Tri Terms

Beach start: Starting from the beach and running into the water to begin a triathlon.

Buoy: The floating markers used on a triathlon course to indicated course layout, distance and turns.

Deck: The hard surface around the pool.

Draft: To swim directly behind or beside the swimmer in front of you, which makes it easier to swim.

Floating start: Starting from the water without the feet touching to begin a triathlon.

Freestyle: The common front stroke style swimming usually used in triathlon. 

Kickboard: A floating piece of styrofoam used to for kicking drills. 

Lane : A sectioned area of the pool for lap swimming. Typically, a pool is divided into 3 or more lanes. 

Lane Lines : The floating markers which that separate the lanes. 

Lap: From one end of the pool to the other and back. 

Length: From one end of the pool to the other. A “half” lap. 

Flags : Small triangular pennants hung over the pool to indicate that the end of the lane is near. 

Master’s: A swim class, group or club for adult swimmers. 

Open Water: Outdoors swimming in a lake, river or ocean. 

Pull Buoy : A floating piece of Styrofoam that goes between the legs so that a swimmer doesn’t need to kick. 

Transition: Transitioning from the water to the bike portion of a triathlon. 

Wall : Vertical part of the pool that is typically touched between lengths. 

Wetsuit legal: A triathlon in which the water is cold enough to allow a wetsuit. 


Aerobars - Because it is more comfortable and more aerodynamic for triathlon racing, most triathlon bikes are equipped with these type of bars, which attach to the handlebars or stem of a bicycle and allow you to ride in the aero position. These can also be placed on a road bike. 

Aero Bottle - Many triathletes attach a water bottle to the aerobars rather than to the down tube or seat tube, which makes drinking in the aero position an easier task. 

Aero Position - Also known as the time trial position, the aero position involves riding in a "hunched over" position with the elbows resting on the aerobar pads. This saves your running muscles and helps keep you aerodynamic, especially on the relatively flat bike courses that most triathlons have. 

Bonk - Because you cover long distances while cycling, it's easy to get stuck during a ride or race without food or fuel. When this happens, your blood sugar can drop so low that your brain goes into a fog and your muscles quit firing. This is called a bonk. The fix? Eat fast and eat lots. 

Brick - A "Bike-Run" workout, in which you run immediately after finishing the bike leg of a triathlon or a bike workout. 

Cadence - The speed of pedaling while bicycling, also known as RPM, or Revolutions per Minute. 

Disc - A solid wheel that is very aerodynamic and often used as a rear wheel in triathlons. 

Down Tube - The tube of the bike that runs from the handlebars and diagonally slopes down towards your back wheel. 

Drafting - Riding close enough behind the cyclist(s) in front of you that you pedaling becomes less difficult due to that rider stopping some of the wind resistance. This is illegal in most triathlons, and you must typical maintain 3-4 bike lengths behind the person in front of you. 

Dropped - When you're riding with a group of cyclists who are drafting, and you eventually get too far behind to be in the draft, you'll find that the gap increases between you and the group, pedaling becomes harder, and you can't catch up. You've been dropped. 

Hammer - To pedal very hard, typically for an extended period of time (i.e. "That ride was a Hammer-fest!"). 

Seat Post - The tube on the bike that attaches to your saddle, and is typically adjustable up and down. On some triathlon bikes, it can be cut. 

Spin - To ride easy, in recovery mode, or pedal with very low resistance. The opposite of hammer. 

Time Trial - Typically a 20-180K ride at the maximum sustainable pace, usually performed in the aero position. The bike leg of most triathlons is defined as a time trial. 

Top Tube - The tube that extends from the handlebars, between your legs, and horizontally back towards the back wheel.

Chrissie, Goodbye For This Year!

reprinted from Triathlon Competitor

On Monday, Jan. 16 Chrissie Wellington sent shockwaves throughout the triathlon world with the announcement that she would be taking a year away from Ironman racing. The four-time Ironman world champion posted the news on her blog, Chrissiewellington.org, and expressed a desire to pursue other opportunities. Wellington took time to chat with us about those opportunities, how she came to the decision and what the future will hold.

Triathlete.com: Walking away from Ironman for this year must have been a big decision. How did you come to this decision?

