UpBeat Workouts

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Triathlon legend Sally Edwards, Ironman masters champion and five other’s highlight the fourth class of the USA Triathlon Hall of Fame. Edwards was a pioneer in the sport writing the first book titled Triathlon: A Triple Fitness Sport, opening the first triathlon retail store Fleet Feet Triathlete, starting the first apparel line of triathlon wear called TRI Triathlon, and many other first. She has finished 16 Ironman triathlons around the world as well as 150 Danskin all women’s triathlon.

Also selected in this year’s class were top age-grouper Ethel Autorino and contributors Bob Babbitt and Mark Allen, Scott Molina and Scott Tinley, who combined to win nine Ironman World Championship titles over the course of their decorated careers.

All six inductees will be honored at a banquet on Thursday, May 10 at the Bahia Resort Hotel in San Diego to open the ITU World Triathlon San Diego race weekend. Ticket information will be available on usatriathlon.org in the near future. This exclusive event, which has sold out in each of the past three years, will be limited to 250 attendees.

“Our six inductees for 2012 represent all that is good about the multisport lifestyle, and USA Triathlon is thrilled to honor their contributions to our sport,” said Chuck Graziano, chair of the USA Triathlon Hall of Fame Committee. “We look forward to hosting the event in San Diego and believe this will be a fitting kick off to the ITU World Triathlon San Diego weekend.”

The USA Triathlon Hall of Fame was founded in 2008, and this year’s class will bring the total number of inductees to 19. Visit usatriathlon.org for more information on the USA Triathlon Hall of Fame.

About this year’s inductees:

Mark Allen (Pre-2000 Elite):
Mark Allen is recognized as one of triathlon’s all-time greats, having captured six Ironman World Championship titles between 1989-95. His final victory came at age 37, making him the oldest champion in the event’s history. Allen also excelled at Olympic-distance racing, winning the first-ever ITU World Championships in 1989 in Avignon, France, by more than a minute. Between 1988-90, Allen put together a winning streak of 20 races. Over the course of his competitive career, which ended in 1996, Allen earned a podium finish in 90 percent of his races. He was named Triathlete of the Year six times by Triathlete magazine, and in 1997 Outside magazine tabbed him “The World’s Fittest Man.” He currently coaches athletes in  ver 50 countries through MarkAllenOnline.com and is an award-winning author for the book he co-authored with Brant Secunda titled “Fit Soul, Fit Body: 9 Keys to a Healthier, Happier You.”

Ethel Autorino (Age Group Triathlete):
Ethel Autorino stands as one of the most decorated age-groupers in U.S. multisport history. She is a 10-time age-group winner at the USA Triathlon Age Group National Championship and went on to capture six gold medals and one silver as a member of Team USA at the ITU World Championships between 1990-2000. In her first-ever Ironman World Championship, she posted the women’s 50-59 age-group record in 1986 and in 2000 set the women’s 70-74 age-group record. A resident of Piscataway, N.J., Autorino was featured in Sports Illustrated’s“Faces in the Crowd” for her 2000 Ironman performance.

Bob Babbitt (Contributor):
Bob Babbitt has helped push the sport of triathlon to new heights through a myriad of contributions over the past 25 years. His work in the world of multisport media began when he co-founded the popular endurance sports publication Competitor Magazine in 1987 and launched Competitor Radio in 1990 alongside fellow triathlete Paul Huddle. Babbitt has co-authored books with the likes of Mark Allen and Julie Moss and also authored “30 Years of the Ironman Triathlon World Championship.” Additionally, he is the creator of the Columbia Muddy Buddy Ride and Run Series and is the co-founder of the Challenged Athletes Foundation, which has raised over $32 million to help disabled athletes over the past 19 years. He was the 10th inductee into the Ironman Triathlon Hall of Fame and was presented with the Shoemaker Media Awareness Award by the Paralysis Project of America. Babbitt has completed more than 300 triathlons, including six Ironman events.

