Since the early 2000’s the Santa Barbara Triathlon Club has been hosting a training day triathlon every summer, where anywhere from 15-30 triathletes show up to “race” Steve’s Tri. Today most people in the SBTC do not have firsthand knowledge of the “Steve” in Steve’s Tri. This is his story, in my words; let’s start…
Masters Swimming 101 – Pool Etiquette, Do’s and Don’ts The following is a simple list, in no particular order, of the Do’s and Don’ts on how to join in a master’s group swim workout, what the protocols are for swimming in a large group of swimmers, general pool rules for the safety and wellbeing of…
If you’ve found this story online then presumably you have heard something about Masters Swimming, but maybe you really don’t know what it means to be a master’s swimmer. The easiest way to look at it is that anyone that is a swimmer and has graduated from high school is a master’s swimmer, or in…
In preparing for my first Beginners Swim Class at the YMCA last March, I thought I would give a brief talk about who I was, what the goal of the class was, and how I hoped everyone in the class would be able to reach their goals as a swimmer in the short six weeks…
This story has been rewritten many times since I first started it, never with a happy ending, at least not until now. You see I have not enjoyed running, or maybe more succinctly, I have not felt good or strong or fast while running this past year or so; I was starting to think that…
So a full disclaimer right up front, this is a good read for old triathletes, bike geeks, or anyone interested in one man’s evolution of their bicycle over 30 years in the sport of triathlon. The first triathlon I participated in was as the cyclist for a relay team back in 1989, on a used…
Let me start with a rundown of the last few years of racing up at Wildflower: 2015 & 2016, the long running drought in California drags on and the water level in Lake San Antonio is too low to hold the swim start at the Lynch Road boat launching ramp. The swim is moved to…
Years ago USAT (USA Triathlon), started something called the Century Club, which was for athletes that had completed some multiple of 100 triathlons. To qualify for this Club you needed to be able to document (in some form), the races you have completed, send it to them, and after they vetted your list they would…
Let me start out by stating the obvious, this article is not about triathlon training, racing, or equipment. On occasion I have focused on specific people in the sport but this time I’m focusing on someone much more important to me, my wife Janice. Jan, as I like to call her, was diagnosed with Systemic…
The impetus for this blog, as you may have already guessed, is my dealing with an injury that has affected by ability to train for my first “A” race of the year. I’ve been doing this a long time and have been relatively lucky when it comes to injuries; I’ve had them but have not…
For over 30 years, excluding last year during the drought, the first weekend in May means a road trip to Lake San Antonio and the Wildflower Triathlon festival. With four different races at three different race distances to choose from, sprint(s), Olympic, and Long Course (i.e., almost a Half Ironman and NOT a 70.3 race),…
It has been nearly 25 years since I purchased a new road bike, actually longer, as 25 years ago I only bought a new McMahon titanium frame, stripping all the necessary parts of my older Diamondback Master TG bike that I did buy as a complete bike a few years prior. That’s not to say…
The trend has been seen and talked about for more than a few years now, the numbers of athletes competing at local races (i.e., one of a kind races), triathlons and running, is down. As best anyone can guess there are potentially many different reasons, starting with the fact that the Baby Boomer generation that…
I recently completed the US Masters Swimming Adult Learning to Swim Course, USMS ALTS, at a one day seminar down in Los Angeles. Even though coaching is not my full-time job, or even a part-time profession, I became a USAT Certified Level I Coach ten years ago and a USMS Level I & II Coach…
When I moved to California nearly 40 years ago (damn, I must be getting old!), I lived in a sleepy little town called Carpinteria for nine months, living right on the beach. Coming from the east coast to the west coast this was like living the dream and even though I eventually moved to the…
Applying practical ideas to triathlons to make everyone go faster
Applying practical ideas to triathlons to make everyone go faster
Applying practical ideas to triathlons to make everyone go faster
Applying practical ideas to triathlons to make everyone go faster
ThePracticalTriathlete 