Benefits of Carbohydrate During Exercise: A Closer Look at Energy Gels

[Source: East Coast Cycos newsletter, in Tri-Rudy newsletter, March 24, 2011]

Written by Holly Ortlund, M.S., Director of R&D, Carb-BOOM, Inc.


With so many different sport nutrition products on the market today it's difficult to sift through all the various claims and descriptions to find an energy product that best fits you and your active lifestyle. Protein bars, caffeine drinks, bee pollen…..the list goes on and on. Apart from the advantages these products promise, only one supplement, carbohydrate, has earned global acceptance and a wealth of respect for its benefit to the athlete. Researchers in the field of sports nutrition have long identified carbohydrates as the key nutrient for improving endurance performance during exercise.

Fat is the largest source of fuel in the body. An average-sized 150 lb person with 15% body fat has a significant amount of energy stored as fat. If a person of this size did not ingest any food during exercise and if fat were the only fuel used during exercise, stored fat alone could support physical activity for almost 7 days! However, due to the slowness of fat mobilization and other limiting factors, fat as a fuel is not able to support exercise above a very moderate level (>60% VO2max). Most athletes, both recreational and professional, train at intensities higher than this, therefore a supply of fuel other than fat must be available to the body. This preferred energy source is carbohydrate.

Carbohydrate is found in the body in 2 main forms, glycogen and glucose. Glycogen is a highly branched molecule made up of multiple glucose units and is stored in muscle and liver cells. Glucose, the body's preferred energy source, is found in the blood. If we take the same average-sized person mentioned above, and if carbohydrate were the only fuel used during moderate exercise, carbohydrate stores would only support physical activity for about 2 hours! Because we have such limited stores in the body and carbohydrate is the best energy source during moderate to heavy exercise, it is imperative that carbohydrate be ingested before, during, and after exercise in order to perform at the highest levels possible.

For the past two decades, scientific research has continuously demonstrated that carbohydrate ingested during exercise can improve endurance performance. How does it work? During activity lasting longer than 60 minutes glycogen levels begin to diminish and there is a progressive shift from muscle glycogen over to blood glucose as the body's primary fuel source. When muscle glycogen levels are low the consumption of carbohydrate serves to maintain proper levels of blood glucose and delay the onset of fatigue. In addition to this mechanism, carbohydrate ingestion also exerts its benefits at higher intensities of exercise by delaying and/or preventing muscle glycogen depletion (otherwise known as glycogen sparing). So how much carbohydrate is appropriate in order to gain this advantage? It's recommended that 30-60 grams be consumed per hour during intense physical activity.

Now that you know a little more about the role of carbohydrate in exercise, how do you decide which product to use? There are 3 main categories of carbohydrate energy foods-- drinks, bars, and gels-- all of which are currently available to the consumer. First introduced in 1967, sports drinks were the first commercially obtainable source of carbohydrates marketed as 'energy' products. These were followed almost twenty years later in 1986 by the introduction of energy bars. It took nearly a decade longer (mid 90's) for the first energy gel to emerge.

A common question often posed concerning carbohydrate supplements is the effectiveness of energy gels versus sports drinks versus energy bars in relation to endurance performance. What works best? Like all foods, it usually ends up coming down to personal opinions and experience. Any form of carbohydrate if taken in the appropriate amount will help delay fatigue during prolonged exercise. It's important that you find out which type of carbohydrate works best with your body. Sport drinks, with their high simple sugar content, have been known to cause stomach problems in some people, yet are easily digested by others. A number of athletes choose energy bars as their carbohydrate source, while many others cite the difficulty in getting them down and the burdened requirement that lots of water needs be taken along with them. Because of these issues, scores of athletes are now turning to the cutting-edge nutrition of carbohydrate gels as their main energy source during training a! nd competition.

