So today's update brings with it a little bit of a sad note, but I'm not going to talk about it because it's not me who should tell you guys.
My week was a little bit of a gongshow because I'm trying to get back into things after taking a 3 day weekend from running and then getting back into it. Mileage this week has been pretty pitiful, but everything feels like it's ticking over all right. I've decided to switch plans with how I'm going to train for my marathon using a new method. I mean I'm not targeting a win so whats to lose by trying something new that could shave quite a bit of time off the race.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
I am the hulk
So yesterday was interval day, and if you read yesterday's post about intervals you will know that I dislike them very much. I ended up running them a little bit quicker than I normally would do them just because I wanted to be a little bit masochistic. I did 4 of my 1000m intervals at 8.5 miles/hour and I was feeling possibly the most tired I've felt in a while. So on my last one I decided to be particularly adventurous and run it at 9.5 miles an hour. It started off, it was going going going........ and then the belt stopped moving. No joke the display still said it was going but for some reason the belt wasn't moving anymore. I ran so fast that I broke the treadmill. Soo I was going to go and cut my last interval short, but then found a second treadmill on which I could finish my interval.
So that is my challenge that I set forth to all of you, run so fast that you break the treadmill.
So that is my challenge that I set forth to all of you, run so fast that you break the treadmill.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
The dreaded intervals
So anybody who cycles or runs or does any kind of sport that requires rapid acceleration on your part will have encountered drills/exercises called intervals. Nobody likes doing them, but inevitably if you do them properly, regularly and for a decent enough period of time.... you WILL get faster. Not to mention the fact that it's kinda like an internal WIN when you don't feel bagged after doing the same distance, or going faster for the same distance, or going longer at the same pace.
1. Benefits
2. Things to watch out for
3. How to do them (Cycling and Running)
Benefits:
So what benefits does interval training afford you other than being able to go faster? Well you actually burn more fat overall, so if you're looking to bring down your overall fat composition it's good for that. Your metabolic rate is also increased from high intensity workouts which means you burn more fat after you're done all of your running. You usually feel like the king of the world (Before the king of pain rightfully reclaims his throne) because of all of the endorphins running around your body.
Medically speaking aside from all the other benefits that are specific to your sport, interval training has been shown to lower your cholesterol which is a good thing. You increase your stroke volume (the amount your heart pumps in a single beat) which means your heart pumps less which is also a good thing. You're usually for the most part healthier, not just from interval training but high intensity will build up your immune system which is why you see elites getting sick far less often.
But lets get into the more sports specific benefits. Climbing hills whether you're on a bike or on your own two feet will suddenly become a lot easier. There's nothing more shattering when somebody just breezes past you on a climb looking like they're running effortlessly. Vice versa it's a huge confidence boost to be able to do this. You're able to deliver more oxygen to your muscles which means you can run faster, farther and longer. You build up endurance in any sport that you do be it cycling, swimming running, xc skiing etc. Oh did I mention you get faster?
Things to watch out for:
Listen to your body, if it's telling you that you're pushing too hard or anything like that, back off a bit and give it a rest. Interval training really does stress your body quite a bit, so don't get overboard and do too much of it.
Make sure you're giving yourself enough time to rest in between them. You can usually feel if you're ready to go and do another interval based on how you feel. A better way is looking at your heart rate and waiting for it to get back down to some pre-determined level where you feel good again.
Start off slow if it's your first time doing them. Make sure you have a good warm up so you don't do anything crappy with cold muscles and make sure you have a good cool down
Only add length or increase intensity, don't do both at the same time, really good way to kill yourself.
Make sure that they're challenging. So if you're still feeling fresh as a daisy, push harder, if you're gasping for breath half way through, you're going too hard.
How to do them:
For running, it's pretty easy. You just look at what kind of distances you're running. For example a runner who does a 5k may do an interval of 800m, thats on the high side. But slowly build them up. So what kind of speed is it? Well it's one that's slightly quicker than your lactate threshold pace. So you can feel it building and you can't keep this pace up for a very long time without having to slow down and take a bit of a rest. If you don't know what pace that is, it's one that leaves you out of breath, not quite an all out attempt, but close to there.
For example today I have 5x1000m.
I'll probably do a 1-2 mile easy running warmup (around 6 - 7 mph)
I'll then run 1 interval (probably somewhere around 8-9 mph)
I'll have a rest of close to 3 min (or however long it takes to not feel dead)
And I'll repeat till I've done my five intervals
Nice slow cool down
For cycling, I have to admit that I probably never did enough of this, and was thus never particularly quick. There's a lot of different ones, but it essentially targets the same idea of building cardio capacity.
Micro Intervals
After the usual good warmup, you'll alternate between 15 seconds of maximal effort and 15 seconds of soft pedalling, you repeat for 15 minutes or till exhaustion. This helps to build anabolic responses, and improve the strength and muscular co-ordination used for fast powerful pedalling.
3 minute Intervals
Warm up, and then you run five sets of three minute intervals. Three minutes flat out at VO2 max and three minutes of recovery. Try to regain control of the ragged breathing.....repeat. These are your classic type of exercises to kick your body into shape. You'll increase cardiac performance, stroke volume, flat out speed, VO2 max, anaerobic and aerobic capacity and economy.
30/30 Intervals
After warming up, alternate between 30 seconds flat out and 30 seconds 50% of flat out. Repeat till exhaustion. It improves your VO2 max, your aerobic capacity or lactate threshold, and your cycling economy mid-season. These are probably good for those new to intervals because it's a way of getting into it, but not making it too difficult.
And with that, it's time to go do my intervals, have a good one guys.
1. Benefits
2. Things to watch out for
3. How to do them (Cycling and Running)
Benefits:
So what benefits does interval training afford you other than being able to go faster? Well you actually burn more fat overall, so if you're looking to bring down your overall fat composition it's good for that. Your metabolic rate is also increased from high intensity workouts which means you burn more fat after you're done all of your running. You usually feel like the king of the world (Before the king of pain rightfully reclaims his throne) because of all of the endorphins running around your body.
Medically speaking aside from all the other benefits that are specific to your sport, interval training has been shown to lower your cholesterol which is a good thing. You increase your stroke volume (the amount your heart pumps in a single beat) which means your heart pumps less which is also a good thing. You're usually for the most part healthier, not just from interval training but high intensity will build up your immune system which is why you see elites getting sick far less often.
But lets get into the more sports specific benefits. Climbing hills whether you're on a bike or on your own two feet will suddenly become a lot easier. There's nothing more shattering when somebody just breezes past you on a climb looking like they're running effortlessly. Vice versa it's a huge confidence boost to be able to do this. You're able to deliver more oxygen to your muscles which means you can run faster, farther and longer. You build up endurance in any sport that you do be it cycling, swimming running, xc skiing etc. Oh did I mention you get faster?
Things to watch out for:
Listen to your body, if it's telling you that you're pushing too hard or anything like that, back off a bit and give it a rest. Interval training really does stress your body quite a bit, so don't get overboard and do too much of it.
Make sure you're giving yourself enough time to rest in between them. You can usually feel if you're ready to go and do another interval based on how you feel. A better way is looking at your heart rate and waiting for it to get back down to some pre-determined level where you feel good again.
Start off slow if it's your first time doing them. Make sure you have a good warm up so you don't do anything crappy with cold muscles and make sure you have a good cool down
Only add length or increase intensity, don't do both at the same time, really good way to kill yourself.
Make sure that they're challenging. So if you're still feeling fresh as a daisy, push harder, if you're gasping for breath half way through, you're going too hard.
How to do them:
For running, it's pretty easy. You just look at what kind of distances you're running. For example a runner who does a 5k may do an interval of 800m, thats on the high side. But slowly build them up. So what kind of speed is it? Well it's one that's slightly quicker than your lactate threshold pace. So you can feel it building and you can't keep this pace up for a very long time without having to slow down and take a bit of a rest. If you don't know what pace that is, it's one that leaves you out of breath, not quite an all out attempt, but close to there.
For example today I have 5x1000m.
