Outside All Day || We Have To Be Outside

I reached out to Craig Hummer over at Versus a few days before the Tour and he recommended the Tour Tracker on Versus. So I logged on and enjoyed the Tour from the comfort of my computer. Totally brilliant.

I enjoyed every stage live. And I mean live. No commercials. At first the first two hours of footage did not even have commentary. And because the feed from France does not have sound it was quiet. Kinda cool in some ways. Better than listening to the team from Universal Sports that handles other cycling races. They repeat themselves to no end. You also get on-demand stage access about two hours after the stage is over. So you can go back and watch whatever stage you want.

A few downsides. No sound. Can’t hear interviews with riders. Can’t hear crowds. Kinda weird. Don’t get to see commentators. That means you never see Hummer and Bobke. But you do hear a new commentator named Matt and with two hours of racing to go you hear Sherwin and Liggett. That is good stuff. Sherwin speaks through every part of the race and is fantastic.

And check out the response below from Versus when I asked how long the footage will be posted.

Hi there,
On-demand videos of every stage will be available until August 25, 2010.
Thank-you for your support! We really appreciate it.
Regards,
The Versus Tour Tracker Team

Sweet. I will watch a re-run stage tomorrow.

Leave a comment – Filed under Road Cycling by Matt at 8:00.

Tuesday, July 27th, 2010

Lemond – “Good news on this year’s Tour”

Cycling News had Greg LeMond on the blog roll during the Tour. Great blogs were posted. One of our favorites is below. Check it out.

Data of optimism?
By: Greg LeMond
Published: July 26, 10:05

Good news on this year’s Tour

Hating to be the bearer of bad news too often, I am really happy to be able to see some real positive statistics come out of this year’s Tour de France. The race between Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck was great to watch. Either one could have won this year’s Tour de France. What made the racing so exciting was how close the competition was. Most importantly their rides are believable and fall within the historic norms of athletic ability.

I have been very critical of the sport and, I believe, justifiably so. I am a cyclist who took up cycling by accident. This sport is so exciting, so romantic and so beautiful that I spent half of my life dedicated to it. My only hope is to see cycling right itself and gain back the credibility that any sport needs to thrive.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/blogs/greg-lemond/data-of-optimism

Leave a comment – Filed under Road Cycling by Matt at 10:28.

Tuesday, July 27th, 2010

Really liking my Nathan HPL 020 Race Hydration Vest

A few months back I’d gotten to the point where the training runs I was going on were getting longer and I was needing to carry something to hydrate. Also, summer in Fort Collins has been hot, we’ve had a string of weeks with days in the mid 90s. After a stop into the Runner’s Roost I picked up the Nathan Handheld below. This bottle is perfect. I can hold 2 GUs and drop in my Motor Tabs. It works great for 1 – 8 mile runs.

Nathan Quickdraw Plus Handheld Bottle

From there, the training runs have gotten longer and I needed to begin carrying more water, food, and misc type items like band aids, jacket, duct tape, toilet paper, Friction Freedom packets, etc. Runner’s Roost had the hydration pack below and I’ve fallen in love with it.

Nathan HPL 020 Race Hydration Vest – 70 oz.

It’s light weight, has easily accessible storage, holds TONS of water and is overall very comfortable. I wore it during the Leadville Trail Marathon and had a solid experience.

The handheld and backpack combo is money, I use Motor Tabs in the bottle and water in the pack. This blend of electrolyte and water is right on.

It would also be a great pack for hikes or long treks…

Andy B
outsideallday.com

Leave a comment – Filed under Andy's Personal, Nutrition, Running/Trail running, Triathlons by Andy Brazelton at 8:32.

Monday, July 26th, 2010

Back in the Saddle

The smell comes back to me like a something from my youth. It is something that excites and entrances all at once. It rolls up off my front tire as I make my way up the fire road and single track leading me deeper into the woods near my home. I haven’t had that smell in 6 weeks, and I’m finally back on my bike. The smell is a mix of pine and mountain air mixed with dirt, and it smells like healing and freedom. After breaking my foot 6 weeks ago, my outside time has been limited to say the least. For perspective, I spend a lot of time outside climbing and mtb biking, it is a very large part of who I am and what I do. When that’s taken away, I get a bit stir crazy. I, like most men in America, have a nice sleeper case of ADHD, I admit I may have it more then most, but it is something that fuels me for my outside endeavors and also is a great motivator when your trying to heal from say, oh, a broken foot. It allows me to find ways to be active, in this case, it helped me work out in a gym, and do hang board routines even though I looked like a train wreck most of the time.

