Olympic Schedule, Results and Events : Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics

It is finally here. Kicks off 4:30 PT

Please, Don't Text and Drive

Not sure what to say, but it needs to stop.

Answering the Belltown - CrossFit Journal

Why $25 gets you more than you imagined.

"CrossFit Headquarters trainer Nadia Shatila has been on a crash course with CrossFit. While her work in non-profits was rewarding, she always found she was missing something, and her athletic background, love of group dynamics and passion for community were perfect for the CrossFit training environment.

“I always thought I wanted the corner office and a power suit, but most of my time was spent online browsing CrossFit,” she says.

The first opportunity to make a living doing what she really loved came in the form of training at a local big-box gym. In early 2009 she had formed a solid crew of CrossFitters at the big box, and by September they were kicked out. Apparently management didn’t have a sense of humor about a pile of flimsy “fitness bars” that had bent after being stacked unforgivingly with weight."

Finish Article

Crowie Continues to Dominate | The Running Front

2010 and he is back at it, re- blogged from http://www.therunningfront.com

"It was a great day for Newton Running at the Ironman 70.3 Geelong event in Australia on Saturday. With the fastest run split of the day by almost a minute and a half, Craig Alexander took top honors proving that he will once again be a force to be reckoned with in 2010. Fellow Aussie Tim Berkel also had a great run and finished in 3rd place to round out the podium. Read the full race recap at Competitor.com.

Men
1. Craig Alexander (AUS) 3:53:15
2. Leon Griffin (AUS) 3:54:35
3. Tim Berkel (AUS) 3:56:10
4. Peter Schokman (AUS) 3:56:25
5. Clayton Fettell (AUS) 3:56:39

Women
1. Caroline Steffen (SUI) 4:14:32
2. Carrie Lester (AUS) 4:19:32
3. Lisa Marangon (AUS) 4:19:49
4. Samantha Warriner (NZL) 4:23:01
5. Suzanne Alway (AUS) 4:28:33"

Rock Star Triathlete Academy

Become a RockStar, they are posting some great articles on trifuel.
Do you ever wish that you could finish a great swim and bike ride, and then be able to have an even better run? Here are four triathlon running tips that will leave your competitors trying to play catch-up, straight from the Rock Star Triathlete Academy, at http://www.rockstartriathlete.com:

You say Blizzard I say Snowshoeing!

Hey we are all in some sort of build cycle getting ready for the season, well get some snowshoes and hit the trail. Don't let snow keep you on a treadmill or going outside thinking you could slip. Snowshoes are fun and at the same time, challenging. You will get your heart rate up in the first 100 yards simply by walking, now through a steady jog, BAM up it goes, now hills, BAM, even hire. Accomplishing what you might have in 8 miles is now five to six of the hardest miles you will every put in.

There is no better way to begin snowshoeing than just going and doing it. Take a risk, rent or buy a pair of snowshoes, dress for the elements and enjoy. However, that's just a start - there is more to it than just taking a refreshing plunge in some snow.

Snowshoeing has been around for thousands of years. And, obviously, the art of snowshoeing has become more sophisticated over time - now it's considered a winter sport. From the early wood-frame to the aluminum-frame models, snowshoeing has garnered quite a following throughout the world. Modern day snowshoeing is made up of casual snowshoers who hike trails for pleasure, the snowshoeing enthusiasts who trek through the backcountry, and the competitors who race.

WOW Workouts for Triathlons

"Treadmill Hiking Sprints

You'll never think of a treadmill the same way after this massive leg strength building triathlon workout. Hop onto the belt, and after a brief warm-up, immediately crank yourself up to a brisk walking pace. Here's the kicker: now bring the incline up to somewhere between 9.0 and 12.0 percent. Try to stay on that belt for 5 minutes. Your recovery from this hike is going to be a run. Bring the incline down to 1.0, and pick up a light jogging base, about 55-65% intensity. After 5 minutes, crank yourself back up to your uphill hike. Go back and forth for the time length of your workout, preferably 30-60 minutes."

Crosslight CSix2 First Look

We need this in the US, Pronto Upgrade Bikes
Welcome to the new Upgrade Bikes web site. If you don’t know much about us we distribute quality bicycle parts throughout the UK. We have been established since 1995 when we imported our first product – the Fishbone X-UFO; 1 product in 4 colours.

We added to this by importing products from Taiwan that were not available in the UK and making some cold calls to unsuspecting UK dealers. The business has now grown into one of the UK’s leading parts and bicycle distributors. We now exclusively distribute a number of quality brands and sell many more products to thousands of dealers.

Choose the brand that interests you and click the logo, you will then find more info about them, link to their official site or download pages from our catalogue. We will be adding more functions to the site as time goes on, like full pictures of the current product line with spec’s, weekly news ; so keep checking back for updates.

Dance With the Water–Part 1 | Active.com

When poor swimmers show up to the pool or begin to think about their swimming, they only take themselves into account, almost ignoring the water. Ignoring the water is like trying to dance alone to a song meant for couples. Swimming is all about the interaction of the human body and water, so we must better understand the water and what it is telling us before we can better assess our own movements within the act of swimming.
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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.
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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.
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