I'll probably do a 1-2 mile easy running warmup (around 6 - 7 mph)
I'll then run 1 interval (probably somewhere around 8-9 mph)
I'll have a rest of close to 3 min (or however long it takes to not feel dead)
And I'll repeat till I've done my five intervals
Nice slow cool down
For cycling, I have to admit that I probably never did enough of this, and was thus never particularly quick. There's a lot of different ones, but it essentially targets the same idea of building cardio capacity.
Micro Intervals
After the usual good warmup, you'll alternate between 15 seconds of maximal effort and 15 seconds of soft pedalling, you repeat for 15 minutes or till exhaustion. This helps to build anabolic responses, and improve the strength and muscular co-ordination used for fast powerful pedalling.
3 minute Intervals
Warm up, and then you run five sets of three minute intervals. Three minutes flat out at VO2 max and three minutes of recovery. Try to regain control of the ragged breathing.....repeat. These are your classic type of exercises to kick your body into shape. You'll increase cardiac performance, stroke volume, flat out speed, VO2 max, anaerobic and aerobic capacity and economy.
30/30 Intervals
After warming up, alternate between 30 seconds flat out and 30 seconds 50% of flat out. Repeat till exhaustion. It improves your VO2 max, your aerobic capacity or lactate threshold, and your cycling economy mid-season. These are probably good for those new to intervals because it's a way of getting into it, but not making it too difficult.
And with that, it's time to go do my intervals, have a good one guys.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Cheap Lift Tickets
So today's Monday morning and it's been a little bit of a hiatus from regular posting because I've been out and about and generally tired when I come home to post. But today's post is all about how you can get outdoors, head to the mountains and enjoy your day there, all while saving a nice chunk of change.
People who frequent Sunshine know there are things like the Sunshine Marmot Card (SMC) that gives you a discount and then free days after a certain amount of trips. But for those that like to hop between mountains or don't always make it out super often what do you do?
If you have a Costco membership, you can actually go and get your ski tickets there. They're usually quite a bit cheaper than you would normally pay. For example at Sunshine, if you don't have a pass or a SMC, you get to wait in a very long line, fork over 80 dollars and then go wait in line. Costco on the other hand will sell you three tickets for 180 bucks, and you even get the tickets so all you have to do is zip tie your ticket on, and hop on the gondola on the way up. So if you have a costco membership, go and check out which hills they have, and if they have the ones you go to, you're in luck. Buy a pack, save money and happy skiing
~Kel
People who frequent Sunshine know there are things like the Sunshine Marmot Card (SMC) that gives you a discount and then free days after a certain amount of trips. But for those that like to hop between mountains or don't always make it out super often what do you do?
If you have a Costco membership, you can actually go and get your ski tickets there. They're usually quite a bit cheaper than you would normally pay. For example at Sunshine, if you don't have a pass or a SMC, you get to wait in a very long line, fork over 80 dollars and then go wait in line. Costco on the other hand will sell you three tickets for 180 bucks, and you even get the tickets so all you have to do is zip tie your ticket on, and hop on the gondola on the way up. So if you have a costco membership, go and check out which hills they have, and if they have the ones you go to, you're in luck. Buy a pack, save money and happy skiing
~Kel
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Training Updates - Jan 20, 2011
So today's post comes really really late, because I just came back from yoga which was great for opening up the hip flexors. So we'll just kinda keep it short
Jess
I think Jess should've covered around 25 miles or maybe a little bit more. She's getting a lot quicker and it's definitely showing especially when she does intervals. Just like me (Kel) she has her ups and downs but I guess that's the fact of training.
Kel
So this week was an up and down week. I missed some runs, moved them around, had to split them up so stuff didn't quite go how it was supposed to go. I got a blister on Saturday's long run which resulted in crappy running and a pseudo resting day on monday.
Time spent running: A little over ten hours
Distance run: Over 45 miles
Random Thoughts: Well I actually didn't realize that I had done so much running until I went onto my log and checked it out and realized HOLY CRAP that's a lot of running, so maybe I'll make sure I take it a little bit . With that, it's off to bed because tommorow is strength day, JOY.
Jess
I think Jess should've covered around 25 miles or maybe a little bit more. She's getting a lot quicker and it's definitely showing especially when she does intervals. Just like me (Kel) she has her ups and downs but I guess that's the fact of training.
Kel
So this week was an up and down week. I missed some runs, moved them around, had to split them up so stuff didn't quite go how it was supposed to go. I got a blister on Saturday's long run which resulted in crappy running and a pseudo resting day on monday.
Time spent running: A little over ten hours
Distance run: Over 45 miles
Random Thoughts: Well I actually didn't realize that I had done so much running until I went onto my log and checked it out and realized HOLY CRAP that's a lot of running, so maybe I'll make sure I take it a little bit . With that, it's off to bed because tommorow is strength day, JOY.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Bodyglide
So today's post is going to a relative shorty, not a whole lot that is interesting, but comes as I have been on the unfortunate end of today's post.
Chafing is a horrible thing that will undoubtedly rear it's ugly head at us in every athletes tenure. Runners will typically get these on their feet, racquet sports or things where you grip something can cause them to occur on the hand. Or even poorly made clothing can case this.
Usually water blisters occur from a lot of rubbing, and are called friction blisters. They'll usually fill with water and they suck to have because they throw a wrench in training plans. Sometimes this occurs when you're breaking in shoes, especially if you haven't done it properly and they're super stiff. You can also get it from having damp socks which will also increase the friction. These problems are easily fixable by getting tech socks that help to wick away moisture, or just giving it time and breaking in your shoes slowly. But when that isn't enough and you need a bit more to decrease the friction to the point you don't blister? What do you do.
The first time that I used bodyglide was actually when I first started playing golf and had what can only be described as a death grip on my clubs. Suffice to say I always got blisters, and it sucked.... LOTS. Usually a little bit of sports tape over them and I would just suck it up and keep on going but it reaches a point where you just don't like going through that. My sis let me borrow some of a sample tube and it can only be described as the block of what feels more or less like solidified lotion.
Directly from the companies website, they say it helps prevent and relieve hotspots on feet and chafed, chapped and cracked sin. Good for before or after activity. It penetrates the skin and creates an invisible barrier against friction and moisture without clogging pores or trapping perspiration. Feels "dry" to touch. Essentially all the marking mumbo jumbo says that when you rub two surfaces together not only are they dry, but it will slide rather than rub. This is a relief for repetitive sports like running where it's the same motion over and over again. I got some blisters this week, had to lay off the running but then put some of this stuff on and it really does help.
So for the runners here, usually in between your toes, or anywhere that looks kinda red after your run, put some on and you should be good.
You can usually find these are your local sport stores or get them online.
Chafing is a horrible thing that will undoubtedly rear it's ugly head at us in every athletes tenure. Runners will typically get these on their feet, racquet sports or things where you grip something can cause them to occur on the hand. Or even poorly made clothing can case this.
Usually water blisters occur from a lot of rubbing, and are called friction blisters. They'll usually fill with water and they suck to have because they throw a wrench in training plans. Sometimes this occurs when you're breaking in shoes, especially if you haven't done it properly and they're super stiff. You can also get it from having damp socks which will also increase the friction. These problems are easily fixable by getting tech socks that help to wick away moisture, or just giving it time and breaking in your shoes slowly. But when that isn't enough and you need a bit more to decrease the friction to the point you don't blister? What do you do.
The first time that I used bodyglide was actually when I first started playing golf and had what can only be described as a death grip on my clubs. Suffice to say I always got blisters, and it sucked.... LOTS. Usually a little bit of sports tape over them and I would just suck it up and keep on going but it reaches a point where you just don't like going through that. My sis let me borrow some of a sample tube and it can only be described as the block of what feels more or less like solidified lotion.
 |
| Three sizes for your conveniance |
Directly from the companies website, they say it helps prevent and relieve hotspots on feet and chafed, chapped and cracked sin. Good for before or after activity. It penetrates the skin and creates an invisible barrier against friction and moisture without clogging pores or trapping perspiration. Feels "dry" to touch. Essentially all the marking mumbo jumbo says that when you rub two surfaces together not only are they dry, but it will slide rather than rub. This is a relief for repetitive sports like running where it's the same motion over and over again. I got some blisters this week, had to lay off the running but then put some of this stuff on and it really does help.
So for the runners here, usually in between your toes, or anywhere that looks kinda red after your run, put some on and you should be good.
