Seven time world triathlon champion Conrad Stoltz, aka Caveman, has a secret: in his free time he enjoys getting his hands dirty with some old fashioned manual labor. Caveman Conrad Stoltz wouldn’t be where he is without a lot of hard work. After all that blood, sweat and tears getting to the top as a triathlete, you might guess the four-time winner of the XTERRA World Championship favors lazy days in his downtime. Nope. Not Caveman. Instead he likes getting his hands dirty with some hard graft. Caveman built his own pool to cut down travel time. © Conrad Stoltz This predilection first grew out of a problem: a few years back Conrad needed somewhere to swim when he was staying at his family’s remote farm in South Africa. Rather than travelling a long distance by vehicle to the closest spot, he rolled up his sleeves and made his own swimming pool in the backyard. Over three summers he dug out a 25 m long trench, lined it with sandbags and plastic before hooking up a pipe and filling it with water from a nearby stream. No diggers, all by hand.  “For some reason I enjoy hard manual labor and then seeing a solid result at the end,” he says. “Whereas with a lot of the other work I do, with training and triathlon, I work really hard, but at the end of it you don't really have something concrete to show for it.” Handmade. No diggers used. © Conrad Stoltz After completing his pool, Conrad moved on to a new labor of love: he built a dirt pump track for the local kids in a poor community nearby his home in Stellenbosch. A pump track is a small, looping trail with dirt mounds and is designed for bicycling without pedaling. Riders use a pumping motion to maintain their speed as they ride around and around.  Pump tracks are great for improving skills and fitness. © Conrad Stoltz Conrad and friends were given land on the edge of town for the project. With the help of a digger and about five men, they had it built in a few short hours. “Pump tracks are a fun way for kids to learn to love cycling,” Conrad says. “It’s a social gathering place and a breeding ground for budding mountain bike or BMX riders. “Kids like being challenged, learning new stuff, being active without feeling like its serious training. When kids have fun on bikes they tend to stay off the streets and out of trouble, which is the main reason I built this track. “I’m quite passionate about it and will do some coaching there too.” Fancy bikes aren't necessary to have fun on a pump track, says Caveman. © Conrad Stoltz

Ashley Relf is a professional coach. Here she gives you a mental-strength-adding workout that will help you finish a race strong. Ashley Relf is a San Francisco based coach and athlete. She started her athletic career as a successful gymnast and was training six hours a day already as a 12-year-old. Unfortunately a neck injury ended her career at age 13 and she shifted her focus to volleyball, soccer, basketball, and diving. At college she played soccer and ran track. Post college Ashley played soccer semi-professionally for a year but soon became an avid runner and triathlete. “Currently I am a mother of a 6 1/2 month old son, Joaquin and an elite runner training to chase after the Olympic Trials Qualifying time in the marathon,” she says. In addition to being a top athlete Ashley also holds a degree in Sport psychology, and a Certificate in Exercise & Sport Performance. She coaches individual clients as well as high school, club, college, corporate and professional level teams in both mental strength training and athletic performance in running, triathlon and strength training. “My strengths as a coach are that I understand the rigors of training to reach higher levels of performance and the psychological challenges of working through the extreme demands of competition,” she says. “I help my clients find the right steps to take to enhance their performance and reach a better understanding of her or his strengths and weaknesses and what needs to be done to move forward.” THE SPEEDY FINISH LONG RUN Ashley Relf’s workout, The Speedy Finish Long Run, is great for those who want a workout to help simulate pushing through mental and physical race fatigue towards the later stages of a race. “This exercise will help you finish a race strong and fast even when your body and mind are trying to get you to stop or slow down,” she says. The Speedy Finish Long Run is aimed at competitive runners who already have built a solid foundation with their base mileage. Note: Adjust the heart rates (HR) in the sample workout based on your own HR zones. Step 1 “Run the first 10 miles at your normal conversational pace.”Distance: 10 miles (15 km)Target HR: 70%–80% of your max HR  Step 2 “For the next 3 miles start running at your tempo pace (about a minute/mile faster than your normal conversational pace).”Distance: 3 miles (5 km)Target HR: 81%–93% of your max HR Step 3 “Run the next mile at your 5k race pace or an effort that you would not want to talk with your running buddy at.”Distance: 1 mile (1,5 km)Target HR: 94%–100% of your max HR  Step 4 “Run the last 2–3 miles at your normal conversational pace.”Distance: 2–3 miles (3–5 km)Target HR: 70%–80% of your max HR “The goal of this workout is to gain confidence from your speedy finish long runs to push through the mental and physical challenges and keep increasing the effort,” coach Relf says. For more info about Ashley Relf and her coaching go to www.traincompetegetfaster.com

