Endurance news from the week of February 19
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Good morning 👋 ! Welcome to the Front Pack newsletter, your source for all things endurance. We bring you the top stories, headlines, deals and other highlights from the week.
A huge thank you to everyone who reached out after Front Pack launched last week. Appreciate every single compliment and piece of feedback. For daily news recaps, follow below.
Stay moving…✌🏼 – Scott
Headlines
🏊🚴🏃 Challenge Wanaka: The 2024 Challenge series got underway this weekend in New Zealand with home favorite Kyle Smith (PTO World #45) winning the men’s race, and Dutch pro Els Visser (PTO World #36) upgrading on her second place finish from the year before. [TRI247]
🏃 Jackpot Ultra Running Festival: Ashley Paulson and Rajpaul Pannu ran the 1.17-mile concrete and asphalt loop a mind numbing 85 times to take home the win in Henderson, NV – which doubles as the USA Track and Field 100-Mile Road National Championship. [UltraRunning]
🏃 MEB. IS. BACK: That’s right, Meb Keflezighi announces his return to the Boston Marathon, on the 10 year anniversary of his 2014 win. Since, no American has run faster than his 2:08:37 effort. [Boston Globe]
🏊🚴🏃 Season Opener: World Triathlon kick starts this weekend with the 2024 World Triathlon Cup Napier (New Zealand). With $60K on the line, Hayden Wilde will look to secure the bag in his home country while USA’s own Gina Sereno is hoping to grab the women’s top spot. [Triathlon]
The War for Triathlon
THE BATTLE: Two organizations are in a Cold War to be the top dog in middle/long distance triathlon.
WHAT’S AT STAKE: Attention, eyeballs and $$$ from triathlon fans everywhere as both the PTO and Ironman battle to secure the top professional talent to their events.
THE CONTENDER: UK based and formed as the PTU in 2015, and rebranding to the Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) in 2016, the PTO announced its 2024 race series in August 2023, grabbing the attention of the triathlon world. An upstart, the PTO has quickly outgunned its major competitor, Ironman, by offering big $$$ incentives, and payouts to professionals to race in their series. With a modern day broadcast strategy using slick drone footage and popular commentators; a social media strategy reminiscent of a Gen Z Tik Toker, and fewer races globally creating more intense moments and bigger competition, PTO has grown to be a serious contender in the sport. Weaknesses include a lack of Age Group races, creating a barrier for brand loyalty.
It’s gauranteed pretty much with the way it works. It’s money before you race and for showing up so as a business opportunity it’s a no brainer. – Leon Chevalier
THE CHAMP: US (Tampa) based, Ironman has reigned supreme for more than 40 years. A near $1B company and pioneer, Ironman took its lumps in 2023 amid athlete safety issues, disappointment over splitting its World Championships into two separate races (Kona and Nice), and the announcement that its CEO was retiring. Though it was second to the PTO in announcing a professional race series, the Ironman Pro Series was worth the wait, as the company will distribute a total pro prize and bonus purse of nearly $6 million in 2024. By flexing its muscles and wallet, Ironman quickly counter punched the PTO by nearly doubling what the PTO currently offers. Weaknesses include rising AG entry fees, merch that’s felt cheap and outdated, and a new CEO that’s unproven.
Every race I have chosen to be a part of this year sets my heart on fire. The Ironman Pro Series is the only racing series that can offer that kind of feeling for me. – Patrick Lange
PICKING SIDES: It’s been nearly a year of nonstop news and changes in triathlon and we’re sure to see even more as the 2024 campaign kicks off. The Pro’s all have a plan but will they stick to it or flip as exhaustion, and injuries pile up. What do you think? You’ve seen the PTO and Ironman rosters – which series are you most looking forward to and what questions do you still have with this new Cold War.
