KONA CANCELLED — HEADS ROLL
As widely reported and ending months of speculation, IRONMAN finally cancelled its world championships. Its iconic 2020 Hawaii IRONMAN and 2020 70.3 world championship triathlon in New Zealand will not occur.
IRONMAN’s new owners, Advance, also implemented widespread staff layoffs and moved to close numerous regional offices in an effort to cut costs and stem losses.
In a pandemic year that continues to devastate the triathlon calendar, this news is not surprising. Does anyone expect races to return until a COVID-19 vaccine becomes available?
As the leading stakeholder in our sport, we need IRONMAN to succeed. Although painful and disappointing, hopefully their bold moves will give Advance the required breathing room to recalibrate and look ahead to a safer, healthier 2021.
DRILLS OR SPEED?
With no races in the foreseeable future, should triathletes prioritize technique or fitness during their swim sessions?
Expert UK swimming coach John Wood offers advice on striking the appropriate balance during your workouts while placing particular emphasis on threshold sets.
GREATEST HIITS
A popular debate among triathletes and their coaches is over what types of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) and Sprint Interval Training (SIT) result in the greatest improvement in performance.
In this episode of That Triathlon Show podcast presented by Scientific Triathlon, sports scientist Michael Rosenblat makes the case for longer efforts, specifically 4x 4-minute bike intervals.
He also goes deep to explain why interval length is so important, and reveals why Maximum Aerobic Power (MAP) is a more significant marker for improvement than VO2max.
FASTER WITH FINIS
FINIS recognizes the unique needs of our sport, and has developed a line of innovative products that will make you a better, faster and more efficient triathlon swimmer.
We especially like their new Slide Dryland Trainer stretch cords. Its clever design provides constant (not variable) resistance throughout the swim stroke cycle. Perfect for keeping freestyle tone now, it’s also ideal for pre-event warmup when we finally return to racing.
TriathlonWire readers get a 20% discount by using the coupon code TRIWIRE20 at checkout.
DEAD WEIGHT
Now more than ever – during this imposed hiatus from racing – strength training for triathletes is vital.
While no single exercise is a cure-all, deadlifts for triathletes come close. Performed properly they will improve strength, mobility and core stability… all crucial during the latter stages of a race.
FINAL KICK
- Training Tweet
Aussie pro and @SuperLeagueTri superstar Emma Jeffcoat offers up this gnarly 1-hour indoor cycling session that is sure to leave a mark. - HOKA No No
Immediately after signing on as title sponsor of IRONMAN’s VR Championship Series, HOKA ONE ONE’s global director of sports marketing Mike McManus impressively won his age group in the VR14 race… then was disqualified for failing to properly calibrate his Rouvy indoor cycling app. Oops.