Wellington: Making the decision to have a sabbatical was reminiscent of the time in 2006 when I was deliberating whether or not to leave my job working for the government to embark on an unknown path as a professional triathlete. Although having such choices is a blessing, making these decisions is never easy. But now, as then, I simply try to follow my gut instinct and do what I feel is right deep in my heart. But yes, you’re right…it was a HUGE decision, and one that I deliberated long and hard over.

I feel so incredibly fortunate and grateful to have found a sport that I love; to have had the chance to actually make that passion my career; to have continually defied what I thought was possible; to have made so many great friends; to have travelled the world, and of course to have developed a platform on which I can now build.

But I believe that racing cannot always be the axis around which my life revolves. It should not be an end in itself—never the be all and end all of my life. Never define me. It is just one branch on a tree that I hope is as big, rich and varied as I can possibly make it. I want to inject some variety back into my life, some balance and some spontaneity. I want to be freer to explore and seize other opportunities. I would like to spend more time in the UK, and with my family and my friends; to work more closely with my chosen charities, to attend different races around the world, to work with my sponsors, and to try and inspire as many people as possible. Yes, I could do this whilst training and racing full time, but not to the extent and with the energy and passion that I feel is necessary.

More...

Sighting While On The Swim

1. Lift your head only as high as necessary. In calm bodies of water, like a lake or river, lift just your eyes out of the water.

2. In wavy ocean conditions, time it so you’re sighting on the top of a wave for the best view of the course. Feel your body rise and fall on the swells and sight accordingly.

3. When conditions are choppy and unpredictable, lift your head extra high but try to minimize the total number of times you sight. Use landmarks and other swimmers when breathing to the side.

4. Do not breathe while looking forward. Separate the two actions by sighting forward and then immediately rolling your head to take a breath to the side.

5. As you prepare to sight, press down with your hand and arm during the catch phase of your stroke. This will slightly lift your upper body and make it easier to raise your head.

6. Arch your back while lifting your head. This will allow your legs and feet to stay near the surface, minimizing drag under the water.

7. Kick extra hard for a moment while you are sighting. This will help maintain forward speed and also keep your feet from dropping.

8. Sight 2–3 times in a row (during every other stroke). Use the first sight to locate the buoy, the second sight to adjust your angle and the third to verify your direction. Swim straight for 20–30 seconds before repeating this system.

9. Practice, practice, practice! Make a point to practice sighting drills in every second or third workout.

Sighting drills for the pool

Tarzan: Swim the entire length of the pool with your head out of the water. Use this drill to practice arching your back, kicking extra hard and maintaining a good body position.

Where’s Waldo?: Use good sighting technique to locate your coach on the pool deck while swimming a single lap.

3 Right/3 Left/6 Regular: Sight three times while taking a stroke with the right arm and then three times with the left. Take six regular strokes and then repeat.

Swim Blind: Find an empty lane at the pool and swim straight down the middle with your eyes closed. Based on which lane line you bump most often, you know which direction to compensate for in open water.

Xterra 2012 Schedule

Well it is all starting up, who can't wait, we are all rested and ready to start fligging mud.
http://xterraplanet.com/races/us_point_series.cfm
We expect some awesome racing this year and months of incredible races across the nation. Whether you do the series to get to nationals or just love the travel, people and courses along the way, there's a little bit of everything for everyone in this year's series. Use the links in the left navigation menu to guide you through our series information. Set your bookmark for easy access.

Learn More - Visit the How It Works section for an overview of all the races XTERRA offers.

• XTERRA America Tour Championships - America Tour Championships allow you to race closer to home, earn more points and offers more ways to qualify for Worlds. 
• Find A Race - Check the Race Schedule to search for races by state and date.
• View Results -  The Race Results section lets you sort results by age group, gender and times. Results are online Monday / Tuesday after the race.
• Check Your Rank - US Standings results are updated Monday / Tuesday after each weekend of racing.
• Please remember that XTERRA age groups are based on an athlete's age on December 31 of the racing season. Happy racing everyone.

http://www.everymantri.com/files/2012-xterra-america-tour-as-of-1-2.6.12.pdf

Megellan, Switch GPS Watch

Yup, another GPS watch, why not, there should be more of these in the market place, just to drive the price down. 


