Carefully Curated Triathlon News for December 14, 2023

IN THIS EDITION…

  • 4 mistakes in freestyle hand entry
  • Blueprint for the perfect off-season plan
  • 3 proven strategies for healthy weight loss
  • How to develop multiple swim speeds
  • Extreme carb consumption

MORE GEARS

One mark of an advanced swimmer is their ability to change speeds during a race.  In contrast, less experienced swimmers typically have only one gear.

Elite swimmers often speak of having 3 speeds.  You might be surprised to learn that they vary by only about 2 seconds per hundred.  However they can call upon these different paces at will. 

Coach Brenton Ford provides some practical tips for developing your own swim gears, and describes the technical mistakes to avoid when you start trying to swim faster.

Master this important pacing skill, and soon you’ll be racing the swim in your next triathlon… not just surviving.

TRANSITION SEASON

Champions are made in the off-season, but finding the right balance in your pre-season training can be tricky.

Coach Tatjana Ivanova offers a useful guide on how to navigate this transition season.

For her athletes she focuses on functional strength and improving swim technique.  In contrast, she de-emphasizes running.

Learn how you can set yourself up for success next year by adopting a well-designed transition training season plan now.

RESIST THE CARBOLUTION

Recently we’ve all been reading that very high carbohydrate consumption is driving the high speeds of the pro cycling peloton.

Sports scientist and world’s top IRONMAN age grouper Dr. Dan Plews is not convinced.

In fact he contends that – for long distance triathletes – ingesting more than 90 grams of carbs (or 360 calories) per hour is not worth the risk of bloating and nausea caused by the excess accumulating in your gut.  It might even stimulate the breakdown of the very glycogen stores you’re trying to preserve!

Read this well-researched article and formulate a personal fueling strategy that really works.

WHO’S WINNING NOW?

There’s no better collection of gifts for triathletes than the swimming accessories offered by FINIS.

Consider the FINIS Tempo Trainer Pro.  This unobtrusive underwater metronome will help raise your turnover to 35 strokes per minute (or higher). Using it will smooth out your power curve and increase your efficiency.

Get Santa’s elves working on a variety of swim paddles, like the strapless Floating Agility Paddles or the innovative Freestyler Paddle.

Or level up your strength and warm-up routines by grabbing a set of the Slide Dryland Cords that mimic the entire swim stroke cycle with consistent resistance

Best of all TriathlonWire readers get a 20% discount by using the coupon code TRIWIRE at checkout.

ENTER BETTER

Once you’ve perfected your head position, it’s time to address your freestyle hand entry.

A precise orientation of your hand’s entry into the water helps ensure optimal body position, maintains forward momentum and allows you to drop into a proper catch.

Of course, hand entry isn’t as simple as it seems.  Check out these 4 common hand entry mistakes and the drills to correct them.

OLDER BUT LEANER

In this video, 41-year cyclist Cam Nicholls documents how he reduced his body weight while increasing lean muscle mass in just 12 weeks.

Best of all, no starvation or crazy diets were required.  Nicholls claims that these changes were not hard to sustain.

What we found most interesting was his strategic fueling surrounding workouts, which oftentimes resulted in him eating more than usual at certain times of the day.

Nicholls followed 3 simple practices to manage his performance-focused diet that you can integrate now to help prevent going off-the-rails during the upcoming Holiday season.

QUICK HIITS:

  • Winter Zwift
    Whether you’re after the most challenging courses to build mental toughness, or more modest routes for Zone 2 workouts, this Zwift guide for triathletes by Jenny Lucas-Hill will help you get the most out of your winter indoor training.
  • Glory Days
    Need a Holiday gift for the triathlete who has everything?  Then get a personalized message of congratulations or encouragement recorded by iconic IRONMAN announcer Mike Reilly that will allow them to relive their glory days just by pressing “play.”