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.

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.

Chrissie Wellington, Now The Book, A Life Without Limits: A World Champion's Journey

Well we have heard,read the RSS feeds, followed her on the path to one of the best athletes in the world, well now you can read Chrissie Wellington's story. We or most of us want to see what make her tick, be so strong and push herself well beyond insane.

Description:
In 2007, Chrissie Wellington shocked the triathlon world by winning the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii. As a newcomer to the sport and a complete unknown to the press, Chrissie's win shook up the sport. A LIFE WITHOUT LIMITS is the story of her rise to the top, a journey that has taken her around the world, from a childhood in England, to the mountains of Nepal, to the oceans of New Zealand, and the trails of Argentina, and first across the finish line.

Wellington's first-hand, inspiring story includes all the incredible challenges she has faced-- from anorexia to near-drowning to training with a controversial coach. But to Wellington, the drama of the sports also presents an opportunity to use sports to improve people's lives.

A LIFE WITHOUT LIMITS reveals the heart behind Wellington's success, along with the diet, training and motivational techniques that keep her going through one of the world's most grueling events.

Learn Something New, TacFit, Gracie Jui Jitsu

Its the off season and you are looking for something different, get out of the comfort zone and really push yourself. There is nothing like trying something new let alone something that might save your life. 


Gracie Jiu Jitsu is the best. 

When the days of the Samurai came to an end, the gun replaced the sword, and new sportive ways to practice martial arts were developed. Eventually, in Japan many different variations of Jiu-Jitsu took shape, including Karate, Aikido, and Judo. But these arts were missing essential pieces of what the complete art of Jiu-Jitsu originally held.

This lack of reality created years of confusion in the martial arts community, a confusion that legendary Bruce Lee would later refer to as the 'classical mess'. Bruce Lee was actually a student of Judo and did many studies on grappling while he was alive. He criticized traditional martial arts as being ineffective. The more traditional combat schools were simply practicing techniques no longer suitable for modern day combat, and with no way to safely test them, practicing these arts became like swimming without water.

It wasn't until the sport art of Judo and the combat art of Jiu-Jitsu were introduced to the Gracie family in Brazil that the real art of Jiu-Jitsu would be brought to life again. Japanese Jiu-Jitsu (practiced as Judo) was introduced to the Gracie family in Brazil around 1914 by Esai Maeda, who was also known as Conde Koma. Maeda was a champion of Jiu-Jitsu and a direct student of Kano, at the Kodokan in Japan. He was born in 1878, and became a student of Judo (Kano’s Jiu-Jitsu) in 1897.

In 1914, Maeda was given the opportunity to travel to Brazil as part of a large Japanese immigration colony. In Brazil, in the northern state of Para, he befriended Gastão Gracie, an influential businessman, who helped Maeda get established. To show his gratitude, Maeda offered to teach traditional Japanese Jiu-Jitsu to Gastão's oldest son, Carlos Gracie. Carlos learned for a few years and eventually passed his knowledge to his brothers.

Helio Gracie, the youngest son of Gastão and Cesalina Gracie's eight children (three were girls), was always a very physically frail child. He would run up a flight of stairs and have fainting spells, and no one could figure out why.

At age fourteen, he moved in with his older brothers who lived and taught Jiu-Jitsu in a house in Botafogo, a borough of Rio de Janeiro. Following doctor’s recommendations, Helio would spend the next few years limited to only watching his brothers teach.

One day, when Helio was 16 years old, a student showed up for class when Carlos was not around. Helio, who had memorized all the techniques from watching his brothers teach, offered to start the class. When the class was over, Carlos showed up and apologized for his delay. The student answered, "No problem. I enjoyed the class with Helio very much and, if you don't mind, I'd like to continue learning from him." Carlos agreed, and Helio became an instructor.

Helio soon realized that due to his frail physique, most of the techniques he had learned from watching Carlos teach were particularly difficult for him to execute. Eager to make the techniques work for him, he began modifying them to accommodate his weak body. Emphasizing the use of leverage and timing over strength and speed, Helio modified virtually all of the techniques and, through trial and error, created Gracie/Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

In order to prove the effectiveness of his new system, Helio openly challenged all the reputable martial artists in Brazil. He fought 18 times, including matches against onetime world heavyweight wrestling champion, Wladek Zbyszko and the #2-ranked Judoka in the world at the time, Kato, whom Helio choked unconscious in six minutes. His victory against Kato qualified him to enter the ring with the world champion, Masahiko Kimura, the best Jiu-Jitsu fighter Japan has ever produced, and who outweighed Helio by almost 80 pounds. Kimura won the match but was so impressed with Helio’s techniques that he asked Helio to go teach in Japan claiming the techniques Helio presented during their bout did not exist in Japan. It was the recognition by the world’s best to Helio’s dedication to the refinement of the art.