Sally Edwards (Contributor):
As an athlete, best-selling author and entrepreneur, Sally Edwards has constantly displayed the passion and the plan to get America fit. She has founded six fitness-related businesses, including Fleet Feet Sports, YubaShoe Sport Snowshoes and current ventures such as Upbeat Workouts, an iPhone app for runners. Edwards has written 23 books on sports, fitness and health, including the popular title, “Triathlons for Women.” As an athlete, Edwards is a 16-time Ironman finisher and set a Master’s world record in the event in 1988. She is a former winner of the
Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run and ran in the 1984 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. Edwards has served as the national spokeswoman for the Danskin and Trek Women’s Triathlon Series since 1990. She has a streak of 150 last-place finishes in the Danskin and Trek events so that no other woman has to finish last. Edwards was inducted into the Triathlete Hall of Fame in 1999.

Scott Molina (Pre-2000 Elite):
Scott Molina stands as one of the most decorated triathletes in the history of the sport. Among his 104 professional triathlon victories are six USA Triathlon Elite National Championships — including four straight from 1983-86 — the 1988 Ironman World Championship and a pair of World’s Toughest Triathlon titles. He posted 50 U.S. Triathlon Series victories and recorded more than 200 total podium finishes over the course of his career. Born in Pittsburg, Calif., as one of seven children, Molina married fellow professional triathlete Erin Baker in 1990. The couple has three children and one grandchild. He resides in Christchurch, New Zealand, where he has worked as a triathlon coach since 1995.

Scott Tinley (Pre-2000 Elite):
With nearly 100 career multisport victories, Scott Tinley ranks as one of the winningest triathletes of all time. After discovering the sport as a student at San Diego State in 1976, Tinley became a two-time Ironman World Championship winner, topping the podium in 1982 and 1985. He is a member of the Triathlete and Ironman halls of fame. Additionally, Tinley is a pioneer in off-road triathlon and continues to co-own and manage the longest running off-road triathlon in the world, Scott Tinley’s Adventures in San Luis Obispo, Calif. Tinley, a doctoral candidate, continues to stay close to professional and amateur sport as a researcher, college lecturer, marketing consultant, columnist, writer and participant. He resides in Del Mar and Gaviota, Calif., with his wife, Virginia and two children, Torrie and Dane.

Previous Inductees:
Susan Bradley-Cox (2010)
Jim Curl (2009)
Judy Flannery (2008)
Barb Lindquist (2009)
Dave McGillivray (2010)
Paula Newby-Fraser (2009)
Jon Gray Noll (2008)
Dave Scott (2010)
Verne Scott (2008)
Valerie Silk (2009)
Karen Smyers (2008)
Sheila Taormina (2008)
Carl Thomas (2009)

About USA Triathlon
Founded in 1982, USA Triathlon is proud to serve as the National Governing Body for triathlon – one of the fastest growing sports in the world – as well as duathlon, aquathlon, aquabike, winter triathlon and paratriathlon in the United States. USA Triathlon sanctions 4,000 races and connects with more than 150,000 members each year, making it the largest multisport organization in the world. In addition to its work with athletes, coaches, and race directors on the grassroots level, USA Triathlon provides leadership and support to elite athletes competing at international events, including ITU World Championships, Pan American Games and the Summer Olympic Games. USA Triathlon is a proud member of the International Triathlon Union and the United States Olympic Committee

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There are now over 1,000 running apps to choose from.  This proliferation of running apps compounded by the weak search features in the iTunes App store, makes it tough to choose one that fits most runner’s needs. With 20 different features, app reviewers often turn to the route of least resistance avoiding the new apps in preference to the older apps like Nike+, Log Your Run, RunKeeper, MapMyRun, Jog Log, Runtastic, and Runmeter.

Most running apps share the same core feature set: GPS with route views and elevation, the free lite  or fee versions, shuffled music, logging, and speed/distance/voice cues. In the last year, two new features have become popular upgrades (1) insert a dongle for adding heart rate display and storing the data (2) uploads to social sites or email results to share your workout with friends.

For those of you who are interested in a well-researched comparison chart of the established GPS enabled running apps thank Tim Adam at Log Your Run for sharing his chart.

But if you are at all like me, I like to give the newer apps a chance to be the buzz and gain some traction by affording them their chance for a modicum of recognition and some buzz.  And, one of the features that I love in a running app is some form of motivation or inspiration. That can come from a power song or a positive not corny voice cue. What I like the most is coached workouts during the run. One of the features that I like the least is the voice cue about pace – it usually says that I am slow so I just turn it off.

