Tri Talk Triathlon Podcast

The audio for this podcast can be found here.

The transition video analysis mentioned in this podcast can be found here.

Lost in transition? The free speed of perfectly executed transitions, video analysis of the best and worst transition techniques, and two major Tri Talk developments. All that, and more, today on Tri Talk.Welcome to Tri Talk, your podcast source for, triathlon tips, training, news and more. New listeners in the last 2 weeks primarily came from Denmark and Kentucky. In Denmark, I hope you did well at the Xterra Denmark event that took place a couple of weeks ago. You Xterra athletes are real men in my opinion. In Kentucky, I’m hoping that the word on Tri Talk spread due to exposure at the recent Louisville Ironman event, and if you didn’t participate in that race, I wish you well in the upcoming Lake Barkley full and half triathlon. My 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 48.

If my voice sounds a little different on the podcast, it’s because I went to a concert the other night. It wasn’t that I screamed myself hoarse, but it was a Josh Groban concert, and the 20,000 screaming housewives gave me temporary hearing loss. I still can’t hear myself talk. Today on Tri Talk I’ll be covering the 15 steps to the fastest transition times, based on an analysis of filming dozens of transitions at a recent event. Even if you are veteran triathlete, I think you’ll learn something new from this transition analysis. Now, last week I told you I would also be publishing a report on my recent experience as a race manager for a major event, but this transition topic ended up being a significant report, and with the transition video analysis, we’ll already be at about 30 minutes for the episode, and that is right on where I want it to be. So I’ll be covering my race manager experience in episode 49.

I have two significant announcements for the podcast today. First, I am thrilled to announce that I submitted my first two articles for publication, both were accepted, and I just had my first article published in the print edition of Triathlete magazine. You can find it in the October issue of Triathlete. Although I am always proud of my nearly 10,000-strong force of podcast listeners who download each episode, there is something about being printed in a publication with a circulation of over 100,000 that gets me excited as well. Can you imagine when 90,000 of those Triathlete subscribers open up their magazine and say, “who the hell is David Warden?” Regardless, I could not have done it without you, your support, great ideas and feedback that you have given me now for over a year. Look for another article that will be published in the magazine as well this fall, and I hope they are the first two articles of many more to come.

Next, when is the time to start training for the 2008 racing season? The time is right now. Are you looking to take your racing to the next level, and need someone to guide you through the daily actions required to reach your full potential? I am happy to announce that I am now accepting applications for personal coaching. I’ll be picking up a small group of remote athletes for about a month to ensure that both myself and the athlete feel that the same success and results that I have seen with my local athletes can be achieved remotely, and then possibly continuing the program based on the feedback of that trial. Now, obviously, coaching can be done remotely, because you could go right now and sign up for dozens of different quality coaching programs on-line. But, the question is, can it be done my way remotely and effectively. If you are interested in a scientific approach to training based on what you hear on Tri Talk, and participating in this beta test, drop me an e-mail and tell me a little bit about yourself and goals. If you have already sent me an e-mail asking about my coaching services, you don’t need to send another, I’ve got you on my list. I’ll select a small group from that pool of interested triathletes, and we’ll go from there. By the way, this coaching trial period will be free of charge, since you’ll be my guinea pigs. You can send in your questions and comments to david@tri-talk.com.

This episode is brought to you by PowerTri.com. Do you have an embarrassing triathlon blooper? We’ve all been there. Whether it’s heading in the wrong direction full steam ahead on your first open water swim or that horrific day when you realized the tri shorts you bought 5 years ago are leaving you a little exposed. With all the training and racing we do swimming, biking, and running, we’re all going to have a few of those less than spectacular moments. Send an e-mail to ryan@powertri.com your most embarrassing triathlon moment and they’ll post it on PowerTri.comm for all the triathlon world to see. The top three stories will win a free pair of Yankz! and a $15 gift cert to PowerTri.com, free ground shipping included. So whether you’ve put your bike helmet on backward and didn’t realize it until the race photos were posted, or knocked over the entire bike rack in T1, we want to hear about it. And when it’s time to replace those worn out tri shorts, pay a visit to PowerTri.com!

