Week in Review - April 30, 2011

So as you've probably realized I tend to be really all over the place and write a bunch of little sentence fragments.  I also always have these little things that kinda just crop up and don't really make a full post so they just usually never make it to a full post.  But hopefully with this weekly review I will be able to put them in, and there can be a quick recap of what I've written this week.

So here it is, a nice small summarizing Saturday post, a look at what's happened, cool random things and maybe if I have not gotten distracted maybe what we will do next week.  I think in the not too distant future, I'll need to think of a new little blurb to start off this post, but here's the last post for April, another month, done and dusted.

Posts this week

Monday - Wishlist: Garmin Forerunner 610
Tuesday - Finding a plan and sticking with it
Wednesday - First Impression: SRAM Red Chain PC-1091
Thursday - Training Updates
Friday - Should've been about a certain cyclist but honestly with two exams yesterday just didn't happen.

Random Notes
Like I talked about last week how I have stuff in the mail, well it's still in the mail and I'm still waiting for it

We got snow again this week, which is friggen fantastic for training, but hopefully I can enjoy my ride today

If you watched the royal wedding yesterday you'll have noticed how they always have a land rover trailing each car as security detail.  That got me thinking, how many land rovers does the royal family have exactly.

There was a guy who thought it would be funny to print a giant boarding pass, it's pretty awesome

~Cheers

Training Updates - April 28, 2011

So I've come to the conclusion I'm actually quite horrible with collaborating with the one person that I'm supposed to be doing this blog with, it doesn't help that she posts here maybe once every ..... 3 months or so, haha.  The typical timeline is wednesday night, me thinking oh crap I need to do out weekly training post for tommorow.  Quickly send text to Jess, which usually goes unanswered especially during exams for us.  Our last one is tomorrow and we're done at 5:30 and then from there it's freedom time.  So this weeks update is going to be mega brief.

Jess
Jess should be in week 2, or week 3 of her program now, she's gone and modified it from the original one and see how it goes.  So far I'm assuming that no new means good news.

Kel
I managed to sneak in a long run on Saturday which was really good, did it at my race pace which I've now decided is somewhere in between 8 and 8:30 for the Calgary one because I hope to be announcing something super exciting soon.  Did some easy riding on saturday, and hill climbs were on the agenda.  Other than that it's just been life as normal with a crap ton of studying.  And time to get back to it

~Cheers

First Impression: SRAM Red Chain (PC-1091)

So a couple weeks ago, you may have heard about my unfortunate encounters with the pavement as seen here.  You might also have read about the little piece of metal that I got to help prevent this problem from happening again.  And suffice to say, the memories of that fateful day still are visible on my leg but they're finally healing up and it should be good as new soon.  After these incidents when I had my bike down at the team shop Speed Theory I had Cam check to see how my chain was doing.  He said I probably had till the end of the month and I'd need a new one.  So on I went to go order a chain, and sometimes you just get what's convenient (read: inexpensive).  So I could pay more to get a Shimano chain, or I could try out something new.  Originally I was going to get the 1071 which was the one that's at the "Force" level with SRAM because Jeff had had no problem with it, other than installing, we'll talk more about that later.  So ordered a chain and it came in the mail.  I was expecting something like this.

Retail Packaging

Instead I got something that came literally in a bag, with some cleverly made cardboard enclosure to hold the two chains we ordered.  But hey if it's going to cost me a lot less, I'm don't really care how it comes.  I'll cover my about chains in a later post, but today's is just going to be about what I've thought about it on my few rides with it.

Installation
One thing a lot of people tell you to do while installing chains is to clean off whatever lube is on it..... DON'T DO IT, well at least not for SRAM chains, they've got this great chain lube that you're just supposed to ride till it's gone.  Installation went nice and easily you just put the chain on your big cog and big chainring, don't route through the derailleur, close under tension and add one outer and one inner, and you should have two inner links to join with the SRAM power link.

Powerlink
The powerlink is something that SRAM have in house similar to other companies "missing-links" but more or less the same concept

SRAM Powerlink

You just thread it through, and then using the pedal while holding the wheel (or vice versa, whichever works for you) you push (or pull) and the link will lock preventing it from coming out.  SRAM say you can't recycle these links, but you can take them apart if you push in the middle of the link and then slide stuff back in.  Granted they're only like 2 bucks a pop if you do break the link, personally I'd rather not have a chain snap on me because it's not a pleasant feeling.

First Rides?
I've managed to get in a few rides so far, and things that I've noticed with this chain.  First off is I can't even hear it, a lot of people say SRAM is loud, I think it might be the cassette that gives this sound which is why a lot of the pros using the 1070 instead.  I've also heard people review and say it's absolutely quiet which I can corroborate.  I love the silence of the chain.  Other things is all the shifting feels noticebly quicker, might just be me and the fact that its a new chain, I'll let you know if this continues.  In addition, all of the shifts feel very crisp, especially when I'm shifting on the rear cogs, everything just feels precise.

Overall?
So how much of this is down to it being a new chain and how much is it down to being a SRAM chain, I think it's a bit of both, but so far it bodes well.  Taking the baby out for a long ride this weekend so I'll let you know how it goes

~Cheers

Finding a plan and sticking with it

So I know in the past I've talked a lot about how to make a plan or if you're lazy what to do.  Honestly either way works fine, and realistically most plans that you find, be it from the Nike+ Coach, or a running magazine, or recommended by a friend or what have you they will probably get the job done, and some might get it done better.  Sure one plan might deliver you to the start line only having done 16 miles (I'll talk about this after May 29) and some might make it so that you've gone the distance you're needing to race.