After about three miles of climbing I reach the drop in and the first real technical sections of trail. As I ease the bike down the first few drops and pick up speed, I grab the brakes out of fear that I could hurt my foot again. This being the first day out, I really can’t be hurt again for multiple reasons. The biggie is Cyn would kill me, and then I’d be dead and not able to do anything, which is, a real no win situation.

But as the first few root drops go under and the foot feels good, even fine, I start to feel the excitement of single track again, and feel the gift of moving outside, I also feel the three words start to bubble up in my brain.

Let. Me Roll.

They are simple words and ones I know well. When I feel good on the bike or climbing, they bubble up and it lets click into a zone where the things IM doing feel effortless. But with a foot still very fragile and the steepest part ahead, I did the smart thing.

I let it roll.

And it was good, very good!

As I dropped down the hillside the trees became the familiar blur I am used to as you whip down towards the creek bottom. After the shallow crossing I hit into some more tight down hill roller single track, which carries me into a small technical section of root crossings, and dumps me at the beaver ponds and a bridge crossing. Here I stop and reflect for the first time since I started. I feel good, tired, but good, and the foot feels great.

I am so thankful to be moving again, and until something takes that from you, you really don’t have any idea how much you miss that simple gift of movement.

As I joined back into the fire road I come across a runner who stops me for directions. He makes the comment about how cool it was that I’m riding with a prosethic leg. I laugh and tell him about my last six weeks, that my metal leg is by far my good leg, and that today is my first day back outside. He is psyched and tells me he was thinking about losing an leg and how screwed he would have been until he saw me, again, I laugh and tell him how well we adapt and that the leg is a good machine and quickly adapts to change. Now that other one with the bones, that’s the one you gotta watch out for!

We part ways and I’m enveloped in the wonderful smell of the mountains as I head home, alone in my freedom.

Craig DeMartino
outsideallday.com

Leave a comment – Filed under Mountain Biking by Andy Brazelton at 9:39.

Monday, July 26th, 2010

Proper Wall Ball technique

Wall Ball from Chris Brown on Vimeo.

Last week at Emergent Fitness we had a WOD that included wall ball. Based on this video posted by Chris Brown, owner of Emergent, I’m pretty sure my form sucks.

The work out consisted of…

Barbell Complex Warm-up x3
Strength training (Back squat 3×3 in the cycle and Strict Pull-ups 3x max)
Work out of the day, 4 rounds of…

10 Kettlebell swings (24 kg)
10 Wall Balls
100 ft Heavy Sled Drag (135 pounds)

Total time of 8:09.

The wall balls were the hardest part for me and this video helped confirm how bad my form was.

Andy B
outsideallday.com

Leave a comment – Filed under Cross Fit by Andy Brazelton at 8:02.

Sunday, July 25th, 2010

The best trail running shoes I’ve ever owned “Brooks Cascadia”

For the last few months I’ve been on a quest for the perfect trail running shoe. I’ve wore shoes from Newton Running, The North Face and Salmon. All of them make incredible products, but I finally feel like I’ve found the perfect trail running shoe for my foot.

Brooks Cascadia 5

I’ve been wearing the shoe for the last 2 months with lot’s of high volume runs and races in it. I’d recently gone thru some past experiences in shoes that I really liked but overall hurt my feet. I was suffering from blisters, numb foot and even rolled my right ankle. I needed to make some changes so I started researching. The Cascadia was at the top of a ton of trail running lists and available at my local shop, Runners Roost Fort Collins.

Why I like the shoe:
It’s stiff laterally
Fit’s my high arch
Great traction

It’s a bit heavier than other shoes I’ve run but it makes up for it in stability and comfort.

If you’re in the market for a trail shoe, I highly recommend the
Brooks Cascadia 5.

Andy B
outsideallday.com

Leave a comment – Filed under Andy's Personal by Andy Brazelton at 8:48.

Saturday, July 24th, 2010

Stats from today’s run in Lory State Park and Horsetooth Mountain Park

I spent the morning in Lory State Park and Horsetooth Mountain Park. I needed to start ramping my training miles back up. The morning started out cool and I felt strong so I did the 2nd big climb of the day. By the time I got to the top of the 2nd climb the sun was out and my legs were feeling it.

Overall the day was beautiful and this run provided a much needed confidence boost. I’ll need to run for 4.5 hours or so next weekend.

Training summary:

Monday – CrossFit at Emergent Fitness
Tuesday – Run on Devil’s Backbone
Wednesday – Run on Devil’s Backbone
Thursday – CrossFit at Emergent Fitness
Friday – Rest
Saturday – Lory State Park and Horsetooth Mountain Park

Thank you to my lovely wife for allowing me to take a nap today!

Andy B
outsideallday.com

Leave a comment – Filed under Andy's Personal, Running/Trail running, Training by Andy Brazelton at 14:23.