Carbohydrate gels initially gained their popularity in the sports world with marathon runners and tri-athletes, but are now the desired fuel in numerous other sports as well. Nowadays, gels are often seen strapped to bikes, shorts, and ski bibs, ready to be ripped off and sucked down when needed.

Weighing between 1-2 ounces, energy gels are commonly available in 'easy-tear' foil packets. Depending on the brand, they provide 100 - 110 calories per serving and between 24 - 28 grams of carbohydrate. Possessing a smooth consistency and a high percentage of complex carbohydrates, gels are popular among many sports enthusiasts due to their convenience and instant surge of energy.

Many athletes prefer gels over sports drinks and energy bars because gels provide a super concentrated dose of carbohydrate that is absorbed very easily into the bloodstream. They provide a steady and continuous delivery of energy during periods of peak performance. Additionally, gels are attractive because they are not "heavy on the stomach" and are unlikely to cause gastrointestinal distress. Each gel pack provides enough carbohydrate to supply about 30 minutes of energy during physical activity. They offer the athlete a palatable, super fast, and easily digested fuel supply.

As with any supplement taken during exercise, it's very important to stay properly hydrated. Water helps to replenish fluids lost from sweating and provides optimal absorption for the carbohydrates. Most companies recommend that roughly 8-10 ounces of water be consumed along with each gel packet.

In summary, carbohydrates provide the best and most readily-available source of energy for your body during intense training or competition and are vital for keeping your muscles and mind operating at peak performance. Whether you prefer carbohydrate gels, bars or drinks, all are widely available to the consumer and offer a ration of energy to help improve endurance performance during exercise. So the next time you're out pushing yourself to the next level don't forget to take along a stash of this essential nutrient-you'll be very glad you did.

Mental Skills- A Winners Mentality

[Source: East Coast Cycos newsletter, in Tri-Rudy newsletter, March 24, 2011]

By Matt Russ

To win at any sport takes a combination of natural ability and mental skills. Both of these attributes must be developed and honed. You may or may not be capable of winning at your sport; few people are, but you can learn from those that do win. There are key psychological characteristics a winning athlete must possess. These are just as important as natural ability and can be identified and worked on just as you would a physical limiter.

Grace under Pressure

The ability to focus under pressure is a key characteristic of a winner. A winning athlete will not get pulled off their game despite outside pressure or stimulus. They remain calm, cool, and collected. In endurance sports a winner has to objectively strategize in a race without getting emotional. This means knowing when to attack and when to hold back. Races are fluid situations and strategy must be as well. Crashes, flats, or inclement weather can be a part of any race but a winner will overcome these and continue racing to their best ability. Never quit a race even if it is not going the way you planned. This is a bad habit to get into. Most athletes tend to over pace and burn out, attempting to race beyond their ability. Have a deliberate strategy planned out. Know your pacing parameters, threshold, and ability, and race accordingly. Race your own race and do not get pulled off your game for any reason. Focus on the process of racing and what is going on in you and aroun! d you, not the outcome.

Learn From Mistakes

A bad race is only bad if you do not learn from it. Race data is some of the most relevant information you can gather: this is why it is important to never quit a race. A winner examines race data carefully and adapts and modifies their training to rectify their weaknesses. They do not get discouraged but seek the right questions and answers. They do not make excuses. Was your performance due to bad pacing lack of proper hydration or fueling? Or was it right on target? You should record your splits, speed, heart rate data, and if possible power and pacing data. Sometimes your racing can be right on but your opponent is simply better than you. If that is the case all you can do is train harder and smarter for your next events.

Precision

Winners demand precision. This includes precise training, the best equipment, proper rest and recovery, and a nutrition plan to meet their specific demands. The more guess work you take out of these variables, the more performance you will gain. Use every angle to get yourself faster. The right pre-race meal, a new wheel set, a better timed recovery drink, a properly fitted bike, or the right amount of sleep will all help your performance improve. Do not leave anything to chance.