More Top Stories
Golden Gate Racing: This week, the Professional Triathlon Organisation (PTO) announced that the California leg of its new T100 Triathlon World Tour will take place in San Francisco at the iconic Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon on June 8. The PTO will not be running any Age Grouper races but the usual Escape from Alcatraz amateur race will take place the following day, June 9. [PTO]
Super League Triathlon is now … supertri: On the heels of PTO rebranding to T100, and Ironman introducing it’s new Pro Series, Super League Triathlon is going through its own rebrand, now called supertri. [220triathlon]
Do You Enjoy Pain? And 86 Other Questions for a Professional Ultrarunner: A relevant question for us all. When asked why I love endurance sports, my answer is always, the pain. [Outside]
Mental Strategies to Break Down Long Distances: To avoid the pitfalls of cognitive overload, think smaller. Instead of point to point, think gel to gel and more. [run]
Zwift Games 2024: The platform announced registration for the 2024 Games opens February 26. Announced in December, Zwift’s first major racing tour is open to all cyclists, with elite male and female racers competing for $110K. There will be eight champions – male and female winners of each of the three disciplines and two overall champions. [Zwift]
Deals and Steals
💸💸 -22% off ($699.99) Garmin Epix Gen 2: Originally $899.99, this is the cheapest this watch has ever been, even beating out Black Friday deals. I still rock the Garmin Fenix 6X Sapphire which is hands down the best tech I own, but that color display is tempting.
💸💸 -31% off ($54.95) SHOKZ OpenMove Bone Conduction Wireless Earphones: I don’t trust anyone in a car, truck, or SUV when I’m cycling or running on the road. With SHOKZ wireless earphones, I’m guaranteed spacial awareness of what’s happening around me. I have the SHOKZ Pro but these are a great deal.
💸 -17% off ($24) Apple AirTag: Speaking of safety. I hate running with my phone so an easy way to stay safe and keep my loved ones in the know of where I’m at is with a simple AirTag.
💸 -11% off ($84.95) Continental Grand Prix 5000 S TR Tire: Still my favorite default and race tire. That tubeless 700 x 28 is primo.
💸💸 -30% off ($63) Rapha Core Lightweight Cycling Jersey – Women’s: Made for comfort on hot days, this core jersey is as timeless as the brand.
💸💸 -21% to -34% off ($104.95 – $109.95) ASICS Women’s Gel-Nimbus & Men’s Gel-Cumulus 25 Running Shoes: Have you ever done a long run on clouds? These shoes won Most cushioned and comfortable 2023 by Letsrun.
💸💸💸 -65% off ($3,250) Cervelo ZFS-5 GX Bike (Unisex): Originally $5K and available in almost every size, yes, it’s still expensive but an insanely good deal for a very good Cervelo XC full suspension bike.
The Rewatchables
New or old, check out some top rewatchable content for any indoor session.
TRACK: All Access: Conner Mantz and Clayton Young workout in Provo, Utah (26°F; 4,551ft) three weeks out from winning the 2024 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials.
2023 VinFast IRONMAN World Championship Documentary: This 5 – episode special chronicles triathlon’s pinnacle event, which for the first time was hosted in two separate locations when the men raced in Nice, France and the women raced in Kona, Hawaii.
The Divide | Lachlan Morton | Explore series: Starting in Banff, Alberta, Canada and ending 2,671 miles later in Antelope Wells, New Mexico, USA, the divide route is considered the Tour de France of bikepacking. Over two weeks, pro cyclist Lachlan Morton attempts to break the fastest known time to complete the trail – 13 days, 21 hours and 51 minutes.
Nerd Nugget
If you’re a Training Peaks user, you’ve no doubt seen these values, it may even haunt you. Located on your home screen, it changes daily with your workouts but what’s it all mean? A dumb person would say these are:
😮💨 Fatigue: How much work you’ve done and how hard you’ve pushed yourself over the last 7 days.
💪 Fitness: A rolling 6-week TSS average of how much work you done.
🏃 Form: A calculation that pits yesterday’s fitness minus yesterday’s fatigue.
The simple explanation is – it’s assumed that your last 6 weeks of training sets your fitness level, and this chart tells you whether you’re ramping up, ramping down, or staying constant in training load. That’s basically it. It does not tell you anything about quality of workouts, nutrition, heart rate vs power trends, etc. You can use the chart as a guide on how to taper before a race, how to slowly ramp up training so you don’t go too hard too fast, etc. but it’s not going to line up perfectly with details on how you feel versus the form on the chart. Take it as a useful guide but not the end all be all.
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