The science of swimming will make you fast in the pool. It’s the art of swimming that makes you fast in the open water.

It’s considered the aerodynamic benchmark for double-diamond (front and rear triangle) bikes.

With Interbike right around the corner I thought I’d write a bit about how the bike business works—not everything about it, but the nuts and bolts of how a bike gets from the “paper napkin sketch” to your local bike shop’s showroom floor.

Practitioners of motorized sports recognized the traction benefits of slick tires a long time ago.

I ride a 59cm bike or, if it’s a road race bike (as opposed to a tri bike) I’ll ride a 60cm bike. If it’s a Litespeed tri bike, I’ll ride 57cm, and so it goes. How are these bikes measured, and why do I ride different sizes depending on the manufacturer?

There have been real studies performed by real scientists on the subject of seat angles.

In running you cannot think about the muscles like you can in swimming—in fact it is just the opposite.

You’ve probably heard the phrases “feel for the water” or “catch,” and if you’ve watched the top swimmers you’ve probably noticed that their bodies seem to glide over the water. Well, they are doing just that.

Of the three, swimming is the most dangerous to lose focus in another sense—technique is everything!

After a base of solid distance running has been established, a runner can add interval training to complete the elements needed for optimal racing fitness.

It is true that runners well below their maximum training load can increase any aspect of their training––including doing more slow and steady running––and see improved racing results.

Take care of yourself, and don’t get pushed around by anybody who sells you anything that goes on your feet.

Perhaps (I thought as I ran) it would be good to write about the technical side of running.

I got a letter yesterday from Clifton May, a Slowtwitch reader. He listed three problems, all of which seem to be common to new triathletes.

One would be hard-pressed to come up with an industry, activity or economy in which one single trademark is more powerful or over-arching than in triathlon, and the trade name is Ironman.

Every once in awhile there will be a good running coach who will have some success. This will seem like the way to do things, until the next System is discovered.

While most of the articles featured in Swim Center are penned by extremely accomplished swimmers, it’s almost counterproductive to have a swimmer like that write about tactics. How would they know? They don’t need tactics. They have talent.

Races are hard to produce. The bigger the race, the bigger the headache; the greater the expense; the more hand-wringing the stress; the more sleep-depriving the risk.

Yet again (as happens about every 18-months) someone asks about the beginnings of the bike technology that has make our sport unique. I thought I’d answer the question here, and with some photo representation.

If I had to choose, I’d say becoming a member of a masters swim team is even more important than being part of a tri club.

On the same day the men’s Olympic triathlon was contested a group of fifteen or so cyclists started up San Diego’s Palomar Mountain.

Over 16 years ago, Dan Empfield interviewed then-Governor Gary Johnson of New Mexico. With Johnson once again in the political spotlight, we decided to reprint that interview.

New triathletes—or triathletes new to the ocean—are quite often scared to death of negotiating waves during an open-ocean swim. Wouldn’t you like to be able to go through the waves without giving them a second thought?

The issue of proper wetsuit care — notwithstanding the fluidic medium in which a wetsuit is used– is rather concrete, and not subject to the changing tides of theory.