I live in Utah, which means I get to train through the winter. And since I’m not a huge fan of the bike trainer or the treadmill, that means running and biking outside in the cold, and that means winter clothing. And as anyone with any sense knows, the best time to buy your winter triathlon clothing isn’t at the start of winter–it’s in the summer. As in, right now. For example, PowerTri.com just marked their winter clothing down by 40%. Well, not “just”, they actually did it a week or two ago, but you don’t think I was going to write this post before I got in there and made sure I got everything I wanted, do you?

So what did I get?

Pearl Izumi PRO Softshell Jacket. Man, this thing just looks so good, I’m not even sure I’ll train in it, I might just wear it to fancy dinner parties. Normally $175, but I got it for just over $100.

Pearl Izumi Barrier Shoe Cover. I really, REALLY needed a pair of these this last winter. But I made do with what I had, and saved $24 off the full price.

Pearl Izumi Softshell Glove. I really needed these too. I’ve been using cheap gardening gloves in the winter. But again, patience paid off with an $18 discount.

Pearl Izumi LS Baselayer Shirt. I wasn’t patient enough to buy one of these. I got one at full price. But I liked it so much I got another one at $24 off.

The only thing that stinks now is that I have to wait six months to use any of it.

A triathlon wetsuit is thick neoprene material primarily designed to keep you warm, although buoyancy and hydrodynamics are huge added benefits.

A tri suit or triathlon suit is an outfit made of thin polyester-like material (I’m actually wearing one right now, coincidentally, as I’m writing this just before going to do a workout). While a tri suit may provide some buoyancy and warmth, it’s very, very, minimal compared to a wet suit. The primary benefits of a tri suit are:

1. Hydrodynamics (if you’re swimming in a triathlon where you’re not wearing a wetsuit)

2. Aerodynamics on the bike and run (not a huge benefit on the run, but some potential benefit on the bike)

3. Comfort – When people say “tri-suit” they’re generally talking about a one-piece suit. This means you don’t have to deal with any chafing or rubbing around your waist, if that’s a problem for you with a normal tri jersey and pair of tri shorts.

4. They look pretty cool.

If you’re doing a non-wetsuit race, then yes, I’d say a tri suit is a must-have. If you’re going to have a wetsuit on (which you would definitely want to wear if they allow it–you would never opt for a tri suit in place of a wetsuit given the option), then you’ll wear your tri suit under your wetsuit, so it’s not going to do anything for you on the swim. Therefore, the primary benefit for a beginner triathlete would be comfort, but if you don’t suffer from discomfort when wearing normal two-piece triathlon clothing then a tri suit at this point is probably overkill.

One downside to a one-piece tri suit over two piece triathlon wear–it’s harder to go to the bathroom, and this is no small matter if you need to go in a hurry. For this reason you may see triathletes walking around the transition area with their tri suit unzipped and the top part hanging from their waist prior to the event starting.

Nobody is born doing triathlons, and so most of us remember hearing someone say “I’m going to do a brick tomorrow” and thinking “Wha…?” But of course we’re too embarrassed to ask “What’s a brick?” and so we go on the Internets and use the Google to try and figure it out. Well, here you are, and here’s what it is.

A brick, in triathlon termage, is when you do two disciplines in your training, back to back. In other words, you ride your bike, then you jump off and do a run immediately afterward. That’s a brick. If you jump out of the swimming pool and onto your bike, then that would also be a brick workout. But most commonly, when someone says they are doing a brick they mean they’re going to do a bike-run combo workout.

Generally when you do a brick you want to transition as quickly as possible from your bike to your run, because that’s what you’re be doing in the real event, and we’re trying to simulate that. I bike out of my garage, and so I’ll leave my running shoes where I park my bike in the garage so that I can quickly take off my bike-specific gear, put my running shoes on, and be back outside running with minimal downtime. If you take 10 minutes to transition from your bike to your run then you’re missing out on the immensely pleasurable feeling of taking off running while your legs are still hurting and wobbly from the bike ride. I used to leave my running shoes outside so I could just dump my bike on the lawn and be off running real quick, but since getting my new carbon frame bike I don’t think I’ll be “dumping” my bike anywhere, especially not anywhere outside.

Why is it called a brick?

Shawn Hardy says it’s because your legs feel like bricks when you start running right after the bike workout. Rhonda Cohen says the same thing, so I think that means it’s a fact. Good enough fact checking for the New York Times, anyway, right?

It’s true, when you get off that bike and get to running, your legs will feel like lead, jelly, bricks, or whatever other metaphor you want to come up with. Suffice it to say they won’t feel like moving. But don’t worry, that feeling usually goes away after a minute or two of running, and then you’ll feel fine. Unless you overdid it on the bike, in which case it will just get worse and worse until you vomit, everything turns black, and you wake up with an IV in your arm and somebody telling you you’re out of the race. Ok, that probably won’t happen during your training. If this happens while you’re training then you’ll just lie on the side of the road until you wake up with somebody fiddling in your pockets looking for your wallet.