Before we get onto the good stuff, I want to make an appeal to any race directors in the audience. Triathlon is growing so fast, and I think that the movers and shakers of the sport recognize the things they need to do to accommodate that growth. There is one area where we may be missing an important part of the growth. We now have a growing aging population of triathletes. These are either the athletes who blazed the trail for the rest of up 20 years ago, or there is a growing number of older athletes who are coming into the sport as part of the regular word-wide growth. As a result, I am seeing and receiving feedback on more and more triathletes who are suffering from injuries that make it very difficult to run. Now, let me make it clear that the age of the athlete by itself does not necessary means an increased risk of injury. I have seen no evidence to support that. But, an athlete who is 50 years old, with 30 years of endurance training, is more likely in that wide window of experience to have taken that one wrong step that led to a tear, or a sprain, or a break, or the 30 years of pounding on that hip has finally caused the body to beg for mercy. It’s just plain wear and tear. And frankly, it is not just aging athletes. There is plenty of injury in the ranks of the young that inhibits running.

What can we do help accommodate this issue? How can we keep these athletes involved and motivated to train for endurance events? The answer to me is such a simple one, and yet it has not been widely adopted. Adding an aqua-bike division to any existing triathlon would allow multi-sport who have running problems to still stay motivated to train and participate. Aqua-bike is simply a swim-bike event, and is fully endorsed by USAT. In fact, an aqua-bike division is easier to setup for an existing event than a duathlon. All the race director needs to do is add the aqua-bike division, and those athletes total time is based on the swim and bike. The athletes start at the same time, they use T1 in the same manner, they just don’t head out of T2.

Can I request that any race director within the sound of my voice consider adding that aquabike division to all of their triathlon events. Or, if you are a triathlete, don’t be shy in pinging your race director and asking that they add the division to their future races.

Let’s get onto the good stuff! The following analogy has been used almost to the point of nauseam, but it is still just as powerful to me as ever. How long would it take you to shave a minute off of your 10K running time? Of course, it depends on the fitness level of the runner, where less experienced runners would see improvements faster. So let’s say that you are trying to knock off 1 minute from a 45-minute 10K. With a good training plan, that might take you a few months. Going from 40 minutes to 39 minutes might take you up to a year.

But, how much training and planning would it take to shave a minute off of your total race time by working on your transitions? For a triathlete who has not spent time already specifically working on transitions, taking just a few minutes to practice and develop a transition strategy can give you that extra free minute.

But the real beauty of outstanding transitions, is that they transcend athleticism. It is the one area of triathlon, where you and I can be as good as the pros. It takes no additional athleticism to be a good transitioner, at any age, at any experience level. It just takes strategy and practice.

Even for those of you who are racing veterans, I hope today to share some transition information that could still shave a few more seconds off for you as well. Also, while researching for this topic I filmed various athletes in transition at a recent event, and have some video examples of good and not-so-good transition technique that is available as a companion video released alongside this podcast.

So let’s start from beginning and work our way from T1 to T2, and cover some transition best-practices. I have broken these up into 15 steps. The 15-step program to blazing transitions. 8 steps to perform before the race even starts, and 7 steps to perform after the race starts. Here we go.

The first step in fast transitions is to practice transitioning. I actually put on my wetsuit, goggles, and swim cap, and hop in the shower. There is something about being wet that simply changes your ability to be quick in transition, and this is an excellent way, just like in athletic training, to have a race-simulation workout. Find out what order and in what position your equipment is best placed for you.

Second, use the motto “less is more”. As much as you can have already on your bike will make a huge difference. Nutrition, tubes, CO2, can all be on the bike and ready to go. There are several nutrition products that hold your nutrition in an aerodynamic position on the bike, including the Bento Box and the Gu Bike Mount, even taping your nutrition to your bike. The X-lab Saddlewing is an outstanding component that has anything you need to change a flat that attaches right onto the bike. You can hear about these products in Epsisode 35 as well. Try to avoid stuffing anything into your jersey out of T2. This is not always possible with half and full Ironman racing, where you may need to carry a couple of hours worth of nutrition, but for short races, it is a good goal to try and add nothing to your pockets as you transition.

