some triathlon awesomeness”. 

5. This one is particularly relevant and probably the most important TIP for a smooth day. Plan your triathlon out beforehand. This will make race day a breeze. Avoiding stressful situations will mean you’re not the “some-one else” in the quote below. So lay out your race gear the night before. Swim/bike/run, sort out your nutrition, travel, know where you are going, allow plenty of time to get there, hydrate. If it’s planned out in advance it’s not stressful. If you’re in a rush and don’t know where you put your helmet things can get upsetting!  ☺

6. Stay Positive. Not just in training but in racing. Sometimes things go perfectly and sometimes they don’t. But when you stay positive It’s all an awesome experience!  

  

New to Duathlon

The Duathlon

Run-Bike-Run

What you need to know!

Beginning your race with a solid hard run rather than a swim can have a significant affect on your bike and second run.  Therefor you will notice a difference between competing for a Triathlon and competing in a Duathlon. But they are both just as fun and challenging!

The Equipment:

Remember to check all your gear the day before.

Race morning is always more stressful when you forget your shoes or a piece of your equiptment.  So avoiding any unessecery stress is always the best policy.

Make sure your bike is in good working order. A lot of people tend to neglect their bikes and run into problems on race morning. Making sure you have a mechanical check and/or service of your bike leading into the event will give you confidence in your equipment and go a long way in relieving some of that race mornign stress.

Don’t forget to pump up your tires before you leave home.

I mentally go through the race in my head as I’m packing my gear and as I go through my race (see below) I put the gear into my transition bag. 

Starting with the first run

• 1     The clothes I’m going to wear. (Clothes aren’t optional apparently)
• 2     Shoes and socks to run in
• 3     Watch / Garmin or Heart Rate Monitor if you want to track/record your result
• 4     Hat
• 5     Sunscreen
• 6     Glasses to run in
• 7     Race belt (if I need one) Inlcuding Race Number
• 8     Nutrition – if I need to carry any on the run

 When I get to my bike

• 1   Helmet,
• 2 Cycling shoes if I’m changing them
• 3Hydration/electrolytes (bottles are on the bike and ready)

Off the bike

• 1  All the gear I used for the first run (Should be there waiting for me)
• 2    Plus an extra drink, so I can keep hydrating for the second run

The Venue

• 1    Know were the venue is and where to park
• 2    Rack your bike and know how to get to it. Walk though transition so you know how to get in and out. Remember things look different when there are less or more bikes around, so pick a land mark
• 3   Bring a bright towel to mark your spot/bike in transition.

Pace

Duathlons are very important to pace correctly.

There is no point in smashing the first run, only to end up walking the second run because you’ve spent all your pennies.

Start the race at a strong but “sustainable effort” You will benenfit from a more conservative start.

Bike Pace: Remember a constant effort is always better than riding really hard, then really easy. Constant speed on the bike will enable you to run better than having your heart rate spike up and down.

When you spike your heart rate you “burn a match” and after you’ve spiked your heart rate 5 or 6 times there are no more matches left to burn. This is when you start to slow down!

Keeping the effort constant/steady will ensure you hit the 2^nd run feeling Like Mo Farah at the Olympics.

Nerves:

It’s ok to be Nervous. It’s normal and it means you’re excited and ready to race.

Ensure you keep sipping on an electrolyte drink during the morning “pre race”. Sometimes the nerves get the better of us and we forget to do the simple things. Like drink and hyrdate.

Final Notes:

Make sure you have fun, stay in the moment and enjoy yourselves!!

Guy and Kate

The Open Water

For most of us when it comes to race day we are going to be swimming in the open water and if your living in Asia there is a good chance it’s going to be a non-wetsuit swim. 

So how do we deal with our anxiety or fear when it comes to racing/training in the open water?

Below we described a few techniques that have helped us in the past. 

1)    Practice: We spend hours biking and running and often we’ll do cycling or running time trial’s to simulate race day effort. BUT seldom do we practice getting in the “washing machine” that is a race day swim start. We know it’s not practical to go to the open water all the time. But you can practice a lot of these things in the pool. Share a lane with other swimmers where you’ll be forced to make contact, and swim side-by-side to become more comfortable.

It may sound a little crazy BUT mimicking the chaos of a swim start in the pool can help you realise you’ll be ok in the open water. More often than not, it’s not the open water that causes the anxiety/loss of breath BUT the swimming in close proximity to other people. 

Practicing these skills along with swimming in the open water more regularly will make a difference.

2)    Breathing and pacing: Before the race/swim start you are naturally more on edge. Your heart rate is elevated and you are nervous/excited for the day ahead: When the starters gun goes off you put your face in the water and start swimming. There are two things you should be focusing on. 
Exhaling: Instead of holding your breath as soon as your face is in the water you should be exhaling a steady stream of air. This helps when you go to take a breath and instead of trying to exhale and inhale in the split second your mouth is out of the water you have plenty of time to inhale only. This breathing method limits the chances of hyperventilating and is especially important to focus on during the start of a race. 
Pacing: During the start of a race your nerves can get the better of you and you may start TOO HARD. If you avoid sprinting the first 100 meters of the swim not only will you have a better all round swim, but you will feel better and have less anxiety/breathing issues. Experienced swimmers can swim the first 100-300m fast and then settle back into a steady pace. Don’t get sucked into thinking that will work for you. Most of these guys and girls come from a swimming background and have practiced the things we are talking about here a lot. In time, as your swimming and confidence improves you’ll be able to push harder. But for now building into a swim is the key for success.