Winter may be here but that’s no reason to ease up on the training. Follow the example of the pros and migrate south for your warm weather fix. The only question is where to go. These five destinations should help you choose where to set your winter travel compass...  Mallorca, SpainSmooth roads and long climbs – for many years, cyclists have been making the pilgrimage to the Mediterranean island of Mallorca and it's not difficult to see why. Just a two-hour flight from most of Europe. Mallorca’s terrain varies from flat coastal roads, to steep mountain passes. The longest climb on the island, the Puig Major, rises to 854m over the course of 14km. It's also the perfect photoshoot location, as these pics from our photoshoot below show. Trail running in Mallorca on the Suunto photoshoot. ©zooom.at/Markus Berger Tenerife, Canary IslandsBoasting the longest continuous climb in Europe – from sea level to 2,200m in one hit – Tenerife is the ideal place for those looking to improve their performance in the saddle. Offering dry and warm weather over the winter months, it's an ideal spot for migratory cyclists and triathletes. The island is also where the 2012 Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins trained. But we can't promise it will put you in contention for the yellow jersey. ©Club La Santa, LanzaroteLanzarote, Canary IslandsThe favored destination of many a triathlete, Lanzarote is home to several training camps as well as one of the toughest Ironman events in the world. One of the reasons for its difficulty? Lanzarote is notorious for its wind, which has been known to destroy the spirit and soul of many a cyclist. Fortunately, the island is home to many world class Olympic pools, such as those at Club La Santa and superb trail running for when you want to recover from the bike.  Stellenbosch, South AfricaIf you really want to escape winter, you need to head to the southern hemisphere. With its long open roads South Africa's wine growing region of Stellenbosch has been a favored pre-season training ground for many pros, including Jan Frodeno and Javier Gomez. Great riding in the mountains; top training facilities and pools in the University of Stellenbosch, and excellent wine of course. Open water swimming in Mallorca. ©zooom.at/Markus Berger San Diego, CaliforniaIt's no accident that San Diego is the birthplace of modern triathlon; the warm Pacific waters provide the perfect venue for open water swimming, trails abound for runners while inland you can find endless hills to crank out the miles in the saddle. Best of all, it has an average temperature of 21ºC and it's open all year round.

Sandra Koblmüller is the star of our recent Suunto Ambit3 Sport Sapphire shoot and you'll see her in the current campaign. But the 24-year-old is also an athlete in her own right and recently competed in the XTERRA world championships in Maui, the premier off-road triathlon, where she came 14th. Amazingly she only started swimming a few years ago. So how did she do it? How did you get to become a pro triathlete? In secondary school our class took part in a cross-country running competition. Without any serious training I came second and my passion for running was born. I started to regularly take part in running competitions. When I went to university a colleague asked me to do the running part in a triathlon relay. I was so impressed from the combination of the three disciplines that I wanted to try a whole triathlon on my own and started to train for swimming. And then? One year later I won the Austrian Championship for Crosstriathlon and the Austrian federation sent me to the European Championships. Because of this, I was allowed to become a professional athlete this year. In my first year as a “pro“ I came second at the XTERRA Portugal, which qualifies you for the World Championship in Maui (Hawaii). Tell us about your training routine?Normally I wake up at 6 o’clock in the morning. After a short breakfast I usually start my day in the swimming pool with a 3-5 km swim. I am not always motivated to jump into the cold water in the morning, but after some lanes I get my motivation and enjoy it. After the swim I take a second breakfast and do something for university then at noon or in the evening I usually do my second workout – either I go for a run or I ride my bike. At the weekend I normally do some longer bike workouts (about 4 hours). Then Monday is my rest day, where I do relaxing things like sauna, massages, stretching…How do you monitor your progress? I have my own trainer and I usually get a training plan for a week. With the help of the Suunto Ambit3 Sport Sapphire we are able to control my training. Are there any areas of your training that you are struggling with?As I started stroke swimming very late at the age of 20, my swimming technique is not the best. If you want to be a good swimmer/triathlete you have to start swimming in your childhood to get the water feeling. However I’m working hard to improve this. What are your dreams and goals?One of my biggest goals is to become one of the best XTERRA athletes in the world. A goal in the near future is a victory in one of the XTERRA World Tour races. What inspires and motivates you? One thing that inspires me is the improvement you make if you train hard for your goals. For example, when I started to swim, it took me about 1:45 for the 100 meters intervals (10 x 100m intervals of swimming). Now I am able to swim the 100m in 1:25 and I am sure that one day I will swim my 100m intervals under 1:20.What are your fears?I have a fear of failure, especially just before a competition. So the most important thing I have to learn is to believe in my strengths and myself.  

