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Do you want to be a Sundried ambassador? Getting support, promotion and kit from the ethical activewear brand Sundried, who also support leading triathlete Alice Hector? Then read on as we have teamed up with them to find their next two ambassadors.
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The chosen two will win:
Ambassador status with Sundried for 1 year
VIP entry to Southend Triathlon and overnight stay*
The new Sundried tri-suit ( landing in May)
Press, promotion and support from Sundried
Entries will open 1 March 2017 and to be considered all you need to do is tweet us @220Triathlon telling us why you should be chosen, with the hashtag #220Sundried – you can also attach photos, video to help get your message across and catch the judge’s eye…
Entrants need to be 18 years old and over, and be UK residents – England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Entries close at midnight on 14th March, from which date entries will be shortlisted, and two winners chosen. These will be announced a week later, on 21st March.
*T&C’s apply – Travel expenses not included
Sundried provide premium activewear, trialled and tested by leading triathletes to bring you the best performance wear. Responsibly produced with a low carbon footprint, the brand focuses on creating a brand which provides transparent production, supporting their workers throughout the supply chain to bring activewear to you ethically.
Sundried ambassadors receive a year’s membership, which includes ambassador status, promotion throughout Sundried’s social media and press opportunities, as well as a new Sundried Tri Suit – landing in May!
The winner of this exclusive competition will also gain free entry to Sundried’s triathlon, bringing the sport back to Southend in Essex. The event is a sprint triathlon taking place on 28th May, with overnight stay including breakfast on 27th May. Competition winners will be sent full details.
Sports sponsorship: how a triathlete can find a sponsor
How to use social media to get, and stay, sponsored
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How to become a professional triathlete
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1. BETA-ALANINE SUPPLEMENTS BENEFIT ANALYSED
A recent meta-analysis by Brazilian and English universities found significant evidence of an ergogenic effect from taking beta-alanine supplements. Beta-alanine increases muscle carnosine content, which improves the body’s ability to buffer hydrogen ions produced during high-intensity exercise. This can potentially delay fatigue and reduce perceptions of fatigue by delaying a rise in acid levels. A dose of 3-6g per day is recommended, though the research showed a greater effect when ingested with sodium bicarbonate. But beware: this combo can cause sickness!
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2. THOROUGH WARM-UP
Next time you’re competing in a triathlon, you might be wise to slip into a Dryrobe after your swim warm-up. A team from Canberra University investigated the effects of completing additional warm-up strategies in the transition phase between the pool warm-up and the start of the race. These included dry-land exercises and passive warming via a heated jacket. The researchers showed that swim performance improved by 0.8% with the more strategic warming protocols, thanks to a lower reduction in core temperature
3. PROTEIN OVERLOAD
It’s generally accepted that a 20g hit of post-exercise protein results in optimal muscle repair, but a study from Stirling University suggests that 40g could be better. The study showed that with 40g, muscle protein synthesis increased after whole-body exercises that utilise large-muscle groups (the 20g figure came from smaller-muscle studies). Exercise physiologist Asker Jeukendrup concludes, though, that the current guidelines are a great starting point: 20-25g of protein containing 8-10g of essential amino acids and 3g of leucine at regular (3-4hr) intervals.
Protein: how much do you need when training and racing?
4. GIVE YOURSELF WINGS
To give your session a boost, try a shot of Red Bull. A study by Diego Souza of Londrina State University, Brazil, analysed 34 papers looking at the acute effects of caffeine-containing energy drinks on physical performance. Though caffeine produced a nominal improvement in strength and endurance, taurine realised an even greater boost in performance. Taurine is a free-form amino acid first discovered in the bile of bulls (hence the Red Bull name), and is utilised by the body during exercise and times of stress. Be warned: too much Red Bull can increase anxiety.