You can usually find these are your local sport stores or get them online.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Finally Up and Running
Hey everyone. This is Jess a.k.a. Her. I finally found the time to create a gmail account so now, like Kelvin, I can share my training stories, discoveries, and adventures with you.
So far the running is going well. There are good days and bad days, but overall I feel good about my training so far. It is definitely whipping me into shape! As mentioned by Kel the goal is the Calgary Marathon in May of this year followed by Ironman Canada in August of 2012. Apart from the Kids of Steel triathlon, which I completed at age 10, I have not attempted any other swimming, biking, or running races of any sort, large or small. After reading this most of you are probably thinking I am crazy for even thinking to attempt a full marathon yet alone one of the most grueling triathlons in the world...IRONMAN! (Believe me...some days I think I am crazy too!) My philosophy though...if you set your heart to a task, no matter how daunting, it is always achievable!!! That being said I have a decent background in swimming, biking, and running and do not take either of these races for granted. They are tough/grueling races and are not to be taken lightly. Training will be demanding and a rigorous training schedule will be necessary in order for Kel and I to be successful in our endeavours. I recognize that I will need to put in the time and effort to succeed and that the training process will not be an easy one. In my opinion though the journey will be well worth the reward.
Being the daughter of an Ironman triathlete inspires me even more so as I embark on this journey. I have wanted to complete Ironman Canada since the day I watched my mom cross that finish line and become an Ironman in 2000. Her journey and race was such an inspiration for me and I will always be in awe of her accomplishment. Since then I have returned to Penticton four times to watch other friends take part in this amazing triathlon and cheer them on to reach their goals. Each and every time I am further inspired and driven to take part in the race. There is something truly awe inspiring about this triathlon. It's a high that you can't really explain until you have experienced the race in person. Unfortunately the age restriction of 18 and the demands of life seemed to always get in the way of my hopes to participate. Training for Ironman requires copious amounts of time, of which to date I have never seemed to have. As such, my goal of taking part in this event was always pushed aside as something that would be accomplished down the road when time allowed. Last summer, I attended my fifth Ironman Canada triathlon to cheer on my friend Sylvia. I had originally planned to train and complete this race with her, but once again life got in the way. Unfortunately, Sylvia's race day did not go as well as she had hoped and she was unable to complete the race after failing to make the swim cut off by less than a minute. Most people in Sylvia's position would have given up right there and then but she was determined to not give up on her goal. The very next morning she signed up for Ironman Canada 2011. Sylvia's amazing drive and heart almost pushed me to sign up with her right then and there. I even volunteered that day so I would have the chance to sign up with her the following morning. Needless to say that didn't happen, but this time I wasn't letting life get in the way...I simply wanted an extra year to train. So it was decided. I was heading back to Penticton to cheer on Sylvia and volunteer at Ironman Canada 2011 and the following year I was coming back to race in Ironman Canada 2012.
Upon discussing these plans with my friend Kelvin I convinced him to do the race with me. The deal was I would be doing the Calgary Marathon with him in 2011. What the heck...it's good training plus I now have a partner in crime! So there you have it. We might be crazy, but hey...we have a goal and there is no stopping us now!!!
So far the running is going well. There are good days and bad days, but overall I feel good about my training so far. It is definitely whipping me into shape! As mentioned by Kel the goal is the Calgary Marathon in May of this year followed by Ironman Canada in August of 2012. Apart from the Kids of Steel triathlon, which I completed at age 10, I have not attempted any other swimming, biking, or running races of any sort, large or small. After reading this most of you are probably thinking I am crazy for even thinking to attempt a full marathon yet alone one of the most grueling triathlons in the world...IRONMAN! (Believe me...some days I think I am crazy too!) My philosophy though...if you set your heart to a task, no matter how daunting, it is always achievable!!! That being said I have a decent background in swimming, biking, and running and do not take either of these races for granted. They are tough/grueling races and are not to be taken lightly. Training will be demanding and a rigorous training schedule will be necessary in order for Kel and I to be successful in our endeavours. I recognize that I will need to put in the time and effort to succeed and that the training process will not be an easy one. In my opinion though the journey will be well worth the reward.
Being the daughter of an Ironman triathlete inspires me even more so as I embark on this journey. I have wanted to complete Ironman Canada since the day I watched my mom cross that finish line and become an Ironman in 2000. Her journey and race was such an inspiration for me and I will always be in awe of her accomplishment. Since then I have returned to Penticton four times to watch other friends take part in this amazing triathlon and cheer them on to reach their goals. Each and every time I am further inspired and driven to take part in the race. There is something truly awe inspiring about this triathlon. It's a high that you can't really explain until you have experienced the race in person. Unfortunately the age restriction of 18 and the demands of life seemed to always get in the way of my hopes to participate. Training for Ironman requires copious amounts of time, of which to date I have never seemed to have. As such, my goal of taking part in this event was always pushed aside as something that would be accomplished down the road when time allowed. Last summer, I attended my fifth Ironman Canada triathlon to cheer on my friend Sylvia. I had originally planned to train and complete this race with her, but once again life got in the way. Unfortunately, Sylvia's race day did not go as well as she had hoped and she was unable to complete the race after failing to make the swim cut off by less than a minute. Most people in Sylvia's position would have given up right there and then but she was determined to not give up on her goal. The very next morning she signed up for Ironman Canada 2011. Sylvia's amazing drive and heart almost pushed me to sign up with her right then and there. I even volunteered that day so I would have the chance to sign up with her the following morning. Needless to say that didn't happen, but this time I wasn't letting life get in the way...I simply wanted an extra year to train. So it was decided. I was heading back to Penticton to cheer on Sylvia and volunteer at Ironman Canada 2011 and the following year I was coming back to race in Ironman Canada 2012.
Upon discussing these plans with my friend Kelvin I convinced him to do the race with me. The deal was I would be doing the Calgary Marathon with him in 2011. What the heck...it's good training plus I now have a partner in crime! So there you have it. We might be crazy, but hey...we have a goal and there is no stopping us now!!!
Why chocolate milk is awesome
So most of you that train will undoubtedly have reached for a recovery drink of some sort that is usually packed full of carbs and all sorts of other goodies to replenish what you just burned in your exercise. But even though many studies have shown that you need things like carbs to repack into your muscles and protein to help rebuild muscles, the debate still rages what the best way to do this is.
In order to hit it hard again the day after, and the day after that you need to be in a condition to do so, so you need to be able to recover. One of the less refined, but nonetheless proven ways of recovering is just to jam as many calories as you burned back in. The only problem with this is most people, myself included sometimes don't exactly feel like stuffing your face right after a nice long hard run. So this is where you have the recovery drink market.
All companies will say that their product is best and you have everything out there ranging from protein powders, to recovery powders, to magical formulas. Then you have your not so typical replacement plans including bars, meal replacement drinks..... and then you have chocolate milk.
Now it started out first being used by american swimmer Michael Phelps, the beast in the pool that apparently eats a baby cow for breakfast (well maybe not quite but this guy eats a LOT.) There was then a study that was funded by International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism. Granted it was partially funded by the dairy industry, and it wasn't huge in scale, it still showed a few things that are really interesting.
Now here are a few basic assumptions/known facts about exercise and recovery that we're basing our understanding on why Chocolate milk is awesome.
1) Intense or vigorous exercise depletes glycogen stores in muscles
2) This is usually dealt with by intaking carbohydrates which will refill your stores
3) There is this "magical" window of 30 minutes where it is recommended that you intake a helping or carbs both for recovery and better packing of glycogen
4) Protein can also help insulin in packing glycogen into muscles.
So sport drinks will usually fill that idea of giving you carbs and even some electrolytes to replace what you've already sweated out. So this is where companies have started making targeted "recovery" drinks that usually contain your typical carb, maybe some electrolytes but then there's also some protein in there as well. Companies such as Pacific Health Labs made a product called Endurox R4 which was touted as something that will help with recovery.
So of course studies are going to be done to see if this stuff really works and companies will always find info to back up their claims. They tested cyclists by working them till glycogen depletion, and then either fueled them up with Gatorade, Chocolate Mark or this new fangled Endurox. Now the results were slightly unexpected in that those who drank chocolate milk could go 50% more than those who had Endurox and about as long as those that had Gatorade. Now wait a minute, didn't I just say that protein helps with glycogen packing? There are a couple theories as to why the chocolate milk just outperformed other more expensive alternatives.
