As a gym rat for almost 15 years and strength and conditioning professional for the last ten, I have seen plenty fads come and go. From “Six Minute Abs” to “Exercise in a Bottle”, we have seen them all. Unfortunately, Functional Training (FT) is lumped into this category. However, functional training is more than just a fad.

We have bad news and good news for you. The bad news is that once you finish this article, you are going to want to cancel that winter schedule of base building, aerobic mileage-oriented, zone 1-2 training. The good news is that by the time you finish reading, you’ll be ready to set up your best triathlon season yet!

Historically most people, including triathletes, think of strength training as bodybuilding. Unfortunately this thinking keeps many triathletes from participating in a properly designed strength and conditioning program. For most endurance athletes the benefits of strength training are outweighed by the fear of gaining too much bulk, loss of flexibility and diminished "feel" of their sport.

What if you could achieve the benefits of a 3 hour bike ride with just 30 minutes of training? What if you received the same endurance adaptations of an 18 mile run during a simple 20 minute session? No, I’m not talking about blood doping or ‘roids. I’m referring to HIT.

It is nice to be back home. It has been a long focus and lead up to Kona and not getting the result I was after makes it a little more difficult. I was able to spend the rest of the week with my family in Kona, which was great. Spending time that was lost leading up to the race. I got to snorkel, swim, and surf with my son Kaiden.

Here are bunch of pictures I took while over watching the Ironman World Championships last weekend. I uploaded to my Flickr account.

I am sitting on a plane on the way to Kailua Kona, Hawaii, where I will be competing in the 2008 Ironman World Championship. Living in Bend, Oregon suggests that I get to Kona 2 weeks early to get acclimated to the heat and humidity not to mention that it will allow me to spend some quality time with my brother and some friends who are also doing the race.

In the world of endurance, it seems that you cannot discuss fitness without discussing VO2 max. Ask any endurance athlete about it and you will hear epic stories with names like Indurain, LeMond, and Armstrong. Many of you however, may find yourselves wondering what exactly VO2 max is and why is it so important.

The tension and excitement in the triathlon world is beginning to build. We are a week away from the Hawaii Ironman. The World Championships of Ironman racing and a course that provides a huge challenge to any athlete lucky enough to be starting. In order to excel on this course an athlete needs optimal preparation, great tactical execution, a lot of courage, and a little dose of luck.

Recently, I’ve been plagued with an injury while preparing to race the Ironman World Championship of triathlon in Kona, Hawaii. The injury is called “IT Band Friction Syndrome” and requires low-impact or non-weight bearing exercise to maintain fitness until the knee is pain-free (alternative, highly non-attractive option is to run through the pain and destroy your knee forever).