If you look at elite athletes, sure they might do some similar training, but t heir plans likely vary quite a bit and that only highlights the fact that there are many different ways to get from point A to point B.  No matter what you do with a plan that you have found is stick with it.  Yes it'd be good if you followed it to a T, but don't play Frankenstein with multiple ones thinking what will be best for you.  This is more so aimed at running because cycling you can do training in blocks to improve on different skill sets.  But running on the other hand two staples are usually a speed day, a rest day, and a long run day.  Each plan has them spaced out slightly differently for good reasons and splicing and dicing will likely throw this off.  At best you could not get the full effects of either plan or at worst you can set yourself up for some pretty sweet injury.  If you use me or Jess as an example, when you're out you're going to be out for a little while.  So if you pick a plan, stick with it, test it out, if it doesn't work out how you expected, it will have given you something, just not necessarily what you wanted and move on.

So that brings me on to part 2, what happens if you get sick/miss workouts.  Well if you're only missing a workout, or a week of workouts you're probably going to be alright just get back into it and don't look back.  If you've missed more than that, you'll probably have to roll back your training schedule the appropriate amount of length. If you've missed it because of injury it's super important to realize that goals you set at the beginning of the year may no longer be applicable and you need to find a new one, just like how Jess is now targeting a different race which can be found here.  Because 1 plan does not suit everyone, make sure you listen to your body, yes I know that sounds horribly corny and cheesy, but if everyone checked in with their body in a while, am I hurting from training like muscle soreness or is this hurting where it shouldn't be.  I didn't listen and that landed me with a 6 month date with Rehab, Jess landed a slightly shorter fling, but equally crappy.

So with that, there it is guys.  Find a plan, stick with it, if you miss a few workouts, no big deal.  If you miss a lot roll back the clock, but most important check in with how you feel once in a while and with a bit of lady luck you should get to the start line on race morning ready to target your best time ever.

~Cheers

Wishlist: Garmin Forerunner 610

So here's another wishlist post, another thing that I totally don't need but hey I think it'd be pretty cool.  Garmin announced a new watch at the London Marathon Expo, and lucky people who were either at this one, or the Boston expo got the perks of being the first to get it.

The new FR-610

Garmin has a tendency to always release stuff around the Boston Marathon so quite a few people were expecting something new and they had given some people some sneak peaks of it.  Now the really great thing about this watch is the entire front surface is a touch screen, much like the Edge 800 is.  Now those that have followed Garmin watches will know what a disaster the FR-405 and FR-410 were in terms of the screens with many people not liking it AT ALL.  So last year when they released the Edge800 people were apprehensive to say the least, but turns out Garmin actually did a great job on it.

So what makes this watch so amazing other than the fact that it's got a sweet touch screen? Well unlike some of the other lower end garmin watches, this one has all sorts bells and whistles.  For example it can transfer all of your workouts to your computer automagically when you're in range which is always nice.  The charging clip is now magnetic so there's never any trouble of trying to line up the contact points like you do on the 110 or the 210.  Best of all is that the touch screen does work with gloves and in the wet, something the 410 didn't do.  A really cool thing is the amount of info you can see about a workout directly out on the watch.

 Other cool things is you can have a virtual training partner that will run at a preset pace and will tell you how far ahead or how far behind of the little running man you are.

And just like their cycling computer, you can choose how many data fields to display and which ones to display, with a swipe getting you to the next screen.

I think one of the coolest features though is a return to home if you get lost, it will literally point you in the direction of where you started from.

So as great as this watch is, and with thing like alerts be it heart rate, distance and what not, it's a very expensive toy that I unfortunately will probably never get, but its cool to see what technology can do these days.

~Cheers

Week in Review - April 23, 2011

So as you've probably realized I tend to be really all over the place and write a bunch of little sentence fragments.  I also always have these little things that kinda just crop up and don't really make a full post so they just usually never make it to a full post.  But hopefully with this weekly review I will be able to put them in, and there can be a quick recap of what I've written this week.

So here it is, a nice small summarizing Saturday post, a look at what's happened, cool random things and maybe if I have not gotten distracted maybe what we will do next week.  Notable things this week, Jess made her SECOND post on this blog. It's really become a case of I talk with her, remember some things and then come and write it out.  Something new that I've started doing is writing on a little pink stick it note beside me, on posts I want to do, or cool things to let you guys know about

Posts this week

Monday - Wishlist: Zipvit Sport Nutrition
Tuesday Pt. 1 - The joy of injuries
Tuesday Pt. 2 -  Why injuries could be a blessing
Wednesday - Review: Pearl Izumi Shine Wind Mitt
Thursday - Training Updates
Friday - Johann Van Sumeren

Random Notes
I have lots of stuff in the mail that I'm waiting for, maybe you'll hear about it in the reviews soon, there's going to something on wednesday for sure, at least a first impressions post.

The snow's gone, hopefully for good now

Random tidbit, Singapore school report cards are going to include a BMI score, personally I think that's a horrible and god awful idea, but hey let me know.