So it's been predicted that one of the reason why chocolate milk works so well has to do with sugar composition. Not only are they structured differently, but they can also be absorbed by the gut easier. Other thoughts include that it's because the protein in milk is high quality, add in carbs and magic. Well not quite the entire picture. You also get a lot of other things in milk such as calcium, pottasium and magnesium, and vitamin d. So there's other natural things in chocolate that makes it much more than awesome tasting protein and carbs. Happy muscles mean you can hit it again the next day and keep at it. Less unscheduled rest days are a good thing
So if it's good enough for professional athletes, it's good enough for me, and chances are it's probably good enough for you too!
In order to hit it hard again the day after, and the day after that you need to be in a condition to do so, so you need to be able to recover. One of the less refined, but nonetheless proven ways of recovering is just to jam as many calories as you burned back in. The only problem with this is most people, myself included sometimes don't exactly feel like stuffing your face right after a nice long hard run. So this is where you have the recovery drink market.
All companies will say that their product is best and you have everything out there ranging from protein powders, to recovery powders, to magical formulas. Then you have your not so typical replacement plans including bars, meal replacement drinks..... and then you have chocolate milk.
 |
| Not your typical recovery drink |
Now it started out first being used by american swimmer Michael Phelps, the beast in the pool that apparently eats a baby cow for breakfast (well maybe not quite but this guy eats a LOT.) There was then a study that was funded by International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism. Granted it was partially funded by the dairy industry, and it wasn't huge in scale, it still showed a few things that are really interesting.
Now here are a few basic assumptions/known facts about exercise and recovery that we're basing our understanding on why Chocolate milk is awesome.
1) Intense or vigorous exercise depletes glycogen stores in muscles
2) This is usually dealt with by intaking carbohydrates which will refill your stores
3) There is this "magical" window of 30 minutes where it is recommended that you intake a helping or carbs both for recovery and better packing of glycogen
4) Protein can also help insulin in packing glycogen into muscles.
 |
| All the carbs and electrolytes you want or need |
So sport drinks will usually fill that idea of giving you carbs and even some electrolytes to replace what you've already sweated out. So this is where companies have started making targeted "recovery" drinks that usually contain your typical carb, maybe some electrolytes but then there's also some protein in there as well. Companies such as Pacific Health Labs made a product called Endurox R4 which was touted as something that will help with recovery.
 | |||
| Carbs and Protein |
So of course studies are going to be done to see if this stuff really works and companies will always find info to back up their claims. They tested cyclists by working them till glycogen depletion, and then either fueled them up with Gatorade, Chocolate Mark or this new fangled Endurox. Now the results were slightly unexpected in that those who drank chocolate milk could go 50% more than those who had Endurox and about as long as those that had Gatorade. Now wait a minute, didn't I just say that protein helps with glycogen packing? There are a couple theories as to why the chocolate milk just outperformed other more expensive alternatives.
 |
| Is there more behind the brown cow? |
So if it's good enough for professional athletes, it's good enough for me, and chances are it's probably good enough for you too!
Monday, January 17, 2011
FREE STUFF
This week will have a theme, all things running. So kicking off with today's post......
Well less so free stuff, and more so free app. So in the continuing theme of helping people keep/stay on their new years resolutions. Today's post is about a free running app all the way through January from a company that also wants to get you off the couch and onto your two feet and moving quickly.
What is the runkeeper app?
Runkeeper is an app that allows you to track all sorts of info about a walk/run using your phones GPS and this will give you info that would normally come from a dedicated system such as a running watch or running chip (Nike+). It will also map your run so you can show people where you went. It also has the ability for you to add on a heart rate monitor to see how bagged your run is making you. Some highlight features from the comapny's pitch for you to get the app.
- Maps integration (seeing where you went)
-Activity Sharing
-Music/iPod Integration
-Audio Cues
-Interval Workouts
-Target pace
-Splits
What is runkeeper?
Well along with the app, the company has an online portal that will allow you sync all that info you just got from your run and put it onto there. This allows you to go back and check out all of your past runs how fast you've done them. You can also put in other activities like cycling, skiing, rowing etc. This allows you to put in info even if you're doing it indoors.
So why is it so awesome that it's free?
Well normally this app is going to run you 10 bucks to buy, but because it's January and everybody loves to have new years resolutions to get fit, they've made it free. Unfortunately it's only available on Android and iPhone. So head on over and grab your copy today for iPhone or for Android.
Happy Runnings Guys
Well less so free stuff, and more so free app. So in the continuing theme of helping people keep/stay on their new years resolutions. Today's post is about a free running app all the way through January from a company that also wants to get you off the couch and onto your two feet and moving quickly.
What is the runkeeper app?
Runkeeper is an app that allows you to track all sorts of info about a walk/run using your phones GPS and this will give you info that would normally come from a dedicated system such as a running watch or running chip (Nike+). It will also map your run so you can show people where you went. It also has the ability for you to add on a heart rate monitor to see how bagged your run is making you. Some highlight features from the comapny's pitch for you to get the app.
- Maps integration (seeing where you went)
-Activity Sharing
-Music/iPod Integration
-Audio Cues
-Interval Workouts
-Target pace
-Splits
What is runkeeper?
Well along with the app, the company has an online portal that will allow you sync all that info you just got from your run and put it onto there. This allows you to go back and check out all of your past runs how fast you've done them. You can also put in other activities like cycling, skiing, rowing etc. This allows you to put in info even if you're doing it indoors.
So why is it so awesome that it's free?
Well normally this app is going to run you 10 bucks to buy, but because it's January and everybody loves to have new years resolutions to get fit, they've made it free. Unfortunately it's only available on Android and iPhone. So head on over and grab your copy today for iPhone or for Android.
Happy Runnings Guys
Saturday, January 15, 2011
A milestone of sorts
A milestone of sorts
So today's post is a milestone of sorts and it's somewhat fitting that it comes on the weekend review post. I started this blog waayyyy back in October shortly after I started school. It began really as a musings and rantings and it wasn't done particularly regularly either. There also wasn't a whole lot of substance I would go do something and then come on here and write about it. There wasn't a whole lot to read and there wasn't a lot of people that did read. I really had no clue what I was doing and I still really don't know quite what I'm doing but that's fine.
Fast forward 4 months and the blog has become a little bit more structured. It's got a bit on our training (what this blog was originally for), a little product review, a little tech corner, some feature article of some sort and then a focus on a person. It's actually kinda cool to watch that when I write a "cool" article such as the one on Why diets don't work a lot more people go and click on that link and read it. Conversely when I write crappy articles very few of you guys read it (such as the training updates). So I'm going to have to find a better way to write my training updates, maybe it'll be like a diary of what Jess and I did that week. We'll give that a go.
So the reason why today's post is a milestone of sorts is that it's the 50th post that I've made on the website, and it's a big deal to me. Jess has gotten gmail and I've given her the link so you should see posts from her too starting next week which is also exciting. So a quick look back, we've had over 750 visitors to the site (Which may not seem like a lot but I think it's kinda big deal). The bulk of the visitors come from Canada which isn't surprising. Over a quarter of the visits have been from the states (I don't think I even have that many American friends, but thanks for reading guys). Then apparently there's people from Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Denmark, Croatia, New Zealand, Russia, and the Ukraine. Really don't know how those got there but kind of cool that it's a global ish blog in the smallest of senses. What's really exciting for me is that over half the visitors use Mac (those who know me will know why I love that number so much, due to something in a past life). But that's about it for stats, now onto the week in review post.
Week in Review
So sometimes I'll have posts that I think hmmm might be cool to write about but never really get around to and can't find enough info will probably get a blurb here. It'll also be a summary of what I did get around to writing about in the week as well as what Jess puts on here too. So without further ado, here's a week in review, some interesting tidbits from the interwebs and some random thoughts.
