Tuesday, February 19, 2013

A Professional Triathlete's Wish List

What more could they ask for? They get paid(assuming they win) to race, often get free places to stay at the races and free race entry, and are really, really fit. Some athletes also have gear sponsors that can get them free race and training gear. Amber's awesome sponsor, Zoot, has eliminated an expensive element of her lifestyle by comping her a lot of great gear and giving her a nice discount for the rest. So what more could she ask for? [Note: this is my interpretation of things that she would need, not her actual wish list:) ]

A Hen House:
With the expense of traveling with your bike often outweighing the cost to fly yourself to the race, traveling quickly gets really expensive. TriBike Transport is an awesome resource when available but there are times when we can't use them and have to travel with Amber's bike. The Hen House is designed to eliminate the oversized(and overpriced) fee that airlines assess on most bike boxes(One big airline recently charged us $150 each way to carry her bike!).
Better still, an airline sponsorship that allowed her to fly and carry her bike for free would be nice.

Recovery Boots:
A huge part of training is the recovery, and recovery boots like NormaTec MVP Recovery System provides dynamic compression promoting faster recovery times.

Alter G:
A major limiter to run performance is how much pounding your body can take. With an Alter-G offloading a percentage of your body weight, you can run faster and longer with less strain on your body.

Altitude Tent:
Train low, sleep high. The benefits of living at altitude is pretty well documented and we are not leaving Concord so a good compromise is an altitude tent which simulates sleeping at high elevation thus promoting increased red blood cell proliferation and thus improving performance.



An endless pool:
Amber may argue with this, but I view flip turns and the subsequent push off of the wall as wasted time from the actual act of swimming and is unnecessary in open water swimming. You also never have to share lanes or wake up at ungodly hours just to get your swim in. Downside? You must likely won't find other people's hairs on your body when you're done.


While we're being silly here,  a private jet(and pilot) and a Concord Co-op food sponsorship would definitely help as well!


So, if you know anyone who works in any of these areas and think you can work you magic to get Amber sponsored, do it! :)

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