No Visions of Grandeur

I always ask potential athletes what they want to gain from their training. I once had a cyclist answer "to win." On one level this is an admirable aspiration but very few athletes can actually achieve this goal. His experience was minimal and testing indicated he was genetically average, not gifted. He was so discouraged he gave his sport up. It is important to set reasonable and attainable goals. The best are performance-based (I want to increase my next 5k pace by 5 seconds per mile); versus outcome-based (I want to win such and such race). Remember that your training dictates your racing and do not expect a huge improvement in performance beyond your known abilities on race day. A winner knows his or her capabilities and seeks to develop them to their maximum potential. He or she does not have expectations beyond what is learned and earned.

Eat Pain

Pain threshold is individualized. Some people are able to sustain a high level of pain for long periods of time. Others do not have this ability. This is not a character flaw. Hospitals now test patients for individual pain threshold and modify medications accordingly. What hurts for some will be discomfort for others. That being said, in order to be a successful athlete you have to develop a tolerance for discomfort and pain. A developed sprint athlete will spend their entire race at, above, and slightly below their lactate threshold. This type of tolerance for pain takes a lot of focus and mental fortitude, not just in races but in training as well. A winner has the ability to consume this pain and persevere.

Get Technical

Random training produces random results whereas specific training produces specific results. Do not expect to be faster by simply putting the time in. Winners train with purpose and specificity. They seek outside assistance and employ the latest methodologies. They use the best training technology; heart rate monitors, diet software, power meters, pace meters, and cycling computers. If you really want to get fast you need to define your limiters and come up with a corresponding training plan. Use performance tests to regularly assess training progress. Record and track all your work out data. Get a good coach to put this all together for you.

To me a winner is anyone who accepts the challenge of developing to their own true potential. This may mean a podium finish, an age group finish, or a new PR. A winners' mentality does not just end with racing but extends to many areas of life. It is pride and confidence in utilizing your ability.


Matt Russ has coached and trained athletes around the country and internationally for over 10 years. He currently holds licenses by USAT, USATF, and is an Expert level USAC coach. Matt has coached athletes for CTS (Carmichael Training Systems), is an Ultrafit Associate.

The Five Most Common Stroke Flaws – And A Drill To Help Fix Each

A Swim Coaching Article By Swim Smooth
reprinted with permission

As you might already know, swimming is a sport limited by stroke technique not strength or brute force. Great swimmers have fantastic stroke technique which minimises their drag and maximises their propulsion, moving them quickly and efficiently through the water.

If you are a beginner or intermediate level freestyle swimmer you will have some flaws in your stroke technique that are holding you back, making you slower and less efficient than you could be. At Swim Smooth we have individually coached thousands of swimmers and in this time we see five stroke problems come up time and time again, at least one is in place in nearly every swimmer.

We're going to take a look at each of these "Five Most Common Flaws" in turn and dip into Swim Smooth's methodology to give you a drill or visualisation to help improve each. You might already have a good idea which of these problems exists in your stroke but if not then ask a friend, coach or lifeguard to watch you swim and feed back to you.

Classic Flaw 1: Holding Your Breath Underwater

If you stood at the side of your pool and watched everyone swim, breath holding is probably the most common flaw you will see. Holding onto your breath underwater increases the buoyancy in your chest and acts to sink your legs. If you suffer from sinky legs in the water then this is the first thing to get right in your stroke to improve your body position. Holding your breath also makes things feel much more tense as the CO2 builds up in your system.

How to fix it: During freestyle you should be exhaling whenever your face is in the water. At first it can feel very unnatural to do this and it can take some getting used to. Go to the deep end of your pool and tread water, take a breath in and then exhale which allows you to sink underwater. If you have trouble sinking, this is a sign you're used to holding onto your breath! Keep practising exhaling more smoothly until you are able to sink down to the bottom. It can be surprising how much air is in there and how you might have only been breathing with the top of your lungs before:

When you start to swim again afterwards, focus on exhaling smoothly into the water between breaths. You should feel more relaxed straight away and also feel it helps keep your legs higher in the water.