Yeah, what is the difference between a triathlon and an Ironman anyway? The question doesn’t really make sense, because an Ironman is a triathlon, the same way a square is a rectangle but a rectangle is not necessarily a square, you know?

There are four standard distances when it comes to triathlons, and an Ironman is the name for the longest one. Here are all four and their distances:

Sprint Triathlon Distances. It’s called “sprint” because it’s short. It may not feel very short the first time you do one (I thought I was going to die during both the swim and the run–the bike was easy), but just wait until you do a half or full Ironman, then a sprint triathlon will feel like an easy workout.

Swim: 750 meters

Bike: approx. 15 miles (this tends to vary a lot due to course constraints so you’ll see both shorter and longer distances on the bike)

Run: 5K (3.25 miles)

Olympic Triathlon Distances. I don’t know why it’s called “Olympic”. There are no podiums, no fancy medals, no drug tests, etc.

Swim: 1500 meters

Bike: approx. 30 miles (again, it may vary depending on the course)

Run: 10K (6.5 miles)

Half-Ironman Triathlon Distances. They call it an “Ironman 70.3″ officially, but everyone other than the Ironman trademark holders call it a “half Ironman”.

Swim: 1.2 miles (where’d that metric system go?)

Bike: 56 miles (they get a bit more strict about the exact distance when it comes to the Ironman races)

Run: 13.1 miles (half marathon)

Ironman Triathlon Distances.

Swim: 2.4 miles

Bike: 112 miles

Run: 26.2 miles (full marathon)

Can you call yourself an Ironman if you’ve done an Ironman 70.3? Some people dance around this and wimp out by saying “Not in my book” as though “Hey, someone else may find that harmless, just don’t blame me if you get in trouble and look like a fool.” But I’m not a wimp, so I’m going to just say it–no, nobody calls themselves an Ironman if they’ve only done a half-Ironman. Sorry. But you can call yourself a half-Ironman all you want, which is what I do since that’s as far as I’ve gone so far.

Now where this can get a bit confusing is that there are official and unofficial “Ironman” races. Anybody can set up a triathlon with the Ironman distances, but that doesn’t mean they can call it an “Ironman” race, because the term Ironman is trademarked, copyrighted, internationally trademarked, stamped, and frequently infringed on, although I don’t know anybody who would do such a thing. At least nobody who would admit it.

When somebody sets up a race that is Ironman or half-Ironman distance, they won’t call it an Ironman race due to the trademark issue, but everyone will still refer to it as an Ironman race, like this:

“Hey, are you going to do the such and such Ironman?”

“Well, it’s not really an Ironman…”

“Yeah, yeah, I know, but it’s the same distances, and you don’t really expect me to say ‘Are you going to do the such and such triathlon that is similar to an Ironman in that it’s the same distances, it just isn’t officially called an Ironman race?’ do you?”

“Well, no, I guess not, that would be pretty inefficient to have to say all that…”

So are you an Ironman if you complete an Ironman-distance race that isn’t an official Ironman race? Rrr…that’s a tough one, I mean, not in my book, but who knows.

I just barely started reading The Triathlete’s Training Bible, so maybe it’s premature to be doing a review but it’s already the best triathlon training book I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen two! But seriously, it’s awesome. I mean, it’s got just about everything you would need to know about triathlon in it, along with some very handy diagrams so I don’t have to wonder what they’re talking about. Feel like you’re drowning when you’re swimming and you know you need to change your technique but you’re not sure how? Page 207. Want to know which weight machines you should be using to improve your triathlon performance? Page 235, Chapter 13. Nutrition, race day strategies, planning a year, planning a week, bike fitting, how to pedal better, how to turn on your bike on wet pavement, etc. It’s got it all, and it came highly recommended by my coach, who knows a lot more about triathlon than I do, so go get you some.

Guilt can be powerful motivation. That’s what happens when you first put a “before” photo of yourself on the mirror in the bathroom so that you’ll see it every morning when you get up. You see yourself in your fat, bloated, lazy condition and think “Do I really look like that?” And then you go to the gym, or out on your bike, or out on a run, and you feel a little better.

Even better than guilt is the motivation of accomplishment. I’m not really into long-term motivation by guilt because I think it leads to depression, which leads to inactivity, which leads to more guilt, and then you get caught in a negative cycle, especially if you couple Ben & Jerry’s with that inactivity. Accomplishment is the feeling you get when you look at that photo and realize you really do look a lot better than you did when that photo was taken. So take another photo, and put it next to the first photo. That way you know it’s not just in your head. Then keep on working to get looking even better than you do in the “after” photo.

That’s about where I’m at. I peaked out at 236 lbs and 33% body fat. I had no muscle after eight years of virtual inactivity. I haven’t had my body fat tested since, but I’m sure it’s dropped considerably while my weight has dropped to 215 lbs. I’ve still got a ways to go to get to my goal of 180 lbs, but I know I look a lot better than I did before I started all this. I don’t even need the photos because every time I meet someone I haven’t seen in three years the first thing they say is “Man! You’ve lost some serious weight!” The truth is that while I have lost weight, it’s what I’ve replaced the fat with that really has made the difference, but I just accept the compliment as is, and boy, there’s nothing like knowing that your accomplishment is so obvious to those around you to motivate you to keep on going.