Liege-Baston-Liege is happening tomorrow, another race that I will hopefully be able to watch, my bet's on Gilbert

Continuing with the tradition of writing about a cyclist, there's going to be another one this week

A certain little garmin watch is going to make an appearance on the wishlist post this week

As you read this I'll probably be doing my Biotechnology Final, here's to hoping it's going well

~Cheers

Johann Van Summeren

So today's post is dedicated to a guy who spends most of his career working for someone else, victory is when the person he worked for wins.  But here's a little tidbit for people who don't follow cycling, domestiques are just that, they'll work tirelessly for the leader all in the hopes of bringing that person to the finish first.  He won Paris-Roubaix a few weekends ago, and just like any other day started off in support of possibly my favorite rider, Thor.  But as luck would have it, he got a chance to go for the win, and he took it.  Nothing could stop him, not even a leak/puncture in his tire 5km from the finish.  He had the best response to this, "I know how to ride with flats, because sometimes I forget to bring a spare and just ride home with it"

Here's a video of the final kilometers, sorry it's not in English

After the race he proposed to his girlfriend........... with a rock, well specifically the first place cobblestone that he got. "Some people give a ring, I give a rock"

~Cheers

Training Updates - April 21, 2011

So this week has marked a return to training for me, after recovery from my unfortunate encounters with the pavement.  It's in the middle of exams for Jess and I right now, so we've just been trying to fit in training wherever we can.

Jess
This week she posted an entry earlier which can be found here, talking about how training for the first time is going again, and smoothly (knock on wood).  We'll hopefully get in some runs sometime soon, oh that and it's almost time for her to probably bring her bike out and christen it out on the road.

Kel
Saturday - Well because our race that was supposed to run Sunday got cancelled, we instead did races on computrainers.  My goal was to not come last and I fulfilled that goal, it was pretty sweet.  I managed to average about 220 watts (or thereabouts, have to go look at the ride data when it gets posted) over a 20k hilly course.  So I'm pleased with how it went, but it just shows how much more I have to go
Monday - I managed to do a relatively easy 7 mile rune, wasn't pushing the pace horribly so, around an 8:40
Tuesday - So i'm now in the portion of my program where intervals are run more for strength (so only 10 seconds faster than race pace) but for 1600m or longer, so in my case I've been targeting 8 minute miles.  I just need to run 6 miles worth of intervals, so today's schedule was 6x1, I really do hate intervals, like really really really do.
Thursday - Thursday's have become my race pace days, I was supposed to do something like 6 or 7 miles today, skimped and did 5, but I hit the 8:30 mark.  I just need to be more consistent while doing so now.

~Cheers

Review: Pearl Izumi Shine Wind Mitt

I've come to the conclusion that I actually have quite a bit of Pearl Izumi stuff, and it didn't even happen deliberately.  It just so happened that they made stuff that's function seemed to fit with what I needed. Such as the socks, I needed new socks, they were cheap and when they got here I was actually pleasantly surprised.  Same thing with my jacket, which I'll probably talk about next week.

But today's post is about a pair of mitts that I got back during last years marathon weekend to help and combat the unnecessary dump of snow that mother nature gifted us with last year right before I was supposed to run outside for a pretty long time.

Shine Wind mitt

They're actually a pair of gloves that have a stowable mitt covering that actually does wonders for blocking out the wind when it does start blowing. Here's the product description from Pearl Izume:

Our favorite all-season running glove, the Shine Wind Mitt includes a stowable wind mitt that provides wind protection for fingers while providing high visibility.

• P.R.O. Thermal fabric is warm, soft and breathable
• Stowable mitt keeps fingers out of the wind
• Reflective piping and logo for superior visibility
• Silicone-screened palm for excellent grip
• Lightweight and packable

So lets talk about them, or at least my experiences with them. I've actually quite enjoyed them and they've also frequently doubled up as a pair of second gloves that go underneath when I'm out biking and so far they've been really good.  They are actually surprisingly warm and my brother complains of having cold fingers when he's wearing even thicker gloves than I am, so it is definitely warm.  During the marathon last year I found myself always constantly taking them off because I thought it was warm enough, only to realize that it's actually quite cold and the gloves are just superbly warm.  After having them for a year, certain things that are enjoyable is the extra grip that you get on the underside which is great for opening stuff, or grabbing a water bottle etc.  One complaint that I do have is that one of the seams on my right hand busted open, but I mean that's a relatively easy fix, and probably results from the way I just pull off the gloves.

You can get these at your local running store, or online and will probably run you somewhere about 30 bucks.  For what you pay? A great pair of gloves that will keep you warm

~Cheers

Why injuries could be a blessing, a double post tuesday

Hey guys, so guess what it's tuesday, and today's post from me is going to be a bit short because Jess already did a post, but it's going to cover something t hat everyone will come across in their athletic career at some point or another.  The dreaded injury, and I'm going to bring up some examples of friends and myself included of how injuries aren't always a bad thing.  A staggering percentage of people will get injured training for their first marathon, something like 50% or close to that (don't quote me on it, I can't remember the exact statistic) but if you think about it, that's quite the daunting statistic that one in two people training for a marathon will injure themselves doing it.  Just take Jess and I for example, I was fine last year, knock on wood for this year, and jess not so much.

Injury is your body telling you that you're likely overdoing it, granted you can have freak of nature accidents such as hitting the curb the night before a big race that you would have a pretty good chance of winning (Andii) or you could just get a funny cut that doesn't heal up (Sara) or just overdoing it and having your body fight back and screw you over.  But ultimately the quickest way back to being healthy is to just rest.  If you try and half-ass your recovery and try to do some light work as soon as you're feeling a little it's not going to do you any good, honestly.  I took six months of rest, doing rehab exercises for 7 days a week for 6 weeks, after taking a ton of time already.  It probably was the best thing that's happened to me in retrospect, you learn that there's certain things that just aren't meant to be forced, and it'll just happen with a decent amount of hard work, and a big dollop of patience. 