Third, know where your bike and transition area is. I have seen balloons, chalk, or flags taped to the bike racks used as markers to easily find your bike out of the water. Or, memorize a landmark. Practice at least once the route you will take from the water to your bike. Not only practice, while at the transition area, visualize yourself going through the motions, and see your entrance and exit from transition.

Fourth, wherever possible, get your transition area as close to the exit as possible. Yes, everyone needs to run the same distance in the transition area, but it is a sad fact that running the length of the transition area with your bike will be slower than running the length of the transition area without it. Many events assign a bike rack to an athlete, but if you have the choice, closer to the exit is better.

Fifth, wear your race gear and race belt under your wetsuit. Nothing kills a transition more than getting dressed. In fact, in analyzing the athletes I filmed, putting on a jersey took anywhere from 15 to 30 seconds extra.

Sixth, after you have setup your transition area, what is the next thing to do? The next thing to do is to go back and check your transition area just before the race starts. Too often after you have setup your things, another triathlete may come along and “nudge” your bike or your things to a different spot. You’ll recall that Ryan Danforth had his T2 bag moved about 15 feet from where he placed it in T2 for a race, and it cost him a minute in transition to find it again.

Seventh, use body glide liberally. Put it on your wrists and ankles, which helps facilitate a quick exit from the wetsuit. The ankles and wrists are the notorious places for the wetsuit to give resistance. Also, put body glide on your feet. Assuming you will not be wearing socks, which we will talk about in a moment, having your feet slippery will help you slip those biking shoes on even faster.

Eighth, have your bike in an appropriate gear. It should be an easy gear regardless, but some transition areas may even start up a small slope which would justify an even easier gear. Nothing is worse then getting clipped in with one foot only to lose momentum because you can’t pedal fast enough due to a tight gear. Many a triathlete has dropped a chain, or even fallen over coming out of T1 due to the wrong gear.

Alright, there are the 8 steps to prepare for a fast transition before the race ever even starts. Now, what to do after you come out of the water? 7 more steps.

First, take the wetsuit off right away. Either take advantage of the strippers, or take the wetsuit off while it is still wet. I know that most of you have been taught to strip to the waist while running, and finish talking it off at your bike. But, in watching dozens of transitions this year, I am confident that it is faster to have a stripper take it off for you, or if there is not a stripper, then taking it off while it is still wet. By the time you get to your bike, if your wetsuit is still on from the waist down, it will be dry and much more difficult to take off. Taking off the wetsuit while wet will allow it to slip off much faster. Check out the companion video for an example of this.

Second, socks. I hate socks. Socks are the enemy of T1. Your feet are wet, your fingers are cold and numb, your disoriented. Nothing is a bigger waste of time than socks. It takes anywhere from 15 to 28 seconds to put on socks. One of the pros I filmed even put on socks, because he was doing another race in a week that was even more important to him, and he did not want to risk blisters. It still took him 19 seconds to put on socks, and he is a pro! Now, I know that many of you are saying now, “gross! No socks?” There are two concerns. Will it make your shoes smelly, and will it give you blisters. On the first complaint, Emilio De Soto posted an outstanding article out on the slowtwitch.com forums on how you can wash your bike shoes, running shoes, and even your helmet. I’ll have that link up on the tri-talk.com website. Plus, you don’t have to always train sans socks year round, but rather just the last few weeks before a race. Second, on the concern with blisters, simply start training without socks for your short runs and short rides during your easy weeks. Use plenty of body glide on the feet, and this will also help avoid blisters. I have an athlete who resisted no socks for months, and as soon as he did his first race, he no longer wears socks at all, even for regular training, he thinks it is so comfortable.

Third, let’s talk about having shoes clipped into the bike already vs. putting on your bike shoes at T1. I have been opposed to having the shoes clipped for many years. Yes, you save some time in T1, but how much does it cost you when you get on the bike in acceleration to race speed? It sees to me that I am whipping by triathletes at 23 miles per hour while they are still fiddling with their shoes. The pros in general, all have their shoes clipped in, but I can’t help but think this is more viral and traditional than practical. So the real question is, how much time does it cost you to put on your shoes while in motion, and how much time does it cost you to put on your shoes in T1. I don’t know. Well, I do have a good idea of the time it takes in T1 to put on shoes. From analyzing the transition video, it takes anywhere from 9 to 15 seconds. I have not been able to film and time cyclists while putting on their shoes clipped into the bike. But, how many seconds can you gain on a cyclist when you are going full speed and they are not.