So, given my predilections here are a couple of new running apps that I like:

1. iSmoothRun: Focused on providing runners with best of class, this new running app provides a new feature: it uses both GPS and the built in accelerometer allowing you to switch between the two automatically if your are first indoors on a treadmill to warm up, and then head outdoors for your workouts. Plus, it tracks your running cadence using the built in metronome which helps make you a better runner. And, your data is yours – easy to export or let RunKeeper store it for you – you choose. Check out the Ghost Run feature – fun to challenge yourself with or if you follow a training plan add your interval workouts and let iSmoothRun guide you. According to support team member Manolis from iSmoothRun, “iSmoothRun offers a set of features that are very advanced, unique and differentiate it from the average GPS tracker that can be found on the App store.”

1. Endomondo Sports Tracker: In October of 2009, Endomondo Sports Tracker launched. It’s a powerhouse of an app if you like competition with your friends or against yourself, this might be the running app of choice. It has a pep-talk feature to keep you motivated and you can review your workouts and your friends online with auto-save to the Endomondo site. Strong social features in the app. And, it’s not run specific so you can use one app for cycling, hiking, skating, and more rather than having to download separate apps for each activity. According to  Jakob Nordenhof Jønck from Endonomondo “So when you couple fun and social in a meaningful way, you can really motivate people. We are lot of passionate people in Endomondo working on this goal.?

1. iMobileIntervals: This is a new running app first released in January 2010 with new features. It is the first app to integrate all the interoperable protocols known as ANT+ and their sensors which are supported by the WahooFitness API. Another first, it was the app with telemetry (now copied by others) so you can track a friend during a race or for safety and it shows the location and the performance during the workout to your coach or to anyone you want to share this with.  IMobileIntervals telemetry has a unique aspect: you can embed the telemetry widget anywhere you like. According to Ransom Weaver, the developer of iMobileIntervals “For instance on your team’s website or personal blog. It also can use Facebook to notify your friends when and how to see your telemetry, and when and how to see your workout results when you complete.

Enjoy these fresh new features and innovative running iPhone apps to make your workouts more fun and easier to stick to a running program for the rest of your life.

Sally Edwards
Author, Be a Better Runner 

For the past 40 years, I have, in various incarnations, witnessed the transformation of millions of people as they crossed the finish line of their first, or their umpteenth, 5K to marathon or sprint to Ironman triathlon races. That feeling — that you can accomplish anything in your life that you prepare for — is one of the most exhilarating sensations that you may ever experience in your life.

Upbeat Workouts, the new iPhone app, is one of those experiences that can morph your running and take you from a big, green, OK-not-great-runners to a butterfly that flies across the finish line fitter and faster. Because the app provides you with a “synchronous experience” where your stride and your rhythm are entrained the process happens. This is the experience of change, growth, and empowerment, and it happens every single time you do an Upbeat Workout especially with a coached workout – and meet our coaches.

I know for sure that when we change, all things change. I know the change that comes from busting out of our cocoon and flying out as a butterfly.  The change is profound – it is the first step to believing what had previously been unimaginable – you as a faster and better runner. That change, that realization that there is a better runner inside – is a powerful force in our lives and migrates to all parts of it. I know what change can do for you. Because, when you change, all things change for you.

Let me conclude with a statement about the importance of your first time or umpteenth Upbeat Workout from one of our walkers who said to me ”I feel as though I got wings and used them to go higher and I love the view from up here.”

Start talking about changing from running without to running with Upbeat. Tell everyone. Spread the word that if you can do it and if you love it then your mother, brother, daughter, and friend can do it too. That’s one of the ways that we are going to get America fit – by having fun and by moving feeling upbeat.