At 43 years old, Helio and former student, Waldemar Santana, set the world record for the longest uninterrupted no-holds-barred fight in history when they fought for an incredible 3 hours and 40 minutes!

Widely regarded as the first sports hero in Brazilian history, Helio also challenged boxing icons Primo Carnera, Joe Louis, and Ezzard Charles. They all declined.

A dedicated family man who exemplified a healthy life-style he was the epitome of courage, discipline, determination, and an inspiration to people everywhere. A modern-day legend, Helio Gracie gained international acclaim for his dedication to the dissemination of the art and is recognized as the creator of Gracie/Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

TacFit can work you out in ways you never thought possible. 

When Daniel Craig stepped out of the surf on a Bahamas beach, he melted women around the world and spiked browser searches from guys looking for that incredible James Bond physique. Fitness marketers capitalized on the moment by offering the usual bodybuilding-style workouts and labeling them Bond. But anyone who knows anything about tactical ops wasn’t fooled.

A guy like Bond needs more than show muscle to save the world — he needs serious go muscle — because it isn’t enough to look pretty when Blofeld comes calling. And when real life secret agents need go muscle, they turn to TACFIT Commando.

The entire TACFIT Commando program is bodyweight-only and can be completed in about the same amount of space you’d need to lie down in. It only takes 20 minutes, but we’ve packed it with an intensity and fat melting power most athletes don’t even tap in a full hour of training — because real-world tactical operators don’t have time to piss around.

As if that weren’t enough, TACFIT will also teach you a few of the slick moves used by real life spies in the field. You’ll be able to run, jump and slide like Bond in that crazy opening parkour sequence and you’ll floor the ladies just like he did when you walk up the beach.

Life doesn’t get any cooler than that.

Three Running Workouts For The Treadmill

Got to love Triathlete and thank them for this wonderful workout.

Workout No. 1

Warm-up: eight minutes easy followed by 4×20 seconds at 5K pace or slightly faster.

Main set: 12×1 minute, alternating at a 4 percent grade, a 4.5 percent grade and a 5 percent grade.

The interval at 4 percent should be moderate, the effort at 4.5 percent should be moderately hard, and the interval at 5 percent should be hard. Try to run faster with each set of three.

Take one minute of rest in between each interval.

Cool-down: 10 minutes easy.

—Mike Ricci, head coach, University of Colorado at Boulder Triathlon Team

Workout No. 2

“One treadmill session I have a love-hate relationship with is 10×3 minutes at best effort, with three minutes rest between each,” says Ironman world champion Mirinda Carfrae . “It’s kind of boring but quite effective!”

Always remember to properly warm up and warm down before you do this session. A proper warm-up should include some strides on the treadmill.

Workout No. 3

Warm-up: 20 minutes of running. The first five minutes should be easy and can include walking. By minute 10, you should be running the same pace you would during a long run, and by minute 15, you should be running at a moderately fast pace. For the final five minutes of your warm-up, do progressively faster strides that are 15 to 30 seconds long, separated by 15 to 45 seconds of “recovery running” that is done slightly faster than the pace you expect to hold during the main set.

Set No. 1: 3×30- to 45-second hill repeats at a 5 percent, 6 percent and 7 percent grade. These hill repeats should be fast, but not so fast that you can’t finish the workout. Take a 2:15- to 2:30-minute rest, so that each repeat takes three minutes.

Set No. 2: 3×30- to 45-second hill repeats at a 6 percent, 7 percent and 8 percent grade. Slightly increase the pace you’re running, as well. Take a 2:15- to 2:30-minute rest, so that each repeat takes three minutes.

Set No. 3: 3×30- to 45-second hill repeats at a 7 percent, 8 percent and 9 percent grade. Slightly increase the pace you’re running, as well. Take a 2:15- to 2:30-minute rest, so that each repeat takes three minutes.

Cool-down: 10 minutes of easy running.

— Eric Bean, professional triathlete and coach of the Fast Forward Triathlon Pro Development Team

Athletes Wanted: Apply to Become a TrainingPeaks Ambassador

TrainingPeaks is excited to announce that we are putting together our first ever TrainingPeaks Ambassador Program. If you think you have what it takes to be on Team TrainingPeaks, read on!

We’re looking for athlete ambassadors who avidly use our products and wholeheartedly believe in training with TrainingPeaks. Our ambassadors will balance their passion for endurance sports with life, all while influencing those in their community.