5. PERFORMANCE GAINS FROM TECHNICAL FABRICS
Pondering whether to buy that merino base layer and Lycra run tights or ‘be hard’ and slip into vest and shorts? Recent research suggests that the former combo is well worth the outlay. A Scandinavian team examined the effects of skin and core tissue cooling on oxygenation of the vastus lateralis, one of the four muscles that makes up the quadriceps, during walking and running. (Measuring the amount of oxygen swimming around in your bloodstream is a good indicator of how hard you can exercise.)
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The team showed that skin cooling had no impact on oxygenation levels, but that core tissue cooling led to greater deoxygenation of the thigh muscle before the session had even begun, because the subjects’ metabolism sucked up larger quantities of oxygen simply to keep warm. This has performance repercussions: reduced oxygen levels resulted in early cessation of a bike or run effort and greater discomfort. Of course, mechanisms such as shivering mitigate reductions in core temperature, but don’t take the risk – insulate with breathable fabrics and you’ll not only extract more from a session, you’ll also reduce the chances of a muscle strain.
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A US age-group triathlete banned for four years for doping is now competing in ultra marathons under her maiden name.
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Holly Balogh, 46, a Kona qualifier and Ironman All World Athlete champion in 2014 and 2015, tested positive for exogenous testosterone after winning her age-group at Ironman Texas last summer.
The mum-of-two from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, trained under the highly reputable PurplePatch Coaching group, headed up by British coach Matt Dixon. It is believed a whistleblower in the group alerted the drug enforcement agency USADA.
However, despite the ban, Balogh is now entered under her maiden name Hancock for the Old Pueblo ultra, a 50-mile race taking place this weekend in Sonoita, Arizona. The race is not thought to be governed by World Anti-Doping Association rules, and the organiser has not yet replied to requests for comment.
The use of any exogenous anabolic androgenic steroid is prohibited under the World Anti-Doping Code and Balogh did not apply for a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE).
“It is unfortunate that Ms. Balogh chose to disregard the education, advice and knowledge she had regarding anti-doping and instead competed in violation of the Ironman Anti-Doping Rules,” said Kate Mittelstadt, Director of the Ironman Anti-Doping Program in 2016. “We applaud the decisions of the athlete support personnel to step forward, first to report Ms. Balogh’s use with disregard to their advice, and also for the conviction to include anti-doping awareness in their coaching. They each recognised the importance of honouring their obligations under the anti-doping rules and cooperated with Ironman’s investigation.”
Balogh initially challenged the verdict, before later dropping her case. A source who did not want to be named said: “To cut a long story short, she’s a type-A person who became more obsessive through triathlon.
“She was a mid-level triathlete with a dream to go to Kona and a strong work ethic, but something changed around 2013. She injured herself through overtraining, but raced too soon and re-fractured her leg. She thinks there’s a pharmaceutical cure to her problem, when the problem is a mental one: she just can’t rest.
“It sounds like this new coaching group either saw something in her performance or she told them what she was doing. I suspect the latter because she was not terribly shy about this claiming it was for ‘medical reasons’.”
Balogh, a real estate manager who trained up to 25 hours a week, said finishing the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii in 2014 was “the coolest experience of my life. That gets me a little emotional when I think about.”
Her failed samples from Texas comprised her only drug test of 2016. For comparison, Tim O’Donnell, a professional Ironman, was the most tested triathlete by USADA (15 times), with professionals responsible for the lionshare of tests.
“I’m afraid I’m not able to discuss any particular athlete or situation,” said her coach Dixon when we approached him for comment. “With this said, I will tell you that PurplePatch has a very clear policy on any use of PED, as well as what we would see as potential ‘abuse’ of TUE with the aim of gaining a performance advantage. We make it clear to each athlete, beginning with a set of commitments with our professional team, as well as information and education to all the amateurs who utilise our coaching services. We include ongoing education, including a specifically crafted packet to guide athletes with education of PED abuse, our expectations, as well as resources to help them navigate and enjoy the sport with good faith and ethics.