I’m a black-and-white person, and so I look for yes and no answers. I want to know which technique is better across the board. I proposed this question to a pro triathlete, and he really helped me put this back into perspective when he said, “it depends”. He pointed out that it depends on the course, and he makes a decision accordingly. If you are running hard on concrete in your bike shoes in T1 to the mount line, you could damage the plastic cleat and not be able to clip in all, and it would be better to have them clipped in. If you are up front to the exit, or on grass or carpet, this is not a problem and you can run in the shoes. If the start of the bike is uphill or has several turns, you would not want to be messing with you shoes. If the start of the bike is a flat straightaway, then it may be a better idea to have them clipped in. If the transition area is dirt with stickers or small rocks, then it may be better to have the shoes in to avoid damage to your feet. So, overall, this technique should be practiced and evaluated for each individual race.

OK, there are three techniques for T1. Coming into T2, there are a couple more. First, I do believe it taking off the shoes coming into T2. You have to start slowing down anyway before the dismount line, and this is a good time to unstrap them and place your bare feet on top of the shoes and continue to pedal slowly as you enter T2. Again, if T2 is full of hazards to your feet, consider leaving them on.

Second, I love the side-saddle T2 entry technique. If you can execute it perfectly, you look so cool and it saves a couple of seconds. About 5-10 seconds before you dismount, if you are already out of your shoes and pedaling with your feet on top of the shoes, stand up and swing your right leg behind the saddle, and swing it between your left leg and your bike. You are now riding side-saddle. As you stop the bike, your right foot takes the first step of a running motion and your left leg follows naturally. Basically, you never stop moving while blazing into T2. If there are bike catchers there, even better. Make sure you practice this lots before you try it in a race. I do it all the time when I come home after a ride, and my neighbors think I’m crazy.

Third T2 step is zip laces or quick laces. Next to socks, lacing shoes is the next killer in transition. It takes anywhere from 14-23 seconds to lace two pairs of shoes. Quick laces or zip laces use elastic laces that allow you to stretch the shoe enough to get your foot in, and then snap back into place to your preferred shoestring tension.

Fourth, anything you need to put on at T2, like your hat, race belt, or fuel belt, should be done while running. Don’t stop and put these tings on, rather grab them and put them on while running.

Now, you may be hearing some of these times that I have associated with different transition techniques, like putting on jersey, socks, or laces, and saying “I am positive I can lace 2 shoes faster than 14 seconds. I am positive I can put on socks in less than 15 seconds.” Yes, at home, you probably can. But coming out of the water with cold fingers, going from horizontal to vertical, coordination becomes significantly diminished. Coming into T2, when your fingers have been locks into a position for some time, they lack the same nimbleness than when you are fresh. Fine motor skills are hard to come by in a race-intensity environment, and things just take more time.

Don’t forget to check out the video companion to episode 48, which is published right along with this episode, where you will see examples of the fastest, and slowest transitions using different techniques.

By the way, if you want two excellent examples of professional triathlete behavior, I saw it first hand at the event I filmed these transitions at. The winner, pro Marcel Vifian spent the first 20 minutes after he won handing out water bottles to the other competitors as they came through the chute. Then I went to look for Heath Thurston, who came in second, and found him two hours later staying on to cheer the kids who participated in the kids triathlon that took place after the event. And he didn’t even have any kids in the race. Both guys are completely approachable, talking to anybody who came up to them and asked questions, and are great examples of pro athletes.

That’s all for this episode. For those of you in Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and El Paso County Texas, don’t forget to go to usatriathlon.org and submit your electronic ballot and make a difference in the USAT election process, and I appreciate your consideration for supporting me as a Regional Director of the Rocky Mountain Region.

The audio for this podcast can be found here.

The ethics of supplements, how to age with speed, and the altitude debate heats up. A few examples of responses to the best of your e-mails, today on Tri Talk.

