I apologize for the big gap between webisodes.  I’ve been really sick (pneumonia) and my father passed away a few weeks ago, and being the oldest male in the family means a lot of things to take care of.  However, here we are and we are back at it with the latest offering.  I hope you enjoy it.

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News

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Retired Pro Lessing Wins 25th Terre Haute Triathlon

Llanos, Morrison Take Out Defending Champs to Win Ironman Lanzarote

Stoltz, Bucher Win Xterra South Central Champs

Van Vlerken and Osplay Win Ironman 70.3 Austria

Austria 70.3 Closest Race Ever

McKenzie and Macel Take Brazil

2010 Ironman Japan Event Canceled

Miguel Indurain Turns to Triathlon in Madrid

Ryf and Frodeno Win in Seoul

Buschhütten dominates 1st Round of Triathlon Bundesliga

Brownlee & Hewitt winning in Dunkerque

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Tweets of the Week

ThisSteveWilson Alistair Brownlee chilled ahead of Madrid return despite scorching heat and 1pm start time. Mad dogs and Englishmen, eh?

Teamdillon Only 2 days until Big Cow & Blenheim Triathlon, Lots of racing this weekend with the ITU in Madrid. We are in for an exciting weekend.

ITUonline 5-time Tour de France champ Miguel Indurian to participate in triathlon relay in Madrid on Saturday!

TTSCoaching Who trains in their aero triathlon helmet?

Teranr National Donut Day! Got my free donut at Dunkins Donut this morning…I consider it carbo-loading for our triathlon tomorrow!

ty_hamilton 6 hr client ride today, helping w triathlon training

scottstanzel That’s rough.  2010 Ironman Japan cancelled due to outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (no seriously)

yvonnevvlerken Just put my story about Ironman 70.3 Austria online, you can find it on my website: www.yvonnevanvlerken.eu

yvonnevvlerken I’m enjoying a whole “Äpfelstrüdel” from Thomas’ mum. Just enjoying the day & trying to think what I will write about winning IM 70.3 Austria.

GregBennett1 Okay, maybe another day off. Still a little under the weather. I’d rather be sick than injured!

dirkbockel tired today….sun is out. 3 more off days. How nice!

NatalieCoughlin Arrived in Frankfurt. When the customs agent says “nice picture” is that a compliment or is he saying that you currently look like crap?

MaccaNOW hopefully get internet today in my apartment. Feel so disconnected without it. Fingers crossed.

boomboomreed I really hate packing !!! Early Flight tomorrow!

paulanewbyfrase getting older & all that goes with..slower reaction, loss of vision..not a good stage of life to try & elevate technical mtb skills

chrislieto Swim workout cut short. Someone pooped in the pool!

chrislieto And it was not me.

MaccaNOW Ahh finding my bearings in Germany. Missing home a little today. Man that Austria Ironman 70.3 race hurt. I am still jaded 4 days after.

jarrodshoemaker Athletes briefing for Madrid world championship series. Same thing different city.

KristinMayer Happy Birthday @paulanewbyfrase I’ll be sure to knock one back for you once I land in paradise later today.

yvonnevvlerken Getting spoiled here in St. Johann/Tyrol from Thomas’ mum. She’s just making us a nice breakfast. I could get used to this:-)

tgarson It’s supposed to be in the 90s next week in Lawrence KS, Ironman 70.3 Kansas is going to be HOT and not in a good way

ConradStoltz Just ran a 4 min mile in the airport! (WHILE wearing a backpack) Thanks to the travelator and a late connection.

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Humor

I’ve tried to get this article published in several magazines, but my writing gets no respect.  So, here it is for your enjoyment.

I Am My Wife’s Domestique

Domestique – do·mes·tique m and f (plural domestiques)

[French, servant, from Old French; see domestic.]

1. servant; maid
2. cleaner, housemaid
3. n. A member of a competitive bicycle-racing team whose role is to assist the team leader, as by setting the pace.  A domestique is a road bicycle racer who works for the benefit of his team and leader.

The French domestique translates as “servant”. The word was coined in 1911, although such riders had existed before then.

That’s right, I am my wife’s Domestique.  She is the team leader.  She is younger than me and a faster runner than me, much faster, and that makes her much more competitive as an age grouper than me.  Although I compete in just about every race she does, she stands a pretty good chance of standing on the podium every time out.  Even on her bad days.  My podium days seem to be behind me.  I thought that I might have a chance when I aged up this year, unfortunately, all the guys that we beating me at 40 have aged up with me, and are still faster than me.  My only shot seems to be to take care of myself in order to outlive them. See you in Kona in 2030!

