Photos provided by Amanda Sloane

Sanjay Gupta and the CNN Fit Nation “Lucky 7″ enjoy the third day of training camp in Kona, Hawaii.

RELATED PHOTOS: CNN Fit Nation “Lucky 7″ In Kona 

Lemon-Herb Dressing

¾ cup olive oil
¾ cup white balsamic or white wine vinegar
Juice of 2 lemons
2 tsp fresh thyme
1tsp fresh rosemary
2 tsp honey or agave
1 tsp Dijon or stone ground mustard
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper

Add all ingredients to a blender and mix for 30 seconds.  This recipe will make plenty of extra to store in the fridge.  Alternatively, you can buy a light vinaigrette.

Salad

8 cups spring mix, approximately 10 oz
16 oz sashimi grade ahi tuna
3-4 cups baby or fingerling potatoes, washed
4 cups green beans, washed and ends removed
4 hardboiled eggs, sliced
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
½ cup large black olives, sliced
1 tsp grapeseed or canola oil

Preparation Instructions

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with foil and coat with non-stick cooking spray.

2. Cut fingerling potatoes in half lengthwise and toss with 2-3 tablespoons of the dressing (whether homemade or store bought).  Lay potatoes on the baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.  Toss potatoes and bake for another 15 minutes. Let cool.

3. In the meantime, fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil.  Reserve a large bowl of ice water.  Add green beans to the boiling water for 2-3 minutes.  Remove and move immediately to the bowl of ice water. This is called “shocking” and will keep the vibrant green color on the beans.

4. Pad the ahi with paper towel. This will ensure a better sear.  Heat oil in a nonstick pan on medium high.  Sear hi 3-5 seconds on each side.  Let rest for a couple of minutes and then cut into slices.

5. Toss the spring mix with 2-3 tablespoons of the salad dressing and divide onto four plates.  Evenly divide (between the four plates) all other ingredients over the spring mix.  This can also be served family style with all ingredients on a large platter.

6. Optional:  Serve with grilled bread or pita, which can also be coated with the dressing before grilling.  This salad works great with other types of fish, shrimp or chicken if you aren’t a raw ahi fan.

Jessica Cerra is the owner of Fit Food by Jess, a private chef and catering company in Encinitas, Calif.  She is also a professional Xterra triathlete and mountain biker.  Follow Jess’ recipes on her “Fit Food by Jess” Facebook page.

RELATED: Meet Private Chef And Xterra Pro Jessica Cerra 

Last year was a historic one for Cross Triathlon, after four years of continental championships ITU hosted its first world titles in Extremadura, Spain. Over 400 athletes competed across the elite, junior, age-group and paratriathlon categories in the swim, mountain bike and cross country run discipline. This year, the sport takes another step forward as ITU partners with Xterra for the second edition for the 2012 Shelby County ITU Cross Triathlon World Championships and Xterra Southeast Championships.

Canada’s Melanie McQuaid and South Africa’s Conrad Stoltz are both back to defend the inaugural ITU Cross Triathlon titles they won in Spain last year, but both will be tested with strong Elite Men’s and Elite Women’s fields.

Read more: Triathlon.org 

Welcome to Morton’s neuroma. Andrew Getzin, M.D., a triathlete and clinical director at Cayuga Medical Center in Ithaca, N.Y., breaks down the injury:

What’s happening in the foot? The nerves that lead to the toes get irritated, and the body responds by increasing the production of collagen, which wraps around those nerves and causes the pain.

Why does it happen? Usually you’ve made changes in your training and your body has not adapted correctly.

How do you heal it? Do not run through pain. You’ll risk turning an inflammation into a muscular-skeletal injury. “Take a day or two off; chances are, you’ll get better,” he says. Run in appropriate footwear with a wide toe box. Avoid high heels.

What if the pain doesn’t subside? Getzin will study a patient’s running mechanics to try to alter the way the load is placed on the foot. While some doctors give cortisone injections for pain, he warns against repeated injections that can thin the protective muscles on the bottom of the foot.

Are there other treatment options? Metatarsal pads can take pressure off the inflamed area. But they’re not a long-term solution. Surgery may be an option if other strategies fail—the success rate is 80 percent.