Welcome to Tri Talk, your podcast source for triathlon tips, training, news and more. I’d like to thank the Timp Tri Club of American Fork, Utah for allowing me to take the time to present at their club meeting. Most new listeners since the last episode came from Auckland, New Zealand. Thanks a ton for spreading the word in that part of the world. My 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 47.

Let me propose something to you. Can you think of any sport where the athlete is smarter or more informed than a triathlete? Seriously, when you think of the complexity of triathlon, from transitions to nutrition, to skill work, to gear, what other sport has the breadth and depth that triathlon does? What other sport could support a podcast, magazines, forums and books dedicated so much to physics and physiology? Fortunately, a triathlete has lots of resources to turn to, but for the content creators, it can be a nightmare. The reason is, you guys are just too darn smart. Some of the questions you ask me and comments you make blow my mind with their precise thinking and creativity. It forces me to be extremely thorough and accurate with my research, because I know I can’t pull the wool over your eyes. I am constantly amazed at the resourcefulness and intelligence of my listeners, and as a result, some of the best ideas and comments I have had for topics have come from questions from you. I realized the other day that some of the responses I have written are long enough to be a topic for the show, and so I decided to take a collection of questions you have sent in and script them for this episode. We’ll talk about aging, nutrition, ergogenic aids, heart rate, and just a bit more on altitude. You can send in your comments and questions to david@tri-talk.com.

This Tri Talk episode is sponsored by PowerTri.com. PowerTri.com is your store for triathlon wetsuits, clothing, gear and more! Tri Talk listeners get a 15% discount when you enter the discount code listed at tri-talk.com. And as always, you’ll enjoy free ground shipping on any orders over $49. Visit the tri-talk.com website to get your 15% discount code. Let me tell you guys something, I am good friends with PowerTri.com, and I don’t get much more than a 15% discount. There is something really wrong with that. The only way you will find the same quality triathlon items at that price, is to get them used, or open your own triathlon shop.

In triathlon news, I am happy to announce that Joe Friel will be publishing the 3rd edition of the Triathlete Training Bible late 2008, with updated triathlon training information, expected to add changes to every chapter of the 2nd edition. Or if you already have the 2nd edition, he will be offering a smaller companion book that just contains the changes to the 3rd edition. You heard it first here on Tri Talk!

Let’s get onto the good stuff! From your keyboards to my lips. In what has become the #1 question I am asked, Greg from Georgia writes:

“I will be turning 44 next month and in the last year to year and a half, I have really started to slow down. I have never been really fast, but I have felt a lot slower recently. I have done 4 sprint and 2 olympic triathlons. In the past 2 years I have completed 4 marathons with times of 3:55, 3:52, 4:01 and 4:28. Nearly all of my workouts are cardio. Do I have to just accept the fact that I am getting slower with age? What do 40+ endurance athletes have to do that is different than younger athletes?”

Thanks, Greg. You can still be very fast over 40 and even over 50. Much, though not all, of the performance you have lost can be gained back, but unfortunately at an increased effort and discipline. I’m going to give you 2 references to address this. The first is the Triathlete Training Bible, which has a section dedicated to this issue. And the second reference is a featured article in the September edition of Triathlete magazine. I have only seen the cover for this edition, I have not not read the article, but it is available on newsstands now and evidently addresses this very issue. But, let’s go over some basic concepts. First, continue to train intensely, but moderately. You have to keep that intensity, but it becomes more important than ever to regulate it to a fraction of your overall volume. Second, increase your rest. Perhaps at 50, it may be time to go from 6 day training weeks to 5 day training weeks. Third, strength train year round. Muscle mass loss really begins to accelerate past 40, and that strength training makes a huge difference. Fourth, nutrition becomes even more important. We have talked previously on about how certain foods can also contribute to loss of muscle, and in fact I’ll talk about that more in the podcast today later on. Finally, fifth, at the first sign of injury, involve your physical therapist. The recovery time when involving a PT immediately after an injury can be days or weeks faster than not engaging a PT.

Also, the Training Bible contains an adjusted weekly training hours schedule for masters athletes.