So next time you get an injury while training for something big, take a step back, figure out if you were over training, or if it was just something that couldn't have been prevented.  Either way the next step is lots of forced rest, and that's the same thing with not feeling great after a training session, take a day off and see if you feel better after.  What you do after the rest changes depending on the situation though, if it was a freak accident, resume training.  If it was over training figure out why you did it, and then maybe pull back on it a bit.

Till then I bid all of you guys an injury free spring..... that is if we ever get it here in Calgary

~Cheers

The Joy of Injuries

So as you all may have noticed it has been a very long time since I last posted a blog. The reason for my long absence was unfortunately due to injury. During my competitive dance years I injured my right mcl. Through rehabilitation and physiotherapy I was able to heal and get back to dance within months and my knee has been fairly good ever since. However, when I started training for the Calgary Marathon in December my knee started to become a bit irritated at times from the continual strain. My body tried to compensate for this discomfort during my training, resulting in the development of a peroneal tendonitis in my right ankle area. And just like that I went from running 5 times a week to not being able to run at all...I was devastated! My training was coming along so well, my goals for the Calgary Marathon were in sight, and in the blink of an eye it was all taken away from me. I was determined to not give up though. I immediately started physiotheraphy sessions (twice a week) and massage therapy sessions (3o minutes once a week) and I stayed on top of my cardio as much as possible with low impact training (cycling and the elyptical). It has been a long few months, with a couple minor bumps along the way (faulty orthotics to name one), but I am finally back in the game and able to run again. I have to take things slow, but man does it feel good to be running! I unfortunately will not be ready for the Calgary Marathon, but I will be there supporting Kel. Instead, I am shooting for the Edmonton Marathon in August and Ironman Canada is still in the cards for 2012. Until next time, happy running!!

Wishlist: Zipvit Sports Nutrition

I think one of the main reasons why any company gets into sponsoring anything is for added brand awareness, product placement and the likes.  This is especially true with pro cycling teams as fanboys like me will want everything that a team is outfitted with, I mean there's the allure of ooooo the pros use it.  Which brings up the second question is do you always need "pro" level stuff.  Well more often than not so called pro level stuff ends up being stuff that you can get relatively easily and sometimes it's not even top of the line.  For example at Qatar and Oman back in 2009, Cervelo Test Team won it with S2's, Liege-Baston-Liege was won on an S1.

So that brings me to todays post, nutrition is usually a case of whatever is inexpensive and goes down and stays down.  One inevitably goes through a TON of food as they're training, riding etc.  Like I can finish a tube of shot bloks, two gels, 2 liters of gatorade and other friends food that has been offered  to me after I have bonked.  All in less than two hours.  Zipvit is a UK based company that first got it's start with Cervelo back in 2009 and then added another pro team in Radioshack the following year. They've got a comprehensive range just like any other self respecting nutrition company and instead of being straight forward, everything is done in numbers so I'll give you a quick overview on their stuff.  I've got some zipvit stuff coming to me soon, so I'll let you know how that goes.

ZV1- Energy Drink Elite
Increases power and endurance whilst helping prevent dehydration.
The ultimate energy drink for improving performance during exercise. Formulated using a scientifically proven carbohydrate blend to speed up energy delivery, improve performance and prevent fatigue without stomach upsets.

ZV1

ZV2 - Energy Drink Extreme
The ultimate hydration drink for improving performance during exercise in very hot weather and ultra endurance events.
Using a high strength electrolyte formula, it replaces key electrolytes in the exact ratios they are lost in sweat, helping to prevent cramping in hot conditions. A mix of ultra fast digesting carbohydrates and a high strength electrolyte formula that includes sodium, magnesium, manganese iodine and other key electrolytes.

ZV2

ZV3 - Recovery Drink Rapide
All in one product for use immediately after exercise that dramatically improves performance and recovery without increasing body weight.
The proprietary protein and amino acid formula in ZV3 provides quality nutrition when your body needs it most, allowing you to reduce muscle fatigue and quickly refuel, repair and recover from exercise. ZV3 will help you 'train harder, recover faster and perform better' than you ever thought possible! Improves lactic acid buffering and reduces muscle breakdown.
Beta-alanine is also added as this naturally occurring amino acid is used by the body to make carnosine, muscles most effective acid buffer. Beta alanine supplementation can increase sprint performance by more than 15% and just 2 daily servings of ZV3 provides enough to significantly improve lactic acid buffering.

ZV3

ZV5 - Night Time Recovery
Provides the body with a constant supply of essential amino acids while sleeping.
Perfect for enhancing the benefits of ZV3 Recovery Drink Rapide. Used post ride, this chocolate flavour drink will promote rapid recovery, reduce muscle stiffness and improve performance.

ZV5

ZV6 - Zip-Pro Whey Protein
Fast digesting, high quality whey protein that is the perfect for reducing body fat when taken with exercise and a sensible diet.
Zip-pro provides a great tasting concentrated and cost effective source of natures highest quality proteins and amino acids.

ZV6

 

ZV7 - Energy Gel
A great tasting, all natural highly advanced formulation.
Developed in collaboration with the worlds best endurance athletes, its unique size is THE standard within the pro peloton.

