#triathlon

Articles tagged: triathlon

10 articles

Pickle juice for cramps: 49 seconds shorter in the lab, zero change in the blood — what we know about the shots McDonald's handed out before the Chicago Marathon

Before the Chicago Marathon McDonald's gave away free 60 ml bottles of pickle juice, and at IRONSTAR Sirius, a Russian triathlon series, coach Suren's team handed out brine with and without vinegar in random order for a study. We look at what is known: a reflex in the mouth rather than “topping up salt”, a fresh meta-analysis of cramp risk factors, and how much pickle juice to drink.

running triathlon injury-prevention

Dmitry Volkov•Oct 12, 2026

How much time does a wetsuit save? Anywhere from 0 to 11% — and weaker swimmers gain the most

In the pool a wetsuit makes you about 6% faster on average, but strong swimmers may gain nothing at all, while triathletes with sinking legs gain up to 19 seconds per 400 m. We go through the research and explain why the gain seems to “disappear” in open water.

triathlon swimming gear

Andrey Leskov•Sep 28, 2026

SARMs in recreational athletes: a five-year ban for three substances, and only 52% of products that contain what the label says

On 11 September 2026 USADA handed a five-year ban to a 49-year-old recreational triathlete: a sample taken at an ordinary city race contained ostarine, ligandrol and exogenous testosterone. A good moment to work out what SARMs are, why nobody has ever shown an effect of theirs on endurance, and how they end up inside people who never deliberately took anything.

supplements health science

Maxim Belyaev•Sep 21, 2026

A blocked nose after the pool: 74% of swimmers, chloramines and the trap of decongestant drops

The culprit is not chlorine but what chlorine turns into when it meets sweat and urine. 74% of swimmers have rhinitis symptoms against 40% in controls — and two weeks out of the pool clear them. Meanwhile the most popular “treatment” only makes things worse.

swimming triathlon health

Olga Marchenko•Sep 1, 2026

Blue-green algae cancelled the swim at Ironman Leeds: what it is and why it will happen more often

A day before the start the organisers removed the swim leg: the concentration of cyanobacteria in the lake turned out to be significantly above the threshold recommended by the UK health agency. The race became a duathlon. Here is what blooms, why it is dangerous and how to assess the water yourself.

triathlon swimming health

Ekaterina Gromova•Aug 24, 2026

Heart rate zones in running and cycling: the average gap is 2 beats, the transfer error is 12

Across 5311 athletes, maximum heart rate on the bike came out just 2 beats lower than in running. But you still can't carry threshold zones from one sport into the other — and here's why the group average is useless.

training heart-rate science

Anna Severova•Aug 10, 2026

Saddle height and knee pain: the 40 degrees past which the trouble starts

In cyclists with knee flexion greater than 40°, pain scored 4.4 on a ten-point scale; in the rest, 0.9. After the saddle was set to 25–30°, pain fell to 1.4 within two weeks. A look at the study and at what to do with the formulas.

science cycling injury-prevention

Anna Severova•Aug 7, 2026

Can you swap part of your running for cycling without losing fitness? What a meta-analysis showed

A systematic review of 7 randomized trials compared running and cycling training. It found no difference in VO₂max gains or running performance — we break down what this means for triathletes and recovering runners.

running cycling triathlon

Maxim Belyaev•Jul 11, 2026

Will one sleepless night wreck your race? What an experiment with cyclists revealed

26 amateur cyclists stayed awake for 25 hours, then rode a 40-minute effort and a 20-minute time trial. We break down what suffered, what held up, and why a single normal night set everything right again.

cycling triathlon recovery

Olga Marchenko•Jul 4, 2026

Endurance Sports Digest: November 2025

Three world records in ultrarunning on a single day, historic NYC Marathon finish, doping scandal with world record holder, and ski season start in Russia. Top 20 news of the month.

news ultrarunning marathon

Andrey Leskov•Nov 30, 2025

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