Posts this past week
Monday - New Mizuno Shoes
Tuesday - Pasta Making Fun
Wednesday - Why diets don't work
Thursday - Training Updates
Friday - Why we race
Interesting tidbits from the web
Probikekit is still having their new years sale so not only does stuff cost MUCH less then it would at your LBS. There's also a extra 10% code BONUS10 that will get you even more off. So as much of a fan as I am of buying local, I won't if it costs me twice as much.
Ray Maker, author of an athletes blog has a giveaway contest going on over at his blog right now so go check it out and see if what's up for grabs interests you.
Random Notes
Cycling season has started again with the TDU, which means it's back to being able to read reall racing news for the next...... 10 ish months. That's super exciting because I've found a sport that I follow even more closely than I did F1. It probably owes to the fact that I can actually partake in a sport similar to these athletes, albeit at a MUCH lower level, but still fun nonetheless.
Whoever said that Winter will SUCK more than usual has been absolutely right. Calgary has been stuck in this arctic bubble for the past..... week or so and it's been absolutely freezing. I'm actually kinda looking forward to temperatures that do not feel like minus thirty something for the entire day.
So with that it's the end of this post, now it's time to go and churn out 25 k.
So today's post is a milestone of sorts and it's somewhat fitting that it comes on the weekend review post. I started this blog waayyyy back in October shortly after I started school. It began really as a musings and rantings and it wasn't done particularly regularly either. There also wasn't a whole lot of substance I would go do something and then come on here and write about it. There wasn't a whole lot to read and there wasn't a lot of people that did read. I really had no clue what I was doing and I still really don't know quite what I'm doing but that's fine.
Fast forward 4 months and the blog has become a little bit more structured. It's got a bit on our training (what this blog was originally for), a little product review, a little tech corner, some feature article of some sort and then a focus on a person. It's actually kinda cool to watch that when I write a "cool" article such as the one on Why diets don't work a lot more people go and click on that link and read it. Conversely when I write crappy articles very few of you guys read it (such as the training updates). So I'm going to have to find a better way to write my training updates, maybe it'll be like a diary of what Jess and I did that week. We'll give that a go.
So the reason why today's post is a milestone of sorts is that it's the 50th post that I've made on the website, and it's a big deal to me. Jess has gotten gmail and I've given her the link so you should see posts from her too starting next week which is also exciting. So a quick look back, we've had over 750 visitors to the site (Which may not seem like a lot but I think it's kinda big deal). The bulk of the visitors come from Canada which isn't surprising. Over a quarter of the visits have been from the states (I don't think I even have that many American friends, but thanks for reading guys). Then apparently there's people from Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Denmark, Croatia, New Zealand, Russia, and the Ukraine. Really don't know how those got there but kind of cool that it's a global ish blog in the smallest of senses. What's really exciting for me is that over half the visitors use Mac (those who know me will know why I love that number so much, due to something in a past life). But that's about it for stats, now onto the week in review post.
Week in Review
So sometimes I'll have posts that I think hmmm might be cool to write about but never really get around to and can't find enough info will probably get a blurb here. It'll also be a summary of what I did get around to writing about in the week as well as what Jess puts on here too. So without further ado, here's a week in review, some interesting tidbits from the interwebs and some random thoughts.
Posts this past week
Monday - New Mizuno Shoes
Tuesday - Pasta Making Fun
Wednesday - Why diets don't work
Thursday - Training Updates
Friday - Why we race
Interesting tidbits from the web
Probikekit is still having their new years sale so not only does stuff cost MUCH less then it would at your LBS. There's also a extra 10% code BONUS10 that will get you even more off. So as much of a fan as I am of buying local, I won't if it costs me twice as much.
Ray Maker, author of an athletes blog has a giveaway contest going on over at his blog right now so go check it out and see if what's up for grabs interests you.
Random Notes
Cycling season has started again with the TDU, which means it's back to being able to read reall racing news for the next...... 10 ish months. That's super exciting because I've found a sport that I follow even more closely than I did F1. It probably owes to the fact that I can actually partake in a sport similar to these athletes, albeit at a MUCH lower level, but still fun nonetheless.
Whoever said that Winter will SUCK more than usual has been absolutely right. Calgary has been stuck in this arctic bubble for the past..... week or so and it's been absolutely freezing. I'm actually kinda looking forward to temperatures that do not feel like minus thirty something for the entire day.
So with that it's the end of this post, now it's time to go and churn out 25 k.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Why we race?
So a few weeks back I had a post about Why we do what we do and today's post is kinda an extension of that but more so focusing on why we race.
"A lot of people run a race to see who is the fastest. I run to see who has the most guts" Pre
Those that don't know who Pre is should get The Runner's Rule Book and read rule 1.10. If you look at it, the truth in it is undeniable. I've fallen into the same trap before, to see how fast one can go I mean that is the idea behind a race right? Well things like 100m sprints ya it becomes very easily who is the fastest. When you move into longer events such as something like 5k, 10k, half marathon, full marathon, ultra or an ironman. They all hold some kind of allure and hold this air of awesome about them. As you start doing longer distances the shorter ones really do become a race of who is the fastest.
But when you're just starting out just signing up to do a race in itself is a huge step. Running it is the second step. The fact that you're willing to drag yourself up at a relatively unreasonable time of day (read 4 for my marathon because of loading up for the marathon) and go out and pound the pavement for breakfast. After each new milestone you feel like you've accomplished something more and then items become insignificant in relation.
Convincing yourself that you're going to do a half or full marathon takes a certain amount of gut. If you have run one, congrats you're in the 99th percentile. Less then 1% of the world will ever run a marathon. Realistically very few of us will go on to actually fight for crossing and breaking that tape first, but what we will fight is inner battles everyday. Searching for that elusive PR and then taking it and smashing it into tons of tiny pieces.
We race because it's having that feeling of accomplishment be it a new super long ridiculous distance you didn't think was possible before. Or be it blitzing a time and shaving multiple minutes off your last PR. We race because the story and battle is not with the people around you but with yourself.
So for those that have fitness goals, in the spirit of January fitness resolutions week, find a race sign up for it. That dangled carrot is a huge motivation. Then con a friend into doing it with you. Now you go train. That's how I ran my marathon, just without a friend because she bailed. But now she's doing it this year and she's even writing about it with me.
So with that, today's post is dedicated to Steve Prefontaine, who unfortunately died in a car accident, but sported possibly the most awesome mustache while running.
"A lot of people run a race to see who is the fastest. I run to see who has the most guts" Pre
Those that don't know who Pre is should get The Runner's Rule Book and read rule 1.10. If you look at it, the truth in it is undeniable. I've fallen into the same trap before, to see how fast one can go I mean that is the idea behind a race right? Well things like 100m sprints ya it becomes very easily who is the fastest. When you move into longer events such as something like 5k, 10k, half marathon, full marathon, ultra or an ironman. They all hold some kind of allure and hold this air of awesome about them. As you start doing longer distances the shorter ones really do become a race of who is the fastest.
But when you're just starting out just signing up to do a race in itself is a huge step. Running it is the second step. The fact that you're willing to drag yourself up at a relatively unreasonable time of day (read 4 for my marathon because of loading up for the marathon) and go out and pound the pavement for breakfast. After each new milestone you feel like you've accomplished something more and then items become insignificant in relation.
Convincing yourself that you're going to do a half or full marathon takes a certain amount of gut. If you have run one, congrats you're in the 99th percentile. Less then 1% of the world will ever run a marathon. Realistically very few of us will go on to actually fight for crossing and breaking that tape first, but what we will fight is inner battles everyday. Searching for that elusive PR and then taking it and smashing it into tons of tiny pieces.
We race because it's having that feeling of accomplishment be it a new super long ridiculous distance you didn't think was possible before. Or be it blitzing a time and shaving multiple minutes off your last PR. We race because the story and battle is not with the people around you but with yourself.
So for those that have fitness goals, in the spirit of January fitness resolutions week, find a race sign up for it. That dangled carrot is a huge motivation. Then con a friend into doing it with you. Now you go train. That's how I ran my marathon, just without a friend because she bailed. But now she's doing it this year and she's even writing about it with me.