This article originally appeared in the May 2012 issue of Triathlete magazine. Subscribe to Triathlete and save 51% off the cover price.

June 9: Winona, Minn.
June 10: Omaha, Neb.
June 16: Loudoun County, Va.
July 15: Plymouth, Minn.
July 29: Westminster, Colo.
Aug. 4: Rochester Hills, Mich.
Aug. 25: Chicago, Ill.
Aug. 26: Alpharetta, Ga.
Aug. 26: Overland Park, Kan.
Sept. 16: Warrenville, Ill.
Oct. 7: San Antonio, TX

Read more: Businesswire.com 

Photos by Nils Nilsen.

Read the race report.

Two weeks before I raced at the World Ironman Championships in Kona, Hawaii, last year, I had a bad bike crash. I won the race, not on physical prowess, but on grit, willpower, determination and mental strength.

I hope I showed, through my performance there, that sporting success rests, in part, with having the mental fortitude necessary to overcome our fears, pain and discomfort.

But how does one develop that strength? Is it innate, or can it be learned?

I believe it is the latter. We can all train our brains to be as strong as our bodies.

It sounds simple, but it’s so easy to forget. If we let our head drop, our heart drops with it. Keep your head up, and your body is capable of amazing feats. To plunder the words of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, “Don’t ever forget that you play with your soul as well as your body.”

The message is this: All the physical strength in the world won’t help you if your mind is not prepared. This is part of training for a race — the part that people don’t put in their logbooks, the part that all the monitors, gizmos and gadgets in the world can’t influence.

Read more: Cnn.com 

RELATED PHOTOS: CNN Fit Nation “Lucky 7″ In Kona

If you don’t recognize this brand, you probably aren’t alone. Canyon is well established in Europe, supplying road and time trial bikes to ProTour cycling teams since 2007. This new model was spied at the Giro D’Italia, and could make its way to transition areas in the States in the near future.

The all-new Canyon Speedmax CF combines unique tube shapes with a level of integration seldom seen on a triathlon bike.  For the design of the frame, Canyon enlisted the services of Simon Smart, an ex-Formula One racecar aerodynamicist with equally impressive cycling industry credentials. His designs have already had a huge impact in the world of bike equipment for triathlon, from the Scott Plasma to the Enve Smart System series of wheels. The Speedmax uses a combination of Kamm tail truncated airfoil shapes and more traditional teardrop airfoil tube shapes. The focus of the design engineers with the Speedmax was to optimize the bike for wind yaw angles from 0 to 9 degrees. This may or may not be good for triathletes. On the one hand, if you’re a pro or a fast age grouper, you will probably find yourself racing winds from 0 to 9 degrees the majority of the time, which tailors this aero design to your specific needs. On the other hand, if you aren’t quite breaking age-group records, or are racing in very windy conditions, you might find yourself out of this range

Canyon claims that with the new design, they were able to increase the stiffness over the original Speedmax by 15% while also improving on the aerodynamic package. Stability was another focus when creating this bike. The integrated fork was designed for optimal performance with wheels 80mm in depth. This is good news for triathletes that race aboard wheels of this popular depth, such as the Zipp 808.

The Speedmax CF comes in two flavors, time trial and triathlon.  The tri version, termed the High Cockpit Concept, has a raised integrated stem and a forward seat tube clamp allowing for an effective 76.5 degree seat tube angle.  Most multisport athletes will appreciate this forward seating position combined with a raised front end, as it lends itself to spending long periods in the aero position. However, triathletes should select the version that will best support their unique fit coordinates, not simply choose the tri version because it bears the name of their sport.

Further inspection of the geometry will reveal that the top tube is exceptionally long on the Speedmax. The medium frame size, for example, measures 594mm. Canyon has done this to counter the fact that the stem is intended to be shorter than what a rider might normally ride, to create a more stable handling geometry. The integrated stem is available in three different lengths: 70, 90 and 105mm, and the bars, which have a claimed 7,000 possible configurations, should allow most riders to dial in their precise fit to a comfortable and powerful position on the Speedmax CF.

Front and rear brakes on the Speedmax CF are both tucked nicely away and out of the wind. The center-pull design should allow for predictable and powerful brake performance, even with the cable routing tucking the vast majority of brake housing inside the frame and out of the way of the wind. In fact, Canyon claims that only 12cm of brake housing is exposed through the entire bike.