Classic Flaw 2: Crossing Over In Front Of The Head

When you swim freestyle, your hands should never cross the centre line. Crossing over like this might happen only on one side or only when you go to breathe. A crossover causes you to snake down the pool adding drag and it harms your catch on the water, reducing your propulsion:

How to fix it: The temptation here is to simply think about going wider with your arm stroke, the problem with this approach is that you end up being very flat in the water with little body rotation. Instead of taking your arm wider, think about drawing your shoulder blades together and back – this will straighten out your arm stroke. The perfect way to practise this is kicking on the side with some fins (flippers) on:

As you do this be aware of the position of your lead hand, you will probably find it wants to cross over in this position too! To straighten it, draw your shoulder blades together and back "shoulders back chest forwards". You'll become aware that it's a slumping of the shoulders forward that is causing the crossover and the fix is to draw your shoulders back as you swim.

As you start swimming the full stroke again simply think about the middle finger on each hand and pointing that gun-barrel straight down the pool as you swim. This is a very simple visualisation which helps transfer better alignment into your full stroke.

Classic Flaw 3: Scissor Kick

A scissor kick is a horizontal parting of the legs in the water which causes a large amount of drag. This normally happens during or immediately after breathing and can be very quick – watch carefully or you might miss it:

In nearly all cases, the cause of a scissor kick relates to a crossover in the stroke (see flaw 2). The cross-over causes a loss of balance which results in a scissor kick shortly after to stabilise yourself. It's normally an unconscious reaction – you probably don't even know you're doing it!

How to fix it: The first thing to do is remove the crossover (see flaw 2), very often this is enough to remove the scissor all by itself. To help re-enforce a better kicking action, as you swim gently brush your big toes together as they pass: tap tap tap. When you go to breathe, instead of thinking about the breath keep your attention on your toes and keeping the tapping constant – a big gap between taps is probably a big parting of the legs!

Classic Flaw 4: Kicking From The Knee

If you have a running or cycling background you're at high risk from this one! A good freestyle leg kick is performed with a nearly straight leg, with only a slight relaxed flex at the knee in time with the kick. The kicking action should predominantly be from the hip not the knee:

As soon as you bend your knee you present your thigh as a blunt object to the water and you push against the flow creating huge amounts of drag.

How to fix it: To reprogram your leg kick, practise some torpedo push-offs from the wall with a very strong kick. Do this for about 10-15 meters using a strong kick and then swim easy pace to the end of the pool, lightly tapping your toes as mentioned in flaw 3. Do several of these in succession:

- First time focusing simply on keeping your legs straight and kicking form the hip.

- Second time imagine you have a coin between your butt cheeks and you've got to keep it there as you kick by lightly clenching your glutes.

- Third time stretch through your core as tall and straight as you can in the water.

Kicking hard like this with good technique helps your nervous system learn a better kicking action.

Classic Flaw 5: Over-reaching and putting on the brakes

If you have been working on your stroke length, trying to make you stroke more efficient you might have fallen foul of this. Many swimmers trying to lengthen out as much as possible end up dropping their wrists and showing the palm of their hand forwards. This just applies the brakes to your stroke:

How to fix it: Practice kicking on the side with fins again and become aware of the position of your lead hand. Is the wrist dropped and pointing forwards? Work on correcting this, actually tipping your wrist slightly the other way so your fingers are angled a few degrees downwards. This slight tipping of the wrist immediately sets you up for a much better catch and pull through.

As you introduce this change into your full stroke you may find your stroke rate (cadence) lifts slightly, that's a good thing, it shows you're not artificially slowing your stroke!

improve your swimming with Swim Smooth!