So with that, today's post is dedicated to Steve Prefontaine, who unfortunately died in a car accident, but sported possibly the most awesome mustache while running.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Training Updates Jan 13, 2011
So as we go along with our training, Jess and I will post updates on how we're doing with our training. This will always be the "Thursday post" and it will usually consist of what we did, how much we did and how life is going with doing stuff. Friday's will probably be our rest days so thursday in a sense marks the end of one training cycle and the start of another.
Kel
This week was the second week into 2011 and co-incidentally the second week of the marathon program. Second weeks usually suck the most because adrenaline gets you through the first week and you feel fantastic. Second week hits and you realize that you might have set off a little bit too exuberantly. Well second week hit, and at first it was like this isn't so bad. Then I ran some intervals and proceeded to retract all of the above statements. I've come to the conclusion that intervals are awesome for the results that come out the other end, but suck unbelievably so to do. So this week I ended up doing 30 miles, which isn't a whole lot, most of this owes to the fact that my super long run of the week went up in smoke when I felt as slow as a sloth that day. So hopefully the next week should be a little bit more.
Jess
As of the tuesday evening, Jess has FINALLY gotten gmail and as of yesterday, I have sent her an invitation for her to start writing on this blog, so you guys can look forward to posts from her. But now that I'm training with Jess on a semi regular basis I have exciting news to bring you from her training to fill her portion of the updates. Her training is going really good, she's getting quicker and quicker which is exciting. She said that her runs are also starting to feel a bit easier given the same distances so she's upping the speed. I actually don't know how much she ran this week, but we're both ramping up our weekly distances.
~Cheers Guys
Kel
This week was the second week into 2011 and co-incidentally the second week of the marathon program. Second weeks usually suck the most because adrenaline gets you through the first week and you feel fantastic. Second week hits and you realize that you might have set off a little bit too exuberantly. Well second week hit, and at first it was like this isn't so bad. Then I ran some intervals and proceeded to retract all of the above statements. I've come to the conclusion that intervals are awesome for the results that come out the other end, but suck unbelievably so to do. So this week I ended up doing 30 miles, which isn't a whole lot, most of this owes to the fact that my super long run of the week went up in smoke when I felt as slow as a sloth that day. So hopefully the next week should be a little bit more.
Jess
As of the tuesday evening, Jess has FINALLY gotten gmail and as of yesterday, I have sent her an invitation for her to start writing on this blog, so you guys can look forward to posts from her. But now that I'm training with Jess on a semi regular basis I have exciting news to bring you from her training to fill her portion of the updates. Her training is going really good, she's getting quicker and quicker which is exciting. She said that her runs are also starting to feel a bit easier given the same distances so she's upping the speed. I actually don't know how much she ran this week, but we're both ramping up our weekly distances.
~Cheers Guys
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Why diets don't work and why you should try this one
So now it's January, people are on full New Years resolution mode. Usually these will always include a fitness goal of some sort, be it that they want to make it to the gym, eat healthier, lose some weight or even gain some weight. It is inevitable that there isn't one of these and it definitely shows by all these signs at gyms saying they have special new years pricing. It definitely has resulted in a sudden influx of people at the university gym much to my annoyance because it means there's suddenly a ton more people in a fixed space. Unfortunately the sad thing is most of these people who set lofty goals will ultimately falter in the next two weeks, or falter in some point and time. Today's post is going to cover diets/losing weight if that was one of your new years resolutions.
1) Why I dislike diets
2) Why you can't keep what you lose
3) The science of losing weight
4) So now what
So why am I so against diets?
Well people come Jan 1 will always have these ideas that I'm going to go on a diet to lose a certain amount of weight. There's a few problems with this idea, first off skinny does not equal healthy. Secondarily, a diet is a lifestyle, not a one off event with a limited time frame. That and the term diet doesn't exactly conjure images of happiness.
It's also not very much fun to be the only one doing it, so while your friends go and munch down everyone in site (namely me) you're stuck having to eat a specific item. Which brings me to my next point, Fad Diets that proclaim you can lose a certain amount of weight with doing x y and z. You can usually lose the first five to ten pounds easily. But what sometimes happen is you lose some, gain it back and then some.... repeat. Not only is this kinda counterintuitive to the goal, it's not particularly good for your body.
Dieting slows down your body's metabolism which results in you burning less. Losing muscle will also lower your metabolism which is once again counter-intuitive. The other thing is when people are on diets, they're moods are usually attached to that three digit number that flashes back at you when you step on a giant piece of plastic. You then start looking at foods that are "forbidden" and bam back to square one.
Why you can't keep it off?
People will usually be able to lose some weight and quite quickly too, and be like I just lost x pounds. Problem with this is even slight fluctuations in water quantity in your body can cause this fluctuation giving you false results. The other thing is after a meal, you can weight up to 3-4 pounds more so depending on when you weigh yourself, there can also be variance. So weigh yourself first thing in the morning, not only will you be at your "lightest" but it's the truest weight.
Why do you lose the weight?
Any diet that results in you losing weight is not down to some magical food, but ultimately a reduced caloric intake compared to normal will result in a loss of weight. If you're burning slightly more than you're ingesting VOILA...... the pounds disappear.
Below is a summary of findings on a study performed by Dr. Haub on himeself
- His bodyweight drop from 200.8 to 174.2 (-26.6 lbs)
- His body-fat percentage drop from 33.4% to 24.% (-8.5%)
- His total body-fat drop by 25.25 lbs
- His lean body mass (muscle) drop by 1.35 lbs
- His total cholesterol drop from 214 to 184
- His bad cholesterol (ldl-c) drop from 153 to 123
- His good cholesterol (hdl-c) increase from 37 to 46
- His blood sugar / glucose level drop from 94 to 75, and
- His blood pressure stay around the same – pre=108/71 – post=104/76
Now you're probably looking at that and you're like WOW, I wish I could do that. Well let's go back a bit and look at some things. He was on a diet which consisted of Little Debbie Pecan Spin Wheels for breakfast, Hostess Twinkies for lunch, birthday cake for supper and Doritos for dessert. The key was that it was a reduced caloric intake. On a basic level, he is right in that it doesn't really matter what you're eating, as long as it's at a level lower than expenditure or just at. I agree with Dr. Haub that reducing calories will reduce body-fat – at least in the short term. I agree that reducing calories has been shown to increase lifespan. I agree that reducing calories & melting off body-fat has a powerful effect on blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, makes you move faster.
The only problem with this is it doesn't measure what having a ton of sugar is doing to your body. Excessive consumption of the ingredients in this like food coloring, saturated fats and the likes. Other things that are part of a healthy diet like vitamins and stuff like that. But once again, just because you weight little, doesn't mean you're health (read: Anorexic)
So what do you do?
Well it's not a small undertaking to try and go on a diet and reform yourself, but I have a ton of admiration for those that want to and succeed. So what have I found that helps out a lot when it comes to having to lose a little weight?
Water water water
A lot of times when we feel like we're hungry the first thing we go do is reach for some food and start eating. A lot of times it's just because we're dehydrated that we're going for the food. So try drinking a cup or two of water, wait a bit and if you're still feeling hungry, go eat a small healthy snack. Before you have a meal, same thing drink a glass or two of water. This will not only fill some room in your stomach, helping to prevent the overeating by triggering the signal earlier. Not only will this help with digestion, it should also make you a more energetic person, we feel tired when we're dehydrated.
Eat often, but in small quantities
Our society has been conditioned you have three meals and then some snacks in between. The problem with this is that when you're hungry you will crave stuff and usually overeat. So try snacking on stuff throughout the day, just remember not to eat anymore than you normally would. This eating often should also result in you eating a little bit less.
Healthy foods really do help
Now this may seem like an oxymoron, but honestly it does help. Instead of buying packaged and processed fruit cups, why not have some fresh fruit. If you're going to go buy a bottle of juice, why not eat a fruit. Fruit juices can have even more sugar than pop 42 tablespoons worth. Just because it helps you with your fruit servings, doesn't mean it's good. Same thing goes for the sugar, carry a bottle of water with you so you don't reach for fizzy drinks when you're thirsty. Try swapping out some whole wheat or at least multigrain bread instead of white. Refined carbs are awesome for packing on the pounds
A little bit of exercise goes a long way
The ultimate way in losing weight isn't in any eating, although it's a big part. If you go and do a decent amount of exercise, you will build muscle. The best thing about muscle is that it will help you burn off fat. It's like a gift that just keeps on giving. But honestly a bit of exercise will also give you some new found energy. Secretly I go and exercise so I can eat more :P
Find a friend
It helps when you have a friend whose either partaking in this endeavor with you so you guys can go through it together or they can keep you on track.
