As athletes, we are all looking for ways to leverage that science to find an edge. Can this one thing make us train more effectively than our competition? Can that other thing make us recover better than them? Together, will these things make us better at racing than we would be without them? These are sometimes hard questions to answer and when slick advertising campaigns are paired with science, the results are often misleading, confusing, and difficult to separate from the truth.

In this second part of how to prepare for your first Ironman I focus on some of the mental tools to bring to bear to make the experience less stressful and more likely to be an enjoyable and successful endeavor.

Whether you just want to finish or your goal is to make it to the World Championships, an Ironman is a big undertaking and requires a lot of thought. This post goes over many of the considerations that need to be pondered on before signing on the dotted line for your first attempt at 140.6

There is no doubt that we can all learn from our failures and use them to motivate us toward future successes but let’s face it, it is much more fun to succeed in the first place. Finding victories within our perceived defeats is one way that we can ensure that we remain positive and do not become frustrated with the process and the amount of time that it takes to get to where we are trying to go.

Transitions are often under appreciated as a place to save a lot of time during a triathlon. I review the importance of why you should rethink your transitions and give insights as to what to consider to go faster in T1 & T2

Of the three sports, swimming is the hardest to learn, get proficient at and see gains in from training. It is the last of these that makes all of the effort required for swim training at times seem less than an efficient use of time and many athletes will find themselves questioning if they should really be swimming when instead they could be biking or running.

What are power meters and how do they work? Why do I and almost all other coaches believe they are so vital to informing bike training and racing and what are the options for finding one that works for your specific need and budget?