Things That Wear Out

This blog topic was suggested by a friend after a recent bike ride. He started the day getting ready to head out for a bike ride up a local hill here in Santa Barbara, San Marcos Pass Road, a.k.a. The Old Pass, Old San Marcos, or OSM. He wondered about the condition of his bikes…

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…

Who Inspires You?

At some point every January a day goes by and suddenly I realize that another year has passed since my good friend Steve Issaris passed away this month back in 2003. At some point in your life as you get older, people start to leave you. Your grandparents, great Aunt, etc., but you hope that…

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,…

Improve Your Cycling, Part I

Lately I’ve been riding with different groups of riders and it’s been somewhat of an eye opener to see all the different riding styles. Eye opening because I’m seeing so many cyclists that are riding inefficiently and incorrectly, who have clearly not spent much time in and amongst better cyclists to have learned better habits.…

2013 By The Numbers

I look back on the past year and I see my life in transition, having been diagnosed with a heart arrhythmia in July 2012, I have spent a lot of time since then trying to resolve this issue. Changes in my job required major changes to my life and my workout schedule, while working around…