Another e-mail comes from from Priscilla from Montana. Now, this e-mail did not actually come from Priscilla from Montata, but this listener was very concerned about anonymity when she wrote me, and so I have changed the name and state to protect the innocent.

“I have a question about heart rate training. I have a friend [it’s always a “friend”, isn’t it?] and fellow-triathlete who is in his early 40’s. In a spin class last week, we were doing a sub-max test to determine max heart rate. He was getting frustrated when [the instructor] asked the group to go from 150 to 160. He said he’s been unable to raise his heart rate above about 155 on the bike, but 165 running, no matter how hard he tries.”

Thanks, Priscilla. First, it is very common for a bike lactate threshold HR to be 5-10 beats lower than the running lactate threshold. After years of training, only the very fittest athletes have the same zones for biking and running. The 30-minute self-test protocol for lactate threshold heart rate that I have discussed a few times on the show is not only a great way to get your LTHR, but it needs to be done independently for the bike and run. Very fit triathletes will find that there biking and running thresholds will slowly start to merge, and other reason for the importance of frequent self-testing.

Also, although I have no independent data to back this up, my HR when cycling indoors is always about 5 beats lower than outdoors. It drives me crazy. Same bike on an indoor trainer, same power output. Can’t explain it, but your friend may have the same “condition” as me. I’m looking forward to training this fall on a roller treadmill to see if this condition continues. Finally, at an indoor spinning class, that bike is not really fit to his body. Sure, you can raise the seat a bit, but it is possible that he is bio-mechanically simply not able to go as hard on that trainer and generate the effort.

In summary, any one of those 3 reasons would explain why his bike HR is lower than his run. It is perfectly normal.

From Episode 34, there was a discussion on nutrition, and the impact of the acidity level in certain foods could lean to accelerated muscle mass. The theory is that high levels of acid in the blood cause nitrogen to leave the body faster when we age, and that nitrogen is a key building block for protein, and therefore muscle. By reducing the acidity levels of foods in our diet, we could theoretically maintain more muscle mass. This is part of the theory behind the Pelo Diet, for which I am a proponent. However, Yehudah from Israel writes:

“I’m sorry but I have a really hard time accepting that the food which we eat will impact on blood acidity in a major way. After all the food is not injected directly into the blood but rather goes through the stomach and GI tract and is absorbed from there. The stomach is a very acidic environment; the rest of the GI tract much less so. During the process of digestion the food is broken apart to it components so that a protein for example may be broken down to amino acids (acids - get that!). So a food item which is not acidic to begin with may be broken down to components which are acidic. And vice versa.

In sum, since the food we eat is not absorbed into the blood stream as is but rather undergoes biochemical changes, and is worked on by the acidity and enzymes of the digestive system, I do not believe that a more acidic food will make your blood more acidic”.

I like this thinking. Essentially, Yehudah is saying the regardless of the level of acidity of alkalinity of foods, the digestive process neutralizes it before it enters the bloodstream. What we know for sure is that foods do have significantly different levels of acidity of alkalinity, and that higher levels of acid in the blood will release more nitrogen from the body. The question is can the digestive system make this irrelevant. I have some information that supports both positions. If we were to take Yuhudah’s position to the extreme, the digestive system would be able to neutralize all kinds of junk food too. If the stomach can’t keep sugars and fats from entering the blood stream, why can it hold back acids? This, of course, is not what Yuhudah is proposing, his main point being that the stomach is a very acidic place to begin with, and not a sugary place to begin with. But, I’ll still have to voice my opinion, not fact, but opinion, in favor of Dr. Loren Cordain’s theory, author of the Paleo Diet. The thing about the paleo diet is, it recommends a diet of lean meats, fruits, nuts, and vegetables, which are all low in acidic content. Even if you don’t buy the theory of acidic content in the blood, having those foods as your primary nutrients is still an excellent choice. Just before I started to record this podcast, I received a followup e-mail from Yuhudah disclosing that he has PH.D in biochemistry molecular biology. SO he might have a pretty good idea of what he is talking about too. This is what I mean about you guys being to damn smart.

