Spend enough time hanging out with off-road triathletes or even mountain bike riders and there is a high probability in finding yourself in a discussion some call The Cold War of the Cycling Kit:

Should road triathletes convert to baggy shorts and nondescript jersey, rather than riding their road kit when racing in an Xterra or mountain bike race?

There seems to be very distinct views on the two types of garb.  We’ve heard the mountain bike side say that road kits are a joke and shouldn’t be ridden or raced on the dirt.  The other side of that “dirt” coin says that wearing a road kit just makes more sense in Xterra races.  The primary point being that one will have to wear the mountain biking gear under the wetsuit unless one wants to waste precious time in T1.

Let’s take this a cut deeper.  There is a bit of divide in the mountain bike world too.  We’ve found that mountain bike racers and off-road triathletes at the elite and pro level don’t bother with the baggy shorts.  It would be just as easy for their sponsors to create a branded pair of shorts, but the racers simply go with a traditional road cycling kit.  One of the benefits stated the most is lack of restriction.  In a road kit, the body is not restricted in its movement.  Additionally, there is less fabric that has the potential to snag on trees and rocks.

It seems that our recreational dirt brethren are alone in this ongoing discussion about using road kits on the dirt.  The pros prefer them, as to age groupers competing in Xterra.

The good news is that it’s all good because it boils down to one’s own personal preference.  It’s as simple as that.  Sure there are pros and cons, but at the end of the day we are all bike riders out there doing for the love of camaraderie, sport and fitness.  At least that’s our take on it here at Triathlon Training Series.

So, next time you get sucked into this discussion with your off-road triathlon buddies or mountain bike riding co-workers, don’t let it frazzle you.  Just “roll” with it and invite them on a training ride and gift them a copy of one of our great triathlon DVDs.

The sad truth is that few people are completely satisfied with their bodies.  This even applies to triathletes; people known for having some of the best looking and fittest bodies.  One of the things we notice with folks that are new to triathlon- guys or gals- is that some folks are a bit self conscious when it comes to the swim workouts.

This could be due to lack of swimming history, fear of the water or just plain unhappiness about how a busy family / business life has distracted us from taking care of ourselves the way we know we should.  Whatever the flavor, we’ve seen it all.  Trust us.  The challenge is to not let that derail the goal of completing your first triathlon, PRing at Arizona Ironman or making it to Kona for the Ironman World Championships.  Time to jump in the pool and get some work done, not beat yourself up for not being Michael Phelps or Natasha Badman.

The good news is that you are not alone!  ALL of us feel some sort of insecurity at some point when we get into triathlon.  The trick is to focus on the work you need to get done in the pool so that you can have a more comfortable or faster swim time in your race.

Here’s what we suggest:

1. Go the pool at a time that makes sense for your schedule
2. Arrive with your swimsuit already on, under your clothes (if possible)
3. Walk immediately to the area where you’ll leave your bag (locker room, pool deck, etc…careful to keep an eye on stuff if you are not using a locker)
4. Keep all of your swim items (swim cap, water bottle, workout cards, ear plugs, goggles) in a small mesh stuff sack that can get wet and you can toss on the deck right next to your swim lane
5. Get into the water
6. You can do some stretching in the water or on the deck.  It’s up to you.
7. Do workout
8. Jump out and towel off and walk to changing room to get street clothes together and off you go

The key is to not think about it too much.  The person in the lane next to you that looks like they should be on the cover of Beautifully Fit Person Monthly could care less about what your belly or butt looks like.  They are just as self conscious as you are, but in ways that you can’t even tell.

To help with all of the actual workout portions, check out or swim specific triathlon DVD.  You’ll love it.

For triathletes that train at or near sea level, going to Boulder, Colorado for a weekend of training can be a fun or heart wrenching experience; depending on how you look at it.  We’re in Boulder this weekend and in awe of all the triathletes and road cyclists that were climbing the road up to Gross Reservoir.

Like you, we train quite a bit during the work week.  We squeeze in a ride in the morning before the office or a swim at lunch.  Regardless of how much time we triathletes or road riders train, it may not translate immediately to an evironment where there is elevation above 5,000 feet.  If you’d tried this, you know exactly what we are talking about.

