Love triathlon but want to see more fun? Get some fat tires, put some suspension in those forks and cross to the dirty side, says XTERRA champion Conrad Stoltz. Triathlon may be growing in popularity but road races are not the only ones out there. No one knows better than Suunto ambassador Conrad Stoltz, who crossed to XTERRA after competing at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. “After Sydney I was a bit burnt out and thought I'd just do one or two off-road races just to clear my head for fun. But I fell in love after my first race,” he says. “Road triathlon is all about following the white line and taking as much pain as possible,” he explains. “The reason I love off-road triathlon is the adrenaline rush and sense of adventure you get – as well as the lactic acid! Nothing beats the feeling of flashing through the woods at top speed, railing turns perfectly and that rush you get when you clear that hectic drop-off or rock garden. Plus you need to memorise the course, pick fast lines, make tire and suspension selections and mentally and physically overcome a wide variety of obstacles depending on where in the world the race is. And of course, you get to go 100% flat out! The people are also quite laid back, relaxed and no one takes themselves too seriously which makes for a nice 'family atmosphere' at races. It's really a great life style sport,” he adds. To follow Conrad's XTERRA adventures, check out his website: www.conradstoltz.com

Doing you swimming drills in the pool is important, but nothing beats the outdoors, says Stoltz. It's one of the biggest issues for triathletes and something of interest to anyone who loves open water – how to improve your technique. As everyone knows – and often dreads! – being disciplined about swimming drills is essential to improve your performance. But not everything can be learned in a pool, says Conrad Stoltz. “Good open water swimming comes from lots of practice,” says the multiple XTERRA champion. “You have to learn different kinds of open water. Lakes are easy, but ocean swims have waves, currents and sand bars, and river swims are tricky because of currents.” He says there's no substitute for getting out there into the wild and just getting the feel of different water types. Of course, when it comes to actual swimming race preparation, he says the trick is to swim as often as possible in a group. You should also ask yourself important tactical questions. “Where to position yourself at the start? How to pace yourself to start fast without blowing up? How to draft, where to postition yourself around the buoys?” he says. “Building fitness in a pool with a swim squad is good,” he adds, “but I try to spend as much time as possible swimming open water. There is no substitute for open water – plus it's usually more fun than staring at the black line!” Conrad's top 3 tips: Swim outside in different conditions – lakes, rivers and the sea. Swim in a group and practise drafting. Plan your race tactics.

They are one of the most popular team of female divers in the world. Co-founder Margo Sanchez gives us the lowdown. The Scuba Diver Girls are perhaps the most popular girls in the underwater community – and certainly some of the most active. Located in San Diego, California, the ocean is the girls' backyard. In their cold water dive gear and their Suunto dive computers, Margo Sanchez and Stephanie Adamson dive multiple times each week. If they are not diving in their local southern California waters, they are traveling the world looking for the next hot spot for amazing sea life. This fun, adventurous dive team got started when Stephanie, a PADI dive instructor, invited Margo to learn how to dive. Stephanie wanted to share her love with the ocean and the amazing experience of being under the water with her family. Margo instantly felt a connection to the underwater realm, but also was amazed at how much fun it was to dive with Stephanie, her sister-in-law. As the girls began to dive together and share their adventures with their friends on socialmedia their popularity grew in the dive community. Industry leaders and manufacturers commented that the girls were 'bringing the fun back to diving'. Margo and Stephanie quickly realized that there was a lack focus on women in the dive industry. From dive gear to online content much of the industry was focused on men. The girls decided it was time to put a female spin on the sport and began to build their online presence as Scuba Diver Girls. “When we started posting our dive photos and videos on social media, there was a lack of interesting content about and for women in diving – we received an overwhelming response,” says Sanchez. She says the team made it their mission to put a brighter focus on females in the sport. The girls worked with various manufacturers, including Suunto, to test dive gear and give feedback to the companies from the female diver perspective on fit, usability, as well as look and feel. "Much of the gear we were originally using was designed with a man's body as a base for fit and then they just put some pink on it and called it women's gear,” Sanchez explained. Together the girls began racking up dive destinations and posting photos and footage of their amazing adventures online. Their community, which started back in 2009, has grown to over 500,000 Facebook fans who actively interact and communicate with the girls each day. You can join the community via their many social channels and get the best content and information on their dives, gear and amazing destinations. Facebook Instagram Twitter Youtube Images © Tanya G Burnett, Brian Kirby and Margo Sanchez

