• Take time to train your core.  A weak core can be the end of a race.  Just because you’ve been training hard doesn’t mean your core is strong.
• Stretching is important.  Make an effort to stretch twice a week 30 minutes each time.
• Get a foam roller to help flush out the legs after tough workouts.  Spend time rolling the front & back of the legs, butt, and back.
• Invest in the proper running shoes.  Whether you get them from GFM or not, get them from a professional shoe fitting store (& race shoes if you can afford it).
• Two workouts spaced apart throughout the day are much more efficient than stacking workouts back to back.
• Log your workouts in an organized way so that you can reflect.  Build for three weeks and then recover one week.
• A half hour workout does count.  Find a run loop that is 35 minutes & try to do it in 30.  Just because you don’t have the time for a two-hour run, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t run at all.
• Save your run shoes for running.  Try to keep a pair of running shoes only for running.  Maybe even wear another pair to where ever your workout is so you won’t be tempted to wear them around.  It will make the shoes & your legs last longer!
• Sleep more when the training is tough.  Naps aren’t for the weak either & you shouldn’t feel guilty. They are the best things for you when training time increases.  It helps the body repair & recover all the faster.
•  You are what you eat.  While your appetite will increase that doesn’t mean you get to eat more junk.  While pizza & burgers are fine in moderation, that box of swiss cake rolls isn’t.
• Learn how to ride in a group.  Learn how to rotate in a pace line.  Its gets you use to riding fast.
• Find things to help your performance while you watch T.V. at night.  It might be stretching, foam rolling, icing, pushups/sit-ups during commercials etc.
• Learn a home circuit-training program you can do at home.  This may include lightweights, ab ball, stretch cords etc.
• Every few weeks do a 500 time trial in the pool for time.  It gives you a good idea where your swimming fitness is.
•  Practice your dolphin dive in open water.  With the shallow lakes around Lake County, dolphin diving is just as important as swimming in many races.
• Aquajog once a week.  Get an aqua jog belt and make it a habit of working it into your routine at least once a week.  Great for your entire body without the stress that running puts on the legs.
• Your daily nutrition is just as important as your training and race nutrition.  Eat evenly spaced throughout the day and your workouts will be consistently good, day after day.
• Reward yourself after you complete your goals.  Rewards could be as simple as a bowl of ice cream or a new outfit.
• Make goals for you race season.  Refer back to them in June and see how close or far you are and reassess.

• Draft, draft, draft in the swim. Generally speaking, men create larger waves than women. Use this to your advantage. Swim directly behind or beside someone who is slightly faster than you, and let them do the work.
• Have a pair of training goggles and race goggles.  Nothing more frustrating then not being able to see in an important race.
• Practice transitions just like you would your swim, bike, or run.  Transitions are like ‘free time’ if you just spend a little bit of time practicing.
• Make a pre-race checklist so you get into a routine of what needs to be done and packed before each race.
• Practice a morning breakfast during routine before an important workout.  Make sure it works.  And don’t change it race day.
• If you wear briefs/Speedo lube your bike seat.  You only forget to do this one time.
• Warm-up before your race at least to a light sweat.  Ten minutes of jogging followed by four to six efforts of about minute should do it.
• Plan out your racing season.  It should consist of 2/3 A races, 4/5 B races, & a few other “train through” races.
•  Check the weather before you make training plans.  If its suppose to rain all day, maybe pick a different day for that long bike ride or double loop clay road run.
• One of the easiest ways to gain fitness is a heart rate monitor.  Get that heart rate up around 150 bpm & leave it there as long as you’re capable.  The body burns fat most efficiently when the heart rate is not much higher or lower than 150.

• When you’re running (race or training), don’t go out too fast.  Try to run negative splits; with each mile try to get faster.
• Analyze your race effort.  If you have a weakness during the race, work on it during your training program. Think about which portion left the most room for improvement.
• Work on your kick for the end of the race. At the end of your training runs do 4x 30 second strides with full recovery. Imagine a runner ahead of you and go about 90% of all out while staying relaxed and maintaining good form. You can do this twice a week.
• Relax your stroke. The open water is more powerful than you are. It’s not worth wasting energy fighting it. Try to develop a rhythm with the current conditions.
• Use an anti-chafing lubricant around high friction areas. There is nothing worse than having your swimsuit straps rub against your neck in salt water for a long period of time.  Shoes, neck, wetsuit, ankles, arms bike seat.
• Wear your goggle strap under your cap.  They are less likely to come off.
• Carpe diem! Seize the moment. Enjoy your surroundings. Embrace nature.

• Like the swim, do a few bike or runs over the distance needed.
• If you feel run-down at the beginning of your workout, don’t push yourself.  Bag it.  It’s ok to do this every now and then.  Better to live to fight another day.
• Mix-up your training as much as possible.  Palates, yoga, roller blading.
•  Sign up for a race.  It doesn’t have to be this weekend but races give your harder workouts meaning.
•   Get a training partner.  It makes all the difference in the world to have someone counting on you to be there & get you through tough times.
•  Practice taking in calories during training.  You have to get you body use to digesting calories.
•  If you want to take your training to the next level look for a coach or at least someone to talk over your training & racing.
• Focus on your weaknesses.  Everyone likes to do what we’re good at but working on a weakness just makes us stronger.
•  Get in calories and electrolytes before the race.  Ideally the last solid food should be 3-4 hours before the race.
• Recovery is just as important as the effort you put into your tougher workouts.

