Carefully Curated Triathlon News for April 6, 2023

IN THIS EDITION…

  • Fine-tune your 70.3 fueling
  • Master freestyle arm movement
  • 2-part cycling intervals
  • 5 days of swim drills
  • How to integrate speed work

NEED FOR SPEED

You need speed work in your training.  It familiarizes you with intensities you’ll experience while racing and enhances your fitness.

Coach Matt Fitzgerald believes that you can safely incorporate speed work by following 3 simple rules. 

The good news is a little goes a long way, and more is probably not better.

Speed work is a vital component of triathlon training, but Fitzgerald spells out exactly how to make it work for you.

HIGH TORQUE HILLS

As a long distance triathlete, your goal is to ride for hours at a consistent intensity just below your aerobic threshold.

To do so, you must engage as much muscle as possible for this challenging and sustained effort.  You even want to recruit some of your fast twitch muscle fibers and train them to perform aerobically, too.

For optimal adaptation, Chris Case recommends this killer 2-part cycling hill workout.  His prep set fatigues your slow twitch fibers by depleting their glycogen.  Then the main set forces the fast twitch fibers to contribute.

What’s the secret to this session?  Seated, low cadence climbing.  Learn how to integrate this bike workout into your training, and watch your stamina and speed improve.

UNLOCK THE MYSTERIES

Use this elegant and concise video to unlock the mysteries of one of the most challenging concepts of freestyle swimming: arm movement.

Renato Machelett breaks down freestyle arm movement into its 6 critical components, and provides actionable tips you can immediately apply to improve your stroke.

You’ve never seen anything quite like this for improving your swim technique!

WINNING TRAVEL

Traveling to races is expensive. That’s why we’re excited to introduce you to TripBeat!

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For a limited time you can claim your free 60-day trial of the premium version of TripBeat – where you’ll save up to 60% on hotel stays – with the activation code Triwire60.  Use it for two months with no cost or obligation.

Best of all no credit card is required… just click the link, create your free account, and lockdown affordable travel options with discounts of up to 60%

HALF FUEL

World renowned sports nutritionist Asker Jeukendrup reveals how to build a personalized fueling plan for your next IRONMAN 70.3.

He addresses how to deal with the 3 key nutrition issues faced by triathletes: fueling, hydration and GI problems.

Jeukendrup also outlines the most common race day mistakes athletes make with their nutrition, and explains how to avoid them.

Use his science-based approach as a starting point to construct your bulletproof race day nutrition plan.

5 DAYS, 5 DRILLS

Add some variety to your swim training while improving your technique with these 5 drills by the coaches from Arena.

This series offers a different drill set for each of 5 successive days, and is designed to help you make incremental progress on perfecting your stroke.

QUICK HIITS:

  • What It Takes
    2022 saw massive improvements in race performances across the board; not just in overall finish times, but also in each individual discipline.  Read this fascinating analysis by TriRating.com that reveals what it takes to compete at the highest level.
  • Qualified for Worlds
    After being tested and proven at 4 major triathlons, the RaceRanger drafting detection system will be used at the Long Distance World Championships on May 7, 2023 in Ibiza, Spain.  As its adoption continues, we hope the RaceRanger will help improve the fairness of officiating in non-drafting triathlons worldwide.
  • Undefeated
    Take a moment to ponder this Tweet by Mr. Slow Easy Comfortable.  Is picking up the pace what your body needs right now, or is it just for vanity metrics on Strava?  Slow running is undefeated; no one ever regretted training too slowly.