- This is The GTN Show and this week we're talking
fast 10 K's, new mountains on Zwift, and how
krill oil can improve your bike leg.
- Yes, and with the Commonwealth Games
just around the corner we're gonna be taking a look
at the athletes, the ones to watch,
including South African uber swimmer,
Chad le Clos in the triathlon.
(energetic music)
(crowd cheering)
- Well, that last bit of news may not be true,
but it did fool you, didn't it Heather?
- I know, I got really excited.
I mean, Chad le Clos is an Olympic gold medalist in swimming
and I thought, Wow, this could mix things up
for the Brownlees at the front of the pack!
He said in this article that he was gonna join
Henri Schoeman and Richard Murray and then
it could be a really strong performance.
When I read the last bit, it's like,
"well, it could be podium one, two, and three"
I was like, "hang on a minute.
Don't you think we would know?"
And, yeah, sadly I checked the entry list and
he's not on there.
- And the date, and it said April the 1st.
- Yeah, that one!
- I love a good April Fools.
(Heather laughs)
Well, on the subject of the Commonwealth Games,
I think we should talk some predictions.
- Yeah, I think we should, and
before we get started there's a
quick bit of background on the Commonwealth Games,
'cause lots of you might not have heard of it, and
it is open to the countries that are part of the
Commonwealth Nations.
But that does include for triathlon
some pretty big superpowers, such as
Bermuda, obviously, Flora Duffy.
Canada, Australia-- - Don't forget England,
- South Africa, England, Wales and Scotland.
(Mark exhales)
We just have even more places so it's a massive competition.
It happens once every four years, so it's a gamed event
- So sandwiched between the summer Olympic Games.
The triathlon was first introduced into
the Commonwealth Games in 2002, the Manchester Games.
- [Heather] Mmhmm.
- And we've had three games since.
One was actually cancelled, unfortunately, in 2010,
'cause of the water quality in Delhi,
but our last one, in 2014, was in Glasgow in Scotland.
- Yeah, and that included the mixed relay,
for the first time and now
this one's got the mixed relay, the individuals,
and it's also got a paratriathlon as well.
- Well, traditionally the Commonwealth Games is
competed over a standard distance, Olympic distance,
but for the first time ever, it's gonna be over
a sprint distance, which makes things pretty exciting.
- Yeah, it does!
I mean it's gonna make it a much faster, more furious race
and probably a bit more open as well,
'cause there's so much can happen
and there's less likely to be a big breakaway
there's less chance for someone who's not made
the front pack to be able to catch up on the run as well.
- Yeah, on the men's side
obviously we have the Brownlee brothers, probably
hot favourites going in, big target on their backs,
and Alistair we're not so sure on, really,
with his current fitness he pulled out of the
Abu Dhabi WTS race due to injury but
he says he's gonna come back for this race.
That will be really interesting.
Number one seeded is Jonny Brownlee,
- [Heather] Mmhmm.
- [Mark] And again not sure where he's at fitness wise.
- [Heather] We don't see them race together that often
anymore, with Alistair doing 70 point threes.
Pretty much every time they do
it ends rather well, doesn't it?
- [Mark] Yeah, and then obviously
we've got the South African duo,
we've got Richard Murray and Henri Schoeman.
Henri Schoeman will likely be out in the front on the swim.
If Richard Murray makes it into that front pack on the bike
I think everyone's gonna be a little bit worried.
- Yeah, we've seen how well he's running
already this season.
- And then obviously we've got the Australian trio.
We've got Matt Hauser, Luke Willian, and Jacob Birtwhistle.
All three of them are super exciting athletes.
- [Heather] Yeah.
- I'm very, very excited to watch them race,
and see how they fair, particularly Jacob Birtwhistle.
I think he'd be a real threat to the Brownlees
and everyone else out there.
- Well, I think they've got a bit of pressure on their
shoulders as well 'cause it's the home crowd,
and it's the first event with the women's,
it's the first event of the first day
of the Commonwealth Games in Australia
on the Gold Coast where a lot of them train and
been brought up, quite a lot of the triathletes.