Swim Smooth is an innovate swimming coaching company famed for its straightforward approach to stroke correction. Visit our website for plenty more fascinating articles to improve your swimming. Don't miss our amazing new DVD Catch Masterclass featuring incredible underwater video of champion swimmers in action. Also see our other swimming DVDs, training plans and training tools. Last but not least don't miss our animated swimmer "Mr Smooth" showing you a great freestyle stroke in super-high detail:

Swim Smooth!

Article © Swim Smooth 2011

Swimming the Straight and Narrow

[Source: East Coast Cycos newsletter in Tri-Rudy newsletter, March 15, 2011]

by Coach Emmett Hines

Stroke … stroke … stroke … stroke … lift head … there’s the buoy … stroke … stroke … stroke … stroke … lift head … where’s the buoy? … stroke … stroke … lift head higher … look all around … where’s that *%^&$#@ing buoy!? … stroke … stroke …


You’ve been there, done that, still have a half-eaten Powerbar near the bottom of your equipment bag to prove it. And you are not alone. A moment of observation at any open water swim reveals that many swimmers spend a lot of time and effort “navigating.”


Navigating is the polite term for the rather awkward ploy of raising one’s head in mid-swim, finding a buoy, seeing how far off course one is, making a correction, putting one’s face back in the water, continuing on for a few strokes and then repeating the whole affair, apparently ad infinitum.


And you know, or should know, that every time you raise your head you instantly lose longitudinal balance (i.e. your hips and legs head for the bottom) thus dramatically increasing drag. And once down there, it likely takes a couple stroke cycles for them to come back up…and then its nearly time to look for the stupid buoy again.


An admittedly unscientific poll of our clients in my most recent few Total Immersion workshops leads me to believe a surprising percentage of swimmers play the buoy search game every 6 to 10 strokes of an open water swim. This means spending a majority of their swimming time very unbalanced. And numerous course corrections mean swimming farther than the entry form says. These swimmers are spending a lot of unnecessary energy on the swim.


There is a better way.

Pay attention a while longer and I’ll lay out a simple strategy that will allow you to confidently swim, perhaps, 10 times as many strokes between buoy searches as you do now. But bear with me a moment as I digress…


Take your average Joe out of the pool and put him, blindfolded, in the middle of the desert and instruct him to walk in a straight line. Given no navigational information, Joe will walk in roughly a 10 mile circle. Why? Strides he takes with his right leg are just a tad shorter or longer than strides he takes with his left leg – perhaps because one leg is slightly longer than the other, perhaps different muscle strength or joint range of motion etc.


Now put Joe in open water (still blindfolded) and tell him to swim in a straight line. Guess what? He’ll swim in a circle – a much smaller circle than he walks in. Like with walking in a circle, this is due to differences on the two stroking sides.


Some swimmers swim in a 1-mile circle, some in a 500-yard circle, some in a 100-yard circle. Some could swim circles inside a Hyundai. The bigger the circle a swimmer naturally swims in, the less navigating he must do. If he swims in a perfectly straight line he would, theoretically, not need to navigate at all were it not for wind, currents, chop, other swimmers etc. Small-circle swimmers need to navigate a lot, regardless of conditions.


Or do they?

Joe, like every swimmer, travels a bit further, or straighter (or both) with one armstroke than with the other. Maybe he has a bit of the dreaded dropped elbow on one side and not on the other. Maybe he reaches a bit further forward on one side than on the other. Maybe he has better body roll on one side than the other. Hey, there are at least 150 things that could make the difference. But the place where the two sides seem to reach maximum divergence is when Joe breathes.


For most people, breathing is where they do something radically different than on the other strokes. Typically they lift their head to some degree. And they use the arm that should be extended weightlessly out front to, instead, push down on the water to help support the lifted head. This makes the stroke on that side much less propulsive. Swimmers often curve their back in craning the neck to breathe. Perhaps they roll more on the breathing side than on the non-breathing side. There’s a long list — I won’t bore you with all of it. For the average swimmer, breathing is where the biggest stroke differences are and hence where the biggest course errors are made.