How do you film the world's fastest mountain runner? Filmmaker Sébastien Montaz says it's all about the emotion. Dejame Vivir - Let Me Live - is the eagerly awaited second film from Sébastien Montaz to follow Kilian Jornet on the athlete's personal Summits of My Life project. It follows Kilian as he sets two mind-boggling record ascents on Mt Blanc and the Matterhorn. But it's much more than a documentary of the climbs, the filmmaker tells us: “To me what's important is not the performance; that's not my thing. My background is as a mountain guide and I've always filmed people – the thing for me is to try and capture the emotions. Kilian is someone who's happy, who has an entertaining personality. We wanted the film to be like him. So I asked him to shoot whenever he did something. Kilian has passion for the image and a very good understanding on how to make a film. He writes books, has a very good touch for telling stories using his phone or camera, he's posting stuff every day. He has a good eye and knows what works. These very personal shots added something new to the film because people think they know a little bit more about Kilian. It's more intimate. We also involved the public. For the Matterhorn record I was asking via Facebook for their shots, which I included. It's the same concept – getting stories from the inside.” Kilian is not the only star of the film. There is also another mountain legend, who the team meet in Russia for a race on Mt Elbrus, Vitaly Shkel, a Russian mountain guide. “His nickname is 'the monster' in Russian,” continues Montaz. “There's a whole legend around him. He lived in this hut at 4,000m all summer just to prepare for the race. He was well prepared. Kilian was quite suprised to have someone who kept up with him! To me it was the highlight of the filming to discover this unique athlete.” It's also a highlight of the film to see the camaraderie and friendship develop between the small community of mountain runners who turn up for the race. “Russia was fun,” adds Montaz. “It's a bit of a wild region.” Déjame Vivir is available for download here. 

Finding your running legs after a long winter or a period of inactivity is always a challenge. Emelie Forsberg offers some old school advice: Just get out there and run! For the trail runner Emelie Forsberg, there is only a small window to get fit after winter. The first race on the calendar is the brutal 80km Transvulcania in mid-May, which doesn't leave a lot of time to train if, like her, you're into ski-touring and other mountain sports! But the Suunto ambassador says there is a way to quickly regain your running fitness: “I'm old school! I was recently in Chamonix and was worried I had heavy legs. I spent four days there. I ran for three hours on the first day and three hours on the second day. On the third day I felt good so I ran for six hours! My tip is just to never give up. You may not feel good the first time or even the second time but you will feel good soon. You just have to get over the hard part and then you can start to enjoy it and you'll be running fit again.” However, there are some running specific exercises she does practise. Emelie's five running specific exercises “I do five exercises that are really good for working the small muscles that are important for running. You just need to do them a few times to wake the muscles up.” 1. Plank, sideplank and reverse plank: “This is good for the core, back and hamstrings.” 2. 'Paddling' with rocks: “This is good for the abs.” 3. Side leg raises: “I do this to wake up the small muscles in the hips that connect to the IT band.” 4. 'Swim' with rocks. “This is great for the lower back and shoulders. I lie on my stomach, lift up my chest and 'swim' with a water bottle or rock in one hand.” 5. Hip flexor stretch: “This is important for running.”

Suunto Zoop is a great choice for your first dive computer, its full decompression capabilities and nitrox mode mean it's designed to give you years of serious fun. This Tuesday we take a look at how to enter and change the nitrox settings on the Zoop. Get support for your Suunto product at support