Tri Talk Triathlon Podcast

The audio for this podcast can be listened to here.

A ranking of 8 common cycling training elements, and a look at the dark side of the corporate triathlon. Will it bring out the best or worst in the athletes? All that, and more, on this extended-cut version of Tri Talk.

Welcome to Tri Talk, your podcast source for triathlon tips, training, news and more. You’ll recall in Episode 45 I expressed my hope that the US and Iran, both with Tri Talk listeners, could focus more on what we had in common than not. Within days the US and Iran announced formal talks. Coincidence? I think not! My diplomatic goal at Tri Talk is to help you swim, bike, and run faster, to meet your personal triathlon goals. Whether you are an elite or amateur triathlete, we cover sprint distance to Ironman distance. I’m your host, David Warden, and this is Tri Talk episode 46.Welcome to this extended-cut edition of Tri Talk, which really just means an extra-long episode. What happens when you take a look at 35 separate cycling studies? The result is a fairly good understanding of exactly how certain cycling elements improve your performance. I’ll take some time and review an outstanding publication that takes an objective look at the results of multiple cycling studies to help determine what really works. Finally, in what I consider to be the most anticipated moment in Tri Talk for 2007, I’ll take you inside the corporate on-site triathlon. It is a study in courage, determination, and departmental bragging rights.

You can send in your comments and questions to david@tri-talk.com, and don’t forget to visit the Tri Talk website at www.tri-talk.com for episode transcripts, videos, original research and the popular archived unpublished Tri Talk episodes. I’m a little behind in responding to e-mails, but I answer each and every on I receive.

Thanks to you who have taken the time to submit your information to the Tri Talk Research Study, which is well on its way to be one of the largest triathlon studies ever undertaken. But I can’t do it without you. Visit the website to contribute to this research, and click on Research. Also thank you for your feedback on the beta Tri Talk Nutrition Calculator. I have received some excellent feedback that will improve the accuracy of the tool, and even some great questions that I still need to research to find an answer.

If you like triathlon podcasts, and my gut tells me that you do, you simply must visit the Triathlete Magazine website at triathletemag.com to get a dozen more triathlon podcasts. Their latest podcast is a must-hear article on swimming, one of the best swimming articles I have heard in a long time.

Episode 43 included an interview with Ryan Danforth, owner of powertri.com and poster-child for scientifically applied triathlon training. He completed his first tapered A race of the year last week, and our first chance to see him in at his best. Of 130 in his age group who started the 2007 Spudman, he came into T2 in second place, just seconds behind the age-group leader. However, when he got to the rack which held his T2 bag, it had been moved from the spot where he put it. It took several volunteers over a minute to locate it for him, which was the difference between 3rd and 5th place. Transitions and bad luck are part of the sport, but 5/130 is still not a bad race. Congratulations to Casey Kleinman, Craig Ward, Bart Davis, and Derick Harris for rounding out the top 5 of that age group. Rumor has it that the Spudman will expand to 2,200 slots next year, making it one of the largest Olympic distance races in the country. Shhhh, don’t tell anyone.

Let’s get onto the good stuff! An outstanding study released in the New Zealand publication Sports Medicine took a look at 35 separate cycling studies in an attempt to validate the performance impact of 8 common cycling components and training elements. Taking these 35 studies, they created a model to determine the precise performance improvement over a 40K time trial for each of those 8 elements. These were not necessarily the overall top 8 cycling elements, which could be a rather subjective selection, but rather the top 8 that had substantial and independent research to support the performance gains. Essentially, what are the top 8 things a cyclist can do that have proven and independent performance results.

Let’s find out! Most of these items are no surprise. But it is nice to see some validation and numbers around these elements. I’ll also put some data around the cost per second saved, similar to what you saw in Episode 35 and the Tri Talk Top 20. In fact, the Tri Talk Top 20 was recently updated and modified thanks to some excellent data from this study, and I encourage you go and revisit it on the website if you have not seen it lately. I’ll break with tradition and go from #1 to #8, instead of a typical descending order. All time saved given is based on a 40K time trial with 2 m/sec head and tailwinds, with 10K of the 40K at a 1% grade of ascent. Also, it is based on an already well-trained cyclist, who can do a 40K time trial in about an hour. Time savings for a novice cyclist would be even more than the numbers given.

The top thing that a cyclist can do to improve performance is, no surprise, improve their aerodynamic position. For example, a trained cyclist switching from riding on the hoods to an aerodynamic position on aerobars will save about 5 minutes. But, from moving to a good aerodynamic position to a great aerodynamic position will shave an additional 2 minutes off of your time. With bike fitting costing anywhere from $75 to $150, this is an outstanding return on your investment, at only about $1.20 per second saved. Even if you think you are already aero, it’s worth the $100 to get a second opinion. I paid $100 to a FIST certified fitter who spent 30 minutes and told me not to change a thing, and it was worth every penny for the confidence that it gave me in my position.

The second most important factor is to train. Duh. But, let’s put some numbers around that. High intensity training for several weeks can take an already well-trained cyclist, and improve their 40K time trial by 2.3 to 3.5 percent. That’s 83 to 126 seconds over that 40K ride. What is the cost associated with training? Assuming a cost model that does not count time spent, but rather only “hard” costs, this is the most economical way to improve performance. Now, if you are someone who makes money hourly, there is some lost opportunity cost associated with training. It may cost you $500 a week to spend 10 hours training if you could have made $50 an hour for that same 10 hours. However, as far as hard costs, training is a freebie.

Third, a tri bike frame itself is expected to improve performance by about 86 seconds. That results in about $25 per second for a $2,100 bike. Still not a bad investment.