“In any situation in which we suspected an athlete of crossing the line, or receive insight that they have, we have shown that we will fully assist and cooperate with IRONMAN, WADA and USADA. This global PurplePatch policy applies to every athlete we help, and we find that establishing this policy ahead of time, and revisiting periodically, allows our primary focus to be channeled to our passion, namely, to help athletes improve and flourish.”
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I asked Balogh via her new Twitter account whether she thought it was morally right to race in an ultra event while serving a doping suspension. I cited her tweet: ‘Interesting times right now, I will begin anew now, today, despite the insanity around me.’ Her response was to block me from following her or viewing her tweets.
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The 2017 ITU World Triathlon Series starts this weekend in Abu Dhabi, with the women racing tomorrow morning (UK time) Friday 3 March, followed by the men on Saturday morning (UK time).
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Like last year Abu Dhabi will be a standard-distance event, but debuting a brand new course that will stretch over the famous Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix course.
Commonwealth Games gold medallist Jodie Stimpson (GBR) will be returning to defend her Abu Dhabi title, while ITU World Champion and Abu Dhabi defending champion Mario Mola (ESP) will be hoping for his third win here.
Sadly reigning women’s ITU World Champion Flora Duffy has delayed her return but other top names taking on Stimpson include the diminutive Ai Ueda from Japan, who finished third in the 2016 series, Katie Zaferes (USA) and Andrea Hewitt (NZL).
Two other names to look out for are rising stars Charlotte McShane from Australia and Rachel Klamer from The Netherlands, both of whom made a podium finish for the first time last year. Also flying the flag for Britain is India Lee
However the series will be missing Olympic champ Gwen Jorgensen and Helen Jenkins, due to them both deciding to start families. The full women’s start list can be seen here
In the men’s Mola will face fellow Spaniard five-time ITU World Champion Javier Gomez, who is back, after injury ruled him out of Rio and the latter half of the 2016 season, and Olympic bronze medallist Henri Schoeman (RSA).
Mola will also be racing his training partner South African Richard Murray, who had two podium finishes in 2016, and his Rio teammate Fernando Alarza, who finished on three podiums last year, his best ITU season to date.
Flying the flag for Britain will be Adam Bowden, Tom Bishop, Grant Sheldon and Marc Austin. The full men’s start list can be seen here
In a new move viewers will now be able to identify the top eight ranked triathletes in the swim, as each of these athletes will wear a different coloured swim cap, starting with gold, silver and bronze for the top three.
LIVE COVERAGE:
If you have bought a pass you can watch the races live at triathlonlive.tv (passes can also be bought here). We will also be tweetling all the action as it happens so follow us @220Triathlon
SCHEDULE:
Elite Women: Friday 3 March at 15:55pm UTC/ 11:55am UK time
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Elite Men: Saturday 4 March at 15:55pm UTC/11:55am UK time
Rio Olympics silver medalist Jonny Brownlee will be unable to compete at the inaugural Super League Triathlon on Hamilton Island in Australia, in less than three weeks’ time, due to hip injury.
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$1.5 million dollar Super League Triathlon unveiled
“The doctors confirmed my hip injury, which is really disappointing as I was in full swing preparing for the race and the hot conditions,” he said. “It is sad to miss out on this opportunity, but the great thing about Super League is it’s not just this one event. It’s a series and I believe I can still be in the running to win.”
Super League co-founder Michael D’Hulst explained that the series format allows athletes to make up for not starting in an earlier event. “Points are awarded according to finish position after each event, and these are tallied at the end of the season to decide the series winner. We are rolling out a Double Points Day in our upcoming events and if Jonny does well then, he certainly has a fighting chance at a series win.”
The all-new Super League Triathlon series will feature 23 of the world’s best male triathletes racing for US $1.5 million. Launching this month with a ‘stake-in-the-ground’ event on Hamilton Island, the series will officially continue in October 2017 through to March 2018. The series feature five new format races, each comprising a 300m swim, 6km bike and 2km run, and you can find out more about the formats and how the series works here.
