COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Nothing will slow you down or stop you like heat and humidity. As the temperatures rise in June and July, so does the number of heat-related problems experienced by triathletes. Most experts agree that your body will acclimatize to heat and humidity - mostly in the first two to three weeks of exposure, and maximally after about two months.

It's that time of year again, when shaking in our legs from the cold is replaced by the shaking from pre-race anxieties! As you dust the cobwebs off your wetsuit and dig out your tinted goggles, there is a lot to think about when you toe the line in your first few races of the year. Here are some specific pointers for you to consider. Check the Race Priority

What follows is an attempt to help each triathlete for the preparation, strategy, and "game-plan" of racing a "Pool-sprint" style race. We approach this in a format to answer real questions that we have been asked about these types of races.

For the most part, multi-sport racing requires a steady, consistent pace from start to finish. Multi-sport racing is a balance between energy conservation and expenditure. With the exception of draft legal events, opponent strategy and tactics are largely not a consideration, whereas individual pacing is.

Concentration is paying attention to the right things at the right time. Along with physical skills, strong mental skills are an essential for peak performance. It is the mind that often holds us back. In the heart of a race many things compete for your attention, distracting you from your goal objective.

Remember that there are many little steps that make you successful on race day. Here are some of the common mistakes that triathletes make in their race preparation. Learn from the errors of others, without paying the price yourself.

Once the legs are shaven, you've got your GI number 2 haircut (ladies this may be a touch extreme!!), carbo loaded to the brim, have a log full of impressive workouts, done a good taper all that's left is execution of your solid game plan!

Last month I talked about the Myth of LSD and how base training was essentially your chance to set yourself up to have a good race season while improving your aerobic fitness. Now that you are into your base season, or at least you should be, you can gauge your fitness by jumping into some races to see where you really are. There is a great quote by Dr.

The Competitive Rules are intended to provide for the orderly and consistent administration of events sanctioned by USA Triathlon and are not designed to establish standards of care for the safety of participants or other persons.

Coach Oliver writes: Race Calender full? Have you got a spare weekend to train or rest, or have you signed up for every multisport competition your diary can handle? Have you considered how much your body can really handle?