I learned a lot form the following people:

Sheila Taormina and Lew Kidder- I am lucky to know both of them.

Doug Stern and Boris Talon.

Michael R. Rabe and Chris and Dale Hughes- Also, although I wasn't one of his "kids" (I was scared of him), Mike Walden.

Walter Gobelewski, U.S. Cycling Team Developmental Coach.

Mike Aderhold, who I learn from damn near every day.

Eric Fernando and Todd Briggs- two of the very best.

And I learn something everyday on this forum and from our customers.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

Duy..... Holy Shit.

I forgot to mention Dan Empfield. I learned a heck of a lot from that guy. A heck of a lot. Still am.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

On this forum

Dan can you please pass a tissue so I can wip the crap off my nose?

But seriously from all you people

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http://www.clevetriclub.com

rob reddy

I'd say I have three major influences in my triathlon knowledge:

1. TTB - All the planning, training, and theoretical stuff is in here

2. Slowtwitch forums - a massive living encyclopedia of applying your training and racing well. I've learned about gear, gearing, nutrition, and life on these pages. I have been saved much pain and discomfort because to the knowledge shared here. All the little details that you don't think about until you're in the middle of a race and then you realize that you forgot something, or that your nipples are on fire, or...

3. Going Long - It's focus on IM and applied racing is invaluable, and every IM newbie(and 1/2 IM newbie) should buy it. From the practical aspects of planning your race to the mental preparation of what to expect, it is all there. Nowhere else have I read specifically about the mental and emotional issues that arise only at the longer duration events. In this respect, it is truly indispensable.

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Being this is my second season, this is still fresh in my mind.

Books:
Triathlon 101
Triathlete Magazine's Complete Triathlon Book (the easiest reading)
Training bible
Going long
Total Immersion

People:
My old coach, Norman Bresinski taught me about how to train, how to race and nutrition.
Roman Kryzanowski, one of my hockey buddies and the person responsible for me getting into triathlon
Talking to people at the races, everyone is so friendly
My triathlon club, FAST
Rhonda Sanko, a good friend that keeps me sane about training

Tidbits:
Racing
1 Tri clinic
Local tri/bike store
Slowtwitch
Triathlete magazines (all of them)

jaretj

I have been very lucky and I am indeed grateful for the people that have helped/taught me along the way.

When I was just a skinny runner in highschool, I had one of the top distance running coaches in Canada as my coach. A number of members from my club, held national records in Canada and where members of Olympic and national teams. The guys that I ran with were all very good. You learn a lot when you are a good runner, but get trounced in nearly every workout or have to hang on for dear life on a tempo run!

Same thing happend to me when I started triathlon in 1982. Shortly after coming to the sport, I fell in with what at the time, was a group of the top people in Ontario/Canada. We psuhed each other very hard both training and racing. I learned a great deal about training, suffering and being consistant. Former Canadian National Triathlon Team Coach and Olympic Team coach Barrie Sheply was extraordinarily generous, with his time and advice back then. He hepled many of us figure out what training for triathlon was really all about. At first we did not have a clue!

A move to Vancouver in 1992 lifted my performance to another level and I learned a great deal training almost every day with multi-time national Champions Frank Clarke, Mark Bates and Carol Montgomery.

For me the key has been - Training with top people who really push you, having access to top coaches and trainers who helped fill in the other missing information and finally having a BSc. in biochemistry has allowed me to seperate fact from fiction about what training is all about and there is a great deal of fiction out there.

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

You know, I was thinking more about this question, and I have two addendums:

1. When I was a USCF racer I went to the USCF Rider Development Camp at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. They taught us how to live the racing lifestyle, and we learned from each other also. It was a cultrue of young cyclists trying to take the sport as far as they could. For that short time, I was a full time athlete. Probably the most significant thing I learned was, I am not talented/dedicated enough to make a go of it as an athlete. It is an incredibly harsh life filled with massive sacrifice and virtually no promise of return.

2. After the USCF Resident Athlete Program I went to Europe as part of the Nike/Velo-News/Gatorade Cycling Team. It was a program where you paid most of your way and were selected based on results and marketablility and how you interacted with the media, etc. I wrote some follow-up stories for Velo-News about the experience. I learned a lot about the "European" system and cycling. I learned again how dangerous and difficult the sport is and that a lot of strange things go on. It was a huge eye opener.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

I just guess.

Reading everything I can get my hands on, hanging out on the forums and websites, and racing. This forum has been a great training resource. So has Gordo's forum. I've also met a several people on these forums who have helped me personally (and free of charge) over the last couple of years. I've read a ton of tri books, and even a few of the training articles in some of the magazines. I try to gather as much training information as I can, glean the stuff that applies to me and then work it into my often unpredictable and ever changing schedule.

I try to be a student of the sport. I like to talk to people, and read, read, read, read. I will always be hampered because of my lack of available training time, but I've been trying to learn how to maximize my training time. That has been one of the most important things I've learned.

I'm still not very good at the tri game. I started this stuff in 2001. I'm still slow, but not as slow as I used to be.

RP

I've learned the most by just doing it. On my own a good chunk of the time. After that my training buddies and team (back when I was in NM). Now I have to rely on the training bible since I am planning on doing my first IM next year at Cour D'Alene.

I learned the most from the group that was riding from Greenville, SC, to Gatinburg, TN, 152 miles in one day. (We'd take two days to return) Did this several times back in the mid-80's. I learned what bonking was. I learned that a Frosty and a single with cheese could get you back on the bike, with the help of your buddies, even though you are nauseous and dizzy, and in a few hours, you could be leading the climb up the Smoky Mountain National Park. Most of the stuff I've learned about triathlon has been a variation/adaptation of what I learned doing this ride a few times....oh, and the Mount Mitchell ride.

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Quid quid latine dictum sit altum videtur
(That which is said in Latin sounds profound)

Gordo's tips on his website (www.byrn.org) are awesome!