If the Ironman World Championship Doesn't Happen in Kona, Did It Even Happen? |
 | | Since 1981, Kona has played host to the pinnacle of triathlon: the Ironman World Championship.Mia A'i for The New York Times |
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The highest peak of a triathlete's career can be found along a stretch of Ali'i Drive in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. |
It's a small road, one dotted with local cafes, a smattering of hotels and the Kona Farmers Market. |
Since 1981, the town of around 20,000 has played host to the pinnacle of the sport: the Ironman World Championship. Annually, 2,500 athletes qualify to participate in the event, having outraced those in their age groups in a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile marathon. |
"Everyone who has heard of triathlon as a sport has heard of Kona," Todd Wakefield, a world championship qualifier said. |
But on Jan. 5, Ironman officially announced that it would be making a long-term change to the annual world championship. The 2023 event will take place across two days in two cities. This year, men will be racing in Nice, France, on Sept. 10 while the women will race in Kona on Oct. 14. The two cities will host until 2026, with men and women switching locations every year. |
No longer would Kona be singularly synonymous with the top Ironman triathletes in the world. |
"We need to continue to adapt to what has been an extraordinary growth in demand for the world championship," Andrew Messick, the chief executive of Ironman said. "While Kona is a huge part of the history of Ironman, we have outgrown the ability to do a world championship in just one day there." |
The number of athletes who can qualify for the world championship has not changed, even as the number of athletes competing in the Ironman series of races has exploded in the past 17 years. It has gone from 15,500 registrations for full-distance Ironman triathlon events in 2005 to some 94,000 registrations for full-distance Ironman races in 2022. In 2005, there were 14 full distance Ironman triathlons around the world. In 2023, there are 44 such races scheduled. But the number of athletes who could toe the line in Kona remained squarely around 2,500. |
That's in contrast to an event such as the Boston Marathon. That race, a pinnacle for amateur distance runners, had a field of close to 20,000 in 2005. It has grown to a field of around 30,000 in 2022. |
It is difficult to overstate the significance of place to these races. For runners and triathletes, qualifying for a race is qualifying to "run Boston" or to "race Kona." Runners don't want to qualify for the Boston Marathon to run the marathon in another city. And many aren't interested in qualifying for a world championship to race outside of Hawaii. |
Read the full article here. |
The Secret to a Better Workout Is Probably Already in Your Kitchen |
 | | Shawn Michael Jones for The New York Times |
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For two years, Steph Gaudreau gave up her daily cup of coffee. She switched to large mugs of herbal tea — not because caffeine was affecting her sleep or making her anxious, but to gain an edge in cross-country mountain bike racing. |
Hoping to enhance the effect of caffeine as a performance aid, Ms. Gaudreau, who lives in San Diego, drank a cup of coffee on race day as she warmed up. Once that prerace caffeine boost hit, Ms. Gaudreau, now a nutritional therapy practitioner and strength coach, said she felt a sense of euphoria, which helped her feel focused and mentally prepared for her race. The strategy paid off. In 2010, she took first place in a regional amateur biking race, called the Kenda Cup. |
How much of a boost can caffeine give? |
Ms. Gaudreau wasn't imagining the effect of her prerace cup of coffee. There's a good consensus among scientists that caffeine gives an exercising edge, whether it's running a marathon, lifting weights or playing soccer, said Nanci Guest, a dietitian, coach and researcher at the University of Toronto who led a comprehensive review in 2021 of caffeine and exercise. |
Whether consumed via coffee, a workout supplement or an energy drink, caffeine tends to improve performance by an average of 2 to 5 percent, said Brad Schoenfeld, a professor of exercise science at the Lehman College in the Bronx and director of the school's human performance and fitness program. |
This response to caffeine varies from person to person, depending on factors like genetics, sex, hormonal activity and even diet. Some see performance improvement above 5 percent, while others experience almost none. |
How should you use caffeine to help your athletic performance? |
Whether physical or mental, the benefits of caffeine apply to competitive athletes and those just wanting a slight improvement in their workout. One study found that caffeine improved the 5K times of well-trained runners by 11 seconds and recreational runners by 12 seconds. |
"To the elite or high-level athlete, it's going to mean a lot," Mike T. Nelson, an associate professor at the Carrick Institute for Clinical Neuroscience said. |
For instance, an eight-ounce cup of coffee has about 100 milligrams of caffeine, although this can vary depending on the type of coffee and the method of brewing. So, two cups of coffee for a 150-pound person comes out to 1.3 milligrams per pound. It may take some experimentation to find the right dose for you, because people metabolize caffeine differently. Whatever your ideal dosage, be sure to take it about an hour before exercise to allow time for your bloodstream to absorb the caffeine. |
Side effects and tolerance breaks |
While caffeine can help your exercise performance, it does have some adverse effects. |
"If your performance involves fine motor skills, anecdotally those people tend to do worse," Dr. Nelson said. |
"People underestimate the value of sleep," Dr. Guest said. Whatever performance gains caffeine is giving you could be nullified if you are experiencing chronic sleep deprivation. Caffeine also has other side effects for some people, including nervousness, anxiety and increased blood pressure. |
Read the full article here. |
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