ZV7

ZV7C - Caffeine Energy Gel

A great tasting, all natural highly advanced formulation.
Developed in collaboration with the worlds best endurance athletes and its unique size is THE standard within the pro peloton.
An added 160mg of caffiene

ZV7C

ZV8 - Energy Bar

A unique, easily digestible blend of ingredients formulated specifically for the nutritional demands of endurance athletes.
The proven carbohydrate formula digests easily, providing rapid energy delivery without stomach upsets. It also includes Zipvit sport's synergistic mix of vitamins to help with energy production from carbohydrates and fats and protect against harmful free radicals.

ZV8

ZV9 - Protein Recovery Plus Bar
Ideal for use after training or racing as a healthy snack, which also helps recovery. Formulated using the latest scientific advances to accelerate muscle recovery and refuelling. It digests so easily it can actually be taken during exercise to accelerate recovery.

ZV9

ZV10 - Energy Chews
Easily digested carbohydrates to help meet the energy demands of endurance cyclists. Formulated with a synergistic vitamin and mineral blend to help maintain energy production, reduce fatigue and combat the effects of damaging free radicals during exercise.

ZV10

I think the biggest thing that I'm not a huge fan of ZipVit is its price.  It's quite cost-prohibitive unless you're sponsored by them, but hey who knows maybe I'll try them out and be absolutely blown away about their performance.  I will give them props for having some of the cleanest packaging design that I've seen in a very long time, as you can see from their pics.

The stuff that I ordered should get here soon, and after that and I get a chance to try them out, you guys will be the first to hear all about it.

~Cheers

Week in Review April 16, 2011

So  as you've probably realized I tend to be really all over the place and write a bunch of little sentence fragments.  I also always have these little things that kinda just crop up and don't really make a full post so they just usually never make it to a full post.  But hopefully with this weekly review I will be able to put them in, and there can be a quick recap of what I've written this week.

So here it is, a nice small summarizing Saturday post, I've started finding that over the weekends I'm more and more busy, which usually results in me dropping the ball for this review post.  So I've got a review post, and it's a little bit late, but nonetheless it's here

Posts this week

Monday - Wishlist: Zipvit Race Belt
Tuesday - How to get started pt. 2

Wednesday - Review: K-Edge Chain catcher
Thursday - Training Updates
Friday - Happy BSD

Random Notes
I did my first pancake breakfast yesterday, and by do I mean helped cook some pancakes.  Man you would never imagine that that little pancake batter dispenser contraption doohickey is that difficult to use, lots of respect for all the people that make so many stampede breakfasts.

It's amazing how much of a difference a week can make, we've gone from great weather to freezing, snowing icy weather.... again.  Apparently mother nature gets the idea that we need LOTS more winter as if we haven't had enough this year.

Finals season has started again, which means I'm spending most of my time studying and not actually training.  I'm going to try and get back into it because this week has just been absolutely horrible to get crap done.

The Amstel gold race is up again, I think I enjoy following this even more than F1 when I did a few years back because there's just so much more to look at.


Depending on how much studying I get done this weekend I may have some interesting posts next week.

Garmin released a brand new running watch, and it's waaaaaayyyyy out of my price range, so it'll just make an appearance in the wishlist post and unfortunately not on my wrist.

And on that note, have a great weekend, I'm really hoping that the snow stops falling because I would like to race this weekend.

~Cheers

Happy BSD

Hey guys, so as you're reading this, I'm probably already outside, possibly freezing my ass off cooking, but that means you should come get some free food.  It's end of semester.

Training Updates - April 14, 2011

So this week has turned into a little bit of a gong show, partially because of what happened last friday and the weekend, and possibly what is happening this weekend.  But where there's bad new from me, there's GREAT news from the other half of this blog.

Jess
So if you've been following this blog, you'll know that Jess's run into the Calgary marathon had to take quite the detour because of injury and subsequent setbacks turned it from Calgary still being perfectly possible, to being less and less likely, all the way to the point where it was a remote possibility and a few weeks back we made the decision that it's not possible at all.  But after some forced rest, which seems to always be the key, and proper recovery, you will always come back out on top, it's only even a matter of time.  So I'm really glad to say that we're almost at the end of a week of full training, and no pain. (knock on wood) This bodes well for us because that means it looks like the injury is behind us and we're going to take it slow from here on it.  I think the plan for building up to Edmonton starts sometime next week.  I shall keep you posted but it sounds like exciting times.

Kel
So last week ended on a thursday, didn't run because I had a huge weekend ahead of me in terms of cycling, so I thought probably best to give my legs a rest.
Friday: So out I went on friday, easy spin lets get used to riding on the bike again for a substantial period of time.  It was all going well, about to go through an intersection when a car thats in it, thought it would be a good idea to stop, so I stopped.  When i started going again it was a little bit of an uphill, so I was cranking out some major torque and then I dropped my chain, and then promptly dropped myself, and had my first encounter with the pavement.  After this, a brief period of profanity ensued, and I'm sorry for the people in that school soon who had to hear me yell at the top of my lungs.  This cut the unfortunate ride short, and I headed home to mend myself up, maybe I'll post some pics sometime.
Saturday: Even though I had had an unfortunate encounter with the pavement the day before I wasn't going to let it ruin what should and would be a perfectly awesome ride.  Headed out with my brother, Julie, Brian, Simon, Kyle, Kevin, and one other guy whose name I can't remember right now. I was probably one of the weaker riders in this group, but we said it was going to be an easy ride and we were just out there riding for fun, so we piled on the mileage to the tune of 95k. I was actually doing well till I somehow managed to let julie talk me into doing a SUPER long boy which basically just effed me, but hey now I know how far I can go.  As I was heading up home road, managed to drop my chain....... AGAIN.  OH and I snapped it too, so ya day full of mechanicals and once again multiple encounters with the blacktop again.
Sunday: This was a training ride with the team that we went out to scour the course that we were going to go race on.  It was meant to be a no drop ride, but inevitably like all group rides they're always going to turn into the inevitable hammerfast.  This ride was no different.  Jeff and I ended up being tailmarkers on the lead group with me being spit out the back, fighting to get back on and then getting spit out again at some other point.  But hey it was a good weekend to build up fitness in a major hurry.  The best part was that I didn't crash this day
Monday - Today: After the weekend of heavy racing, my legs didn't really feel up to anything for the first two days, that and the major road rash going down my right side of the leg did not help this fact.  I've been stretching a bit, but I think I might be doing a little of spin work indoors, because once again calgary has been blessed by about 10cm of snow.... BALLS. 