3)    Warm up: It’s important to get in the water before the start. Being familiar with the beach, water temp, course, sun, wind direction and chop are great things to know before you start the race. Knowing these things will ease your mind and leave you feeling confident about the swim ahead.

4)    Starting Position: Avoiding the middle of the pack. The middle of the pack is where “the washing machine” is at its worst. You don’t want to get caught up in a sea of human limbs. So where to start? 
Either the left or right of the start line. There may still be people around you but there will be less than if you were centered. This is a great option if you want to be competitive throughout the race, but struggle with the swim starts. If you have a favorite breath side. Lets say you like to breath to your LEFT. Then I would start to the right of the start line/main group of swimmers. This way whenever you take a breath you’ll be looking at the majority of the swimmers. Thus keeping you swimming in a straight line and also help avoid swimming into a mass of people.  
OR Start near the back and wait a few seconds after the starters gun goes. You won’t lose much time, but you’ll keep out of the washing machine and be able to settle into your rhythm straight away. 

5)    Equipment: The simple things. 
Make sure your goggles do NOT fog or leak. Not being able to see where you are going is never fun and doesn’t help that anxious feeling. 
Swimwear: DO NOT choose baggy clothing. Try to avoid anything that doesn’t fit snug to the body. Things like pockets or loose fitting tops are like anchors in the water. The best thing to do is use a swimskin in Non wetsuit races or a one piece tri suit that fits snugly to the body without causing that tight chested feeling. While the material in a swimskin is textile it still makes you feel like you’re sitting higher in the water than a standard Tri Suit. Use a wetsuit (that you have worn before and practiced in) for all swims where you are allowed to. We practice in the pool using wetsuits every few weeks. So there are no surprises on race day. 

6)    What happens If I still panic: Stay Calm. Move out to the side. Turn and float on your back. Do some relaxed breast-stroke. A lot of people think you have to swim freestyle in the race. This Isn’t true. You can do breaststroke if you need to. Take your time, re-group, focus on your breathing and think “one swim buoy at a time”. Focusing on small goals along the way is far better than focusing on swimming the entire course. 100m at a time!

Hopefully we’ve helped you understand how to tackle the open water.

Preparation and practice are key.

Cheers

Guy and Kate. 

Preparing for race day

So your tackling a triathlon for the first time? Or maybe you’re a repeat offender?

Here's a little list of the things we've learnt over the years. Rest assured we've made plenty of mistakes. We hope this list allows you to learn from them.
Pre-Race
Lay your gear out the night before (write the check list of swim, bike, run to check through) Set two Alarms. (being late or missing the race because you over slept would not be great!)

Race morning
Allow plenty of time to get to the race venue
Rack your bike and do a walk through of transition. (Knowing how to get to your bike after the swim is crucial) 
Using a colourful towel to mark your spot is also good idea.
Make sure your bike is in an easy gear when you rack it.
Wear sunscreen (probably don't need to elaborate on this one)
Know the course. (Don't think, I'll just follow every one else! It's important you know where you’re going)
Try your race gear before race day. Got race wheels? Put them on and ride them. Haven't worn your wetsuit for a year? Put it on and swim in it, even in the pool!
Hydrate and fuel. Make sure you replace your fluids before, during and after the race.

Swim
Do a short warm up. Warming up relieves tension and gets your body ready for the day.

Take time to put your wetsuit on properly. Make sure it's fit well. (nothing worse than fighting your wetsuit for the swim)
If your worried about the swim start. Make sure you start to the side where the chaos is to a minimum
Draft: If you can get on someone’s feet and draft them, you'll save yourself energy that can be used later in the race

Bike
Make sure your cycling shoes (if you’re wearing them) are undone and the straps are loose so you can get your feet into them.
Wait for 3-4min before you start taking on Nutrition after the swim. This gives you a chance to get away from transition and other cyclists. It also allows your heart rate to drop a
little before starting to take on nutrition and fluid.
Use the corners or U-turns to get out of your saddle for a few pedal strokes. This will allow you to use different muscles and help prevent fatigue and discomfort
Aim to consume roughly 1 bottle of electrolytes per hour. This will ensure you don't get dehydrated.

Run
Start slow and build into your run.
(Starting fast and fading usually ends in tears)😉
Use the Aid stations to drink/eat. (If you need to walk, time it with an aid station, allowing you to get that nutrition in).
Break the run down into smaller segments - it may be aid station to aid station, 1km at a time or lamp post to lamp post. But focus purely on that short term goal in front of you and repeat! Before you know it....you will be on your way home!
Most importantly - Soak up the atmosphere, dish out a few high fives to fellow competitors and spectators and enjoy that Finish Line!!!!

We look forward to seeing you race this weekend.