Triathlon A to Z

The world of triathlon can seem like a minefield of technical terminology and jargon to the first-timer, and who better to help compile the RW Triathlon Glossary than our experienced forumites?

With your collective knowledge from hundreds of races and years of training, we'd like you to add, edit and compile all your triathlon lingo into one neat, alphabetical list. From aerobars to drafting, T1 to T2, and everything in between.

Feel free to add as many terms and definitions as you want - once we have a comprehensive list we’ll publish an article online.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Catherine RW

Aerobars - add on extensions to allow to "aerotuck" and thus achive higher speeds if used correctly.

                 - A nice chocolate bar that is normaly minty to taste

Pounce - likes bikes, talks in tounges and has a certian thing about carbon.

Ponce = muppet or

calling me a muppet?

Mash

 - to push a big gear on the bike

- what comes with sausages and gravy down the pub.

Bonk

- a state of great exhaustion caused largely by the depletion of glycogen in the muscles

- horizontal jogging 

Shredded

- what your thighs will feel like after a long hilly ride

- how the local cantonese takeaway serves its beef, mmmmmm

Eccentric contraction

- the lengthening of a muscle during contraction

- the above post when you've lost your marbles.

(coat, leaving)

kk - how about an entry on clipless pedals

Brick - two or three of the individual disciplines performed one after the other in training to simulate how you will feel in a race .

Drafting - riding too close to the cyclist in front of you in a race - leading to disqualification if  seen by a race marshal.

Bento box (or any number of other similar boxes) - a rectangular box that fits on your bike's top bar usually with velcro tapes - for putting your food and other supplies in.

Bumblebees and Racehorses

Think like a Bumblebee, train like a Racehorse 

NASA did several studies and found out that a bumblebee can't fly, but luckily no one told the bumblebee, the bumblebee goes on believing it can fly and so it does.

A racehorse trains according to the plan that its trainer develops for it. It then doesn't go out and add uneccesary mileage as it's worried about its performance, neither does it worry or fret after a poor performance. It's nervous and excited on race day but it doesn't stand there and compare itself to the next horse and the next one. It is purposeful and it gets faster and stronger.

Think like a Bumblebee, train like a Racehorse!

(Joe Friel)

Great shout Barlos and a worthy addition to any tri/running glossary.

While I’m here, I’ve noted a list of other possible terms that could be added.

Aero helmet
Bala
Cadence
Cross-training
Ironman distance
Olympic distance
Half Ironman distance
Mdot
Pirate
Sandbagging
Shifters
Sprint
Tempo
Tri Suit
T1
T2
Vitruvian
Waves (start)

Lordy, if we add ponce terminology this will need to be published by Collins!!!

triples
compacts
cassettes
chain whips

etc

Don't forget the "4th discipline" (transition)

Aero helmet *giggles*

Who wants that one? It's a gift!