I get this in an email today, “PS, don’t get the Angry Birds game. It will suck your life away.”
So, I am beginning to see a trend. A friend gets an iPhone and they disappear.
Surf sessions are missed because they stay up late uploading apps. They spend hours playing ‘angry birds.’ At a dinner party with cool music they keep on yelling out the band, song and album name because they are obsessed with ‘shazam.’ I get it. Technology has captured us. And I kind of dig it.
Think of it this way. The next time you paddle out at trestles it might be empty. Because everyone is playing with their iPad. You are out for a trail run and the single track is in great shape because no one biked it during the rain tearing it apart. They weren’t biking in the rain because they were playing with their new apple product.
What do you think?
Last mental picture, you train for months to prepare for a half-marathon. On race day you find yourself passing dozens of people on a small climb. As you pass them you look over and see that everyone is playing with their iPhone. They didn’t do the training because they were playing with their iPhone4 32G. So now they are hunting for a song to pump them up and get them over the hill.
Tell your friends about the new phone and then join a club to keep yourself motivated so you can beat said friend at the next 10K.
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.
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.
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…
Below is the training plan I’m thinking of following for the build up to Leadville Trail Marathon. The distances below are designated as either the long Saturday or Sunday run for the week. Click here to see the weekly training plan breakdown. The Emergent Fitness and solid running volume plan has me super excited to go into the event healthy and injury free.
11 week build up to Leadville:
(10 minute mile pace)
Week of April 19 – Long run 15 miles Week of April 26 – Long run 8 miles
Week of May 3 – Long run 16 miles
Week of May 10 – Long run 17 miles
Week of May 17 – Long run 18 miles Week of May 24 – Medicine Bow Half Marathon
Week of May 31 – Long run 15 miles
Week of June 7 – Long run 17 miles
Week of June 14 – Long run 20 to 21 miles Week of June 21 – Long run 8 miles
Week of June 28 – Taper/rest
Tomorrow my amazing wife, will be racing in her first half Ironman in Oceanside, CA. She’s been training for 6 months and is in the best shape of her life. The boys and I are back home in CO (couldn’t afford the extra flights) but we will be cheering her on over the internet.
I ride my bike a lot, during season I’m riding 10 – 12 hours a week. That’s a lot of time in my SDG Saddle and it’s super comfy. Last season I tried a bunch of different remedies to prevent saddle sore which is basically inevitable at some point during your season. The sucky part is that saddle sore can keep you off of your bike until it heals. After discovering Friction Freedom last summer I never tried anything else.
Friction Freedom Chamois Cream is a cycling chamois cream that helps heal and manage existing saddle sores, while preventing chafing, and bacterial and fungal infections that cause hot spots and infections.
Friction Freedom Chamois Cream is 68% larger jar than other leading chamois cream brands.
I’ve also used Friction Freedom during long trail runs to prevent chafing. It’s a great product for runners, cyclists and triathletes. For me, it’s all about prevention.
Year’s to your butt not being sore and chafed in 2010!
The 6 most common real world nutritional pitfalls, and the simple solutions to correct them to optimize recovery.
Pitfall #1 – Failing to prioritize recovery nutrition by socializing after a race or packing gear/bike away resulting in delayed feeding.
Solution – Sure it can be fun to hang out following a race and replay the deciding sprint or get a head start on packing up and leaving. Furthermore, most experts recommend eating something within the first 30 minutes to an hour so what’s the hurry? Well in the majority of studies examining glycogen replenishment athletes are fed immediately following the completion of an exercise bout. Thus, what you practice in the “field” should mimic the conditions of the “lab” as closely as possible. Make it a priority to eat and drink as soon as stepping off the bike as possible.
Pitfall #2 – Inadequate fluid consumption to replace sweat losses and allow for optimal glycogen replenishment.
Solution – You’re probably familiar with postexercise fluid recommendations to replace losses from sweat but few are aware that additional fluid is required to restore glycogen to preexercise levels. This is due to the fact that three grams of water are required to store one gram of glycogen. Since trained athletes will need to replace more than 600 grams of glycogen following exhaustive exercise, fluid and carbs should be consumed together. Research in this area is scanty at best but suffice to say simply drinking to replace sweat losses may not be enough to ensure optimal glycogen replenishment. To be safe, consume 16-24 oz of fluid not only at the first postexercise meal but also during every hour during the recovery period.
