Archives for “Triathlon”
I’ve always marveled at how small retired NBA basketball and now actor John Salley’s ears are. Truth is I have small ears too – not as disproportionate as Mr. Salley’s who at 6’11″ has ears the size of nickels, but small nonetheless. Having small ears was never a big deal back when headphones were worn [...]
Swimming The sound of zipping up your wetsuit early in the morning. The small ripples you make in the water when you get in. The splashes other people make when they get in. They squeal and make high-pitched noises, but you have done this so many times before in much colder conditions, you just sink [...]
As a triathlete, you kind of have to get used to early mornings. Most races will start pretty early, and you’ll probably find you have to get up at ridiculously early times to get to the races on time (but, like, how do you get a decent night’s sleep when you have to get up at 2am [...]
Okay, confession time! I don’t know much about fetishes, but I think I have developed a wetsuit fetish. One of the things I love about doing triathlons is wearing wetsuits. I love open-water swimming, anyway, with or without a wetsuit. I am a Pisces and maybe that has something to do with it. But, with [...]
In a moment of weakness, I put in a bid on eBay for a set of Zipp 440 carbon fiber tubular tires a few months ago. A new set of those wheels, the Zipp 404 tubulars, cost at least $1,500 for the pair (and that’s without skewers, cassette, tape and tires), and there was a pair [...]
Sorry for the long silence. Been away for a while, getting stuck into my big challenge this year: training for my first ironman triathlon (the Forestman). For those of you who didn’t know (and if you already knew this, then please allow me to try and impress you once more with the sheer numbers), an [...]
EA has announced EA SPORTS Active 2.0 (working title). Scheduled for release this fall, EA SPORTS Active 2.0 is expected to offer a wireless heart rate monitor, arm and leg accelerometers for use with PlayStation 3, Wii, iPhone and iPod touch. Users can track exertion in real-time with an onscreen display and also share workouts [...]
Interval training is increased intensity for a given activity (lifting, running, rowing, cycling) for a measured amount of time, followed by a reduced level activity for a measured amount of time. Typically done in sets, interval training can be anaerobic – fat burning high intensity interval training (HIIT) typically focused on starving larger muscle groups [...]
Not everyone needs an iPhone or even a smartphone for that matter. For many, the only functionality needed is good voice quality and the only feature required is reliability. Enter the Motorola Barrage, both uniquely feature-rich as well as durable and providing what I perceived to be above-average voice quality. Ideally suited for those who [...]
Okay, it’s cold and dark and wet out there, if you’re living in the northern hemisphere and it’s what we call Winter time (not that bullshit they complain about in Florida when they have to put on a sweater or something). You don’t want to ride your bike, you don’t think it’s safe out there, [...]
Every car I’ve owned has had a roof rack. Even my old pick-up truck had a bed rack to hold and lock my mountain bike (which cost more than the truck). For my latest rack I switched to a Yakima rack system and I’m happy I did. Assuming I’d need a few hours for installation [...]
Alright, for those of us in the northern hemisphere, or who are not doing much racing until May/June/July, etc., this is probably what you would call our Base period of training. Now is the time to focus on technique, endurance and conditioning work. In other words, going back to basics, polishing things up, learning from [...]
Surfing in the Summer is quick and easy; boardies, rash guard and off you go. The only problem is there’s nowhere to stash a key (which in wetsuit season goes behind my calf). Surfers, runners, bikers, anyone who drives somewhere to get a workout has to hide their keys in the wheel well or under [...]
In the run-up to the London Triathlon, I had a miserable couple of weeks doing some really crappy work (teaching photography to a bunch of aggressive, violent teenagers) for which I was completely unprepared, getting stressed out, losing sleep, not eating enough, not training much, and generally giving my buddy, Crohn’s Disease, several good reasons to [...]
Brick training is a concept that is popular in triathlon circles where you combine two different disciplines in one continuous training session. It is a good way of working different muscle groups (e.g. going from a swim straight onto the bike) or preparing yourself for some of the weird physiological sensations you might expect to [...]
Motorists and cyclists are supposed to share the road and obey the same laws. All too often however, we see cyclists riding against a one way, blowing through red lights or failing to signal. Meanwhile motorists tailgate cyclists, open car doors without looking and crowd cyclists to the curb with seemingly little regard for their [...]
Growing up, I was always a fan of The Hulk cartoons and TV show. My cousin Joe Harnell wrote the theme song for the TV show (song title: ‘The Lonely Man‘) and was kind enough to send me an autographed picture of himself, as well as Bill Bixby and an enraged Lou Ferrigno as the [...]
I always thought it would be cool to roll around in my red Kenworth Semi with my best pal Bear the chimp. Fantasies of BJ McKay aside, having a primate for a best friend maybe isn’t as cool as I imagined. Not only is hurling feces around uncool, but ever since Travis the chimp attacked [...]
Triathlon Credit Crunch Series: Swimming | Cycling | Running I’m a big fan of looking for simple, cheap ways of training and racing better. For example, train well in your old wetsuit that has a few tears in it (and bring it to the pool with you occasionally during the winter, show it a good [...]