If you’re a woman, yes. If you’re a man…I don’t know. My friend who got me into triathlon shaves his legs all the time. Maybe he can chime in here with some tips. But after listening to one of the Tri-Talk podcasts wherein host David Warden says he got a staph infection from shaving (and then doing an event in a lake) which almost spread to his groin and which could have killed him, I’m thinking I’ll pass on the shaving.

Not that I never have. I shaved my whole body when I first got into triathlon. But the time it took combined with subsequent itchiness and evident risk of death has made me think the benefits are overrated. In fact, what are the benefits? A faster swim time if you’re doing a triathlon without a wetsuit? And just how many triathlons have you done without a wetsuit? I haven’t done any, although granted, I’ve only done three triathlons. But still, being in Utah I don’t think I’ll be doing any triathlons without a wetsuit anytime soon.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d like to be hairless just as much as the next guy. What do I get out of having hair on my arms, legs, armpits, face, etc.? I’ll keep the hair on my head, thank you very much, but as for the rest of it, I’m not particularly keen on remaining attached to it. I just don’t see shaving as providing any benefit worth the hassle. If you’ve got a different opinion let me know.

If you’re like me, getting started with triathlons is incredibly overwhelming to the point where you say “How about if I just swim some laps, ride my bike around, run a little, and then go run a race?” I have friends who, when they start something new, go out and buy all the books, read everything they can, study, break out the graph paper and make charts, and just love to study it all out. With most things that’s not me. I usually like to see how little effort I can put into something and still get by. Then what happens is that I pick up a little here and a little there and over time I find that I’m suddenly an expert, and it didn’t seem all that hard.

But with triathlons, I’ve been into them for almost two years now and I still feel so lost. I don’t know who the famous triathletes are, I don’t know the names of bike parts, I don’t know why a tri bike is better than a road bike or even if it really is, etc. But I’ve found a few things that make it easy to learn while not making you feel overwhelmed or stupid for asking dumb questions. Here are the simple steps:

1. Subscribe to the TriTalk podcast.

2. Subscribe to Inside Triathlon magazine, or another triathlon magazine if you prefer.

Actually, just do those two things. What will happen is that with the Tri-Talk podcast you’ll learn all about little training tips that will help you, and it doesn’t feel like heavy stuff. Sure, some of it is, but you can just tune that out and pick up whatever sounds interesting to you. Listen to a few episodes and you’ll start feeling like you’re already an expert on triathlon training and you can impress your triathlon friends at parties.

What the magazine gives you is a bigger picture of the entire sport. You’ll learn names, history of triathlon, places, races, tips, equipment, etc. And again, it doesn’t feel like opening a book and getting out the graph paper. Put the magazine on your coffee table, in the bathroom, in your car, or wherever you find yourself with a few minutes here and there. Pick it up every few days and read an article. Within a few months you’ll start feeling like you know something, and you’ll start becoming more comfortable with the whole sport.

It may sound a bit too easy, but it is that easy. Granted, you may still want to get out the books and get more scientific, but if you start off with the two steps above then digging into a triathlon book won’t seem all that daunting.

I just found out about TriTalk, a podcast about triathlons and made for triathletes, and it’s great stuff. It’s the #1 podcast about triathlon stuff, and is hosted by David Warden, a free-lance journalist, with articles appearing in Triathlete and Inside Triathlon magazines. He is on the Regional Board of Directors for USAT and the Board of Advisors for Joe Friel’s TrainingBible Coaching, LLC. And he’s based right here in Utah.

I’ve only listened to two podcasts so far, but I’m already hooked. I already learned that training at altitude here in Utah doesn’t do a darn thing for me, but that caffeine (which I refuse to use) would boost my results dramatically. I guess most of what I’ve learned so far are things that burst my bubbles, but hey, it’s all good.

Well, sometimes getting started again can be a challenge. I visited my physical therapist today because my lower-right back has been hurting as well as my left hamstring, and they seem to be connected. If I try to stretch my left hamstring even a tiny bit it just kills my lower right back. I mean I can’t even begin to stretch my hamstring, it’s that bad.

My therapist was actually a bit stumped by it because he said what I’m experiencing sounds like joint pain, except that in the specific spot where I have the pain there is no joint. His diagnosis was a bit more thorough than that, but the long and short of it is that I can’t run for four weeks, and when I start again I’m supposed to take it super easy. In the meantime he wrote me a prescription to go to the gym and start riding a stationary recumbent bike, do some easy breaststroke swimming, and take a yoga class. No weights, and no twisting. Just easy does it.

So I’ll be signing up today or tomorrow at the Lifetime Fitness in South Jordan. Anybody know of any special deals I can get there? I would go to 24-Hour Fitness since they’re a lot cheaper and I’m not picky, but I had such a horrible time with their cancellation policy the last time.