His brother Alistair remains on-track to start at Super League Hamilton Island. “Super League Triathlon is really exciting to me,” said Alistair. “It’s racing across a number of different days, a number of different formats, in different ways, which should suit a really hard style of racing.”
Jonny said: “I will see you at the next race. Super League is not won yet. I will be watching Super League Hamilton Island keenly and if I can’t win it, then I hope Alistair does.”
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Super League Hamilton Island will be broadcast live on www.superleaguetriathlon.com on 17-19 March 2017 from 1700 AEST (10 hours ahead of UK).
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The race may have been missing all three Olympic medallists – with Gwen Jorgensen and Nicola Spirig focusing on growing their respective families, and Vicky Holland starting her race season later in the year – and the reigning champ Flora Duffy due to a hip injury, but the Abu Dhabi WTS still had its fair share of dramatic racing.
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A standard distance for the second year running, the swim was non-wetsuit, while the 10-lap 40km bike and 10km run legs were, for the first time, held on the UAE capital’s F1 course. With 180° turns and plenty of switchbacks, the technical bike course favoured strong riders.
Spain’s Carolina Routier led from the horn to T1 with 2016 Edmonton WTS winner Summer Cook (USA) in second. Cook was followed in by compatriots Katie Zaferes and Sarah True, who together made up the lead pack out onto the 40km bike leg. Returning WTS Abu Dhabi champ Jodie Stimpson exited the swim 40secs behind, to collect the chase group alongside Kiwi Andrea Hewitt.
Stimpson and Hewitt put the hammer down from the off, halving the front pack’s lead by the end of lap one, and catching it midway through lap two. Continuing to push the pace over the next eight laps, the 15-strong group steadily dwindled to 10 by T2.
Onto the run, Hewitt, Sara Vilic (AUT), Stimpson and Rachel Klamer (NED) pushed to the front and worked as a quarter over the first 6km, before Klamer dropped off the pace with 4km to go.
With 3km to go, the podium was all but decided but in which order?
Running in a triangle, with Stimpson and Hewitt just in front, only a sprint could decide the final positions. Stimpson made the first move and for a moment it looked like she would defend her crown, but Hewitt had kept more in reserve, slingshotting from behind and outsprinting her to the tape.
To the delight of her supporters, Vilic made her first WTS podium at the age of 24 with a third place.
Kalmer finished in fourth, while the diminutive power rocket Ai Ueda from Japan put in a fantastic run performance (making up 20secs on the first lap) to come home fifth.
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The victory was Hewitt’s fourth WTS win, but her first since 2011. The win was of particular significance to Hewitt, whose finance Laurent Vidal tragically passed away in November 2015 after suffering a heart attack in his sleep.
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The Brownlees may have been absent but it was still a top-class line-up at WTS Abu Dhabi on Saturday 4 March. Nestled within the 54-strong line-up was reigning world champion Mario Mola (ESP), five-time ITU world champ Javier Gomez (ESP) and Rio bronze medallist Henri Schoeman (RSA). But it would be lucky number 13 (WTS wins) for Gomez, the Spaniard taking his first WTS win since Yokohama 2015 and in only his second race since injury wiped out his Rio Olympic medal ambitions last spring.
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Contested over a standard distance for the second year running, conditions were breezy while the 23.2°C water temperature meant, like the women’s race yesterday, it would be a non-wetsuit swim.
The breeze provided a bit of chop in the 1.5km swim, but, as expected, France’s Raphaël Aurélien led the swim with teammate Pierre Le Corre, Schoeman and Russia’s Polyanskiy brothers in the mix.
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With Ali Brownlee switching to middle distance for 2017 and Jonny Brownlee absent due to injury, British hopes for a top performance were buoyed by Tom Bishop, who was just 10secs down at T1 and in the lead group of 25 at the start of the 40km bike leg. Last year’s victor Mola and his training partner Murray had disappointing swims to exit T1 in the chase group, approx 45secs secs behind.