Our #SuuntoAdventure selfie contest has now come to an end and we're pleased to reveal the four winners below. They will each receive the new Ambit3 Sport. Selfies are everywhere. Whether it's on the top of a mountain or out on the trail, everyone loves to grab a selfie to share with friends. So at Suunto, we thought it would be a great idea to invite our fans and the wider community to send us their best shots. We were overwhelmed by the response, receiving thousands of inspiring entries via Instagram. The four winning shots were each selected by one of our Suunto ambassadors – Kilian Jornet, Emelie Forsberg, Conrad Stoltz and Greg Hill. Below, we present each ambassador's choice. Thanks to everyone who submitted images. It was a difficult choice. In the coming weeks we'll have interviews with each of the winners to hear more about the story behind their shots. Emelie Forsberg choice: Winner: Patrick Müller Suarez, @patrickamsSays Emelie: “This picture captured my imagination right away with the light – is it morning or evening? – and made me think of a long day out exploring new mountains. The picture exudes exploration.” Kilian Jornet choice: Winner: Trent Busenbark, @trentbusenbarkSays Kilian: “The picture takes us right there and lets us feel what he feels. We can feel the cold, the storm, the tiredness. Adventure is also about bad conditions and hard times that make us happy when we come home.” Conrad Stoltz choice: Winner: Ross Lovell, @rosslovellSays Conrad: “I can see how crazy steep the hill is by the gear your friend is standing on! You deserve to win for riding one handed and snapping a great photo after such a massive climb!” Greg Hill choice: Winner: Corky Still, @akskicaSays Greg: “The vast background, untouched and waiting feels like unconquered territory. And there is excitement and unlimited potential to this skier. So many ski lines waiting for them...”

After winning XTERRA UK, the Suunto ambassador Conrad Stoltz now has Denmark in his sights. Is there any stopping him?  It's been a bit of a disappointing season for Conrad Stoltz so far. “It's been a bit of a roller coaster with unfortunate injuries, sickness and mechanicals,” he tells us.    But the so-called 'caveman' put all that behind him after triumphing at the UK course.  “I finally did my form justice and put together a phenomenal race. It's what I love best!” he says. “XTERRA UK is a race with real mountain biking and trail running – true XTERRA terrain, so I was super excited to race this course. This year I have been really disappointed with a lot of the courses which weren't technical. They were 'roadie courses’ – mostly fire roads which has been super frustrating.”   “XTERRA UK put up a great event with very technical bike and run courses,” he adds. The running course saw athletes having to leap across ditches and jump over trees, for example. Check out this video to see Conrad running the route.“I was out of the swim 1min behind the leader and came off the bike with a 5 minute lead and a silly grin on my face,” adds Conrad. “It was adventurous and fun. I hope other organisers take note and make sure their routes include actual mountain bike trails!”Next on the calendar is Denmark this weekend and Conrad is as focused as he's ever been. “I hope to repeat my performance here,” he says. All images ©lighttrapper.co.uk