~Cheers

Review: K-Edge Chain Catcher

Today's product review, I'll be honest I haven't used it for very long, and nothing's really happened with it, but as so often is the case, if you don't notice it it's probably working and working well. 

The Aforementioned Chain Catcher

Now those of you who don't bike probably have any idea what this is, and even if you do, you still might not.  So when you're shifting from the bigring down to the notsobigring, there is the chance that your chain will "jump" and jump right off and you will suddenly be spinning, and then falling, I did that quite a bit this week.  Although apparently what you're supposed to do when your chain falls off is to shift up (if it's fallen off towards the bike) or shift down (if it's fallen away from the bike) and keep pedalling.  It's supposed to bring the chain back in line and there we go, problem solved, keep on going.  Now it's great to know that in theory it would work, and I'm sure it does work practically too, I'd just rather never have to deal with that problem.

It all started with Kristin Armstong's gold medal winning ride in Beijing in the time trial.  She's a phenomenal bike rider and was once a rider for my beloved and now defunct Cervelo team.

I guess there's also a gratuitous picture of the packaging.  Now it started as a one of prototype, but made it's rounds around the pro peloton in 2009.  At first I was going to just get one from rotor, a company that I absolutely adore and love, also a sponsor on my favorite team doesn't hurt it's chances.  But after snapping a chain, and dropping it 4 times in the span of two days, coupled with a few spills onto the ground, one gets mighty wary and annoyed of frequent meetings with ashphalt.  So down I went to Speed Theory, also the shop that sponsors the team that I'm on, and I really mean on in the most literal of senses.  Went for a ride the next day and not a dropped chain.  To me, that price is more than worth the prevention of a dropped chain, I'm not going to be racing for a podium placing or anything like that, but to prevent all to frequent meetings with a hard abrasive surface, I'm all for.  Comes in multiple colors if you buy online, red and black if you get it at the shop, and it'll run you 40 bucks.  Overall, a brilliant piece of engineering, looks pretty slick on my bike too.  Only catch (no pun intended) is that you have to have a braze on front derailleur, or get their adaptor kit for it.

~Cheers

Getting Started: Pt. 2

So last week I wrote a post about how to get started and keep going, making a training plan and everything like that.  You can read all about it here.  This post actually comes from Trevor, who I used to work with asking me best way to tackle a half, we'll cover that in a bit.

Those of you that follow the running would will no doubt have heard of rumors about Garmin releasing a new watch at the London Marathon Expo, and that they did..... just this morning.  Some of us knew about it before hand, I knew of it, but didn't know details and stuff like that, but here it is the FR610.  I'll hopefully cover this in a wishlist post sometime next week, boy does it ever look snazzy.

Garmin Forerunner 610

But onto regularly scheduled programming about how to get started.  Last weeks post was more about those who actually wanted to put some leg work into doing it while this weeks is more just about a paying a couple companies some cents (okay maybe 200 cents) and off you go.  So you want to target a certain distance race, be it 5k, 10k, a half, a full or even an ultra, it ultimately comes down to having a plan of some sort, and following through out it.  For those of you that have an iPhone, this is actually really really easy.  The app is made by Nike, and allows you to capitalize on the great website that is Nike+ Running. 

Nike+ GPS App

Map your runs, track your progress and get the motivation you need to go even further. Hear mid-run cheers every time your friends like or comment on your run status, or outrun them in a game of Nike+ Tag.  This is sweet, and I'll usually go out of my way to cheer on friends who I see on fb that have started running, hey every little bit helps.

- Download it on the go and start running anywhere. Cool thing with this is you don't need the chip like I was talking before, and a lot of people aren't huge fans of nike shoes, myself included.  If you hold it in your hand while running inside you can also keep track of speed/distance.

- Record your pace, distance and run route using the iPhone’s GPS and accelerometer technology so you can see your progress over time and push yourself to go even further.

- Celebrate your best runs with fun, motivational messages from Nike’s top athletes.  Logging on and hearing somebody congratulating you on smashing on old PR? inifinitely sweet.

- Get voice feedback during your run on how you’re doing, or tap the map to see where you are.  This is always nice because you don't actually have to look down at your phone.

- Quickly send each run to Nikeplus.com where you can brag to friends, join challenges, set goals and connect with the rest of the Nike+ community. I've found that the direct link straight to the website has defs helped quite a bit with preventing the loss of songs. 

- Activate personalized PowerSongs to help you blast past your goals and records.

