A three month program designed to help beginning swimmers improve technique for a sprint distance race.

The goal is to get stronger while your swim, bike and run training schedule is relatively light and you can afford to hit the weights hard a couple times each week.

Good memories are crucial to your success in the water. Trying to swim laps before you are comfortable in the water is likely to reinforce your anxiety, so avoid the white-knuckle approach.

Most of us belong to groups and there will always be pressure to keep up. It may be underlying or it may be outright, but no doubt, that pressure to go faster is always there.

Your sports medicine physician may recommend an exercise challenge. This test involves blowing into the spirometer, exercising hard enough and long enough to cause symptoms.

The mental, the physical and all the rest. I have come to realize one of the most important sides of sports is mental.

I commonly hear marathoners, triathletes and other highly competitive endurance athletes complain “For all the exercise I do, I should be pencil thin.”

Many athletes train hard but fail to fuel their bodies at the right times with the right foods. Sound familiar? You might want to think about getting a nutrition check up with a sports dietitian.

It’s frighteningly amazing how much fitness you lose in such a short amount of time, which makes no sense if you ask me. It should leave no quicker than it was achieved.

Most triathlons in America are held under USA Triathlon sanctioning. Last year I finally got a national ranking. Here are a few reasons to join.

There was a long run from the water to the transition area at the London Tri but I quickly found my bike and headed out onto the road.

Has anyone out there using the resistance bands insead of weights for strength training? If so, what have your results been?

Once I can run again I'm thinking about keeping it in the training plan as a substitute for a few of my short runs. Has anyone else done this for their marathon training?

BT'ers vote on all of their favorite products, sites and people. See results for the sports of swim, bike, run and triathlon.

When we get ready to train or race, we have a pretty fixed set of thoughts. We are unaware of how they affect our racing.