Bike Climbing Tips

Last week I published some tips on how to improve your downhill biking skills, which I hope people have or will go out and practice. Some of the feedback I got was that well yeah that helps with the “easy” part, coming downhill, but I still hate to climb! Luckily, while I was writing that…

Downhill Biking Tips

If you live in an area that has hills to climb, you already know that what goes up must come down. Unfortunately not everyone seems to embrace either aspect of this, struggling to pedal their way up the hills and then uncomfortable on the descents. I guess climbing hills on you bike is either something…

The Aging Triathlete

Getting old is a simple fact of life, yet each generation tries to postpone its more negative effects as long as possible. It’s a well-known fact that some level of exercise as we age is beneficial, so in a sport where every five years we get to “age-up” and become the young kids in the…

Triathlete’s #2 Training Mistake

A while back I published the Triathlete’s #1 Training Mistake, training too easy on hard days and too hard on easy days. Today I offer you the triathlete’s #2 training mistake, incorrectly dealing with our injuries. We’re famous for training through injuries, sometimes making them worse, but I think the bigger issue is that we…

Is Anyone Out There Doing Pull-Ups?

The latest issue of Swimmer magazine, from US Master Swimming, has an article on dry-land training and how to make friends with pull-ups, which made me wonder if anyone was actually doing them, I mean besides me. A friend of mine, Kyle, who’s then future wife Shannon had just become a personal trainer, had finished…

Masters Swimming Basics & Etiquette

The first time I heard this quote, “To be the best triathlete you can be, you have to swim with the best swimmers, ride with the best cyclists, and run with the best runners”, it was from a guest speaker at a SB Tri Club meeting some eight years ago. At the time is sounded self-evident,…

16 Weeks to a Half Ironman PR

When you see an article with a title like this, “16 Weeks to a Half Ironman PR”, for a moment don’t you think that this will be the answer to all your training questions? Then you dive in and start reading the article, you check out the accompanying chart, and if you’re like me, by…

Improve Your Cycling, Part II

In Part I of Improve Your Cycling, I focused on how to smooth out your pedaling to make you a smoother rider, a faster rider, and a more efficient rider. These are things triathletes should be focusing on all the time, ways to save energy AND go faster. In Part II I want to address…

Improve Your Swimming, with Coach John Abrami

Each of us brings a different skill set to the sport of triathlon, and typically it is that of a single sport athlete. I wouldn’t want to guess the percentages of people that were primarily swimmers, bikers, or runners before they started doing triathlons, but I have a sense that most triathletes were not age…

The Base Phase

January is upon us, hopefully you’ve taken a break since your last triathlon, followed the suggestions I made in Off-Season Training, and are now wondering how to get started on this year’s training plan. The time between now and 2-3 months before your “A” race is the time to focus on building/rebuilding your aerobic base,…