By the end of lap three, the lead group had more than halved, with 10 athletes, including Gomez, Schoeman and Bishop working hard to maintain their 50sec lead over the chase group. Entering T2, the gap had increased to 63secs.
Schoeman capitalised on a slow changeover for Gomez in transition, racing to the front and setting the pace. It was short-lived, however, as veteran Gomez and Bishop caught him within seconds and quickly established a gap over the Rio bronze medallist.
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Bishop, in what was fast-becoming his breakthrough race, kept Gomez honest until the London silver medallist made his move with just over a lap to go. Never looking back, Gomez ran through with a 17sec margin of victory over Bishop to take his 13th WTS career victory. For Bishop, Abu Dhabi marked a career-first WTS podium and reinvigorated British hopes for a strong men’s 2017 season. Frenchman Vincent Luis rounded out the podium in third, while huge runs from Spain’s Fernando Alarza and Murray saw them take 4th and 5th places, respectively.
High-intensity interval training causes cells to make more proteins for their energy-producing mitochondria and their protein-building ribosomes, effectively stopping ageing at the cellular level.
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What is high-intensity interval training (HIIT)?
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How and why increasing mitochondria improves performance
Mitochondria structure changes in elite athletes
“Based on everything we know, there’s no substitute for these exercise programmes when it comes to delaying the ageing process,” said study senior author Sreekumaran Nair, a medical doctor and diabetes researcher at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. “These things we are seeing cannot be done by any medicine.”
Interval training: why and how
The study enrolled 36 men and 36 women from two age groups; ‘young’ volunteers who were 18-30 years old and ‘older’ volunteers who were 65-80 years old. these volunteers were then split into three different exercise programmes; one where the volunteers did high-intensity interval biking, one where the volunteers did strength training with weights, and one that combined strength training and interval training. Then the researchers took biopsies from the volunteers’ thigh muscles and compared the molecular makeup of their muscle cells to samples from sedentary volunteers. The researchers also assessed the volunteers’ amount of lean muscle mass and insulin sensitivity.
They found that while strength training was effective at building muscle mass, high-intensity interval training yielded the biggest benefits at the cellular level. The younger volunteers in the interval training group saw a 49% increase in mitochondrial capacity, and the older volunteers saw an even more dramatic 69% increase. Interval training also improved volunteers’ insulin sensitivity, which indicates a lower likelihood of developing diabetes.
However, interval training was less effective at improving muscle strength, which typically declines with ageing. “If people have to pick one exercise, I would recommend high-intensity interval training, but I think it would be more beneficial if they could do 3-4 days of interval training and then a couple days of strength training,” says Nair.
As we age, the energy-generating capacity of our cells’ mitochondria slowly decreases. By comparing proteomic and RNA-sequencing data from people on different exercise programmes, the researchers found evidence that exercise encourages the cell to make more RNA copies of genes coding for mitochondrial proteins and proteins responsible for muscle growth. Exercise also appeared to boost the ribosomes’ ability to build mitochondrial proteins. The most impressive finding was the increase in muscle protein content. In some cases, the high-intensity biking regimen actually seemed to reverse the age-related decline in mitochondrial function and proteins needed for muscle building.
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The high-intensity biking regimen also rejuvenated the volunteers’ ribosomes, which are responsible for producing our cells’ protein building blocks. The researchers also found a robust increase in mitochondrial protein synthesis. Increase in protein content explains enhanced mitochondrial function and muscle hypertrophy. Exercise’s ability to transform these key organelles could explain why exercise benefits our health in so many different ways.
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For the first time the run of the Windsor Triathlon will take participants fully onto Royal grounds, running from the gates of the castle and into gorgeous Windsor Great Park, including the spectacular Long Walk, right in front of the world famous Windsor Castle.
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Since 1990 the event’s unmistakeable run course has been hugely popular, giving triathletes the opportunity to race on closed roads alongside the walls of the castle, home to The Queen and over 900 years of Royal history.