So that's my little tip of the day to set you guys all down the right path for all your goals. Sorry for lieing, it wasn't really a diet, more so how to change your lifestyle, and just do it piece by piece. Happy Resolutioning (is that a word? I think not, oh well.)
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Pasta Making Adventure
So this semester, I'm going to attempt to be a little bit better and do a bit more cooking of real food other then making small snacks here and there. So last night I came home from school and decided that I would want to make some pasta for dinner that night. So off to the Planet Organic (Local organic foods store) to grab some semolina flour to make the pasta.
Recipie
100 Grams Semolina Flour
200 Grams All Purpose Flour
3 Eggs
1 Tbsp olive oil
Pinch of Salt
First you mix the two types of flour and then mound it. Beat the eggs and add a pinch of salt as well as the olive oil. After mixing well pour into the mound, and start mixing into flour with fork. After you have mixed a bit and the egg solution starts being a bit more solid. Slowly mix the rest of the flour into the dough. It's alright if some of the flour stays on the top of the dough. Now if the dough seems a bit dry, add a bit more egg, and if it's too wet add a bit more flour. After you're done mixing the flour, roll dough into a ball and let it rest for one and a half hours. Now here's an interesting point that I learned last night, the reason why you let it sit (and why you let bread rise before you crush it back down) is to allow the gluten to form and let the dough get more stretchy.
After you're done all of that, here is the fun part of pasta making. Cut your ball of dough into 4 or 5 pieces. After take a single piece and feed it through the pasta making machine on the lowest setting.
Then you fold the piece into thirds and feed the wider portion back through machine twice. Up the setting by one, roll it twice. Keep on increasing the thinness, stopping on the second highest setting if you're doing angel hair or tagliatelle. If you're making lasagna or ravioli, roll it onto the highest setting. After you're done rolling, you can cut it thin or thick depending on what you want.
General Notes
You want to make sure that you keep your dough covered because you don't want it to dry out. Another thing is that you want to make sure if you lay pieces on top of each other while rolling them out to make sure they're well floured. Same thing as when you're cutting the strands, because if you don't keep them floured they will stick together, and you will have a clump of pasta which is not fun.
After cutting just kinda curl them into small balls by looping it over itself and stacking it.
Cook and Enjoy.
Pasta is a great way to carbo load before events, that and it tastes a lot better when it's homemade. So head on down to your local store, you can probably pick up a cheap machine for about 30 bucks and make pasta to your hearts content
Recipie
100 Grams Semolina Flour
200 Grams All Purpose Flour
3 Eggs
1 Tbsp olive oil
Pinch of Salt
First you mix the two types of flour and then mound it. Beat the eggs and add a pinch of salt as well as the olive oil. After mixing well pour into the mound, and start mixing into flour with fork. After you have mixed a bit and the egg solution starts being a bit more solid. Slowly mix the rest of the flour into the dough. It's alright if some of the flour stays on the top of the dough. Now if the dough seems a bit dry, add a bit more egg, and if it's too wet add a bit more flour. After you're done mixing the flour, roll dough into a ball and let it rest for one and a half hours. Now here's an interesting point that I learned last night, the reason why you let it sit (and why you let bread rise before you crush it back down) is to allow the gluten to form and let the dough get more stretchy.
After you're done all of that, here is the fun part of pasta making. Cut your ball of dough into 4 or 5 pieces. After take a single piece and feed it through the pasta making machine on the lowest setting.
 |
| Pasta Making Machine |
General Notes
You want to make sure that you keep your dough covered because you don't want it to dry out. Another thing is that you want to make sure if you lay pieces on top of each other while rolling them out to make sure they're well floured. Same thing as when you're cutting the strands, because if you don't keep them floured they will stick together, and you will have a clump of pasta which is not fun.
After cutting just kinda curl them into small balls by looping it over itself and stacking it.
Cook and Enjoy.
Pasta is a great way to carbo load before events, that and it tastes a lot better when it's homemade. So head on down to your local store, you can probably pick up a cheap machine for about 30 bucks and make pasta to your hearts content
Monday, January 10, 2011
Mizuno Wave Creation 12
So today's post is about something new that I'm looking forward to, but probably won't get. I have to admit that I am a little bit of a snob when it comes to getting gear, be it for running, riding or just stuff in general. First off I love me some BRIGHT colors, so if they make it in a neon green, highlighter yellow, BRIGHT orange.... done I will get it. It's kind of a weak point of mine.
But lets move forward to today's post. Many people will have heard of a company named Mizuno, they're a Japanese sports equipment and apparel company. They make golf clubs and shoes and clothing. I first saw a previous iteration of the shoe I train with and the subject of today's post. The Wave Creation 12. But first a little bit of background before we get to the juicy bit.
I first saw these fancy wave creations on my old high school french teacher's husband to be's (yes that was a mouthful to say) feet. I was man those look awfully cool, only serving to highlight the fact that I like shiny looking things.
I think I saw these back in 2007, and was like COOOL, went online and found out that they sold for 200 some bucks which at the time I thought was preposterous so that was the end of that. At this time my sister brought home the adidas catalog in which I found these adidas shoes that would probably be good for running and proceeded to buy them.
I actually fell in love with these shoes because they were SUPER comfy, like I don't think my feet have ever been quite that comfy in a pair of shoes and I still use them to this day many years later, although they have been relegated to the university shoe status. So after a season on them, I had used them for a decent amount and was looking at a replacement and thought well hey if these worked why don't I get the same model of shoe just a different model year. So went and tried them on and disappointment set it, because they didn't feel the same. So I said I'll suck it up, run another season on them and hopefully they'll have fixed the "problems". So next year went in and looked again and the shoe wasn't even anywhere to be found, turns out Adidas had taken a very light, nice cushy pavement pounding monster and decided to disco it (discontinue). So Adidas is a company that makes great shoes, but they also piss off a lot of their customers by taking a perfectly good shoe, kaiboshing it, and then saying this is it's successor. Only problem is that it's not really the same shoe and it doesn't feel the same. Oh and the above shoes? Mine are in lime green, still loving the bright colors.
That was when I found the Wave Creation 10's from Mizuno, I thought hey it's those shoes I saw many years ago, and it's a cool concept how it works. I didn't know very much about shoes at this point so I got them because they "looked cool". They actually worked really nicely, but they were kinda heavy, and the spring was a little bit stiff in the back (their inifnity wave).
One thing you'll notice is that it looks kinda similar to the 8's from above. So I ran in them and used up the sole on the heel and was like well time to get a new pair of shoes lets go look at the new version of these the 11's. They ended up lightening the shoe weight, changing the heel cup to be a bit more supportive and some little things to improve upon the shoe.
One again the shoe looks almost exactly the same, but they've just taken some of the input from customers and improved on those weaknesses but keeping what we like most about it still intact. So of course after this experience I was just waiting to look at what Mizuno did for this years shoe. I opened up my January issue of my running magazine and BAM.... front inner cover it's the Wave Creation 12. Excited and giddy, I hopped onto the interwebs and looked it up and what do you know, they actually have another iteration of this shoe. Here are some pics/colors of this years model
So another recurring theme, is that the shoes still look more or less the same, but what's new about it on this years shoe.
1) Forefoot flex controllers
-these are found on the outside of the shoe, they're the ridge on the toe of the sole.
-they allow the shoe to bend more which minimizes energy loss
2) New Infinity Wave (the wavy portion on the heel)
-this has always been kinda a thing of mizuno's and I love it
-the new wave makes the shoe a little bit less stiff in the back so you don't have to be a sumo to take advantage of the springiness of it.
3)AP+ Midsole
-I actually have no clue what this is, but I'll let you know when I do
4) No more sensor points
-They used to have these little harder blogs on the sole that were called "sensor points"
-no that they're gone you get a smoother ride and better toe off
5) New and better fit
-should have better transitions in addition to the forefoot flex controllers
From what Mizuno is telling me about this shoe, it looks like they've kept the weight of the past model (Well raised it by .1 of a gram which shouldn't be noticeble) but they've gone and fixed some of the nagging little things that I did have complaints on in the past model. So that actually makes me really excited for this shoe, because it looks like it's going to be a real winner. Only thing is I probably won't get this shoe because I just got new ones last year and will probably not need new ones yet.
