Triathlon: Racing Faster bills itself as a way to improve your racing speed as a triathlete (hence the subtitle, after all), but it's really more of an introduction to competing in a triathlon. Rather than offering a lot of improvement tips, it's more of an overall primer on what to expect from all the different stages of a triathlon, and how to prepare yourself to have a good experience. That makes it a useful program, especially for newcomers to the sport; it's simply not titled as descriptively as it could have been.

The format of Triathlon: Racing Faster is somewhat different from what I expected, but actually quite effective. Instead of having one person explaining everything, we have two hosts who introduce a variety of different experts on particular topics related to triathlon racing. The film is hosted by Wes Hobson, the likable professional triathlete who was profiled in Triathlon: Through the Eyes of the Elite, along with elite triathlete coach Michelle Blessing, and they take the program to a variety of other coaches, athletes, and specialists for advice.

The program, which runs slightly over an hour, follows the overall structure of pre-race preparation, followed by a discussion of race-day preparations, and how to handle the swim, bike, run, and transition stages of the triathlon. The preparation section includes information on how to make sure that your bike is tuned up correctly, and how to taper your training load, for instance, and the race-day section discusses topics like nutrition and warming up. Much of the advice is fairly straightforward, while other pieces of advice are more detailed and specific, such as suggestions on how to set up your transition area.

If you're already an experienced competitive athlete, a lot of the tips here will seem obvious, but I think it's a great introduction for people who are interested in competing but haven't done much of it yet. As a competitive athlete myself (though not in triathlon) I know that there's a big difference between ordinary training and jumping into a competition, and a well-though-out plan for pre-competition training and competition-day events can make the difference between a lousy experience and a great one.

Hobson is a great choice as a host for the program, and he puts a unique stamp on the program as a whole, because, in a nutshell, he's a real ham. Throughout the program, Hobson jokes around and in general injects a note of silly humor into the proceedings, which actually works quite well - he seems to have the knack for knowing when to be serious and when to be light-hearted. (It also helps that all the other participants play it straight, so the humor never gets out of hand.) Hobson also uses humor to make a point more memorable, on several occasions. One particularly inspired one is a "dramatization" of the effects of a race-day wakeup with a) a horrible buzzing alarm going off, or b) a peaceful wakeup to relaxing music. It's hilarious but also completely true, and I'm willing to bet that the idea of the importance of a calm wakeup will stick with viewers a lot more effectively than if some talking head had just mentioned it.

Admittedly, the overall feel of the film is, in a word, hokey. Someone had far too much enthusiasm for special-effects noises, and whenever on-screen text is shown, for instance to list important things for a triathlete to remember, it comes screeching onto the screen with a rather alarming squeal. The special effects also get out of hand in one scene that has expert coach Joe Friel talking next to a whiteboard. Instead of him writing the key ideas on the board, the text was added in post-production so that it could appear, disappear, and move around. Fine... except that Friel often moves his hand over the whiteboard area, and as a result, the image of his hand was cut off when the computer-generated whiteboard was superimposed on the image. It's rather freakish (and highly distracting) to see portions of Friel's arm or hand disappearing whenever he gestures too broadly.

Then there's the product placement. We start out with a couple of forced trailers that include ads for the sponsors of the program. And it's very obvious that the bikes, sports drinks, and PRODUCT PLACEMENT glasses are all of the brands sold by the sponsors. I understand that they're paying back the sponsors of the film, but it's a bit PRODUCT obvious PLACEMENT at times, such as when the hosts go out of their way to mention specific brands, or when the logos actually appear on-screen. Did I mention a lot of very visible PRODUCT PLACEMENT? OK, I see where they're coming from, and you can laugh it off in the actual program, but I think that the film would have had a more polished feel if the sponsors hadn't been pushed in the viewers' face quite as much.

All in all, Triathlon: Racing Faster does offer an interesting walkthrough of training and preparing for a triathlon. The mix of different interviews with various experts, within the framework of Wes Hobson and Michelle Blessing's comments, makes for a brisk pace, and the overall cheerful tone of the program is encouraging for potential triathletes.

The DVD

Video

Triathlon: Racing Faster appears in its correct aspect ratio of 1.33:1 (with a few scenes that are deliberately matted to widescreen for effect). The image quality is reasonable for a relatively low-budget production; it's not extremely sharp, but it's clean and clear, with good colors and contrast.

Audio

The sound is clean and clear, with both voiceovers and interviews sounding fine.

Extras

A few special features are included. We get a short interview segment with Tony DeBoom, offering tips on Ironman competition, a trailer for Triathlon: Through the Eyes of the Elite, a slide show of athletes, a race-preparation checklist, and information on the sponsors of the program (as if we hadn't noticed them before!)

Final thoughts

Triathlon: Racing Faster offers an informative introduction to training for and competing in a triathlon. It will probably be of most interest to relatively new competitors or those who haven't competed in a triathlon but who are interested in doing so. The advice is fairly straightforward, so seasoned competitive athletes won't find much new material, except perhaps in some triathlon-specific tips. Even so, as a walkthrough of what to expect from a triathlon, and how to prepare effectively for one, it's interesting even if the material isn't new: Wes Hobson in particular does a great job of hosting the program and adding a quirky sense of humor to the proceedings. Recommended.