The legs feel like they are made of lead.  Your lungs and bronchial tubes feel like they are constricted.  If you’re like us, you find yourself thinking, “Wait.  I thought I was more fit than this.  What’s going on?!”  Then you catch yourself and remember that you used to training at 4,800 feet lower.  Then you don’t feel so bad.

One thing to keep in mind when training at higher altitudes than you normally do is to stay hydrated.  Your blood and muscles need that extra little bit of water or sports drink.  Though you’re not at Camp 3 on Everest, the air is thinner and your body is putting in over time learning to adjust.

The key is not to push too hard and not to get dehydrated.  What I’ve found training and hiking in Boulder, Colorado is that the sheer beauty of the surrounding trees, rocks and mountain faces provide a wonderful distraction to how full of lactate your muscles truly are.  Good pain.  Right?  Right.

A few things to keep in mind of you find yourself climbing up to the Gross Reservoir is that the shoulder on the road is not very wide at all and doesn’t exist in some places.  Also, the park rangers and sheriff don’t allow people to swim in Gross Reservoir.  That’s understandable.  People in Boulder need to be able to drink that crystal blue snow melt.  Bottoms up.

TTS coach Ian Murray answers a question during the LA Tri Club Coaches Panel – LtoR – moderator Jeff Matlow from IMathlete, Ian, Gareth Thomas. Not pictured; Lori Christensen, Gerardo Barrios and Rom Levitsky

The Los Angeles triathlon club (aka: LA Tri Club or LATC) hosted a coaches panel that featured the likes of Ian Murray, Gareth Thomas and others.  Between fielding questions on fueling, injuries and gear, this panel was moving in full force and packed with more data than you can shake a stick at.

One of the best things about the LA Tri Club is that it fosters positivity and education.  The good news is that age group and elite racers from Santa Monica, Venice, Mar Vista, Pacific Palisades, Malibu, El Segundo, Culver City, West LA, The South Bay, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach and Torrance can all come together via the LA triathlon club and learn more from panels like this than they can from an aggregated blog somewhere in the ether.

We find it great that newbies and gear geeks can go to a panel like this and not feel intimidated.  Check your snobbery at the door.  Triathlon Training Series (TTS) and the LA Triathlon Club support all walks of triathlete life (as strange as we may be at times).  Espousing that same “everybody is welcome” mentality is longtime Triathlon Training Series Coach and race director of the Strawberry Fields Triathlon in Oxnard, Jamie Silber.  Or as we like to call him sometimes:  Big Jim Silber.  That’s him below standing  behind Tom Regal (TTS client on left) and Ian Murray.

If you happened to miss this panel, don’t fret.  There will most likely be more next year.  In the meantime, if you are looking for a serious, easily approachable way to learn about or refine what you know about triathlon, then you should probably take a look at the best triathlon training DVD available.  It’s addicting.  Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

TTS athlete Tom Regal and TTS coach Ian Murray in the booth at the expo before the LA Tri Club Coaches Panel

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Whether it be the ITU Championship Series in Madrid in 2010 or the Strawberry Fields Triathlon in Oxnard, the number one priority when you travel for a race is to inspect your bike. Freak damage can happen even when the bike is in the best hard-shell case. We checked into the hotel, built up the bikes, got in a tiny run and then headed to the pool mid day. The sport complex here is amazing. The building holds a 50 meter, 10 lane pool indoors. It’s perfect.

There are “dugouts” on the side of the pool so that coaches can walk down and peer through a window that’s been built in the side of the pool wall and watch the swimmers at profile, head on and going away.  The pool here is in a University….we have those in the US, but while in the States a university might have facilities dedicated to football or basketball most colleges in Europe have facilities dedicated to sports on the Olympic program. There are athletes practicing judo and rhythmic gymnastics and the like.

