Terra Momentus - Newtons New Off Road trainers

Bring them on, Newton Running newest 2010 addition is filling the missing gap. Now from Xterra's to Ironman's Newton running has you covered with functional correct running shoes. The Momentum is an off-road guidance trainer designed for runners committed to a more efficient natural running style. It provides intelligent control for all foot types on all types of terrain, from groomed bridle paths to technical mountain trails.
BRING EM ON...

RaysMTB

Now every state should have one of these. Talk about getting kids fit and ridding year round this place is amazing. Every ablility can ride young to old, short to tall. just get to it. Hans Ray really took his passion to the masses.
RaysMTB Indoor Park

Barefoot Running Goes Ballistic

Re-Blogged from Newton Running. Full article at The Running Front.

Running Newton Shoes and Vibram Five Fingers have many similarities, at least from a form perspective. The primary difference is the cushioning and energy return provided by Newtons, which is largely absent in Vibrams.

Both Newton Performance Racers and Vibrams have a 2 mm heel lift, or toe drop depending on how you look at it. This translates into a 1.3% down grade in the shoe, also referred to as ramp angle or drop. Newton Performance Trainers have a 2% gradient, which although very small, can be felt by aware runners. Regular running shoes have a much steeper angle, up to 15% depending on the shoe.

Barefoot running forces you to run efficiently and preventatively with respect to injury. Vibram’s allow people to experience barefoot running with an added layer of protection from harsh surfaces, while Newton’s go one step further, adding forefoot cushioning and a significant energy return component.

Newton shoes are much kinder to the body’s structure and musculature when transitioning from a traditional running shoe to barefoot, and allow you to perfect a natural (barefoot) form while providing protection and cushioning. Newton’s active membrane technology has been carefully designed to facilitate afferent feedback, which means the nerves in your forefoot feel the ground very quickly through the shoe. This is achieved through the outer lugs and internal semi-rigid chamber that is connected to the bio-mechanical top plate adjacent to your foot inside the shoe.

Traditional shoe cushioning mechanisms dampens afferent feedback, hampering proprioception and thus hindering your ability to self-regulate the impact of your foot strike. Studies show that runners strike much harder in shoes that dampen afferent feedback, one of the causes of injury. Barefoot runners and runners in shoes that allow you to sense the ground encourage you to run protectively, as if barefoot.

Six Simple Steps to Plan Your Triathlon Race Season

From TriFuel
It can be quite intimidating to sit down with the triathlon race calendar and figure out which races you can effectively add to your schedule, which triathlons you can be ready for without overtraining, and whether you're racing "too much" or "too little". So here are six simple steps to plan your triathlon race season, straight from the Rock Star Triathlete Academy.

Triathlon Race Season Step 1: Make a list and write down all the races you want to do. Now, choose the three races that are most important to you and dearest to your heart. These three races are going to be your "high priority events". Mark these with an A, a "High", a star, or whatever method you'd like to set them apart. Choose the races that you're "on the fence" about, and mark those with a B, or "mid" priority. Finally, pick the races that you just want to do for fun, and mark those with a C or "low" priority.

Triathlon Race Season Step 2: If your A race is a sprint or an olympic, make sure that you plan 1 week before that race and mark that week with a "taper". If your A race is a Half Ironman, make sure your plan 10-14 days before that race and mark those 10-14 days with a taper. If your A race is an Ironman, plan 2-3 weeks before that race and mark those weeks as a taper. Don't plan any other races during any period of your calendar marked
"taper".

Triathlon Race Season Step 3: Count backwards from the taper for 4 weeks from a Sprint, 6 weeks from an Olympic, and 8 weeks from a Half IM or IM triathlon. During those periods of weeks, plan one to two B-C events to help you mentally and physically prepare for your A event.

Triathlon Race Season Step 4: Count forwards 1 week after a Sprint or Olympic race, 2 weeks after a Half-Ironman race, and 3 weeks after an Ironman race, and mark these periods as "recovery". Don't plan any races during the recovery.

Triathlon Race Season Step 5: Take the 5-11 weeks with the B races to the taper week to the A race to the recovery week(s) - this entire period of time is to be considered one "block". Depending on how long your season is, and how long your races are, you may be able to fit 2-5 "blocks" into an entire triathlon season.

Triathlon Race Season Step 6: Put in 8-12 weeks of foundation "endurance" or "base" training leading up to that first block.