In regards to caffeine, John in North Carolina writes:

“The question I have is about the regulation of caffeine - my understanding is that caffeine is on the banned substance list and if the dosage is too high, would constitute a doping infraction. All the while searching for our best performance, does it make sense to recommend caffeine to any one who is competing, elite or age grouper?”

John, for some reason this question hit me hard. I presented this very argument to my 2 oldest children at dinner one evening, and got a different response from each of them. My daughter, who is a triathlete, was all for it, and my son, who has not caught the bug yet had concerns. It is certainly enough to make one pause when a 12-year-old child says, “I don’t think caffeine sounds fair.” I’d like to present an argument that was formed, in part, from this dinnertime discussion. (by the way, I do not allow my 10-year-old triathlete daughter to take caffeine, when I said she was all for it, I mean she had no objections to other triathletes taking it).

One clarification I need to make, is that when I first podcast the episode on caffeine in 2006, I stated that it was a banned substance in the Olympics at certain levels. I subsequently posted some information on caffeine in the Triathlete magazine blog site. Those banned caffeine levels were extremely high. Much higher than caffeine intake recommendations, but it was notable that it was recognized as a significant performance enhancing supplement. Our astute listeners recently corrected me, including, Dr. John Martinez of the Coastal Sports and Wellness Medical Center in San Diego, that caffeine was removed from the Olympic banned substance list in 2004. It is currently legal at any level.

However, independent of that fact, I believe that sports supplementation can be broken into three types. Natural-necessary, natural-unnecessary, and unnatural-unnecessary. The first group, natural-necessary would include vitamins and minerals, macronutrients like protein and carbs, and even water. Whether or not we participate in endurance sports, our bodies have to have these supplements anyway to survive. A smart triathlete can apply the right balance and timing of vitamins, minerals, protein, carbs to maximize performance.

The second group, natural-unnecessary, would include supplements such as caffeine, as well as BCAAs, medium-chain triglycerides, or creatine. All of these supplements can be found and grown in a natural state and extracted without changing their chemical properties. But they are not required to sustain life. We can go our whole lives without consuming caffeine, and be a healthy person. But, the practicalities of consuming enough caffeine or creatine in a natural state to improve performance in inhibitive. The only way we can reasonably consume these supplements is if they are extracted and refined into a concentrated state.

The last group, unnatural-unnecessary would include performance-enhancing drugs such as EPO. These drugs are chemically engineered well beyond their natural state.

I think we all agree on the first and third supplement types. Natural-necessary are universally accepted as ethical, while unnatural-unnecessary are accepted as unethical, and typically banned. The question is in that second category. Is it ethical to use supplements that can be found in a natural state, but are then extracted and concentrated. There is no question that these are legal to use in triathlon, but I don’t like that argument. We all know the consequences of actions within society that are perfectly legal, but highly unethical.

Another thing to note about caffeine as a former banned substance in the Olympics. I think that the bigger statement about caffeine is not that it was ever on the banned list, but rather that it was taken off the list, indicating that some fairly sharp medical and scientific minds had had a significant debate before that took place, and concluded it was appropriate.

John, I think my answer is that this gray area has to be an individual decision. I don’t know that there is any one right or wrong answer. I see my position on caffeine possibly evolving over the next few years, I don’t know. I propose that each athlete reflect on this subject themselves, and do what they think is right. Thanks for bringing up such an excellent topic.

You’ll recall Bree from Alaska wrote me and asked why she may have seen improved swim times in a saline pool vs a chlorine pool. Her question spawned a significant amount of interest and research, with the increased buoyancy in the saline pool the most likely reason. Bill from Maryland had another idea, and wrote, “Bree’s improvement in the saline pool could be due to breathing easier.” That’s not a bad theory, if some amount of chlorine gas is evaporating into the air that she was breathing and reducing oxygen. Although I can’t really find anything to confirm that, I liked Bill’s thinking.

Speaking of reduced oxygen, regarding altitude training, Mike, who did not specify a geography, writes:

“All of your conclusions made sense, but it made me wonder. From what you seem to be saying, training at altitude didn’t seem to add a lot of advantages for endurance athletes, except in one narrowly-defined situation ( i.e., live high, train low) that would be quite hard to duplicate. If that’s the case, why are there so many examples of world-class U.S. athletes who train at high-altitude? In particular, I know that there’s a large contingent that train in Colorado Springs. Are these guys exploiting some angle that your research doesn’t address? Just curious.”

