Cannasia@Vertex 20 20 20 Triathlon

The Indoor Ironman
The first of its kind, and hopefully a sign of many more to come, the 20:20:20 Cannasia @ Vertex Indoor Triathlon is set to make triathlon training more accessible.
In the cycling-quiet end of 2011 while most are busy adding on the pounds with their Christmas turkey dinners, Cannasia decided to take this time to provide an avenue for the most vigilant of sports enthusiasts by organising the 20:20:20 Indoor Triathlon. The first and only triathlon held indoors, Cannasia made the best use of their training facilities installed to deliver a unique and challenging triathlon experience.
Held over the weekend of the 16th and 17th of December 2011, participating triathletes were allocated hour-long slots at the Cannondale Concept Store at Vertex Ubi Avenue 3. They spend 20 minutes swimming against the machine-generated current of the Endless Pool, another 20 minutes cycling on the CycleOps trainer and a final 20 minutes running on the treadmill, trying to clock in the furthest distance within that fixed time frame.
Justin Hotton and Juergen Dorr dominated the Male category, with 2232 and 2067 points respectively, while over at the Female category Leigh and Mandy Lee took the throne with 1083 and 929 points. Winners were rewarded with attractive prizes that came in the form of Pro Bike Gear components and Kabuto helmets courtesy of event sponsor Shimano, as well as products from High5 Sports Nutrition and organic thirst quenchers Honest Tea.
An Authentic Triathlon Experience In Close Quarters
The Indoor Triathlon proved to be a gruelling experience, and all the participants came away satisfied and grateful that somebody finally found a way to overcome the occasionally cumbersome logistics of training for a triathlon by providing athletes with the convenience of training for all 3 disciplines under the same roof. “It’s a great concept. It’s a really effective way to gauge your performance before a real triathlon. From this I can see which areas I could improve upon,” participant Al Rashid commented.
The athletes may be performing in a more controlled environment, safe from the variables from the elements such as weather changes and bumpy roads, but the static nature of doing a triathlon indoors does prove to be even more challenging than being out in the open in some respects. Unlike a real triathlon where you can afford to alter your pace during the race when you need a slight break or boost up for a sprint, the machine-operated resistance of the training equipment does not offer you this luxury. “During the swimming section, you’re not allowed to touch the sides or the back of the tank, so you have to be consistent in your pace and technique. This forces to focus on your form in addition to just stamina, and it’s quite different to swimming out in the open sea where endurance is everything,” Al Rashid adds.
Considering each participant was given an exclusive slot for their performance, this isolated experience also means that there are no other competitors around you to pace yourself with or to push you harder; “the cycling part was the most difficult - it’s so different from cycling on the road. The resistance does not let up because the trainer remains constant all the way. All you got is just yourself, so you just got to keep pushing yourself.”
The Indoor Triathlon Fitness Centre
The closed-invitation competition also served as a tryout session for people to test out the Indoor Triathlon Fitness Centre in Cannasia @ Vertex. And the one feature that a lot of the participants found most intriguing was the Endless Pool. “It was my first time using it, and it was fantastic. The best part about it is that the pool has all these cameras installed that can record your performance, so you can watch the playback to see the faulty aspects of your swimming technique,” Al Rashid said of the facility.
On the Powerbeam Indoor Trainer, the Athlete is able to monitor his performance, speed and power, with the added convenience of being able to focus on this without having to be distracted by external stimuli such as traffic, other riders, and other dangers on the road. This definitely serves as a concentrated effort for athletes to ramp up and improve performance, finishing strong, and this applies to the Treadmill Run as well. When asked whether he’ll be back to try these facilities again, champion Justin Hotton replied, “I’ll definitely be coming here more regularly to train; it definitely makes training so much more convenient!”