Now the Switch Up is the one that makes the most sense since it comes with a mounting bracket. Training features and a bunch of other stuff that is well thought out, the vibrating alert to me is the best, I am so tired of hearing my watch beep at me a vibration would work so much better. 


Price is yet to be announced.

Designed to meet the needs of runners, cyclists, and multisport athletes, Switch Up is a powerful, adaptable, and customizable crossover GPS watch.

Switch Up tracks position precisely with GPS satellite data and records time, distance, speed/pace, elevation and more. High-sensitivity GPS allows Switch Up to acquire satellites quickly and track movement in many tough environments – near tall buildings, on mountainous terrain or under heavy tree cover.

By using ANT+^TM wireless technology, Switch Up easily connects to a Magellan heart rate monitor or any ANT+ compatible heart rate monitor, foot pod, bike speed/cadence sensor and power meter.

Boasting a high-resolution display, Switch Up provides superior readability in varying light conditions – especially bright light. With 8 hours of battery life in workout mode and 3 weeks in watch mode using a rechargeable lithium-ion battery. And for endurance athletes, Magellan offers an optional Battery Extender Pack that provides 16 hours of additional battery life, for a total of 24 hours.

Switch Up is water resistant to 50 meters, so it can be worn for an extended period in water to track swimming activities and other high intensity water and snow activities. Switch Up also boasts a barometric altimeter for precise elevation data, a thermometer to monitor and capture outside temperature and vibration alerts for notifications in louder environments.

Included with Switch Up, the Multisport Mounting Kit allows the device to move easily between wrist and bike making the transition between sports seamless. Switch Up is ideal for tracking multisport activities as one workout and can also log transition time in the process, providing triathletes with a complete picture of their races from start to finish.

Switch Up breaks away from the pack by introducing a new training concept for GPS watches – Activity Pacer. After you set a desired distance, time and speed/pace, Activity Pacer not only shows the targeted progress, but more importantly, provides specific targets to attain or maintain the original goal.

Additionally, Switch Up includes fitness and training features such as customizable activity screens with over 80 data fields to choose from, 9 activity profiles to save device configurations based on activity type, auto lap, auto pause, backtrack navigation, marking locations, activity history, and more.

Fitness Data: High-sensitivity GPS receiver tracks your position precisely so you can record time, distance, speed/pace, elevation, calories and more.

Activity Pacer: Set your desired distance, time, and speed/pace, and Activity Pacer will not only show if you're on target throughout the activity, but it will instruct you with specific targets to attain your original goal.

Locations and Navigation: Mark locations, save locations or navigate back to the starting point with the basic navigation capabilities.

Calorie Calculation: Accurate calorie calculation based on the following measurements -- time, speed, distance, heart rate, power and personal information.

Wireless Sensor Compatibility: Embedded ANT+^TM technology receives data from Magellan and any third-party ANT+ sensors, including heart rate monitors, foot pods, bike speed/cadence sensors and power meters.

Auto Controls: Empower your watch to do more with Auto Lap by distance, time or location, Auto Pause and Auto Power Off.

Battery Extender Pack (optional accessory)
Add 16 more hours to the 8 hour battery life on Switch with an external battery pack that can be swapped in and out while recording an activity.

Multisport Mounting Kit (included with Switch Up)
Quick release system with integrated wrist and bike mounts for seamless transitions between sports.

Multisport Mode: Record multisport activities as one workout and log transition time in the process, providing triathletes with a complete picture of their race from start to finish.

9 Activity Profiles: Create up to 9 activity profiles for different sports (run, bike, swim or other). Each activity profile allows you to customize a collection of configurable settings - like data fields, settings, alerts and more).

Customizable Screens and Alerts: Configurable display with up to 9 data screens and up to 6 fields of data per screen. Set alerts based on current or cumulative training metrics, including time, distance, speed/pace, calories, heart rate, cadence and power.

Web Applications: Upload data to the Magellan Fitness website or directly to other leading fitness websites -- TrainingPeaks, MapMyFitness, Strava and more -- to view your activities on maps and get in-depth analysis of your workouts.