There are certainly some subjects on Tri Talk that illicit more interest than others. I would have never guessed that altitude training would be one of them. In episode 44 I summarized the research showing that altitude training for improved performance is only effective in narrowly defined environments, and received quite a bit of feedback. The timing of this subject is excellent, in part because Melanie McQuaid published a well-written article on triathletemag.com regarding altitude training, available on that web-site as of the release of this podcast. Although I agree with the article on the physiological effects of altitude, I disagree with the interpretation of how that translates into improved performance. But, the article is presented very well, and I felt that the listener should have opportunity to read an opposing view.

However, I feel comfortable stating this: there is no credible independent study to support the use of altitude training under 8,000 feet on already well-trained athletes. There is some research on the benefits of altitude training to novice athletes, but nothing on well-trained athletes. In fact, there is just the opposite support. There is credible research to show that altitude training is only effective at living over 8000 feet, and training under 4000 feet. There is obviously plenty of anecdotal and theoretical evidence for altitude training outside those extreme conditions, but those theories do not hold up under carefully measured environments. I could spend another 30 minutes on this subject alone. Instead, I’ll be writing up a detailed blog entry in the next 2 weeks on the blog site. I won’t be doing it in the podcast, because I don’t want to expose you to “altitude sickness”, pun intended, for those of you who are sick of the subject. If you are really interested in the nitty-gritty, check out the blog in a couple of weeks.

But, for today, I’d would like to answer Mike’s specific e-mail regarding altitude.
This question was echoed by many other listeners. If altitude training has no positive effect to performance, why are so many pro athletes training in Boulder and Colorado Springs in the summer months? That’s a fair question. I appreciate that line of thinking, but that logic essentially says, “if this athlete trains at high altitude, and he is fast, high altitude must work”. Using that same argument, there are plenty of successful pro triatheltes who do not train at altitude, and are just as successful. We can use the same logic to prove that low altitude training works just as well.

Now, to answer Mike’s question directly. Athletes train in Boulder and Colorado Springs not because of the altitude, but because it is the home of the US Olympic Training Center. Not only is it the home of the USOTC, it is the home of USAT, USA Swimming and USA Cycling. Some of the best coaches and training facilities in the world are in Colorado Springs, just 1.5 hours from Boulder. It is not just the fact that the triathlete has access to the best triathlon coach and facilities, they have access to the best swimming coaches and cycling coaches. Colorado is the Disneyland of pro triathletes. Any athlete who chooses to train in that area will be able to draw from the best of the best. That is the real draw to that area.

Now, the next question, so why is Colorado Springs the home of the USOTC? Was it picked because of altitude? No, it was picked because of the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act of 1978, which established the Olympic Committee. The committee needed a headquarters, and one that would accommodate training facilitates for hundreds of athletes. It was decided that the recently abandoned ENT Air Force Base and the former headquarters of the North American Defense Command would do nicely for the Olympic Complex. The fact that Colorado Springs was at altitude is purely coincidental. There is no physiological benefit for a tennis player to train in southern California. But that just happens to be the place where the best tennis players in the United States train, because there is where the finest coaches and facilities are.

An important point to remember is that there is no study to show that altitude training under 8,000 feet has detrimental effects. It is a safe choice for a pro. They have nothing to lose. Imagine the choice that a pro triathlete has to make. They can stay in their home-state, or they can move to Boulder, surrounded by other pro athletes, access to the USOTC, access to the best coaches for each discipline, and who cares if altitude training actually works or not, it certainly won’t hurt them to train that high. It is essentially a low risk/high reward decision to move to Colorado.

Next week the tables turn as I report live from my experience as assistance race director from a major race, and we’ll visit how to perform lightening fast transitions, complete with video analysis. Don’t forget if you live in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, or El Paso County Texas, please consider allowing me to be your USAT Regional Representative and vote electronically today at www.usatriathlon.org. See you in a couple of weeks!