1. Practice your nutrition plan in training.  The only time to try something new in a race is a total last resort.
2. Get lots of sleep, this is the only part of your 24 hour day for real recuperation.  Take advantage.  It will also keep you mentally sharp.
3.   When training for your swim, make sure you go a little farther then your needed distance.  You will definitely have confidence then.
4. An interval in the open water is a perfect workout for racing in the open water.   .  Ideally shooting for 2-minute intervals.
5. If it is not broke, do not try to fix it.  This should apply to your nutrition & race gear.  If it’s working for you.  Keep doing it.
6. Try to get familiarized with the course.  If you can, obtain a map of the course days beforehand.
7. Do some open-water training whenever possible, at least 1-2 times prior to racing.
8. Get plenty of sleep several nights before.  (You should always be doing this though)
9. Don’t train hard the last two weeks before the race.  It’s too late for improvement.
10. Make sure to do a few ‘brick’ workouts several weeks before your first tri.  These will help you immensely for the bike to run (T2) transition.

by Dr. Kevin Grogan

Many of you all would agree, that at Gear for Multisport we do not try to sell you the whole store.  Everyone doesn’t need everything, but there are a few key products that most people will find very useful training and racing aides.  Here are the five items I can’t live without!    (See the coupon below to help you get yours from the people that use them and know all about them!)

1. Sable WaterOptics Swim Goggles are incredibly “clear”.  That was the first thing I noticed when I put them on two years ago. Buoys are easier to find in open water, and the clock is easy to read in order to stay on target pace.  Once you try these, you will never go back to your previous goggles.   I also like that they clean up nicely with just a bit of water & dish soap.  They are also the longest lasting goggle that I have had – lasting more than 2 years!

2. Black Foam Roller.  The High Density Foam Roller offers many of the same benefits as a sports massage, but you can do it on your own time (preferably every night!).  The foam roller not only stretches muscles and tendons but it also breaks down soft tissue adhesions and scar tissue. By using your own body weight and the roller you can perform a self-massage or myofascial release, break up trigger points, and soothe tight fascia while increasing blood flow and circulation to the soft tissues.

3. Cytosport Fast Twitch. Fast Twitch Drink fuels intense, fast twitch contracting workouts in two ways: by boosting nitric oxide (NO) levels and encouraging formation of the high-energy molecule creatine phosphate.  Late in a race or a late in the day workout, this drink helps me go harder and further.

4. Sugoi Compression Wear.  Not the most popular name in compression gear but very well should be.  If you’re going to invest in compression, be sure to take a good look at Sugoi.  I ran 20-miler last week and my legs felt fresh through the entire run.  I credit the Sugoi compression wear 100%.  I really believe these are the best compression products on the market today, without the big price tag of their competitors.

5. Tifosi Slips.  While the quality of Tifosi is just as good as an Oakley, the price point of $59 won’t break the bank.  The Tifosi  -Slips fit very snug and are really durable.  Many times, I have raced without sunglasses before I had my Slips because of a fear of ruining or scraping my glasses.  Those days are a thing of the past & so is that horrible glare on race day.

If you are concerned with overall time, T1 and T2 are two places that taking time off is easy.

Do nothing unnecessary and take nothing unnecessary into transition with you.  Think of transition as a place you DO NOT want to be during the race.

Seriously, for your next triathlon, practice yo

by Dr. Kevin Grogan

You put hours of consistent workouts into your training week, yet race day is over quickly with no room for error. With all the time you put into your training, you want race day to go smoothly, reflecting training time well spent. With proper preparation, planning, and predictable sequence of events on race day, you can better control the outcome.

The more race prep you can do the night before the better.

Make your breakfast.
Organize your race bag.
Mix up your drink bottles.
And finally, pack it all in your car.

All this stuff can be done before you turn-in.  More importantly, having all these tasks done the night before will help you have a better race the next day.  The more stuff you get done the night before gives you more time for a good pre-race warm-up or to study the course; tasks you can ONLY do at the race site.  You can follow the same pattern every time you participate in an event, thus reducing potential problems & setting yourself up for greater success.

The worst thing you can do to set yourself up for a lackluster race is to get a good night sleep the night before.  I know what your saying, sleep is so important, but hear me out.  While sleep is important leading up to a race, it isn’t the most important thing the night before. There is not much good that comes from sleeping in so much that you get to the race late.

Race morning runs a lot smoother if your not shooting yourself in the foot and running behind before you even get out of bed.  The earlier you can get to the race site the better, I say.  Getting all you stuff set-up as early as possible is going to help you stay calm and relaxed up until the gun goes off.  There are enough nerves in the sport of running and triathlon that you don’t also need to be running around in a panic.  That extra half hour of sleep isn’t that important in the long run (pun intended).  Either get to bed earlier or plan a nap later on after the race.

by Kevin Grogan

As I was searching for sunscreens to have in stock at Gear for Multisport I came across a wonderful website that rates thousands of sunscreens and debunks myths about sunscreens.  And as we are out in sunshine most months of the year, I thought our customers might like to know about this great website too.  http://www.ewg.org/2010sunscreen/

Most major branded sunscreens are not rated very high, so you know that companies are not paying off the Environmental Working Group.

We have the Badger Brand (Rated 1’s) in stock now.

Below is good information from the EWG website that I have used to remind myself to put on my SPF +50 arm sleeves as I leave my house for a long ride or my rashguard when I am playing with the kids for hours in the water.

If your upcoming triathlon has an open water start, try practicing in a lake, rather than the pool. The closer you can mimic the conditions you will have on the day of the race, the more prepared you will be on race day.

If you are racing/swimming in the ocean, you may encounter choppy waves. Use shorter strokes to combat the chop, then long, efficient strokes once the water smoothes out.

During your training, focus on your swimming technique; this makes the largest difference in your results on race day. Make sure your breathing, kick, body position and arm rotation are in the proper form.