Sally Edwards
Founder and CEO, Upbeat Workouts

Why would you spend $250 for a new mobile phone because you wanted a $2.99 app? That’s because you have a Blackberry and you want to run to the new Upbeat app and it runs only on the iPhones platform. Maggie Sullivan, Series Director of the Trek Women and the Danskin Triathlon Series, shelled out hundreds of dollars for an iPhone just to buy a $2.99 app. Here’s what happened. Maggie wanted to go for a run with series national spokeswoman, Sally Edwards while they were both in Michigan. But, alas, it was pouring rain so Sally suggested that they do an Upbeat Workouts inside – in the hotel’s gym. As an avid and raving Blackberry fan, it was a challenge to convince Maggie to borrow Sally’s iPod Touch. At Sally’s suggestion, Maggie selected from the cadre of coaches, ultra-marathoner and coach Bob Crowley’s “LSD Surprise” a synchronized motivational workout that is 61 minutes in length.

“Time drags and boredom sets in when I am inside on a treadmill,” confesses the 21 year veteran Series Director, Maggie Sullivan, “but with Upbeat it just flew by and I ran/walked harder than if I were left to random asynchronous music.  Coach Bob’s voice guidance in my ear giving me tips and surprises periodically made me run faster and longer.” Maggie feel in love with a new way of running – synchronization of strides and steps. The next day, Maggie flew home to New York City, dropped her luggage at her apartment, and darted out to the Manhattan Apple retail store. Hours latter, the avid Blackberry raver sent Sally an email photo of her with her new iPhone loaded with Upbeat Workouts as her first app. The app cost $2.99 and the workout “LSD Surprise” was free. The iPhone cost $250. “It has cost me a fortune to buy Sally Edwards’ Upbeat Workouts. The app was only $2.99 app – the phone was the fortune. The fun of using Upbeat was worth it all.”

For more information on Upbeat Workouts for Runners contact Matt Van Tuinen  matt@mvtpr.com

The research shows that if you match the beat of the music to the strides per minute of your running tempo, you perform better.* One possibility as to the underlying mechanism of “beat matched running” is that music tends to decrease stride time variability – the amount of time between each step. The theory is that synchronous music, music that matches your stride cadence, helps you, the runner or walker, to smooth out this between step time variability.  If you can make your steps more consistent by lessening this time variability you will see performance benefits. So, how do you run better learning to decrease the time latency between steps?
Upbeat Workouts wants to help you to become a better runner by showing you exactly how much you vary the time between strides. Currently, Upbeat Workouts displays your “stride cycle” which is different than your SPMs, your strides per minute. For example, one cycle of left foot then right foot shows on the display on the main workout screen of Upbeat Workouts. So, if you see the number 80 that means 80 cycles of left foot-right foot strikes or multiply that number by 2x to get 160 strides per minute.
We’ve decided to change the Upbeat Workout display to represent exact SPMs rather than stride cycles to show you how profound the flux is in stride time variability.  This upcoming change should help you develop a consistent number as you run rather than watching the device bounce around from 160, 168, 162 SPMs for example. When you smooth out your running by entraining to the music the variability will be 160, 162, 161 – that’s what you want to see.
Beat matched running happens best when you synchronize the beats per minute of the music smoothly and consistently evening out the frequency of your strides per minute.

Sally Edwards, CEO and Founder, Upbeat Workouts and Heart Zones USA

*Karageorghis, C. I., Mouzourides, D. A., Priest, D., Sasso, T. A., Morrish, D. J., & Walley, C. L. (2009). Brunel University Research Archive: Psychophysical and ergogenic effects of synchronous music during treadmill walking.

New research shows a fascinating discovery about running that most runner’s don’t know about – yet. With the aid of music tempo that matches your running cadence, one of several features of the new iPhone app Upbeat Workouts for Runners, you can last longer and put in more workout effort during your runs. In a soon to be published research article in the upcoming Journal of Science and Medicine and Sport these intriguing results will be presented. The research shows that the time to exhaustion, the time to the point of fatigue when the group of elite runners had to quit was extended by synchronized music. The experiment used a treadmill running test with synchronous music performed on a group of elite triathletes and the principle finding was ~19% improvement in time to exhaustion with synchronous music vs a no music control. Clearly, using an app like Upbeat Workouts for Runners that matches music with strides can result in stronger and harder runs that lead to better results.

For more information on Upbeat Workouts for Runners contact Matt Van Tuinen  matt@mvtpr.com