Fourth is caffeine. I think this may be the most under-utilized item in endurance sports. It’s almost too good to be true, but there is tons of research to back it up. 2-3 mg of caffeine per pound of body weight taken in 1 hour before exercise will improve your time trial by 63 seconds. And that does not even count how it will still be kicking in on your run. The question is not is caffeine effective, the question is as a diuretic, can your bladder handle it. And can you find it in sufficient doses to be effective. Most sports gels only have 25-50mg of caffeine, so you would have to down about 6 of those an hour before racing, and that’s a bit much. Even those energy drinks only have about 100mg. Regardless, is you can handle it, 63 seconds on the bike for a few bucks in caffeine is a worthy investment.

Fifth is carbohydrates. This is another no-brainer, but the study validated some nice numbers around it. An 8% carbohydrate solution, or just about any sports drink, improved performance by 36 seconds for a well-trained cyclist. My personal recommendation is e-gels from Crank Sports. We’re looking at pennies per second saved by spending a buck or two on sports drink for that 36 seconds.

Sixth is altitude training. This is a total coincidence that I just talked about this in episode 44. I didn’t come across this latest study until after I did my research on altitude training for that earlier episode. However, this study supports what I reported earlier. Altitude training is only effective when the athlete lives high and trains low. While most studies took a look at altitude training for runners, this study used a mathematical formula to theorize a 26 second improvement over a 40K for a well-trained cyclist. However, how practical is this to apply to a regular triathlete? Remember from episode 44, that the only studies to prove altitude training benefits are when the athlete lives at over 8,000 feet and trains at less than 4,100 feet. I don’t know if I can even put a cost associated with this, but I’m sure it would be quite high, and the dollars per second significant.

Seventh, the riders weight, which was also discussed in episode 41, with a loss of 5 pounds resulting in 21 seconds saved for a well-trained cyclist. This was mostly due to the reduced drag from the decreased rider surface area, rather than a performance gain from the reduced weight by itself. This is another free way to gain some speed, to get down to your optimal healthy body composition.

Finally, how about bike weight? Coming in at eighth on this report, this was discussed in episode 41, and I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but shaving 5 pounds off of your bike will save you a whopping 7 seconds. The cost of that 5 pounds will probably cost you an extra $2,000 - $3,000. Focusing on bike weight is probably the most inefficient use of your money. However, today’s light bikes are typically carbon, and there are other benefits to a carbon bike other than weight, namely vibration dampening. Also, spending money on light components that are rotational components, like wheels, cranks, hubs, pedals, shoes, etc. is a very good idea because those rotational items should be as light as possible. But if you are spending good money on static components, or components that have no or very little rotational movement like extra light chains, cables, cable housing, brake levers, front derailleurs, etc. I hate to say it but you are wasting your money. If 5 pounds saves you 7 seconds, the 1 pound savings from these non-frame static components will save you less than a second. Choose these kind of components based on their quality, price, and aerodynamics. Now, if the most aerodynamic brake lever also happens to be the lightest, great! But spending $80 on carbon skewers is ridiculous. Now you may be saying, “but David, what about hills”? Yes, bike weight becomes more of a factor in hills, but only when the grade is 3% or higher for at least 20K or more, without a corresponding 20K descent. Also, that 7 seconds already factors in a time trial with 10K uphill at a 1% grade. But, if you are racing in a triathlon that has 12 miles of 3 percent grade ascent, and the race ends 12 miles higher than when it started, you would then save 42 seconds for a full 5 pounds of bike weight. I am unaware of any triathlon course in the country that has these conditions, but there are probably several stages of stage racing that do. Otherwise, you are spending hundreds of dollars per second saved on light static bike components. Why do I get so passionate about this subject? Deep breath.

Again, this is not an all-inclusive list, but rather a list of substantiated results. I’m sure that many of you are feeling that some items have been excluded, like power meters. But I would place that under the training section. Training with intensity and power for an already well-trained cyclist will get you those 2 minute savings over that 40K, and much more for a novice cyclist.

Moving on! It may come as a surprise to you, but I don’t podcast for a living. Well, maybe it’s not a surprise to you, but the podcast sponsorship and even the local coaching I provide I do because I love to do it, not because I make a little money on the side.

My real job is the one that pays the bills. I manage a team of technical support engineers in the Service department of a major software company, and with 13 years seniority, the generous compensation and work hours have always given me the time to pursue my other hobbies outside of work. It will probably take another couple of years of work before I’m able to podcast and coach fulltime, but until then, I like my job and especially the people I work with.

There is only one stressful part about my job. Every spring I begin to feel a pressure building. It starts with sideways glances from co-workers in the corporate fitness center as I enter the room. Weeks later the glances escalate to comments like, “Hey, David. You staying in shape this year?” or even “What’s your workout like today?” Finally, all the polite facades begin to melt away, as the inquisitions become bold and direct, until they climax into the one question that causes my palms to break out in a sweat. “Hey, David, are you going to win the corporate triathlon this year?” Join me as I take you inside the dark and underground world of the on-site fitness center corporate triathlon.

(Transcript for this section not available. The full podcast can be listened to here)

I want to thank John from Sales for being such a good sport in the production of this mocumentary. What I did not include in the report was that John had a skiing accident over the winter, and came into the race still a bit gimpy. But if you had known that, it would have removed all the tension from the story.

A reminder to members of USA Triathlon. Your electronic ballots become available August 1st. Visit www.usatriathlon.org and take just a few minutes to influence the future of this growing sport. For those of you from Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and El Paso County, Texas you have the power to vote me in or out of the office of Regional Director. Can I request that you visit the site, review the other candidate’s platforms, and cast your vote, which you can do all on-line.

Next episode will be released on August 16. I realized the other day that I have received so many outstanding questions via e-mail, and I have done some significant research and responses, but just to that one person. I’d like to take a selection of your best e-mail questions and responses for the focus of episode 47. See you next time!