Triathlon tip: Stick to your coach’s prerace plan

In the week leading up to the race, follow your training plan. While you may feel that you are not doing enough or should be doing more, remember that there is not much you can do to improve your race performance but there is a lot you can do to hurt it. Sneaking in extra workouts because you do not feel prepared will only hurt you come race day.

Exercises: Single leg squat

One of the most commonly prescribed and most popular rehabilitation and injury prevention exercises to improve stability and functional strength is the Single Leg Squat. This exercise strongly develops the quadriceps and gluteals, with a complimentary boost to the hamstrings. It’s an excellent exercise for runners and triathletes because it stimulates the running movement.

The Man In The Arena

The Man in The Arena

“It is not the critic who counts, nor the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; Who, at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who, at the worst, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”

~President Theodore Roosevelt
Speech at the Sorbonne
Paris, France
April 23, 1910

First woman at Boston Marathon

In 1967, Kathrine Switzer was the first woman to run the Boston marathon. After realizing that a woman was running, race organizer Jock Semple went after Switzer shouting, “Get the hell out of my race and give me those numbers.” However, Switzer’s boyfriend and other male runners provided a protective shield during the entire marathon.The photographs taken of the incident made world headlines, and Kathrine later won the NYC marathon with a time of 3:07:29.

Bicycles should always be driven in cycling lines. Really?

Cyclist Casey Neistat went on a literal crash course in a bike lane as a way of protesting against a fine he received for riding outside one. YouTube users can’t get enough of the resultant video, which is really quite funny.

Bad behavor from Iker Casillias to a small child, during APOEL – Real Madrid

Usually elite football players like European and World Champion Iker Casillas sign autographs to young children. Look what he did to a small kid, during his visit to our country Cyprus, for Uefa Champions League match Apoel – Real Madrid. I used to like Casillas,  but definetly not any more, as no one else from Cyprus is

It’s time for open water swimmimng

Open water swimmer (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Over the last week or so Europe has been experiencing an amazing warm and sunny period that is scarcely believable for March. Μany of you who are digging out your wetsuits and going for the first swim of the season at your local open water swimming venue. It’s great to be able to do this so early in the year but watch out because the water’s still very chilly and this can be a bit of a shock to the system.

If you’re a little anxious in open water then the number one thing to remember to do is to exhale into the water continuously with a big long stream of bubbles ‘brrrrrrr‘! Our natural reaction is to hold our breath when feeling anxious, building up CO2 in the body. This further heightens feelings of anxiety and so creates a vicious circle leading to the possibility of a panic attack.

Splash some cold water on your face for 10-15 seconds before getting in and when you start swimming simply focus on blowing those bubbles into the water. If you’re breathing every three strokes you can use our famous mantra bubble-bubble-breathe to help you tune into this technique.

This sounds like very basic advice but focusing your mind on something as simple as exhalation is powerful. Blowing bubbles is directly under your control so that you start to settle down and feel more relaxed after a few minutes. Worrying about things not under your control (e.g. waves, the cold, what else might be in the water) will make you more anxious, so focus on something that is under your control (blowing bubbles) and block everything else out.

Have fun out there and be sure to swim at a safe venue with other swimmers and proper life saving support.

People are awesome

My favorite is the little girl with the bike!

Amazing stunt riding…on a carbon road bike

It’s not every day that you see a carbon road bike being used as a stunt machine.
Things you never thought possible on a carbon road bike…

The 10 Fitness Commandments

Thou shall…

1. NEVER let yourself get starved. “Starved” takes away all fitness- sense.

2. Set your workout days at the beginning of the week and schedule everything else around them, not the other way around.

3. Prepare your food in advance. Don’t wait until you’re hungry or there’s a good chance you’ll grab what you shouldn’t grab.

4. Know what you’ll snack on and keep food with you always. Keep it in your purse, at your desk, and in your car. See commandment #1.

5. Stay off the scale (as much as possible). It can be a motivation buster. As you gain muscle and lose layer, your weight may stay the same or even go up. Don’t let numbers stop your momentum. They don’t tell the whole truth.

6. Eat a nutritious breakfast. It’s true what they say – breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It gets the metabolism moving, and gets the brain and body rolling for the day. When you skip breakfast, you usually make up the calories later in the day anyway.

7. Have a treat meal. The key word is “meal”. Don’t have a treat day or worse a treat weekend. One over-done meal can set you back days which means you never move forward.

8. Find supportive friends. That means one or two. Don’t tell Aunt Mary who loves to cook and makes you eat. You need close friends to cheer you on, not the jealous friends who thinks all your working out is “weird”.

9. Drive past the drive-through. No more fast food. Not only is it just bad for you, it’s high in fat, salt, calories and chemicals, and can actually alter your mood and trigger other not-so-good cravings. It’s a goal-buster.

10. Your fitness is an everyday-thing, not just a weekday-thing. BUT, you should absolutely take rest days and absolutely have some food-joy, but plan it into your week, don’t cram it all into one weekend.

-Heather Frey