Availability is the big question mark for Canyon. The company has been highly successful using a direct-to-consumer sales system in Europe, bypassing local bike shops, but hasn’t yet tried to implement the same in the U.S. They insist they are working to bring the brand across the pond, and intend to do so in the near future. Until then, if you simply must have one you have to fly to Germany, where Canyon will happily sell one to you starting in October. No price or firm availability date is available.

RELATED: Coming To America? Canyon Concept Speedmax 

Tell us in 100 words or less about the first triathlon you competed in. Enter by writing your story in the comments section on this post. Entries posted on the Triathlete and Inside Triathlon Facebook pages will not count.

The Triathlete and Inside Triathlon editors will pick their two favorite stories and the winners will be given entry into this once-in-a-lifetime race opportunity. Entries close this Thursday, May 17, at 5 p.m. so enter now to be considered! Winners will be announced the morning of Friday, May 18.

Keep in mind this event is a little over three weeks away, so please only enter if you’re confident you have been training enough to tackle this tough course on June 10.

Entries are non-transferrable and winners must submit their online race registration by Friday, May 18.

Learn more about the race at Escapefromalcatraztriathlon.com. 

Profile Design Sync Hydration System $46

This hydration system comes in four sizes and with two 8-ounce bottles, but you can add as many of these bottles as you want to the belt. The bottle mounts are removable and their positions can be adjusted along the length of the belt, making it easier for you to position them so they don’t collide with your forearms while you run. The bottles snap in to a plastic holster rather than a pocket. They are extremely easy to remove and replace, and feel secure on the belt as you run.
Profile-design.com

“Twenty five years of smashing into 300-pound lineman isn’t good for your body, and it’s starting to bother me,” Davey said. “Most of my buddies run 3-4 times a week. I can’t train as much, so I modify my schedule. I have to be smart.”

Davey said the pain in his joints is overshadowed by the role triathlon has played in his post-NFL life. He believes the sport helped him overcome the challenges that greet all retired NFL players, from obesity and heart disease to depression and chronic pain. The recent suicide of NFL great Junior Seau has shone a spotlight on the lives of NFL retirees. Davey said the social and physical changes facing retired NFL players are challenging, and he believes triathlon can help.

“When your NFL career is over, it’s over, you’re kicked out of the club. You literally have to redefine yourself completely,” Davey said. “And you don’t get into the NFL unless you’re an ultra competitive person, so you have to channel that competitiveness into something else. These guys need to find something.”

The need to feed his over-competitive attitude steered Davey to triathlon shortly after he retired in 1999. During his final year with the Jaguars, Davey made a bet with team trainer Michael Ryan, who was an accomplished Ironman racer, that he would finish an Ironman within five years of his retirement. Davey then signed up for a local sprint triathlon after making a barroom bet with a friend the night before the race. He said he showed up on race day nursing a hang over toting his old mountain bike.

“I got probably no more than 100 yards into the swim and flipped on my back to rest,” he said. “This surfer paddled up and asked me if I realized swimming was part of the event.”

Davey walked most of the run and finished well in the back of the pack, but he was hooked. He bought a road bike and signed up for swim lessons. He found a group of local triathletes to train with. He progressed through the sport like most budding triathletes, first competing at sprints and then Olympic-distance races.

He lost weight, slimming down from a meaty 280 pounds to a svelte 225. He developed friends and training partners in the local endurance scene, even though he sometimes struggled to keep up with the lighter, more experienced athletes. He scheduled workouts in the early mornings, before work, and in the evenings, bringing a new structure and rhythm to his life.

“I redefined myself as ‘Don Davey the triathlete’ instead of ‘Don Davey the NFL player,’” he said. “I liked being able to do that.”

In 2005 he completed Ironman Wisconsin, making good on his bet with his former trainer. Since then he’s finished three Ironman races and dozens of Olympic-distance events. Florida will be his first crack at the 70.3 distance. After Florida he will race Ironman Germany on July 8, and as part of his race plan Davey is raising funds for the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation, which funds life-saving resources for emergency crews. His fundraising is part of the Ironman Foundation’s Your Journey, Your Cause program.

