• How to put on a wet suit properly
   
• How to quickly transition from the swim to the bike
   
• How to maximize your efforts on the bike
   
• How to accurately track your bike speed
   
• How to transition from the bike to the run
   
• How to keep your energy level up on a hot day 

McDougall was an Associated Press war correspondent who became fed up with reoccurring foot injuries as a result of jogging. Despite seeing some of the best sports doctors, his problems persisted and he was told that the only solution was to stop running.

While on assignment in Mexico, McDougall was intrigued by the cover of a Spanish magazine that showed an elder man in a robe and sandals, sprinting down a mountain of rubble. In curiosity, he turned to the article which was about the reclusive Tarahumara Indians of Mexico's deadly Copper Canyons. Turns out that for centuries the Tarahumara have been known for running hundreds of miles without rest, and more importantly to McDougall, without injury. What was their secret?

In search for an answer, McDougall located this tribe and began studying their running techniques.

Many triathletes will be following the 2009 Tour de France, which is just days away. It begins on Saturday, July 4th.

Here's an overview to get you ready for the big event, with lots of fun ways to stay in the loop with all things Tour de France. Plus, interesting trivia and race facts for Tour de France spectators and fans.

You invested in the necessary gear and equipment, followed a sound training plan, and you've identified one or more triathlon events to compete in.

It would also be wise to be mindful of the triathlon rules. Here's why...

If you watched any of the Kona Ironman on TV, you noticed that many of the elite triathletes were wearing compression socks. Even triathlon guru, Joe Friel, discussed the issue of compression socks on his blog.

So, what follows is a crash course on compression socks to bring you up to speed and help you make an informed decision about using them.

For some of us, running is the least enjoyable part of training and competing in triathlons. Putting in all those miles on the road running can take its toll on the body.

Most of us have had to deal with one or more injuries associated with running. If you're over 40, you may especially be concerned about managing the wear and tear of running.

A lot of focus is placed on correct technique when it comes to swimming. But what if I told you that there was a running technique that would result in:

• Injury-free and pain-free running
• Increased running efficiency
• Effortless hill running
• Increased running speed with reduced effort
• Greater enjoyment of running

Yeah I know; it sounds too good to be true! There is no magic bullet, but the above mentioned results are claimed to be the benefits of the running technique known as ChiRunning.

A popular ChiRunning site says:

ChiRunning combines the inner focus and flow of T'ai Chi with the power and energy of running to create a revolutionary running form and philosophy that takes the pounding, pain, and potential damage out of the sport of running. The ChiRunning program increases mental clarity and focus, enhances the joy of running, and turns running into a safe and effective lifelong program for health, fitness, and well-being ... Conditioning your mind can be just as important as conditioning your body. ChiRunning can be a meditative practice that focuses your mind, lifts your spirits and opens the flow of chi in your life.

Some say that every triathlete has a little spark of madness that inspires and drives them. We challenge and push our mental and physical capacities to the brink. We endure pain in the process, but this is just all part of it. As crazy as it may seem to some, we choose to do this and enjoy doing it.

It should be no surprise then that triathletes become interested in other endurance sports. For some people, triathlon is just the beginning. Seasoned triathletes also become involved in other endurance events for the purpose of challenging themselves in new and different ways or just to add a little diversity and spice to their endurance sport interests.

If you are interested in exploring the world of endurance sports beyond or as a complement to triathlon, here are some areas worth investigating...

Some of these myths could easily prevent a triathlete from performing optimally.

Here are 4 nutrition myths that the typical triathlete may be in danger of believing...

Yes it is truth that a triathlete is a swimmer, a cyclist, and a runner. But on May 20th, being a cyclist pulls rank.

I want to encourage you to consider participating in The Ride of Silence.
 

Recent research shows that listening to music that brings the listener feelings of joy is enough to dilate blood vessels, increasing blood flow.

There is also a psychological benefit of music on sports performance as music has shown to be a great way to regulate mood both before and during physical activity.

Sports psychologist at Brunel University, Dr. Costas Karageorghis, has done studies to see the impact of music on sports performance. Synchronous music (music that has a clear and steady beat) was shown to elevate a person's performance by 20%, whereas asynchronous music (background music) was shown to calm the nerves of athletes by as much as 10%.

