Greg Bennett runs with the Interval hat. No matter how fast you run or how much you sweat, the music won't stop and wires won't cross your arms.

It’s that time of year…the days are getting shorter and the weather is getting colder.  So for athletes that means moving your workout indoors, or find ways to do more in the fewer hours of daylight available outside.

Especially in the world of endurance sports, the idea of getting better results with less training time, is an interesting concept.  Less training means lower risk of overuse injuries and less chance of burnout.  An answer to the endurance training woes, may be to ramp up intensity and save some time.

Experiment with different intensities and times in your training and see what works best for you.

CEO Tom, and Community Manager Dana grab a quick photo with Slater post Battle of the Paddle

It was another amazing weekend of competition for H2O Audio athletes.  With both Slater Trout and the Bennetts competing in Southern California, we were lucky enough to get some face time in with the busy competitors.

Stand Up Paddler Slater Trout took on one of his biggest races of the year, The Rainbow Sandals Battle of the Paddle in Dana Point, CA.  He placed 3rd in the Elite SUP Individual race, 2nd in the Distance race, 14 foot division, and 1st in the Team Relay race.  Not bad for only 15 years old….

Greg and Laura Bennett both raced in the Los Angeles stop of the Lifetime Fitness Series.  Laura reported that she was pleased with her 3rd place finish while Greg was just happy to have overcome his sick time in June and July to finish fourth.

We’re always happy to have such quality athletes and all around amazing people on our team!  Goooo Team H2O!

Slater Trout, paddling his way towards a 2nd place finish at the SEA NY event.

It’s another big week for the swimming world!  The Pan Pacific Swim meet starts tomorrow and runs through the weekend.  Both Michael Phelps and Natalie Coughlin are representing the US and are using this meet and an important step in training for the 2012 Olympics.  Portions of the meet will be televised on Universal Sports if you want to cheer on Natalie and Michael from your living room.

H2O Audio Triathletes, Greg and Laura Bennett kicked off a month of racing in Europe with the ITU Kitzbuehel race this past weekend.  Laura turned in a very strong performance finishing 8th while Greg finished 25th, not bad for his first race post illness.  We’re always so proud of our favorite triathlete couple!

And finally, H2O Audio paddler Slater Trout finished the 28 mile paddle around Manhattan last weekend in 2nd place.  High winds, crazy tides and boat traffic were just a few obstacles in the S.E.A Paddle NYC fund raising race for Autism.  Always the competitor, Slater blames his second place finish on a “tactical error”.  You can read more about the race in his blog.  Over-all more than $260,000 was raised for Autism through this event.

Jordy Smith at the ASP Jeffery's Bay event.

Here’s this weeks news highlights from the world of water sports:

In surfing, Jordy Smith emerged victorious from the Billabong Pro at Jeffery’s Bay, which is no surprise given he was surfing on home turf.  The win puts Jordy first in the ASP rankings pushing Kelly Slater into third.  Also, an interesting surfing tid-bit from this week, Chicago lifed a decades old-ban on flotation devices in the city’s waterways, opening the door for surfers and stand up paddlers to take to the cities rivers and lakes.  The folks of the mid-west metropolis are no longer going to let lack of ocean keep them from sharing the stoke.

Next, in the world of wakeboarding,  the King of Wake series just completed it’s fifth stop of the 2010 season.  The field of top competitors has been narrowed from 62 riders to 27, and only 10 will be left standing after nationals.  At the top of the leader board right now is 16 year old Aussie, Harley Clifford, followed by Phillip Soven and Rusty Malinoski.

As for team H2O Audio, Greg Bennett reports that he is feeling better and is working on getting back to training and his competition schedule, while his wife Laura is in London for the ITU World Series event on Sunday.

And finally, it’s an exciting day around the H2O Audio headquarters as Slater Trout will be competing literally in our backyard today.  Having qualified for the Junior Lifeguard Regionals, he’ll be competing at the Pacific Beach Pier.  We all look forward to being able to cheer him on in person!

Craig Alexander crosses the finish line at Racine with his daughter.

This past weekend was big for H2O Audio Triathletes!

Craig Alexander added another first place finish to his list of accomplishments at the Racine Tri in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Laura Bennett finished in the top 10 at the ITU event in Hamburg, Germany.  The top of the pack was separated by mere seconds, with Laura finishing 7th.  And sadly, Greg Bennett is still not back to fully healthy, mentioning on Twitter that he spent time in a New York City hospital this weekend.   We’re sending healing thoughts your way Greg!