It's a mecca for triathlon.
And then you're going onto the women's side,
I think the biggest, or the poster girl for
the Commonwealth Games for triathlon is Ashley Gentle.
She's the only athlete last year who managed to beat
Flora Duffy, who's been unstoppable.
So she could be the best hope for Australia, maybe.
- [Mark] Yeah, but could Flora spoil the party?
- Well, interestingly, even though Flora is double
world champion she has yet to win a title,
or even get on the podium, at a major games,
and she, last year, very much stated that, yeah
this is what she was getting, this year was all about
to start with and a lot of athletes really have
focused on the Commonwealth Games,
it's a major event for them, but
Ashley Gentle hasn't just got Flora to worry about,
there's Andrea Hewitt, who
won on a very similar course last year in
the World Triathlon Series and this is the same venue
so she's gonna be, she won a medal at the
Commonwealth Games back in 2006 so she's gonna be trying to
get back on the podium again.
And then there's Great Britain.
I know it's England and Wales, but it actually means
there's a bigger contingent.
- Well in particular Team England has a very strong
swim contingent, we've got Vicky Holland, Jess Learmonth,
and Sophie Coldwell.
I mean, them as a trio together, perhaps with Flora Duffy
getting away on the bike.
- Yeah, they could be hard to catch.
And then also, I'm not sure what form she's in
but Non Stanford, former world champion,
she's representing Wales, so another athlete.
You wouldn't normally see so many athletes
from Great Britain in one race,
but because it's kind of spread across.
So, it's pretty open.
- I'm gonna put you on the spot here Heather:
top male, top female?
- Oh, I've got to do both?
Okay.
Gosh, I'm gonna go for Richard Murray for the men's,
it's not who I want to win,
(both chuckle)
it's who I'm thinking.
But then, I guess on the women's,
yeah, Flora Duffy, anyway, yeah.
It's just Flora Duffy, that's all I need to say.
(Mark chuckles)
- And of course we've got the paratriathlon event
two days later with the PTWC category so it's a
recumbent hand cycle on the bike,
and then a wheelchair on the run.
- Now if Australia haven't already managed
to get on the podium from the individual
men's and women's events, this could be their chance.
'Cause they've got a strong contingent,
especially in the women's side.
They've got the favourite, Emily Tapp,
and she's joined by Lauren Parker who
only 12 months ago was paralysed,
whist training for triathlon, and she's now back
on the start line in front of her home crowd,
so that's pretty exciting for her.
- Yeah, it's an amazing story.
And then on the men's side we've got Australian
Bill Chaffey, who's a real favourite going in,
along side Team England's Joe Townsend.
And then, on the same day as the paratriathlon event,
we have the mixed team relay.
This is a relatively new event to the Commonwealth Games.
It was introduced in 2014 to the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
It consists of two men and two women to a team.
They race over a lot shorter distances, they basically
do a mini triathlon each and then
tag and pass over to each teammate.
- Well, the last Commie Games it was England first,
then South Africa, and Australia were in third.
Now they're gonna be hoping to swap that around,
obviously, in front of the home crowd.
Trying to find four top athletes
for your team is quite a stretch.
One country who have opened up
a little bit wider is Bermuda,
and Flora is obviously such a strong athlete on her own,
but to find three other athletes to join her,
to give them a chance at a medal.
- I think that's kind of the exciting
thing about the mixed team relay.
You can have a fantastic athlete in a team, but
it doesn't mean you necessarily are gonna be the winners.
You could have some lesser known good athletes.
- Consistent.
- Yet collectively they're a really strong force.
- Interestingly Bermuda have brought in Tyler Butterfield
who we haven't seen race ITU for years
and he's very much made his mark on
long distance and middle distance triathlon.
- Gone back to his roots.
- Yeah, gonna a relay that's even shorter than
the sprint distance.
It's gonna be interesting to see how he fairs in that
along with some younger teammates that they've got.