Three years ago, I introduced my wife to the sport I had been in and out, and back into since the ‘80s.  Guess what?  She’s pretty good at it.  Soon she was busting off 10Ks at a sub 7 minute per mile pace off the bike at the age of 42.  She was taking the women of the collegiate tri team I coach on (fun?) trail runs near our house, and smoking them.  Many don’t come back for a rematch.  Who knew?

The downside, she hadn’t seen a bike since grade school.  She didn’t know a chainring from a derailleur.  She still doesn’t.  I take full responsibility for this.  She could have remained in her ignorant bliss if I had not insisted on buying her a bike and insisting she become my training partner. She’s learned how to ride, and embraces the aero position, but she’s not going to be lubing a chain in the near future (read ever).

Luckily, I’m a “cyclist first” triathlete.  Think of me as a grayer and fatter Chris Lieto.  I started as a cyclist and I love everything about cycling.  I’m a weight weenie and a carbon loving geek.  I wear obscure Italian pro cycling team kits and I can change out the bearings in a Mavic wheel during lunch.  The best part of a triathlon for me is mowing down the scores of cyclist as I ride just below my red-line on the way to T2.  After that, it’s just survival.

Therefore, I get the task of taking care of the bikes and the rides.  When she is ready to go, the bikes await.  Maintenance completed, tires at the proper pressures, loaded for transport.  She’s not really into the “pain cave” thing, so I usually get to set the pace.  One of her more insightful comments came on Facebook.  She stated:  “Wishing for gain, without pain.”  If the wind is blowing, forget it.  I’m Bob Roll to her Davis Phinney, I’m Chris Horner to her Lance.  She often wonders why I’m so tired after a ride.

Our last training ride is a perfect example of why.   As I mentioned above, wife and I both have Facebook accounts.  We are Facebook friends, which is great!  After the ride she updated her status with this:  “What a nice day for an 80 mile bike ride…”

I didn’t update my status, but this is how my ride went.  I lead my training partner into a headwind for most of the first 40 miles.  At mile 50, my training partner announced that she had a flat tire, and handed the bike to me.  I changed the tube while standing in what amounted to a swamp alongside the road.  Back on the bikes, covered with chain lube and ticks (I found one during the ride and one later in the shower), I once again set the pace.  With 10 miles do go, we hit “the” hill.  The decisive moment of the ride.  My training partner jumped out of the saddle and ala Alberto Contador, and left me like he left Lance at the base of Mont Ventoux to take the Yellow Jersey at last year’s Tour de France.  That was the exact moment that my body announced that it had had enough.  For me, the rest of the ride would be my own Bataan Death March.  Soon, I, like lance was a minute or more down on GC as she cruised back to the truck to wait for the keys to show up.  Nice day indeed. I was in bed by 8 that evening.

If only running worked that way.  I could have followed here on our 14 mile run last Saturday and out sprinted her to the house.  Then I could have mowed the grass while balancing on a workout ball to get some core work in.

As it is, I wouldn’t have it any other way.  I got her into the sport, and the highlight of my race weekend is when she gets on that podium after the race and wins her age group.  Or last year when a once non-competitive person vowed to win the overall at the Luna Bar Women’s duathlon, and did!

As her Facebook friend, I’ve noticed that triathlon and the training that goes with it, has become her identity.  The majority of her posts are about the great workout she had or the trophy she won over the weekend.  I’ve created…..a monster.

So, what can a guy do?  Maybe I should look into what Soigneur does.  Maybe that is a better job.

Jeff Trout owns Cadence Performance Lab in Meadow Vista, California and is a USAT, USAC and USATF Certified Coach and writes a fitness column for the motorsport magazine The Wheel.  Jeff is also the Triathlon Coach for the California State University – Sacramento and the Executive Director of The TriSoldier Project.

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20 Questions with 360 Triathlon Magazine Publisher Haree Hajas

Haree Hajas (Dirty Haree) is a native of Hungary who has started an on-line triathlon magazine called 360 Triathlon http://www.360magazine.info/ .  The magazine promises to bring wall-to-wall coverage of pro triathletes with a European focus (in English), something we don’t get in our US-centric media here in the states.  Haree brings years of experience covering triathlon from his multimedia marketing company 360 Productionz.  In fact, most weekends will find him hanging off of the back of a motorcycle at a world class event.

Haree gives us some insight into what is going on in European triathlon and the state of the sport.

(This Week in Triathlon) How did your multimedia marketing company, 360 productions, get it’s start?