Dr. Costas Karageorghis theorizes that there are 4 main ways that music affects an athlete:

• Music distracts an athlete from fatigue.
   
• Music can act as a mood altering catalyst.
   
• Music can synchronize an athlete's rhythm and movement.
   
• Music can act as a trigger for learning certain motions and aid with muscle memory.

From the evidence provided, there seems to be a correlation between music and performance.

The triathlete spends countless training hours swimming laps and covering many miles by bike and foot. In addition to making triathlon training more enjoyable, listening to music may even give you a slight training edge.

Perhaps you already listen to music while you bike and while you run. Why not listen to music while you swim?

They are awesome for warm water races because they really slip through the water. Wetsuits are faster overall due to their superior hydrodynamic and buoyancy and should always be used when the rules permit -- if you want to be as quick as possible.

You would only opt for the speedsuit if wetsuits were not allowed.

There is a mixed opinion about allowing speedsuits in triathlon events.

If you will adopt the following mentality, you can significantly lower the financial expense of training and competing in triathlons.

I've learned firsthand that these are some simple ways to save big bucks on gear, equipment, events, and other things that triathletes typically spend a lot of money on.

Some common triathlete anxieties include:

•   A newbie's anxiety in their first triathlon
•   Common pre-face jitters or nerves
•   Anxiety associated with open-water swimming
•   Fear of not making your split times in a race
•   General doubts about level of readiness
•   Anxiety caused by the unexpected or gear malfunction

 

There are several signs that signal that anxiety may be affecting your triathlon performance. They include:

•   Extreme nerves during competition
•   Lack of belief in yourself
•   Great in training, but terrible in competition
•   Training hard but getting little payback
•   Injuries or illnesses occurring just before competitions
•   Slumps in form
•   Regularly recurring problems in competition
•   Concentration and technical problems
•   Doubts, fears, worries and anxiety, worrying about what others think
•   Inconsistency in competition performances
•   Overly worrying about the "uncontrollables"
•   Feeling sick on the day of the triathlon
   

The sport of triathlon lends itself to anxiety for a few different reasons. Here are 2 of them:

#1 Replicating Race Conditions

First, it's very difficult to replicate race conditions in triathlon training.

If you train by yourself or with a partner or two, this is not the same as what happens in actual competition. A nice, calm open-water training swim with a couple tri friends is not the same as the mayhem of the typical triathlon swim, especially the start.

Even without the mayhem, there's normally a higher level of anxiety associated with performing in competition even if you've shown you can do it in training. This pretty much applies to all sports. You can make 20 consecutive free-throws in practice, but it is different standing on the free-throw line when there's 6 seconds left and you are down by one point.

#2 Abundance Of Triathlete Gear

Another stress area in the sport of triathlon involves the abundance of gear.

If you are a marathon runner, you have very little gear and no concerns of gear malfunction. The triathlete, on the other hand, has a multitude of gear items to keep track of, tote around, unpack, adjust, and assure proper functioning.

The gear issue alone can be a source of anxiety and stress on race day. You've already experienced this if you've ever misplaced or forgotten a gear item on race day, had a flat tire during the race, or needed that extra pair of goggles you never bothered purchasing.

In other words, many athletes have a similar set of physical skills and capacities, but what often enables one athlete to perform better than another is "mental" -- things such as confidence, focus, calm, resiliency, determination, and self-control.

We are prone to especially notice the superior athletic skills and abilities of epic athletes like Michael Jordon and Tiger Woods. They, however, attribute mental toughness as the key to their success. For example, Michael Jordan turned failure into a deep motivation for success, and claims his determination, not his natural talent, was his true greatness.

The mind is such a critical factor for sports performance that there's an entire field devoted to it: sports psychology.

Dr. Kevin Harris, a cardiologist at the Minneapolis Heart Institute at Abbott Northwestern Hospital, led the study and presented results Saturday at an American College of Cardiology conference in Florida. The Minneapolis institute's foundation sponsored the work and tracks athlete-related sudden deaths in a national registry.

Statistics show that for every million participants in a 26.2-mile marathon, there will be 4 to 8 deaths.

The study shows that the rate for triathletes is far higher --15 out of a million. Almost all occurred during the swim portion of the triathlon.