England are gonna be looking strong, no doubt, after
they've got their title to defend.
I think they might be hard to beat.
Where's your feeling, Mark?
I want you to give me your one, two, three,
as you've put me on the spot.
- I would love to say Team England,
and I think it's gonna be super close.
But I am slightly worried about Australia.
- [Heather] Really?
- It's a strong team, that is a strong team,
and they're fast, those boys and girls, and
yeah, I'm worried it might be Australia, Team England,
- South Africa. - South Africa.
- Well, we want to know who you think is gonna win
the mixed relay, and you've got the choices
in this week Weekly Poll.
- Yeah, it is: Team England, Australia, South Africa,
Bermuda, or Other.
You can select that and let us know in the comments below.
And you can enter that by clicking
just up here.
(energetic music)
It's time for the GTN Tribe and this week
we're heading over to Vancouver, in Canada,
for the UBC Thunderbirds Triathlon Sports Club.
- It's their first year as a competitive triathlon club.
They say "Bridging the gap between varsity
"and recreational sports."
- They've got a number of, wow,
top level competitors as well as beginners, I'm sure.
They've got a chap who's been to the World Ironman
Championships after qualifying over in Whistler,
apparently with a stunning race.
They travelled out to Hawaii and stomped a
fantastic time.
- Nice.
Well they have plenty of events on their doorstep as well
'cause they do have the Vancouver 7.3,
the Ironman hold there, I think,
in just a couple of months time as well.
- They've even set up their own event, it is the
Northwest Collegiate Triathlon Championships in Vancouver.
Which sounds like it was very hotly contested,
they took the male and female team trophy prizes last year.
- Cool, let's have a quick look at some of their training.
It looks like they don't stick to purely triathlon.
First we've got a nice size tour with a good turbo
setup going on there for some team training.
- And then looks like a photo post track session, maybe,
on the infield that looks very nicely flood lit.
And then some adventure racing.
- Quite a few pictures from adventure racing,
it looks like it's a big multi,
they're looking beyond just triathlon
and doing a bit of everything.
- Run Vancouver.
That's great, well, please keep sending in your
triathlon clubs using the hashtag G-T-N Tribe.
Send it in over Facebook or get in touch over
Twitter or Instagram.
Time for Hot or Not.
- And to start us off we have a food sensor that goes
on your teeth and measures, or potentially is gonna
measure the calories of what you're consuming.
- [Mark] What do you think to this?
- Well, to start with I thought
that's really cool because y'know for
science and things like that and if it can
measure the vitamins and the minerals
to save you having to have blood tests
you could know exactly what you're getting from your food
that could be pretty cool.
- Yeah, but I think
we've survived pretty well on this planet long enough
without needing to know what we're
putting in our mouth or not.
This seems a bit silly to me to be honest.
- [Heather] Go on then.
- Not.
The next one is the inaugural race of the Kiwiman and
it's one that actually kind of slipped past our radar
but it sounds epic!
- [Heather] Yeah, it's a full distance event and just
looking at the run profile it kind of goes like this
and they finish on top of a mountain.
- So it follows the same sort of format as the Norseman
so pretty brutal.
- [Heather] I think we're in agreeance on this one.
- [Both] Hot.
- Next up: plastic-free Triathlon.
There's an event in Croyde in Southwest of England
that is pledging to be plastic-free for
as much of the event as it can.
- And actually when you think about a lot of events,
especially the big events,
there's a lot of plastic that's used in them.
We've got gels, you've got the water bottles,
got the plastic bags, it really adds up,
so this event is trying to basically make it
completely plastic-free.
The gel packets, well if they get rid of them,
- Yeah.
- there're flapjacks, there're--
- [Both] Protein bowls.
- I mean, I'm gonna sign up just for the food.
The fact that it's good for the environment
and they're giving you great food.
- [Mark] Hot.
- Next up: a new venue for the Super League.
They have just announced that they're gonna host
one of their races in Singapore early next year.
- And considering the company is actually
based in Singapore I'm surprised we didn't see this sooner.
