All posts tagged: triathlon

Swim fins

Swim Fins Program

Published by Anna Kazakova

Swim fins are fun! They are amazing training aid for swimmers! There are a lot af advantages for using swim fins: they increase fitness and cardiovascular conditioning, increase ankle flexibility, develop leg strength and improve technique. Here is a simple, mostly crawl, program for 1500 m with swim fins we did today with Swim School Kamishi in 50 m pool in the morning. Warm up/ Strech – dryland 15 min (see the program here) Warm up in water 100 m crawl 200 m medley (50 m Butterfly, 50 m Crawl back, 50 m Breast, 50 m Crawl)   Main Set 2 x 50 m leg kicks with fins crawl, your arms position: out straight in front. 4 x 50 m crawl with fins. First 50 m as fast as you can, second 50 m relax. 4 x 50 m crawl swim without fins. 4 x 50 m leg kicks butterfly with fins, arms breaststroke. Breath every second kick. 4 x 50 m crawl with fins. First 50 m as fast as you can, second 50 m …

HOW MUCH DOES A TRIATHLON COST? PART III: RUNNING

Published by Anna Kazakova

– Run! Run faster than the wind! – It’s a nice phrase, but a triathlete in the middle of a bike-to-run transition will probably punch you in a face if you yell that out loud! After so many kilometers on a bike, the legs just don’t move the way they should after hopping off the bike. But they are hard as stone….and only want to rest. Running gear plays a massive role in this process! Triathletes normally use extra-light running shoes like ZOOT—probably the best triathlete gear in the world. They also uses Asics, but I find them to be hard on the legs, a bit heavier and quite narrow. I have a pair of Asics gel – Tri Noosa 9, but I can’t say that I really like them. For the coming season, I’m willing to try those Swiss engineered Cloudracers. The prices for quality running shoes don’t vary much—basically $100 to $250 on the average. Here’s a tip: choosing the right running shoe for a triathlon should depend on distance and the framework of …

HOW MUCH DOES A TRIATHLON COST? PART II: BIKING

Published by Anna Kazakova

Once upon a time 365 million years ago, the early Tetrapod (Ichthyostega), a fishlike amphibian,  a meter-long creature that had the limbs and skull of an amphibian, crawled out to the groud from the water – evolution captured in transition. I think about evolution every time I crawl out of the water after swimming part of triathlons. My legs and hands don’t listen to my brain. I literally need to voice commands like “Take off goggles!” “Take off cap!” “Unzip wetsuit then run!” It is better to train before as many times as possible.   Speaking of transitions, imagine a triathlete transitioning from one part of the race to the biking part of the race. It’s a crucial section of a triathlon that requires a small investment. Biking is the most expensive part of a triathlon costs. And yes, it can be done with a single- speed or even the same bike that takes you to the grocery store and back—but most guys cannot resist the temptation of buying a brand new one for competing …

How Much Does a Triathlon Cost? Part I: Swimming

Published by Anna Kazakova

A triathlete – is a person who doesn’t understand that one sport is hard enough. So… congratulations! You are one of them! Being that you’re here, you’re probably on your way to completing your first triathlon. And I’m sure you already noticed that this hobby/sport/lifestyle is pretty expensive. Read-on and learn useful tips on how to minimize costs of triathlon equipment as a beginner. Follow the links and click on images to easily shop the equipment you need for the best price we could find.  If we consider the sports associated with a triathlon—swimming, biking, and running—the expenses triple. Instead of one sport, it’s three—making it more difficult to train. Before buying equipment, consider some options. Everything started in water – Life on the planet Earth began in water, and so does a triathlon. In this article we will try to cover all possible expenses you might have during the preparation and participation of a triathlon race. Swimming Triathletes wear everything they need from the get-go. After all, transition-time counts! Wetsuits If you’re competing in …

How I crossed Bosphorus

Published by Anna Kazakova

At 20:45 I arrived at St Görans Hospital emergency entrance. I took a number, registered myself then had a seat. That evening I was supposed to be at my place relaxing and sharing my emotions after the Bosphorus Cross Continental Race. It’s been a week since the event and I still couldn’t find the energy and inspiration to write about it. That’s right my friends, your brave life advisor landed herself in the hospital. A taxi cab swerved into me while biking to the gym. Not my lucky day! Suddenly, at 21:00 and still waiting for a doctor to examine me, I was hit with a rush of inspiration – so I broke out my laptop and began writing. BOSPHORUS  I don’t know about you, but I have a Bucket list* and every summer I try to cross off at least one event. Last year, for example, I went sky diving over St. Petersburg, Russia as well as deep-sea diving in the Atlantic Ocean in Spain. This year I planned to swim from Asia to …

When Doctors Told Me Not to Run

Published by Anna Kazakova

  “Never say never, because limits, like fears, are often just an illusion.”― Michael Jordan Even though it was two years ago, I still have tears in my eyes when I think about that 5 km run on a chilly May day in Stockholm. *** The story began many years ago in my mother country, Russia, when my doctor cautioned me to not run or partake in any physical training. For an active kid like me it was quite harsh to accept. Even my parents, for my own good, took away my bike and roller blades! I remember that day clearly, so clear that I still see that bright white medical coat with the name badge reading ”Surgeon Ivanov.” “You will never run”, – I heard again and again. At the age of eleven, I developed a strange disease called phlebeurysm on my right leg. It looked so awful that I wouldn’t wear shorts or skirts for the following nine years, and I constantly wore bandages on my one leg to reduce pain.  At age …

Three Secrets and a Big Passion – Triathlon!

Published by Anna Kazakova

Today is a big day for our blog! With the help of our web developer, we are launching a new outlay and design—and premiering alongside a new look will be an exciting new topic as well… I’m sure all of you have noticed that I am notably passionate about investment opportunities, leadership, and entrepreneurship. However, I do have another passion that I’d like to share with all of you—a passion that will most certainly reveal another side of me that is absent in any of my past posts. Nevertheless, the time has come to let you all know that “big finance” is not the only ambition that drives me. My other big passion is…SPORTS. First Secret: The Ironman Triathlon is my goal Yes, my passion is sports—particularly triathlon, which is the one sport that most people have little understanding of and are somewhat unaware of how tough it is, both mentally and physically. Swimming, biking, and running completes a triathlon. Just to inform you, triathlon is like a drug. It involves lots of goal setting (years actually) in …