Since most people breathe on just one side (every other stroke) they keep making course errors in the same direction. This makes the swimming circle small and the navigational problem big. One possible strategy would be to just alternate breathe (every third stroke) instead of one-side breathing (you can alternate breathe, can’t you?). This could go a long way to correcting the problem. Of course this only deals with the breathing related stroke differences and wholly ignores the other stroke differences. And, alternate breathing gives you less oxygen, artificially forcing you to do the entire swim at a higher CO2 concentration (and higher heart rate) than is necessary. You need to breathe more often than every third stroke. While alternate breathing would be a step in the right direction it still has its problems. Let’s refine the strategy a bit.


Try the following in your favorite open water hole. Choose a distant object to sight on. Then close your eyes and swim 50 strokes, breathing every other stroke, then stop. See how far off course you are. Repeat several times. You should be off course by roughly the same amount each time.


Now do the same thing, breathing on your other side. You will likely be off course in the opposite direction (if not, my strategy won’t work for you and you can go home) but not necessarily to the same extent. Repeat several times to see the pattern.


Then try it breathing every third stroke. After 50 strokes you’ll be somewhere between the two extremes – but probably not in a straight line. Repeat several times.


Now try it again, breathing with a pattern of twice on the right side and once on the left, or vice versa (we’ll call this modified alternate breathing). Then try breathing patterns of 3-and-1 or 3-and-2 or 4-and-5 etc., checking after each 50 strokes to see how far that particular breathing pattern takes you away from the straight and narrow. The idea is to gradually home in on a pattern which allows you to go 50 strokes and end up right on line. Once you’ve established this pattern, try going 100 strokes with the same pattern.


You now have a strategy that will allow you to forego most of the navigational interruptions to fluid swimming. Realize that the conditions in any given competition may dictate a slightly different breathing pattern than you established in the quiet solitude of your test site. However, having strategy in mind, you’ll quickly be able to find a pattern that matches the prevailing conditions and thereby outsmart your competition.


Ideally, somewhere down the road you’ll learn more efficient swimming skills that make both sides very equal and eliminate all breathing related stroke differences — this, of course is the smartest route – but until then, you have a simple strategy for swimming straighter without looking for the stupid buoys so often (and that’s smart too).

Tips for Faster Triathlon Transitions

[Source: East Coast Cycos newsletter, in Tri-Rudy newsletter, March 10, 2011]


Newbie triathletes generally regard the transition area as a place to rest and regroup, a place to celebrate the completion of one leg of the race and prepare for the next. Sometimes, it feels like the gravity in transition areas is ten times normal with food, drink, sunscreen and friendly volunteers happy to chat. Out on the race course everybody is pushing forward in the same direction but in the transition area, athletes are milling around in all directions and the sense of racing can disappear.

How many hours of swim practice would it take to lop two minutes off your swim time? Probably hundreds, maybe even thousands. How many hours of transition practice would it take to lop two minutes off your transition time? Maybe only one! Many triathletes are so focused on swim, bike and run splits they forget the clock is still running in the transition area. Every second counts. Transition practice isn't as fun as running but it is a good investment of your training time. Triathletes looking to win need to shift their entire mental focus and integrate the transition seamlessly into their race. The transition is not a rest area but a place to speed in and out of, in the fastest time, with the least energy.

Here are the top ten tips for a fast transition:

Practice your plan - Have a plan of exactly what you are going to do and practice it over and over again until you are fast with no mistakes. Practice it physically several times over in training and then rehearse it mentally several times on race morning. By the time you are in transition in during race you should be moving on autopilot. Never try something new on race day.

Be a minimalist - The fewer tasks you have to do in the transition area, the faster you will go. Skip the socks and get rid of anything you don't absolutely need. Clutter will slow you down.