We want athletes who are:

• AUTHENTIC AND CREDIBLE. Our ambassadors are more than just athletes; they are the storytellers for our brand. That’s why our ambassadors will be highly motivated, enthusiastic self-starters. We seek individuals who will validate TrainingPeaks through their daily lives, sport, and community.
• PASSIONATE ABOUT TRAINING PROGRAMS. Our ambassadors know when it comes to training, setting a goal and following a training plan or working with a coach is where it’s at.

Sponsorship of our athlete ambassadors will last for one (1) year during which time we ask our athletes to use TrainingPeaks to train for at least five (5) events. We may also collaborate around some or all of the following:

• PRODUCT FEEDBACK. We ask athlete ambassadors to beta test software features and tell us how we can enhance or improve features.
• EDITORIAL CONTENT. We are looking for athlete ambassadors who are also inspirational storytellers (writers or bloggers) and generously offer advice and insight into their training. We will publish and promote your work to others to help motivate and inspire training for endurance athletes. Regular engagement and postings on TrainingPeaks’ social media channels will be required.
• AMBASSADOR PROFILES. Athlete ambassadors may be featured on the TrainingPeaks website, Facebook page, emails, newsletters and blog.
• APPEARANCES. Athlete ambassadors may be asked to participate in TrainingPeaks sponsored events (i.e. race expo, conference, or event) when appropriate, and wear TrainingPeaks gear during your five required events.
• TRAININGPEAKS ADVOCATE. Be a role model and spokesperson with whom TrainingPeaks users and our partners will be proud to be associated.

To apply, click here.  Application deadline is November 30, 2012. 2012 Ambassadors will be announced December 15th. We look forward to reviewing your application!

Best Triathlon Car, So Far!

Not sure much needs to be said, the Counrtyman All4 (cooper s) it is AWD, fast and gets great gas millage. Fold the rear seats down and you have more than enough room for your wetsuits, wheels, even an extra set of cloths. Get the installed load bars on-top and off you go.

Very much like a tri bike, except it can corner. Remember how you felt when you drove your first go-cart, imagine that but much, much faster. Not to mention the aftermarket stuff, trade down your SUV, move up from Honda.

MINI USA

10 Triathlon Training Schedule Time Savers

There are a ton of triathlon training schedules. Some are good, some are bad, and some are nice to look at when you need to fall asleep quickly and don't have any sleeping pills nearby.

But regardless of which triathlon training schedule you use, there are 10 crucial time-saving elements you need to be looking for, if you don't want to waste time training when you could be kissing up to your boss, wasting time on YouTube, or teaching your kids how to make offensive sounds with their armpits.

So in no particular order of importance (except that the first one is about food, which I find myself thinking about a lot as a self-admitted food junkie), here are your 10 triathlon training schedule time savers:

10. Eat Lunch Fast. Taking 5 minutes to eat your lunch will leave, in most cases, 55 extra minutes in your triathlon training schedule. So what takes a long time to eat? Salads, casseroles, dinner leftovers - and pretty much anything that requires cutlery. Choose these instead: wraps, sandwiches, smoothies and shakes. And yes, I am that guy riding my bicycle down the road as I finish up a turkey-avocado wrap that I've wrapped in aluminum foil and stuffed down my bike jersey.

9. Quality Over Quantity. Most triathletes, especially the Ironman ones, swim 140% too much, bike 200% too much and run 170% too much - mostly because there is too little hard fast training and too much long slow training. I personally use a ton of high intensity interval training workouts (HIIT), and that means I get to watch movies with my kids at night. So what's an example of HIIT? Rather than going on a 45 minute run, I'll do 10 treadmill 30-60 second sprints on the highest incline I can possibly manage, and then do my core workout between each sprint.

8. Indoor Training. It sounds a bit blah, but if you want to free up time in your triathlon training schedule, you can save many, many minutes by hopping on an indoor trainer or treadmill rather than getting dressed for weather conditions, going outside, and fighting stop signs, stop lights, traffic and Grandma's on rollerblades with their 8 grandchildren and 2 schnozzle dogs. You'll even find me sometimes skipping my swim to do an indoor workout like the one in this video:http://www.youtube.com/bengreenfieldfitness#p/a/u/1/n6kEbDzxISc

7. Commute. Ride your bike to work. Put your clothes in a backpack, and pack babywipes or Actionwipes to wipe yourself down. If you're like me, you can even go so far as to wash your hair in the sink. If this doesn't work for your triathlon training schedule you can also: A) run to the grocery store for small items (I run hard there, and then easy back while I'm carrying stuff like bananas); B) do errands on your bike (not recommended for anything that involves your hair looking nice); or C) ride or run to social events, like parties, and then drive home with your friends or family.

