Smart glasses

Much can be intelligent.

Or be advertised as such.

And so there are also intelligent swimming goggles such as the "Form Smart Swim Goggle".

It shows all performance values ​​while swimming in real time on a display that is integrated into the lens - not only in the swimming pool.

It also uses GPS to control and measure swimming laps in lakes or in the sea.

The glasses are connected to an app and can display times, distances, speed and everything else, including the heart rate, if you attach a pulse sensor to your temple with a headband.

Those who want to afford glasses like this have to invest around 200 euros.

You can get sensible, albeit unintelligent, swimming goggles for five euros.

Disc impeller

The aerodynamically fastest racing machines can be marveled at during the time trial of a cycling world championship.

One of these bikes easily costs 15,000 euros.

Their main target group is not racing cyclists, but triathletes.

Amateurs especially.

The clientele is affluent.

That is why the question does not arise when it comes to high-tech bikes: do I need this?

As an amateur, do I need a disc wheel if I want to go really fast at the Ironman?

No.

That should be left to professionals.

A disc wheel is extremely sensitive to cross winds and gusts.

If an amateur athlete thinks he should compete with it, he should be able to do it - and be really quick by default, because there is hardly anything more embarrassing than crawling 180 kilometers with a disc wheel.

In the hamster wheel

The long-distance triathlon involves risks. For muscles, joints, tendons, and also for the head. Many amateurs are constantly increasing their training effort, some train more than 20 hours a week in addition to their job. The weekends are filled with training, the vacations with training camps. The danger is that relationships and families are broken. The danger is always more, especially with those triathletes who are fixated on a time they want to achieve.

In order not to fall into the hamster wheel, into the addiction trap, into the tyranny of ambitions, it helps to have a trainer or a buddy who reflects this danger from the outside and also steps on the brakes.

Starting triathlon and eventually starting in Hawaii is the wrong approach.

Anyone who has made it to the first Ironman should plan to reach the finish line in reasonable shape, even if it takes twenty minutes longer.

The main motivation, say responsible trainers, should always be the fun, the experience.

That helps against too much doggedness.