- Broadcast your accomplishments to the world via Facebook and Twitter.

- Keep a record of your best runs and see if you’ve got what it takes to break them.

- The website's possibly single greatest feature is the ability to set goals, so running certain distance, time, burning calories, or just running.  That way you can say I'm going to run 80 miles this week and see how you're doing

-But of course the best for the last.  Now you've got a really easy way to track all of your runs, and you want to hit a certain race?  Well load up the coach feature, pick distance, level of difficulty, time you want to race, and it'll give you your running plan, how long to run, when to rest, when to do special workouts like intervals or strides etc.

So at the end of the day yes you could spend lots of time reading a book figuring out nutrition, where your weaknesses are and building a plan, or you can pay a couple big corporations 200 cents and they'll not only give you an app that helps you track all of this along the way but also a coaching plan which itself is well worth that kind of money.

User friendliness on this app is what I had come to expect from the initial iterations of this app, plain simple and easy to get up and run.  So there you go guys, if you have an iPhone there's no reason why you can't be out there running to your hearts content.

~Cheers

Wishlist: ZipVit Race Belt

Today's post is going to be short one because I have assignments and exams left right and center.  Last year at my marathon A little bit before the race, I asked a friend, how the hell do I fit 8+ gels on me without having pockets that were absolutely stuffed FULL.  The solution is a race belt, but usually said race belts also hold bottles and don't do a great job of it.  I've heard a lot of good things about the fuel belt, as well as the one made by Lulu, but I stumbled upon this one which has it's allure because it holds your race number like most do, but it holds TEN......that's right ten gels, and it looks like it'd be perfect for my High5 gels too.

Key Features:

• Fully adjustable.
• 10 holsters for gels.
• Low profile clips for your race number.
• No need for safety pins = no painful moments!

So there we go, I'll probably have to go find a race belt before I run my marathon, but this is looking mighty appealing right now.

Week in Review April 10, 2011

So  as you've probably realized I tend to be really all over the place and write a bunch of little sentence fragments.  I also always have these little things that kinda just crop up and don't really make a full post so they just usually never make it to a full post.  But hopefully with this weekly review I will be able to put them in, and there can be a quick recap of what I've written this week.

So here it is, a nice small summarizing Saturday post, I've started finding that over the weekends I'm more and more busy, which usually results in me dropping the ball for this review post.  So I've got a review post, and it's a little bit late, but nonetheless it's here

Posts this week

Monday - Wishlist: Castelli Manggia Jacket
Tuesday - How to get started and keep going
Wednesday - Review: 2XU compression tights
Thursday - Training Updates

Random Notes

Holy man what a ride by Johann Van Summeren this morning.  Garmin finally gets their HUGE win of the season.  Check it out here

Weather is friggen amazing, managed to get in a couple long rides this weekend, although it did come at the expense of homework, but the bike comes first, haha.

There's something exciting happening next week, check it out on the race sched page and see if you can find it

Finals is coming up soon, so I don't know how much will get done, but I'll try and keep this up, thanks for reading again

On a random note, I think this is my first Sunday post in a very long time.

~Cheers

Training Updates - April 7, 2011

So I think my goal sometime in the next few weeks when the craziness of finals slows down is to find a pic to commemorate this weekly training updates post. 

Jess
Jess has finally started running this week, the little game with the orthotics has gone out the window and she's just starting back off with some running and walking with the hopes of targeting the marathon in Edmonton later on in the summer.  No more spending long hours in the gym doing low impact stuff, but it's definitely be a long way to get to the goal, but hey no one ever said this is going to be easy right?

Kel
So this week, I've been a bit behind and haven't uploaded all of my workout data yet, and thus can't quite remember all that I've done.  I did do a super long 16 mile on Sunday, and I did intervals on Tuesday.  Monday was a giveaway because I was way too sore and just ran a bit and stretched.  Didn't get a chance to do a run on Saturday.  I did my strength and core workout yesterday.  But this weeks training updates post didn't quite workout how I wanted.  This weekend looks like it's going to be great for riding though.

~Cheers

Review: 2XU Compression Tights

So I've said for a while that I would make a post talking about my compression tights and how awesome that they work.  The culprit in question is a pair of 2XU compression tights. 

So the basic idea behind compression gear for the most part is to aid in recovery, sure you can do it while you're racing to help avoid injury (more on that later), and muscle stability.

A little bit of human physiology, your legs have one way valves in your veins to help blood move against gravity.  The compression essentially puts more pressure and thus it should improve veinous return.  This will help remove all the crappy metabolites that result in fatigue, and thus yo should feel better after wearing them.  That's the long and the skinny of it.

So what have been my thoughts on it so far?  Well there's been a lot of research that has shown that compression gear does aid in recovery, but it's been hard to prove conclusively, so I've just gone of how I feel after wearing them.  The construction is really good, you don't really feel any of the seams at all, putting them on is a little bit difficult but once you do it's nice and you don't really notice it.  Best part about this is that it doesn't quite replace stretching, but you can put them on, carry on with the rest of your day and you're still doing something to help with recovery.  Free recovery is something that I'll take any day of the week.  I haven't really had the need to wear them while racing but I'm pretty sure I'm going to be donning these during marathon weekend.  They're a little bit flashy with a giant "X" going down the side of one leg, not a huge fan of that, but I'll take it.  I do like the 2XU that shows up on the outside of one of your calfs.