The race takes place in a gigantic park that’s right in the heart of Madrid . The park is called Casa de Compo and it’s amazing…to begin with it’s probably three times the size of Central Park in New York . It’s got great topography with some solid hills. I hear there’s a zoo and a amusement park in the corners but I haven’t come across those yet – I have seen the gondola that crosses the park but have yet to eye its two ends.

There’s a good sized lake and prostitutes…..what? Yes, there is a gaggle of prostitutes that hang out on the side of the road. They dress in manner that leaves no doubts and they can often be seen leaning into cars that pull over to negotiate terms. I was shocked when I was here last time and now I’m kinda immune to it. The police don’t seem too concerned, I’ve been through their zone twice when police cars have been driving through and they just roll on by.

There’s quite a support staff for the team here and one of the stand outs is chiropractor, Camille Reagan. Beyond being a phenom doctor who knows and understands athletes bodies she’s also adventurous and resourceful. Camille found an amazing Indian restaurant just blocks from the hotel. We all piled in a private room with rugs on the walls and sat on deeply pillowed couches for an amazing meal. One thing that’s so true about endurance athletes is they can eat. We put away multiple courses and left deeply satisfied.

L to R: Alicia, Jarrod, Jenna, Amanda waiting for bike boxes in Madrid for ITU Triathlon.

In 2008 I was fortunate to come to Madrid as an assistant coach to the US Triathlon team. The USA invented triathlon, we owed the Ironman distance for years and we were strong in the beginning when triathlon got its Olympic status in Sydney in 2000.

In 2008 I stepped off the plane in Madrid and into some urgency; the US was about to slip low enough in the rankings were we’d only get to send two male athletes to the games rather than the three that we’d always come to know, love and expect. The Madrid ITU race in that year was urgent.

This time, in 2010, I’m back as head coach for the team and the event seems no less critical; this is the first race where Olympic points will be awarded towards London and so the process begins anew.

Flying from Los Angeles to Europe is a bit of bummer. There are worse routes to be sure.  But Los Angeles to Dulles is 5+ hour haul and then Dulles to Madrid is another flight equally as long. The day started at 3am with my wife, Alexandra driving me to LAX for a 6 am flight. I checked a bag of clothes and my Ritchey BreakAway – a full sized road bike that, essentially breaks in two and fits into a suit case that doesn’t draw the ludicrous charges for a normal bike. I walked in at 4am, it’s weird being in the airport before TSA opens the security inspection.  I got to watch their set up and it’s not too unlike opening any retail store.

I flew alone to DC and then connected with four of the eleven US athlete’s Jenna Shoemaker her brother Jarrod Shoemaker and his wife, Alicia Kaye and Amanda Felder. We slept when we could and landed in Spain at 7:15am.

The excitement happening right now in Madrid, Spain for the 3 race in the  Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series is about as tangible as it gets.  The good news is that Triathlon Training Series’ Ian Murray is the head coach of the USA squad in Europe this weekend.  We couldn’t be more excited.

Though there is a lot of talk about Alistair Brownlee from the UK and Javier Gomez from Spain, there is sure to be an epic showdown for the women.  Regardless of who one’s following, the important part of this race is that the points earned from this third ITU race will count towards qualification for the London Olympics for each athlete’s respective countries.

In 2008, Ian Murray traveled to Madrid for the ITU series of that year to support the team and learned quite a bit about the international triathlon scene and came back packed with data.  Now, flash forward to 2010 and our own Ian Murray is at the coaching helm for this important race.  Let the points tallying begin.

The next few entries will be on the ground insight from Ian as he guides the USA team to a great showing at the Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series in Madrid.

Last weekend at the ToC (Tour of California) Rory Sutherland, Mick Rogers and others in the pro peleton were able to go head to head with pro triathletes in the final time trail held in downtown LA.  This is the sort of thing triathletes and cyclists get to do on a regular basis; especially at the pro level.  What a treat.

The professional triathletes that took part in the event called the “amateur time trial experience” were Chris Lieto, Chris McCormack, and Chrissie Wellington.  There were approximately 25 others like seasoned cyclists Craig Zimmerman and Dr. Brent Kay.