Pitfall #3 – Using the excuse of a hard effort to fill up on high fat junk foods and empty calories.
Solution – It is far too easy to use the need for increased calories after exercise as an excuse to fill up on high-fat content junk foods. The problem with this practice is two-fold. First, the consumption of fat interferes with your ability to ingest adequate carbohydrate and secondly fat is not nearly as an effective stimulator of insulin release as carbohydrate. Both of these follies result in inadequate glycogen replenishment and poor recovery. Resist the urge to give in to the temptation of dietary indiscretion and find peace in knowing you’re feeding your body only the highest quality fuel by selecting high carbohydrate lowfat foods.
Pitfall #4 – More than enough is not better than enough.
Solution – Although it is vital to consume carbohydrates in the post exercise state it is also vital to have some method to your madness. I have seen several cyclists who go about their eating in an unscientific haphazard fashion only to find that they gain weight from their post ride binges. Aim to consume 1.0 to 1.5 grams of carbohydrates per kilogram of bodyweight every two hours following exercise. Consuming more than this range will not result in greater glycogen replenishment and if done so chronically may result in undesirable weight gain.
Pitfall #5 – Overconsuming protein in the false belief that muscles require excessive quantities following exercise.
Solution – As stated previously, favoring other nutrients over carbohydrates leads to inadequate carb consumption and decreased stimulation of insulin release. Limit protein to one gram for every 4 grams of carbohydrate to replace what is lost through exercise. This 4:1 ratio of carbs to protein appears to have a multiplicative effect in stimulating insulin release.
Pitfall #6 – Following recovery nutrition guidelines for only the first meal after exercise.
Solution – You may be avoiding all of the above pitfalls but only at the first meal. Again, since trained athletes can store upwards of 600 grams of glycogen in muscle and liver it is necessary to consume carbohydrate dense meals every 2-3 waking hours until the next ride or race.
By avoiding these common pitfalls and implementing sound recovery nutrition principles you can be assured of recovering fully for a long season.
I’ve added a personal 7th tip, don’t forget your Fluid Recovery Drink! Tastes best ice cold!
At 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, October 25th, a maxed-out field of 550 international racers will embrace the annual challenge of XTERRA’s most grueling course – and in the ensuing hours put their mental and physical toughness up against Mother Nature’s arsenal of sun, sand, water, kiawe, and lava. When it’s all over, they’ll don some of the weirdest and most wonderful costumes you’ve ever seen and dance the night away at what is surely triathlon’s greatest after party.
Athletes from more than 20 countries and 40 states will gather on Maui – the spiritual birthplace of XTERRA – having competed all season long for the right to be at the World Tour’s culminating event. What begins as a gathering of relative strangers ends with a family whose friendship defies boundaries of title and expertise and unites them all in their quest to “Live More”. Maui’s XTERRA course is a classic point-to-point covering 27 miles of unyielding terrain.
Pro men results:
1 Eneko Llanos #6 Pro :19:39 1:33:23 :44:20 2:37:22
2 Nicolas Lebrun #38 Pro :21:44 1:32:24 :44:09 2:38:17
3 Michael Weiss #2 Pro :23:44 1:30:25 :46:15 2:40:24
4 Olivier Marceau #5 Pro :20:07 1:34:51 :46:08 2:41:06
5 Conrad Stoltz #11 Pro :20:23 1:32:36 :48:41 2:41:40
6 Franky Batelier #14 Pro :20:09 1:33:38 :48:28 2:42:15
7 Felix Schumann #42 Pro :20:26 1:36:10 :46:21 2:42:57
8 Seth Wealing #10 Pro :19:35 1:37:49 :46:34 2:43:58
9 Josiah Middaugh #7 Pro :22:15 1:30:45 :51:14 2:44:14
10 Nico Pfitzenmaier #17 Pro :23:53 1:33:40 :46:58 2:44:31