6. Eat Right. If you're eating calories that don't have high nutritional value, a good part of your triathlon training schedule is going to be spent simply A) trying not to get fat and/or B) fighting against the recovery and fitness reducing effect that "empty calories" have on your body. Anything process, refined or packaged should comprise only a very small part of your diet, and everything else should come from whole, raw, real food. And yes, the local coffeeshop bakery case falls into the latter category, even the cookies with the pink frosting that say "Fat-Free". I also recommend that just about everybody take the bare minimum supplementation protocol (for reasons I discuss here:http://s3.amazonaws.com/BenGreenfieldFitness/SupplementsInterviewWithBen... ) Vitamin D, Magnesium, Fish Oil and Greens.

5. Family Training Tools. As soon as my wife and I found out we were pregnant with twins (actually she was, I just helped, which was the fun part), we equipped our garage with a double bike trailer and a double jogger. The bike trailer always has two little bike helmets and a bunch of books and toys inside (you'd be surprised at how long a Batman action figure will keep a little boy entertained on a long bike ride). My wife uses the jogger to take the kids on little nature field-trips, or to soccer, swimming, and even the gym (speaking of the gym, try to join one that has free kid care, like the YMCA, so you and your spouse can exercise together). Some triathlon training schedule advice is to do "Invisible Training", which is done early in the morning or late at night when your training is "invisible" to your family, but I encourage you, at least once a week, to set a good example and make family a part of your training.

4. Communication. You, your spouse, your family, your friends, your co-workers and your boss should be aware of your triathlon training schedule when you have a 5 hour bike ride planned for the weekend, or you decide to disappear to the gym for an extra hour on Wednesday morning. We keep a big calendar by our front door where we write down workouts, family events, races, and sometimes the ever-present reminder for me to "mow the lawn already". If you and your spouse are geeks, you could certainly use something Google calendar or the "Remember The Milk" phone app - but we go old-school paper calendar at the Greenfield house. I'm also very open to friends and co-workers when I can't hang out. Don't be embarrassed to wear your triathlon training schedule on your sleeve - most people will respect you for being committed to fitness.

3. Friday Night Fuddy-Duddy. Speaking of friends, I don't recommend you engage in heavy drinking or late night social activities on Friday night - primarily because Saturday is such valuable time for getting in your triathlon training scheduled workouts. Save the tom-foolery for Saturday nights or Sunday afternoons, when you've gotten your high quality training out of the way. My wife and I will often stay in on Friday night, grab a movie (the last good one was "Due Date", but I digress), have a date night, hit the sack by 10pm, and be fresh and ready to get started into workouts or training on Saturday.

2. Cross-Train. Lately, many of my social relationships are now formed from playing tennis with a group of guys. For me, that's my social outlet that keeps me from being an isolated triathlon geek who has lost the skill to communicate with the general population and mostly just stares off into space and utters phrases like "Oily Cassette Blurby Blah-Blah". You're not "wasting time" when you cross-train in your triathlon training schedule - instead, there is often a very good training effect upon your triathlon fitness. While the social sports of golf, softball and baseball may not be the best cardiovascular cross-training activities, look into group activities like soccer, basketball, tennis, or if you are an international reader, cricket (I know nothing about cricket, but I threw that in there to make this a globally relevant article and to appease any Eastern hemisphere
readers).

1. Non-Triathlon Post-Race Festivities. If you've got a family, the last thing you want is your family to regret you taking them to the big race in your triathlon training schedule. By all means, do not arrive at your race 5-7 days before the race with your family for a "vacation", spend the entire vacation fretting about racing and tweaking your bicycle, and then fly home the night of the race or the morning after. Instead, go to the race later in the week, like 3 or 4 days early (you're not a professional athlete, for crying out loud, so why skip out on life just to acclimate?) and then stay 2-3 days after the race to engage in non-triathlon post-race festivities with your family, like theme parks, scenic attractions, wine tasting, or if you'll really up for an adventure, wine tasting at theme parks. I take no responsibility for injuries incurred during that last activity.

If you're trying to prepare for a triathlon without neglecting your friends, family or career, then these time-saving tips should be good additions to your triathlon training schedule. If you want more advice just like this, then you'll want to visit http://www.triathlondominator.com, where I've got more techniques for Half-Ironman and Ironman triathletes to get maximum results with minimum training time. See you there!