I wonder whether actually, y'know
Singapore being a bit of a trek for some of the athletes
that are trying to juggle this with the WTS Series,
bet that's gonna be an issue,
but still an awesome venue.
Hot or not, Heather?
- Hot.
And finally, ITU and gender equality.
It looks like the ITU have been leading the way.
Marisol Casado has been
chairing a group looking at gender equality
trying to help other international federations
learn from what the ITU are doing.
- I don't think you can argue with this.
This is great news so, it's gotta be a hot.
(bouncing drum music)
Now for the first bit of news it's the
Inov-8 Descent Race.
I've got to be honest, when this popped into my inbox
I thought I was maybe falling for an April Fools' joke
but, turns out, this thing is real
and it sounds absolutely absurd.
It's a running race down one of the steepest
skiing slopes in the world.
It's in Kitzbuhel, Austria,
and, they quote, it takes in "blind drops, daredevil jumps,
"gradients of up to 80%,"
it sounds nuts.
- You can't even imagine it, but apparently
180 competitors are mad, well,
the entries are open for 180 competitors, if there
are that many people who are mad enough to do it.
It's been like a time trial, in effect, so they get
sent off every 30 seconds and that's to then
qualify to get the chance to do it again.
'Cause the top 30 male and female then get ranked,
and then they have the final,
and they're sent off once every minute
with the fastest runner going last.
- And the champion gets crowned Downhill King.
- We recently saw the Olympic triathlon champion,
Gwen Jorgensen, make her debut appearance on the track,
having retired from triathlon and given birth
and she's announced that she's aiming for the marathon
in Tokyo 2020.
She started off with a five K indoor race and she
caught a PV of 15, 15, and she's now starting to
up the distance, getting closer to that marathon
- This last weekend she did
the Stanford Invitational 10 K race.
It's her first 10 K on the track since
focusing on marathon running.
She ran a 31, 55, not bad.
Apparently she thinks she can go faster
and she wasn't wearing spikes,
she was just wearing her Nike Vaporflys.
- It's time for some science.
There's been a pilot study looking at the effects of
omega three on athletes health and performance
and they specifically used fish oil from krill.
They took 50 athletes who were competing in the Norseman
which is a long distance extreme triathlon
and they measured their omega three
before and after the race.
Interestingly, they found that most of the athletes'
omega three was still lower than normal
up to five weeks after the race,
but on the plus side having high doses of krill oil
actually brought their levels
back up to normal pretty quickly.
- They've basically concluded that high intensity exercise
and exertion reduces our omega three levels but
by having higher omega three levels
it increases our recovery time,
it reduces our chances of illness, and
means that we perform better.
Admittedly, this is just a pilot study, but
still really interesting.
- Spring might be trying its best to arrive in
the Northern Hemisphere but still
we just can't check off that indoor training vibe.
If you are a fan of Zwift or indoor training
then there's some good news for you
as there's an exciting new segment that has just arrived.
- It's called Alpe Du Zwift
and it's got some similarities to a pretty famous climb
out in the Alps, Alpe d'Huez, though it has
more switchbacks, it's got 21 switchbacks in total.
It's 12 kilometres long, has a total elevation of
1,036 metres and an average gradient of
eight and half percent.
The only catch and drawback is that you
have to be level 12 or higher on Zwift.
- What a shame, that rules me out, but nevermind.
Leading on from indoor training, last week we asked you
"Do you reduce your hours if you're training indoors
compared to outdoors".
- Yep, and it was pretty close.
In second place, No, but with 40% and
in first place, yes, with 60% and
some interesting comments below.
- Yeah, I'm definitely with the yes on that one.
(upbeat music)
- Now for the Caption Competition!
Last week we had a great photo
from the IT race in New Plymouth,
they had a champagne celebration.
- It was!
And we chose a runner up and a winner this week.
The runner up prize goes to Juan Pablo Garcia,
and his caption, which I love:
"attacking with Champagnolo shifters!"