Davey said his primary goal this Sunday is to finish, but he’s hoping to qualify for Kona at the Germany race. Whether he accomplishes that task or not, Davey said he’s committed to the triathlon lifestyle. And while he recognizes that not all NFL retirees are in the physical condition to pick up endurance sports, he still points friends who have played in the NFL toward triathlon. Davey works as a financial advisor for retired pro athletes, and said he’s a walking endorsement for the practice he preaches.

“I’m 44 years old now and in the best shape of my life,” he said. “I’m in better shape now than when they paid me a million bucks to just work out.”

PHOTOS: 2011 Ironman 70.3 Florida 

More from San Diego. 

TriCalifornia announced last week that its San Francisco Triathlon at Alcatraz is cancelled both this year and next. The cancellations, said TriCalifornia founder and CEO Terry Davis, were caused by conflicts with the prestigious America’s Cup sailing race taking place in the San Franciso Bay over the next two years.

“We are a small fish in a big pond (bay) and we understand that,” says Davis.

The America’s Cup World Series races will take place throughout August and September of this year. But, while the sailing race has priority over all other events, final dates have not fully been set. Tides and currents limited other dates for the challenging swim. A possible day in November coincided with the US Half Marathon. And a large charity walk on the same course at the same time made a July 8 date like “fitting a square peg in a round hole,” said Davis.

TriCalifornia will be offering an Alcatraz swim on May 28 and an aquathalon on July 22. However, permits for a bike course were not available on those dates.

The America’s Cup finals will take place next summer, blacking out even more days, said Davis.

EnviroSport’s Escape from the Rock was also turned into an aquathalon this year on Aug. 25, said founder Dave Horning, because of both the America’s Cup races and a $1.1 billion reconstruction of the main elevated highway next to the bike and run courses. That construction forced Horning to cancel the bike leg of his race three years ago with just ten days notice. Now, he said, he may never add the bike leg back in.

“Don’t fight city hall,” said Horning.

EnviroSports also offers a swim-only event. The distinction being that their swim starts much closer to the infamous island, said Horning.

Both EnviroSport’s Escape from the Rock and the IMG Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon claim to be a continuation of the original race that started in 1981. They split off into two races in 1997 when IMG contracted with Davis and TriCalifornia to run the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon. In 2010, IMG ended Davis’ race directing contract. He, then, announced his own version of the event.

A separate Alcatraz triathlon that follows the original route over the Golden Gate Bridge is offered to members only by the South End Rowing and Dolphin Club.

The IMG Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon will take place this year, on June 10, but lottery registration is already sold out.

Permits for next year’s event have already been filed, said Lisa Jenkins, senior director at IMG. But, would-be escapees may be cold. The event will be in either April or May, earlier than its traditional June date, because of the America’s Cup conflicts.

“We work closely with the city of San Franciso,” said Jenkins of being able to schedule its races. “Maybe it was part luck.”

But does that logic work with athletes? Is it good medicine?

The answer to these questions is no! Complete rest is almost always terrible advice—all of the cardiovascular conditioning that goes into training is lost if you don’t keep moving. Patients get unhealthy and depressed—and they end up not liking their doctor very much. And as patients have gotten smarter they often press their doctor to find an active solution, or they find another doctor who will.

Which brings us to biomechanics. Much like the mechanics of what makes a plane fly or a car drive, the mechanics of the body are related to the task that the body is being asked to do. Advances in the concepts and practices of biomechanics have greatly shifted the field of sports medicine in the past 10 to 15 years. In addition to trying to keep patients moving, figuring out why the injury happened, and more importantly, how to prevent it from happening again, is now the key to the practice of sports medicine.

Here’s how addressing biomechanics helped some of my patients fix their problems.

THE PROBLEM: Jason had bad shin pain due to a pronating foot that rolled inward and loaded excessive force on the tibia, overstriding and weak hips that created an unstable pelvis and trunk.
THE FIX: Over-the-counter orthotics to stabilize his foot, a switch to a higher cadence and shorter stride to reduce loading force, and some squats to build glute strength.

THE PROBLEM: Lindsay had patellofemoral knee pain from cycling.
THE FIX: Raising her seat height. By having her saddle too low during riding, she was loading too much pressure on the front of her knees.