But you know why I've stayed with Mizuno so far even though it's really only been 2/3 years. It's because they actually listen to what their customers say, take the shoe and say how bout we try and fix some of the complaints people have and keep what they like. It should be a relatively simple idea to do this, but Adidas apparently didn't get the memo. So here's a top tip to shoe makers; when a shoe is selling well, maybe it might be a good idea to keep on making it and not just disco it.
~Cheers.
But lets move forward to today's post. Many people will have heard of a company named Mizuno, they're a Japanese sports equipment and apparel company. They make golf clubs and shoes and clothing. I first saw a previous iteration of the shoe I train with and the subject of today's post. The Wave Creation 12. But first a little bit of background before we get to the juicy bit.
I first saw these fancy wave creations on my old high school french teacher's husband to be's (yes that was a mouthful to say) feet. I was man those look awfully cool, only serving to highlight the fact that I like shiny looking things.
 |
| Wave Creation 8 |
 |
| Supernova Cushion 7 |
That was when I found the Wave Creation 10's from Mizuno, I thought hey it's those shoes I saw many years ago, and it's a cool concept how it works. I didn't know very much about shoes at this point so I got them because they "looked cool". They actually worked really nicely, but they were kinda heavy, and the spring was a little bit stiff in the back (their inifnity wave).
 |
| Wave Creation 10 |
One thing you'll notice is that it looks kinda similar to the 8's from above. So I ran in them and used up the sole on the heel and was like well time to get a new pair of shoes lets go look at the new version of these the 11's. They ended up lightening the shoe weight, changing the heel cup to be a bit more supportive and some little things to improve upon the shoe.
 |
| Wave Creation 11's |
 |
| Women's Version |
 |
| Men's Version |
So another recurring theme, is that the shoes still look more or less the same, but what's new about it on this years shoe.
1) Forefoot flex controllers
-these are found on the outside of the shoe, they're the ridge on the toe of the sole.
-they allow the shoe to bend more which minimizes energy loss
2) New Infinity Wave (the wavy portion on the heel)
-this has always been kinda a thing of mizuno's and I love it
-the new wave makes the shoe a little bit less stiff in the back so you don't have to be a sumo to take advantage of the springiness of it.
3)AP+ Midsole
-I actually have no clue what this is, but I'll let you know when I do
4) No more sensor points
-They used to have these little harder blogs on the sole that were called "sensor points"
-no that they're gone you get a smoother ride and better toe off
5) New and better fit
-should have better transitions in addition to the forefoot flex controllers
From what Mizuno is telling me about this shoe, it looks like they've kept the weight of the past model (Well raised it by .1 of a gram which shouldn't be noticeble) but they've gone and fixed some of the nagging little things that I did have complaints on in the past model. So that actually makes me really excited for this shoe, because it looks like it's going to be a real winner. Only thing is I probably won't get this shoe because I just got new ones last year and will probably not need new ones yet.
But you know why I've stayed with Mizuno so far even though it's really only been 2/3 years. It's because they actually listen to what their customers say, take the shoe and say how bout we try and fix some of the complaints people have and keep what they like. It should be a relatively simple idea to do this, but Adidas apparently didn't get the memo. So here's a top tip to shoe makers; when a shoe is selling well, maybe it might be a good idea to keep on making it and not just disco it.
~Cheers.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Training Updates
So today's post has been a little bit late, I've actually been attempting to hang out with friends that I haven't seen forever and actually just got back home. Bad news is that I'm still sick, and I don't know if I'm getting any better. But this week has been alright for running, in the past four days I've managed to get back into the groove of running, I've run 20 miles and it's actually been not bad, a few nagging aches and pains here and there but nothing huge. I'm sure Jess has gotten gmail now, I just need to figure out what it is and then she can start posting here too. Last I checked with her, she's running lots too, so it looks like it's going to be a good marathon.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Nike Sparq
So today's post is something that I've seen for a while, have some of but it's an entire program/line. Some of you guys have seen stuff from Nike that's sold under the line "SPARQ". I know I was initially drawn to the line because it's lime green (those who know me know that I love my bright colors), but turns out it's a lot more than just something that has a giant lime green typeface.
Turns out after some investigation into this, it's more than just a line that Nike has created much like Adidas has the Adistar stuff. SPARQ actually had it's roots as a generalized rating system to allow for a measure of an athletes performance. It's an acronym that stands for Speed, Power, Agility, Reaction and Quickness. They even have a fancy picture to go with it.
Now the test is somewhat sport specific, they've got tests for football, baseball, soccer, basketball and fastpitch. They've also got one that's just a general test for how athletic you are. Cool thing about it, well I find it kinda cool is that all of this can be measured from just five functional tests.
1) 40 Yard Dash (Speed)
2) Kneeling Power Ball Toss (Power)
3) Agility Shuttle (Agility)
4) Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test (Reaction, Quickness and Endurance)
5) Vertical Jump (Power)
People who have done fitness testing before will probably have done some of these before.
Now the test is somewhat sport specific, they've got tests for football, baseball, soccer, basketball and fastpitch. They've also got one that's just a general test for how athletic you are. Cool thing about it, well I find it kinda cool is that all of this can be measured from just five functional tests. Now it's actually a BRILLIANT marketing ploy/plan. How you ask? Well you get tested, and then you get given a score based on your ability. It's actually broken down into the actual test categories, so if you do less good on a certain category they can recommend that you train with their products doing certain exercises. That's the other thing about this SPARQ marketing relationship. It's not an actual physical testing/training center rather it's a method somewhat similar to teaching. And it's kinda a standardized certification where everybody follows the same measurement. So if you get tested (at a certified center) chances are probably pretty decent that they'll have been coach certified and they'll also sell the products. So there we go any training centers that can get you in for a testing, will probably get a little bit more out of you.
There's lots of different things ranging from medicine balls, ladders, hurdles, reflex balls, parachutes, and all sorts of other things like resistance bands for training speed.
 |
| OOOOOO LIME GREEN |
Now the test is somewhat sport specific, they've got tests for football, baseball, soccer, basketball and fastpitch. They've also got one that's just a general test for how athletic you are. Cool thing about it, well I find it kinda cool is that all of this can be measured from just five functional tests.
1) 40 Yard Dash (Speed)
2) Kneeling Power Ball Toss (Power)
3) Agility Shuttle (Agility)
4) Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test (Reaction, Quickness and Endurance)
5) Vertical Jump (Power)
People who have done fitness testing before will probably have done some of these before.
Now the test is somewhat sport specific, they've got tests for football, baseball, soccer, basketball and fastpitch. They've also got one that's just a general test for how athletic you are. Cool thing about it, well I find it kinda cool is that all of this can be measured from just five functional tests. Now it's actually a BRILLIANT marketing ploy/plan. How you ask? Well you get tested, and then you get given a score based on your ability. It's actually broken down into the actual test categories, so if you do less good on a certain category they can recommend that you train with their products doing certain exercises. That's the other thing about this SPARQ marketing relationship. It's not an actual physical testing/training center rather it's a method somewhat similar to teaching. And it's kinda a standardized certification where everybody follows the same measurement. So if you get tested (at a certified center) chances are probably pretty decent that they'll have been coach certified and they'll also sell the products. So there we go any training centers that can get you in for a testing, will probably get a little bit more out of you.
 |
| What to do to improve |
There's lots of different things ranging from medicine balls, ladders, hurdles, reflex balls, parachutes, and all sorts of other things like resistance bands for training speed.
Stuff like this can all be found non-nike branded, but they've attempted to put a spin on it and then market to people like me (people who are drawn to bright neon colors). I think at some point I'll probably get some of this stuff and run through some drills and see how effective it is. With that I shall leave you with an AWESOME picture, of somebody training with a parachute.
 |
| GIANT CHUTES |
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Happy New Years
Happy New Years everyone, hope you're enjoying the new year.
What resolutions do you have planned for the year
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