(Haree Hajas) Well, it’s called 360 Productionz i had to go with the Z because this was the only way I could get a .com website going with the proper name…

I started the company in 2007 after having worked in sports media for over 10 years, including major events like the Athens Olympics, the Doha Asian Games and over 50 global triathlon events. Back then I thought: I want to be my own boss and get professional in what I love to do most. Obviously it is not easy to get a start with a brand new company, but with a lot of effort and hard work we are getting there sooner or later… Our main profile was event presentation when we started, but slowly we moved to event media and event coverage – it’s great fun and you’re living the life of a rockstar!

(TWiT)  What gave you the idea to start an online triathlon magazine?

(HH)  Most of the good ideas come instantly – so did this. We have been dealing with triathlon pretty much 24/7 over the last few years, and we got bored with the usual stuff you get to read in the tri magazines. Training, equipment, nutrition – always the same thing. We wanted to show a new side of triathlon. Triathlon is sexy, triathlon is cool, and it’s not just a sport but also a lifestyle. The pros live an interesting life, and I’m sure that many people will be interested to see the professional triathletes behind the scenes. Not many people know the athletes as well as we do…

(TWiT)  Who is your target audience?

(HH)  Our target audience is the global triathlon community, obviously more the English and German speaking part (I would love to include Spanish and French on our profile at some stage though). We are interested in both ITU & WTC - everything that includes open water swimming, aero bars and running shoes. Everyone who wants to know more about triathlon than which cranks an athlete uses or how many yards a pro swims should read our magazine.

(TWiT)  I’m a member of the USAT Duathlon Committee.  We can’t seem to get any traction for duathlon in this country, but it thrives in Europe.  What are we doing wrong?

(HH)  Well, duathlon is not booming in Europe either (although we have just covered the Austrian Duathlon Champs this weekend and it was a great race!). Numbers are going back and you don’t find too many big races any more, despite the fact that they are easier to organize than triathlons. Maybe people are only looking at duathlon as a training option for triathlon.

(TWiT)  Do you foresee covering events in the US?

(HH)  Absolutely. We have been to Clearwater twice, and it was very different compared to all other races that we have covered so far, no matter if Europe, Asia or Aussie. It is definitely on our agenda to include the big US races (Oceanside, Alcatraz, etc), in our program in the future. I think that our productions would add a great value to these events - we showcase high performance sport, but not only from a sporty perspective. Personally, I would like to see more media coming from the pro athletes at these events – I have not seen many event coverage videos or real professional photo galleries so far. So yeah, we are on it, but you know how it goes in sport media – you need to get your foot into the door first.

(TWiT)  Where do you see the most growth in European triathlon, ITU or Ironman.

(HH)  Hard to say… From a media perspective I would say ITU. The new Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series has joined forces with SportFive (a major sports broadcaster) so the events are broadcasted live on TV in many countries (like Germany) – and with live television, you’ll see your sponsorship value skyrocketing. We are trying to do our part in the media job, by providing the coverage for the Premium European Cup Series and the European Champs.

Ironman is also growing big time – not in media, but in numbers. You don’t get to see many Ironman races on TV – hardly any actually. But it’s incredible how fast they sell out events, and how many Euros the age groupers spend at the event expos.

(TWiT)  What is your favorite event to cover?

(HH)  That’s a tough one… I love events where the crowd goes wild and the athletes get excited. I love events where you get a nice venue – a historic city centre or something similar. And I love events where you get a good field together and the boys / girls are on fire. And I love events where everything is in place and you can do your job without having to worry about other stuff. If you asked me for my personal Top 3, I would say Madrid, Mooloolaba and Schliersee (German Champs).

(TWiT)  Have you ever fallen off the back of a motorcycle while filming?

(HH)  Not so far, but I got pretty close a few times… This weekend my motorbike driver was a bit all over the place and it wasn’t easy to hold on to him while having both hands on your camera. You are getting used to it after a while – you have to, otherwise you are not able to perform and get the best shots.

(TWiT)  When I take photos, I look at them later and say, what was I looking at?  Any advice for me?

(HH)  Mate, we’re experts so we’re only taking expert shots… just kidding There is a common rule that you need 5 minutes of footage to produce a 1 minute video, so you’ll obviously shoot some stuff that you have to get to rid of afterwards. Sometimes you have the camera running when you wait for something to happen, but it doesn’t happen… And when you turn it off it happens straight away, of course – and you have missed the action! So you better film a bit more than necessary, this might save your ass one day!

(TWiT)  My wife is Austrian, and her mother makes a mean Ungarisches Goulash and Paprika Huhn.  She says it’s better than Hungarian.  Your comment?