Nick Rusling, CEO of organisers Human Race Events, said “It’s only appropriate that an event so important to the history of triathlon is given the Royal seal of approval. It’s a great honour for us to be able to use the Royal prefix and the stunning Long Walk, which we know people are going adore running on. It’s something we have been working towards for many years, and now we cannot wait for the 18th June!”
Windsor Triathlon – race tips
Windsor Triathlon 2015 – in pics
Nuffield Health have become the title partner of the Royal Windsor Triathlon, and will have a big presence across the event weekend. Chris Blackwell-Frost, Chief Customer Officer at Nuffield Health said “We are delighted to be title partner for the Royal Windsor Triathlon. This iconic event in the Triathlon calendar is renowned for being one of the top Olympic distance triathlons in the UK and as the official Health and Wellbeing Partner for Human Race we believe that we are the perfect partners to give expert advice on race preparation, training, recovery and injury prevention.”
With over 2,000 people already signed up, an additional batch of places for the event are to be made available from www.humanrace.co.uk/triathlon .
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220 named Windsor Triathlon 15th best triathlon in the world
Will Kenyan Dennis Kimetto’s marathon world record of 2:02:57, set at Berlin Marathon in 2014, ever get beaten and will elite men marathoners be able to break the two-hour mark? A team of researchers led by the University of Colorado Boulder believe they can – and it’s all down to the maths.
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They have laid out a series of mathematical calculations that show that elite men marathoners could shave about four and a half minutes off the current world record.
Postdoctoral researcher Wouter Hoogkamer, who led the new study, explains the calculations for running a marathon in under two hours include the baseline physiological capacity to run Kimetto’s time. The team then considered biomechanical changes that could reduce energy consumption and improve running economy.
“People have been thinking about the magical sub-two-hour marathon for a long time,” said Hoogkamer. “Our calculations show that a sub-two-hour marathon time could happen right now, but it would require the right course and a lot of organisation.”
So how can they do it? For starters, say the researchers, the athletes would need shoes roughly 100 grams lighter than Kimetto’s world record shoes, which weighed 230 grams, or just over eight ounces each. A previous study led by Hoogkamer and Professor Roger Kram showed running in 130-gram shoes could shave 57 seconds off a marathon time.
In addition, a record-breaking elite runner would do best running the first 13 miles of the race as a loop course behind a wedge of marathon ‘pacemakers.’ “He would need to draft behind them on a route that blocks the wind like a paved loop through a pine forest”, said new study co-author Kram of the Department of Integrative Physiology.
“A 1971 study by a British scientist showed that one runner drafting one metre behind another runner in a wind tunnel can reduce air resistance by 93%. But even reducing air resistance for the drafting runner by just 36 percent would improve running economy by 2.7% the savings needed to facilitate a marathon time of 1:59.59 for an athlete capable of running a solo 2:03:00 marathon.”
The second half of the race, according to the new study, should be slightly downhill but still within the regulations of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), with four top runners in a line, one behind the other.
Hoogkamer said: “They would need to take turns blocking the air resistance and cooperatively “drafting” off of each other. This could reduce the metabolic cost of the drafting runners by about 5.9%, shaving about three minutes off the current world record.”
Alternatively, the CU Boulder study showed marathon runners in the second half of the hypothetical course could also shave off about three minutes of time in the marathon if they were lucky enough to have a strong tailwind approaching 13mph.
“We are not the first team to suggest such ideas to speed up marathon runners,” said Kram, who directs CU Boulder’s Locomotion Laboratory. “But we are the first to quantify each of the strategies with careful calculations in a single paper.”
“This study is significant for both scientists and serious marathon runners because we really delve into what we know about the exercise physiology of running, as well as the biomechanics of running,” said Assistant Professor Christopher Arellano of the University of Houston, a study co-author. “Now it’s up to scientists and the most elite marathon runners to put our ideas to the test.”
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This study was published online in the journal Sports Medicine
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