Bike shoes in the pedals - Coasting down the course at 15 miles per hour while you put your feet in your shoes will move you far ahead of your buddy sitting on his butt in T1 doing the same task. Set your bike up in the transition area with your shoes attached to the pedals and rubber bands looped between the heels and frame holding them horizontal. On leaving T1, pedal with your feet on top of your shoes. Once you are cruising at speed, coast and slip your feet into your shoes. Keep your eyes ahead on the road, not down on your feet. On the return, slip your feet out of your shoes before you reach T2. Learn this skill first on an indoor trainer before taking it out on the open road.

Run with your bike - The distance from rack to mount line can be considerable at large triathlons. By running safely and quickly with your bike, it is easy to fly over this distance. Run upright with good form on the left side of your bike holding your seat with your right hand. Left arm swings by your side. Hold the bike upright to go straight and lean it to the side to turn. Practice in an empty parking lot.

Speed over the mount / dismount line - Learn a cyclocross mount / dismount to cruise over this line without losing any momentum. In the race you will be doing this in bare feet but initially learn and practice this skill wearing running shoes.

Attach your stuff to your bike - Handling small items sucks up time. Everything you need on the bike course should be attached to your bike. Tape gels to the frame, water bottles should already be on board, sunglasses looped to a cable, spare tube in a seat pack and CO2 cartridge taped to the seat post.

One outfit for all occasions - Start the swim with your full bike/run outfit under your wetsuit. A one piece tri-suit is ideal. Any clothing changes will add lots of time.

Navigation - Have you ever come out of a different mall door at Christmas time and had trouble finding your car? You can have a similar experience in a large transition area. Note where your rack spot is and how to find in from the swim exit and bike entrance. From your rack, know where the bike and run exits are and the quickest route to them.

Speed laces and baby powder - Tying your running shoe laces in a bow takes time. Eliminate this step using lace locks or speed laces. To help your feet slide smoothly into your running shoes, prime them with a sprinkling of baby powder.

Grab and go - In T2, grab what you need and go. Put on your hat and fuel belt while you are running. It is always faster to complete your tasks moving down the course rather than standing in front of your rack.

Triathlon Turn Buoys

by Duane Dobko
[Source: East Coast Cycos newsletter, in Tri-Rudy newsletter, March 1, 2011]

Why are turn buoys so important in open water triathlon swimming? After all, they are few and far between (there are usually only 2 turns in an entire race). The logic would suggest that they are inconsequential, which couldn't be further from the truth. It is not the time to go around a turn buoy that makes them so important. Instead, they are critical because they create an "accordion effect" which can split a whole race apart and separate the winners from the contenders.

A turn buoy in a triathlon swim is analogous to a construction zone on a highway. It is pure gridlock upstream as the number of lanes and speed limits are reduced. At the construction site itself the cars move in slow, uniform procession. Once through, all of the sudden there is a huge path of open road in front. All those cars that were bumper to bumper ahead are now on the horizon. This model happens in identical fashion in a triathlon race at every turn buoy. The only difference is that when you are swimming, you cannot see around you enough for it to be obvious.

As you are turning around the buoy, you must reduce your speed to zero. This is because you are turning, and no longer trying to move forward. This creates problems for the swimmer immediately behind you. That person wants to keep swimming forward, but cannot because you are in their way and traveling at zero speed. This forces them to slow down, which forces the person behind them to slow down, and so on. When you complete the turn and start moving forward again, the person immediately behind you is in the process of turning and traveling at zero speed. Thus, when they complete the turn there is a gap equal to the distance you swam while they were turning. The next person in line also has the same gap, and so on.

So, why does this matter? After all, the gap between you and your competitor behind you after a turn is not much. The distance is usually 5 feet. But 5 feet is enough to fall out of a draft zone in the water. This means that the person behind you, who was once able to keep up to you with little effort, now has to work much harder to maintain the same speed. This is what makes turn buoys so important. The person behind you has two bad choices. One, they can sprint as fast as they can to catch up to you and draft again, which risks cramping and fatigue. Or two, they are forced to swim without your draft, which causes them work much harder and slower and get tired more quickly.