OK, ready for an example of a "3 block" triathlon race season?
February-April: 8 Weeks base training
April-mid-May: Block 1 - 4 weeks build with one B Sprint Triathlon and one A
Sprint triathlon + taper week + recovery week
mid-May-mid-July: Block 2 - 6 weeks build with one B Sprint Triathlon, one C
Olympic triathlon and one A Olympic triathlon + taper week + recovery week
mid-July-mid October: Block 3 - 8 weeks build with one B Olympic Triathlon,
two C Sprint triathlons and one A Half-Ironman triathlon + 2 taper weeks + 2
Recovery weeks

Planning & Preparation Are Key for Every Triathlete | Trifuel

Planning & Preparation Are Key for Every Triathlete | Trifuel
What a great article, most triathletes are Type A and don't think they need help with this, well think again. TriFuel has a great article on this.
Proper planning and preparation are key elements to triathlon training and racing. An athlete’s time management and organizational skills play a huge role in their success or failure on race day. A day has only 24 hours and as a triathlete you must learn to get the most out of each and every one of them.
One of the most common complaints that we hear from athletes is that they didn't have the time to get their workouts in. A lack of time does happen - but more likely than not the athlete failed in their preparation and planning of their workout.
This failure could be that they didn't bring their training gear when they left for work in the morning, or that they feel it is necessary to drive 60 minutes out of their way to do a bike ride.
Sometimes life gets in the way and that is fine. We can't plan for the unexpected but we can plan for what we know awaits us each day.
More..

Are You a Swimmer With a Runner's Kick? | Active.com

Runners get out of the rut and hit these drill, what you gain is fresh legs not crampy legs. Can you point your toes and straighten out your feet? When you kick on your back, do you tend to go very slow, stay in one place, or even go backwards?

Do you have a tough time with swimming drills because your kick is not propelling you forward fast enough? Do you wear fins in workouts just to keep up? Did you start out as a runner and pick up swimming later to become a triathlete?

If you answered "yes" to any of the above, you may have Runner's Kick. Have no fear, there are things you can do. Even the worst of kickers can develop a freestyle kick adequate enough to survive a triathlon swim.
MORE...

Biking on Ice, You Know You Want To!

Can't wait for it to freeze, it is getting close. Oh what fun you can have.

Newton Running Community

If you follow, use or are sponsored by Newton Running, you soon see why they are a special company. Once you put a pair of Newtons on you start to feel as though you are part of a family, races you attend someone sees you in Newtons and automatically you are friends, sharing stories as though you have known each other your entire life.
Daniel McDonald is taking part in Epic Camp New Zealand, a 16-day triathlon camp where participants swim, bike and run from Cape Regina at the top of the North Island and finish 2,200 km later at the tip of the South Island. What a way to see another country running in newton shoes.

Racing Weight: How to Get Lean for Peak Performance

Racing Weight: How to Get Lean for Peak Performance
Endurance athletes are weight-conscious and given the miles and hours spent training, there’s a lot at stake. Weighing in just five or ten pounds over the ideal weight can dramatically impact race results. Author Matt Fitzgerald shows athletes how to identify their optimal weight and body composition to realize their goals. This 5-step plan to get lean is the key to faster racing and better health. With tools to improve diet, manage appetite, and time important nutrients, Racing Weight will inspire and equip athletes to make the subtle changes they need to start their next race at their optimal weight.
Amazon

Men's and Women's Chipper Workout

The chipper format is a classic CrossFit structure. You have a large number of tasks that you complete in order. They are designed so that as you fatigue in one task, you switch up the demands and keep going. There is a cumulative effect of course, but the variety allows for incredible metabolic demand.

The variety also becomes a great equalizer. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses, and when the workout has ten elements, both are likely to be featured.
Crossfit 2009 Games
Men's Chipper Workout
15 reps 155lb BB squat clean
30 Toes to bar
30 Box jumps 24" box
15 Muscle ups
30 PushPress /PushJerk 40lb DBs
30 Double Unders
15 reps 135lb Thruster
30 Pullups
30 Burpees
300' OH Walking lunge with 45lb plate

Women's Chipper Workout
15 barbell squat cleans (100 lb.)
30 toes to bar
30 box jumps (20” box)
10 muscle-ups
30 push presses/push jerks (25-lb. dumbbells)
30 double-unders
15 thrusters (95 lb.)
30 pull-ups
30 burpees
300’ overhead walking lunges (25-lb. plate)