It’s only cool if it’s fit properly and you ride it

“Dude, cool bike,” says the tech guy at Ironman USA(my Trek Postal TT bike that Cedric Vasseur rode in The Tour).  He vindicated me.  I’ve got a cool bike?  Sweet!  They like Bubba! (Oh, like you don’t name yours?)  But before I could start my cool bike mental parade, another tech rained on  it before it even began, when he started to pick apart my components.  “A 105 crank set, Ultegra derailleur and your brakes?  Dude come on.”

I was a little hurt.  It felt like someone had just insulted my child.  I was able to mutter some excuse for my mismatched selection of components and escape from the tent before the red devil on my shoulder urged me to plunk down a few grand on new, well…everything.  But it all made me think, “Why is it that we are so manic about our bikes?”

What is it about this part of triathlon that makes us throw thousands of dollars toward the latest and greatest gear?  Does having the most expensive bike necessarily mean having the best bike?

Nicole DeBoom is a very good triathlete.  She could have any “bike stuff” that she wants and chooses Trek.  She knows expensive components and carbon fiber are great, but the bottom line is in the basics.  “People forget that it’s in the engine that counts; you have to put in the time,” says DeBoom.  “It’s about what you have and how you ride.”

If you have ever trained and raced in longer distance races at some point the thought of gulping down one more

ounce of the traditional nutrition drink fair becomes more painful than the task at hand.  I have hit the nutrition drink “wall,”after countless hours of training, I can no longer stomach the usual sports drink.  I have a nice collection of powders, drinks, mixes and other elixirs, gathering dust in my pantry just waiting to be passed out at the next block party as a soda substitute.  

The entire situation leaves me in a awkward spot, because as we all know, the fourth discipline of triathlon is nutrition, and if you have ever seen someone bonk in person, you know you don’t want that to happen to you.

In steps Nuun tablets (www.nuun.com).  I am easily affected by the heat and dehydration.  So, on my “long” ride, I still need to have something other than just water if I don’t want to get splitting headaches after the ride.  I need electrolytes

Nuun provides those electrolytes with out all the sticky, sugary, gooey “goodness” that we are used to. 

Kirk Nelson, Team Sport Beans/NTTC

On July 17, during a training run in the mid-day heat, I passed out 60 minutes into a run.  I was feeling fine during the run, despite the fact that it was very hot.  I was running with a friend and we came to a fence that we had to cross to continue on the trail. I told Craig(my friend) I was going to urinate before crossing the fence. I began to feel light-headed while urinating and ignored the feeling, thinking it would pass. After urinating, I took one step toward the fence, passed out, and fell like a tree face first into the fence.  I cracked three of my upper teeth and tore open my lower lip. My neck and back were also jarred. After 6.5 hours in the ER, I finally got stitched up and had my teeth temporarily covered.  The following day, I had 3.5 hours of dental work and a temporary 3-piece bridge put in. I will eventually have 2 root canals, 2 crowns, and one implant put in for the 3 cracked teeth.
 
The final diagnosis by the ER doc was "syncope micturition" or passing out while urinating in laymen's terms, no doubt due to dehydration and the quick stop in strenuous exercise and subsequent drop in my heart rate. I had eaten a balanced breakfast prior to the run but was likely lacking water and electrolytes coming off a weekend backpacking trip at high altitude.
 

Thank God that Craig was with me on this run.  I normally run alone, especially during the mid-day. Craig flagged down a car to get us back to my vehicle and then drove us to the ER.

As triathlon has grown in popularity, it’s reached out to new markets to expand its audience and participant bases.  Among these has been the youth segment, encompassing not only collegiate students, but increasingly also secondary and even primary school-age young adults.  At the forefront of this has been the Multisport Madness Triathlon Team, a youth-oriented program begun in 2001 by Keith Dickson, a former competitive swimmer and member of the U.S. team at the 1978 World Championships. 

Multisport Madness began when Keith posed the question as to what would happen if children were invited to the sport of triathlon and then given adequate resources in training and organization to support their development.  He’d witnessed the ability of other countries to produce a steady supply of world-class triathletes over the sport’s lifetime, and wanted to see the U.S. have the same level of success.  

Starting what he calls a “research project,” he gathered ordinary kids and placed them in an infrastructure of qualified coaches, planned training schedules, logistical assistance, and formal racing circuits.  The results have blossomed since his first year, when the Multisport Madness Triathlon Team began with 17 neighborhood children in the town of Aurora, Illinois.  Since then, the original crop of students has grown to over 105 members ranging from 7-26 years old, including 10 ITU professionals.  Among them are top U.S. prospects in youth and junior divisions, with 5 U.S. Champions covering the 16-19 age group (Natalie Russell), 13-15 age group (Ben Kanute and Jennifer Howland), 11-12 age group (Patrick Cagney), and 7-8 age group (Abby Brostrom).  Natalie Russell qualified for the U.S. 2008 ITU World Championships team.  This year, Keith partnered with Sean Wendt to expand the organization to Golden, Colorado, and then continued to encompass Austin, Texas.

Keith feels that Multisport Madness is special, since it led what he considers 2 significant developments in the sport of triathlon:  organized outreach to children and young adults, and employment of a team concept.  At the time Multisport Madness began, youth and juniors triathlon was still in its infancy, and the model of team triathlon was not widespread.  Keith believed that kids would respond more positively to triathlon if they were offered motivation, attention, education, and camaraderie—things that were more possible with a team environment that was sustained by an organization devoted exclusively to the needs of children.

If it wasn't for the support of the great folks at Triathlete Magazine , there would never be a T-Dot, for that we are eternally grateful.  If you haven't picked up a copy or subscribed to Triathlete you are missing out.

Here's a taste, This Month In Triathlete .

Oct. 14, 2007 -- Six years ago, Australia's Chris McCormack -- a former ITU world champion -- made the transition from short course to Ironman and boldly predicted that he would dominate the Ironman world championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. However, Macca would struggle with the race -- finally clawing his way to a six-place finish in 2005 on the back of a solid breakthrough marathon, then placing second in 2006, just 71 seconds behind winner Normann Stadler.

In 2007, however, Macca fulfilled a dream by winning the Ford Ironman World Championship on Oct. 13 -- an effort that forced the talented Aussie triathlete to come to terms with and vanquish the fear of failure that has haunted his history at this race.

Triathlete: You've put in your dues here. Do you feel good about what you've been able to accomplish?

Chris McCormack: I'm really really happy. This was my sixth attempt. There were times when I started to question whether I was going to have this monkey on my back forever. A lot of great athletes haven't won here: Pauli Kiuru, Mike Pigg, Juergen Zaeck -- guys I've really looked up to. I thought, "Oh man, maybe my destiny is to be never a champion in Kona. You question yourself a lot. Last year I got so close and I thought, "Man, the depth [of talent in the field] is getting bigger and bigger. Maybe I'm going to miss my window." Everything seemed to click this year . . . we just focused on being a family and putting everything into this race. Preparation was impeccable. I had a good training crew in Boulder [Colorado].