(HH)  No way mate. Austrians are good in baking Apfelstrudel, Hungarians are experts in making Goulash. If you decide to come to Worlds in Budapest this year, I promise to cook the best Goulash you’ve ever had.

(TWiT)  One thing I would like to know about the pros is how much money they make compared to other sports.  Do you have any insight into that?

(HH)  This is one thing that’s completely different between ITU and Ironman. ITU athletes are usually funded by their federation, so they have their training camps, travel, accom etc. all covered. Sponsorship is not huge in ITU, only the top10-top20 athletes can make a good living with triathlon, so most athletes are heavily depending on prize money which is not bad in ITU. In Ironman however there is no funding from the federations, but sponsorship is huge so the athletes are not directly depending on prize money from races (which is not much compared with ITU).

(TWiT)  You are correct about the media marketing acumen of the average pro triathlete.  Do you think that is due to the relatively low pay and the solo mentality of the sport?

(HH) Not really. Most pro triathletes are busy enough with their training, so they can’t really afford to deal with heaps of other stuff cos that would take their focus off the sport. A baseball player trains 2 hours per day (if that) and has the rest of the day for himself. A triathlete trains 4-8 hours and is busy with eating & recovering afterwards…

(TWiT)  What are the biggest differences in the US?

(HH)  I think the main difference is the balance between age-group and elite. Age group athletes are important in Europe as well (that’s how you get your expo full, how you get the attention of big sponsors), but here it seems more important to organizers to actually put on a world class elite event with world class athletes and proper competition and showcase it to media as well. In the US, organizers only seem to invite the pros in order to get their age group numbers right – most of the time you don’t even get to see a proper race video or a nice image gallery of the elite race. I love big races with heaps of age groupers, you can’t have a triathlon without them, but without a proper pro race it just isn’t the same. That’s my opinion.

(TWiT)  What about the state XTERRA and other Off Road Triathlons in Europe?

(HH)  I don’t know the world of XTERRA that well, to be honest, so I can’t give you an adequate answer to that. But XTERRA is bigger I guess, off-road is not very popular in Europe (except for Austria maybe).

(TWiT)  Where does nickname Dirty Haree come from?

(HH)  The name Haree is coming from my good friend and ex training partner Benji Sanson. As for Dirty, one of my favorite actors is Clint Eastwood, who starred in the Dirty Harry movies in the 80′s. And Dirty Haree sounds quite similar to Dirty Harry… I can be quite rude sometimes also Just joking…

(TWiT)  So you are going to cover the Ironman World Championships.  You and your crew decide to participate it the Underpants Run.  Boxers or Briefs?

(HH)  Boxers for sure. I’m European but we need to keep a certain standard…

(TWiT)  If I do take a trip to Budapest, what are some things I must see while I am there?

(HH)  Heaps. As for sightseeing, you need to visit the Castle, the Parliament, Gellert Hill and the Cathedral. Also, take your time and stroll through the streets of the historic downtown area. You will find brilliant restaurants and cafés. A secret tip: take a tour on one of the tourist cruises on the River Danube. You will get a couple of drinks while on board and you’ll enjoy the best views of the city: it will be a great experience.

(TWiT)  Do you think the age of print magazines is dead?

(HH)  No way. If I had the chance to buy our magazine on paper I would But it is so much easier just to go online and have your magazine out there (and heaps cheaper too).

(TWiT)  Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

(HH)  Hopefully on my 150 foot yacht cruising around St. Barth and watching 360 TRIATHLON TV live on my massive flat screen We are allowed to dream, right? No, just kidding… I would be satisfied if we had built a little triathlon media emporium by then, with a magazine, event live streams, TV shows, etc. I love triathlon and love to be around triathlon, and that’s what I would love to do for the time being. Just living the dream…

(TWiT)  You get to design the new 360 Triathlon, the richest one day event in sports.  Please give me some facts on the format, distance, who the smart money is on for the win.

(HH)  If I had the chance to design The 360 Triathlon, it would be over a number of days. The Tour de France of triathlon. 7 stages, from Monday to Sunday. It would include a super sprint triathlon TT as the prologue, then an aquathlon, an open water swim, an Olympic distance race, a bike TT, a super sprint duathlon, and a sprint race with a handicap start on the last day. You would have to be a complete athlete to win it, someone who doesn’t only have the speed but also the fitness to race over a number of days. I would be excited to see Gomez, Reed, Frodeno, Macca, Kahlefeldt, Lieto, Kemper, Bozzone or Butterfield battling for the Maillot Bleu et Vert (Blue & Green jersey – in the colors of 360)…