The 21 mile individual time trial began on the well known street called Figueroa.  A stones throw from The Staples Center where the LA Lakers play basketball, the ToC and the “amateur time trial experience” were some of the last races or events one would think to find in downtown Los Angeles.

One would think, at first glance, that the pro triathletes would have kicked some serious butt.  You’d be amazed at the finishing times of the pro cyclists that had already been racing hundreds of miles over 6 consecutive days.  They still were able to stamp out seriously fast times.

In all fairness, triathletes train for 3 individual sports.  Additionally, though both types of athletes are extremely fit and both ride bikes, their fitness levels and specialties couldn’t be more different.  It would be like the Sprint triathlon world champion racing an Ironman world champion.

At the end of the day, we are so excited to see the mixing of the two groups.  Triathletes and road cyclists typically don’t spend a large amount of time together on the road, though they share the same training grounds in many cities and towns.  I hope that these pro triathletes and cyclists and show that the two sports are kin and that there should be some comment interest, appreciation and respect.  What are your thoughts on the relationship between cyclists and triathletes?

The Rock Store Climb in the Santa Monica Mountains was featured in the final stage of the 2010 Amgen Tour of California (ToC).  Let us tell you that it was “controlled” pandemonium and Triathlon Training Series was thrust in the middle of European pro cyclists, a guy on a Penny Farthering and…you guessed it… a guy dressed up like the Pope.

In addition to seeing countless local triathletes from the LA and Orange County areas, the infamous Rock Store Climb was littered with penny farthings, bmx riders, roadies, junior road cyclists, commuters, touring riders and two unicycles.  Well known to local motorcyclists, the Rock Store is a simple mountain bar that serves up great bbq and ice cold drinks.  It sits tucked under large shade trees at the base of a short and very steep climb that was featured as the primary climb in the final stage of the ToC this year.

The scene and the hundreds- if not over one thousand- fans lined the steep, narrow Rock Store climb.  Copious amounts of sidewalk chalk were used all over the course, but the largest amounts were found on this climb and displayed motivating slogans mixed with a healthy dose of “Dopers Suck!” scrawled across the aging tarmac.

For those high enough up the climb, the view of the approaching pro European and US cyclists working their way around the sharp turns was something cycling fans see only on TV when watching a famous European road race.  Between the 4 laps of racers suffering up the Rock Store climb, there was no lull in the fun and camaraderie.   A fan in a Pope costume was getting jeered by other fans about the sexual abuse cases in the news while a guy wearing a banana costume ran behind a guy trying to ride a penny farthing on the steepest section of the hill.

Though we won’t be covering the banana costume in our triathlon DVD set, we do talk about the sort of gear that will enable you get comfortably up steep hills like the Rock Store climb with aplomb.

We recently read an editorial piece from a woman named Michele Wallace. Her contention was that triathlon and all that is around it has changed for the worse. The growth and evolution of triathlon can measured in many different ways. It depends on the “come from”.

Ms. Wallace thinks that triathlon has evolved to a point of corporate wretchedness akin to major professional sports in the USA with the dominance of big name brands and deep coffers to support corporate exploitation goals. She seems to position this opinion on the same vantage point that a teen does when describing how “I liked them before they were big. Now everybody likes them…so now they suck.” I may be off the mark, but that’s definitely what I got from her piece.

Everything evolves; including sports. Triathlon is no exception. We’ve seen it grow tremendously over the last 20 years. We couldn’t be happier. Not only does it get more people doing healthier activities, but it enables there to be a discussion about the value of another sport individual sport that pits the individual athlete against themselves as much as it does against other athletes. Does golf ring a bell, anybody?

Let’s be honest, we created the best and most popular triathlon training DVD series. Are we the sort of corporation of which Ms. Wallace speaks? Frankly, no. We’re sure she’d agree. At the end of the day our DVD series (and our online triathlon coaching services, for that matter) are about helping the triathlete make sense of and get the most from triathlon.

Is it bad that triathlon is growing and garnering the attention of major corporate marketing dollars?  We’re not sure.  You’ll have to be the judge of that.  What are your thoughts?