THE PROBLEM: Bob had aching shoulders while swimming due to a strength imbalance, a common swimmer’s problem. He had plenty of anterior (front of the shoulder) strength, but he had neglected his posterior shoulder muscles.
THE FIX: Build posterior shoulder strength with exercises such as seated rows or rows in a plank with weights. When the pectoralis muscles are stronger than the scapular muscles, the shoulder gets pulled forward. Over time, this can cause what is known as an “impingement,” a pinching shoulder.

Rest will make the pain go away, but thinking about the biomechanical problems, and how to fix them, is the key to miles of injury-free training and racing.

Jordan D. Metzl, M.D. (Drjordanmetzl.com) is a nationally recognized sports medicine specialist at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. Check out his weekly “Med Tent” video series at Triathlete.com.

Photos courtesy of Amanda Sloane/CNN.

It is not easy to win the St. Anthony’s Triathlon, which is one of the most competitive non-drafting international-distance races on the professional circuit. It’s even harder to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Team in triathlon. More difficult still is achieving both of these feats in a period of 12 days, but Sarah Haskins nearly did just that, winning St. Anthony’s on April 29 in course-record time and then coming within a hair’s breadth of qualifying for her second Olympics at the ITU World Triathlon San Diego on May 11, finishing as the second American and eighth overall when she needed to be the first American and among the top nine finishers. (Check out Sarah’s power file from ITU San Diego here).

Although disappointed with the latter result, Haskins, 31, takes comfort in knowing that her preparation for the back-to-back races was perfect. The St. Louis native and current resident of Clermont, Fla., might be further gratified to know that her preparation for the unique “double” that she nearly pulled off provides an excellent model for age-group triathletes to follow in their own efforts to excel in more than one race within a short period of time.

It was only in January of this year that Haskins and her coach-husband Nate Kortuem learned the date of the final Olympic qualification event for U.S. athletes. Although it fell less than two weeks after St. Anthony’s, where Haskins was the defending champion, the thought of skipping the Florida race to focus on the more important San Diego event never crossed her mind. “I felt that it was possible to have peak form for both races,” Haskins explains. “I think it actually would have been harder if the races had been farther apart. But with only 12 days between them, I could use St. Anthony’s as one last ‘fitness race’ before the trials.”

Haskins also knew from nine years of triathlon experience that she was capable of bouncing back quickly from one race to perform well in a second race one or two weeks later. Nevertheless, she and Kortuem recognized that they would have to plan and execute her preparation just right to maximize her chances of achieving her goals for the two events. Here again they took advantage of knowledge acquired through past experience.

“We looked at what we did before London last year,” says Kortuem, referring to August’s ITU World Triathlon London, where Haskins finished a disappointing 34th. “I think we trained too hard and put her in a hole. Going into London after that she was just dead flat. Obviously, we cut back for recovery, but by then it was already too late.”

Read more: Trainingpeaks.com 

If you’re new to longer distances

Swimmers start doing double workouts to build volume starting at a very young age. “Two-a-days are in my regular bag of tricks, especially when I am building someone up for longer distance running,” says Dominion Cycling and Tri Club coach Trey McKinnon of Virginia. “I will have athletes do an easy run in Zone 1/2 in the morning of about an hour, followed by a harder or slightly longer run in the evening, or maybe just keep both at the same level and distance/time.”

RELATED: How To Nail The Ironman Marathon

Kate Grove was taking the 4-mile bike ride from her home in Arundel on the Bay to downtown Annapolis.

That was just to get to the race. She then proceeded to swim 500 meters in Spa Creek, cycle 12 miles through West Annapolis and run a little more than 3 miles through the heart of the Historic District.

By the time she finished the TriRock Triathlon — a little after 8 a.m. — most of Annapolis was still in bed.

A highlight: She didn’t even have to worry about finding a parking space.

About 1,400 athletes competed in the triathlon, the second held in the city. Last year there were 800 participants. Manager Zach Barnhorst said that kind of growth is a “rarity” for a fledgling sprint triathlon.

Read more: Capitalgazette.com 

PHOTOS: 2012 Land Rover Tri Rock Annapolis

Photos by Nils Nilsen.

More from San Diego.