- (chuckling) It's very imaginitive.
- It's quite clever.
- It's very good.
But our winner this week is Jacob Brown and he said,
"My shower doesn't work in the hotel!"
(both chuckle)
Which is great.
Jacob, if you get in touch on Facebook,
you can claim your GTN swimming cap!
But this week's Caption Competition is
of us two, in Majorca, entering the water.
- [Heather] We do look pretty weightless, don't we, there?
- Very well timed photo.
Let us know your captions in the comments section below.
(fun upbeat music)
And for the GTN Pain Cave!
First one this week is from Dustin Bessette
and they've sent in saying, "It's March, it's snowy,
"we've got ice storms here in New York City"
so he's got his Zwift set up going.
This looks like it's a Jamis bike, which we don't see
too many of set up on his turbo train, and then his giant
I think that's a TCR alongside.
- When the weather does get good enough looks like
it's ready for the road.
Only got one set of pedals though,
(mumbles) swap those over, bit of a hassle.
He's certainly gonna be keeping cool,
'cause that fan is pretty close to the bike.
- [Mark] It's like an industrial fan as well!
- [Heather] (chuckling) Yeah.
- He's got a dual screen set up for his Zwift,
spare set of wheels.
Oh, how nice, he's got his race wheels on an
on wheel turbo trainer.
(sounds of discomfort)
- Yeah.
- Hope that's just for the photo Dustin.
- And I like the angle of the photo.
I want to know if you've either got a drone in your house
or like an extra long selfie stick?
Or maybe there's some stairs up there, who knows?
- Alright, the next one is, wow,
to be honest we have to apologise for you,
we can't seem to find the name for this one,
but it's a really cool photo, so
do get in touch if it is yours.
We've got a Felt on the bike stand, then a
BH bike closer to us.
This looks like someone actually does a little bit of
triathlete or racing 'cause they've got--
- [Heather] Oh, yeah!
- I think they're short clip on bars on their road bike.
Really cool set up on the Felt.
Gotta say, you've got a nice disc wheel there,
Mavic front wheel.
- [Heather] Whoa, that's a deep front wheel, isn't it?
- [Mark] The maintenance area behind is...
- [Heather] But there's a, looks like a clean carpet.
Maybe it's a tiled floor, but
from here it looks like a carpet which is kind of--
- It looks like my dream to be honest.
Next one, and this is a little bit different,
it's from Inaki Percaz, sent in over Facebook,
it's not necessarily an indoor Pain Cave,
- [Heather] (chuckling) Or a Pain Cave, really.
- [Mark] No.
- [Heather] It just looks pretty like,
- [Mark] Delightful!
- [Heather] maybe after their Pain Cave session they
went and dived in.
- [Mark] Yeah, well, cracking a fly kick
- I love the shot, yeah. - On your back.
Next one from Zsolt Zorgel.
And this one is a few images we've got going on here.
We have a Giant, well, a live bike set up on a turbo.
And then, is that another?
That's a giant TCR, I think, set up on another turbo.
- [Heather] There's a lot of rosette's hanging up there.
Now, I've never seen a rosette in triathlon, only
in equestrian events, I wonder if they ride horses as well?
- Ahhh, good eye there.
- Interesting.
- This is a really nice set up there.
Their treadmill alongside their Tacx turbo trainer.
Fantastic!
Do please keep sending in your Pain Caves
using the the hashtag G-T-N paincave
- Well, that's it for this week's GTN Show!
Do keep your comments coming in,
send in any photos of yourself training or your Pain Caves,
and if you're a member of a club
do send us in some info on that as well.
- And make sure you tune in for the Commonwealth Games!
I think there's gonna be some exciting racing going on.
If you'd like to learn a little bit more about
the Commonwealth Games you can see my video on
everything you need to know about the Commonwealth Games
by clicking here.
- And if you want more videos from GTN, remember
you can subscribe by just clicking on the globe,
and if you're starting out this year, and you're new
to triathlon, and you're training for your first
triathlon, there's a great video for that here.