Thus, the importance of the turn buoy is not the raw time to turn. Instead, turns affect the entire dynamic of the race and determine who wins and who gets left behind. If you know how to turn well and know what to expect, you can make significant improvements in your race times without any improvement to your swimming ability. The pros are aware of this importance. I encourage any triathlete who gets to watch a pro race observe them closely swimming around turns.

Here is what the professional triathlete is doing while leading the swim. They take the last 100 yards or so into a turn slowly. This forces everyone behind to bunch together. Thus, when they get to the turn and reduce their speed to zero, the slowing effect for everyone else is greater. It also allows them to rest and prepare for the turn itself. They get around the turn as fast as possible and then just hammer with everything they have after the turn and for the next 10-20 yards. We are talking a flat out 110% effort with the pull and kick. This maximizes the gap and forces the other competitors to sprint that much harder and longer to catch up. If the leader can sprint well, they can leave the field in the dust, even if their competitors are better distance swimmers.

Here is what happens next. Almost every time the last couple of swimmers in the pack get dropped. They are forced to slow down way too long and lose too much ground to catch up again. As a result, they are stuck breaking their own water for the rest of the race. The swimmers in the middle of the pack form their own smaller group, and a few leaders emerge at the front; sometimes swimming alone, other times drafting in a line. This dynamic is usually most significant at the first turn as the field is closer together at this point. However, I have observed races where the leader intentionally keeps the field together on the first turn, only to blow them all away on the final turn knowing that the fatigue is greater which improves their chance to break away.

The dynamics of turn buoys are important to more than the pros. For the weekend warriors, the last 25 yards into a turn buoy can be a jumbled mess of people with arms and legs flying around all over the place and going nowhere. It is often as violent before a turn buoy as it is just after the start of the whole race. It is important to pick the right strategy. Swim into the crowd at this point and you will get stuck for certain.

Swim to the inside of the buoy and you have a high risk of getting stuck, but with potential to gain on the entire field if you don't get stuck. Swim to the outside of the field and you go around the turn much slower, but have very little risk of getting caught in the pack. "Inside" means that you are hugging the buoy as close as possible during the turn. "Outside" means that you are swimming the long way around all of the other swimmers bunched around the buoy. There is no right answer as every situation is different. However, you must be aware of the process in order to make the right choices consistently.

For most people (weekend warriors and pros alike), I recommend to take a crowded first turn buoy to the outside of the field, even though it is longer distance. The reason is that it carries the least risk. If there isn't a large crowd, by all means take the inside and get around it as fast as possible. The worst thing that can happen early on in a triathlon swim is inhaling water or taking a black eye. Swallow some water right away means you have over half of the race left to go and have lost your concentration. It is not a good time to take chances. A better option for taking the inside is the last buoy. At this point, the field is spaced further apart and so there are less flying arms and legs to hit you. Also, if the worst does happen, you don't have so much of the race left to swim and don't lose as much time or concentration.

Turn buoys make open-water swimming unique from pool swimming. Pool swimmers race at a relatively uniform speed and effort. In a triathlon swim, you need to swim at your best-mile pace for most of the time, but also need to be able to sprint at your best-50 on demand. It is the athlete with the best combination of sprint and endurance swimming abilities that usually prevails in a triathlon swim. If it were not for the turns, sprinting ability would matter much less.

The best way to prepare for turns in triathlon swimming is to work on sprinting in practice. You can gain the same amount of race time working on your sprint ability as you can by working on your endurance. If you haven't worked on sprinting in the past but have worked a lot on endurance, you stand to gain a significant amount of time by learning how to sprint.

In summary, this article has covered why turn buoys are important in an open water triathlon swim. The change of direction in a turn creates an accordion effect which forces you and your competitors to speed up and slow down in the water. If you understand this effect and have trained properly, you can make big improvements in your overall race times.