As for how I feel the morning after, I definitely know that I feel better than I would have had I not worn them.  But I have found that it's not quite a complete replacement for a proper recovery but definitely something that's nice to have in addition to everything else.  I don't quite get the reason to have a compression top.  I have found that the tights make a bigger difference to recovery after running as compared recovery from cycling.  It may possibly have to do with the mechanics of how your muscle groups are fatigued, but I'm not quite sure.

Other companies do make compression gear like zoot, cw-x etc.... same idea.  Oh Skins does too and all of it runs around the same price, but most important is find something that fits.  I talked earlier about how it can help prevent injury and it does this by making sure muscles are falling exactly where they're supposed to be giving them some extra stability, allowing you to use them, and thus prevent excess stress on smaller groups that weren't meant to hold the force of repetitive pounding.

~Cheers

How to get started and keep going

So most of you guys that see this, probably already see that I'm spamming your wall with a multitude of nike running updates.  Which begs the question why am I doing this, and how do I drag my lazy sleepy ass out of bed to go and do it.  Well I'm doing it because I want to target a PR time at this marathon, we'll keep that underwraps for now but I have to be a little bit more.... realistic with it now things didn't quite turn out how I wanted them to.  As for how? Well read on....

On a completely unrelated side note, it's really cool to meet the people who I have been spamming with updates and actually read my little two cents and ramblings.  So without further ado, to this weekspost is about making a plan and maybe even sticking withit.

There's a lot of parallels between this (running) and cycling, but because I'm not a good cyclist, I'll just talk about running, I'm alright at it.

How often have you just gone out to do a run, and you just kinda did whatever you wanted, and did it completely by feel.  You didn't pick a pace that you were going to do it at, and just kinda ran by feel.  While there is a place and time for that such as when you're in a rut, and it might work for you, chances are you'll probably get slightly better results with going in with a plan.  That's not to say you can't become an amazing runner just by doing whatever you want, you'll just probably be more likely to get good at it. A plan should hopefully motivate you, give you some structure, plan your rest time, and prevent you from getting horribly ruined (Read: injury).

What?
So what should a plan include for running?  Well you've got your typical long run to help build basic endurance, hills for giving you strength to run up a hill quicker, speed workouts if you want to run quicker (this is optional though) and an easy run that you just do for fun. 

When?
Every other day is usually a pretty good rule of thumb because you've got a rest day every other day to let your body heal up and recover.  Long runs usually go on the weekend because you have more time.  Spread the rest of your workouts on the weekday.  Quick note, don't run the day after a speed workout, just stay off your feet and let your body mend itself. 

No rest for the wicked?
A lot of people give me funny looks when I tell them on my rest days (wednesday) I'll usually go into the gym and do a core and strength workout.  While you don't need/have to go in and do something, you can go work on some core, shoulder strength work which is great for preventing injuries.  Just do something that won't work your calves, quads or stuff that's related to running, defeats the purpose of a rest day otherwise.

Running is boring
I'm not going to lie, I used to think running you need music, and I've slowly started going more and more just kinda running and listening to music once in a while.  There's a few ways to make your runs more interesting, especially now that you can run outside.  Vary your routes because new sights = less boring.  Change up who you run with or run with someone else if you don't right now.  Try to keep what you're doing like kinds of runs structured, because that's the whole idea of the plan, but you can vary it within there.

Random Facts
We're all inevitably going to have days where you really don't want to do the scheduled run, I dread the long days, but you want to make sure you're still doing something, exerting about as much effort.  But try to stick to the plan we all have slipups, just get back to it after

What you do before your workout can affect the workout, and what you do during and after workout can affect recovery.  When you have long runs, hard days, intervals, after you're done running, stay off your feet, they hurt already, let them rest.  Drink lots of waters because chances are probably good that you're dehydrated.  Eat some protein, and eat well after. Before you start running, if you have an idea of how you're going to do your run, chances are your body will expect that and you'll do fine.  So if you're running a long run, and you expect long runs are going to hurt, chances are your body will probably be expecting it and cope better.

Some people skip rest days, sometimes when you've had a bad week (like you skipped workouts) go do a short run if you want, but just remember that the point of the rest day is to rest and recover.

With that, I shall leave you to planning and going out and running.

~Cheers

Wishlist: Castelli Mannggia

I'm not going to lie, today's post took me forever to decide what on earth I was going to write about, because I'd covered some kinda interesting things in the past few weeks, something shiny and a hunk of very expensive metal.  I've also figured out that pictures make the post everything that it is, sooo here's today's post about a jacket, possibly inspired by the abundance of shitty weather that Calgary has been blessed by as of late.

Lets start off with a gratuitous pic....

Front View

Back View

  So there you have it, this is today's jacket in question.  It's made very Castelli who sponsors Team Garmin Cervelo (and formerly Cervelo Test Team).  This jacket is part of their Rossa Corsa line which represents their top of the line products.  I've always been a sucker for high collars, maybe just how the look but this one does come with it, might be why I like it so much.

So design features wise it comes with your typical three rear pockets just like you have on a normal jersey, but it also has a zippered cetner one to help prevent stuff getting wet from errant road spray, also probably the reason why it's got a black stripe down the center.  There's reflective parts on front and back to help you prevent an unfortunate encounter with a vehicle.  You've also got zipper vents on the front to help you regulate ventilation.

Similar to other inanely anatomical cycling garments, w hen standing full on up, this feels really right, but once you get into the saddle, lean forward and place your hands on the hoods, all is good. 

Women, fear not there is a female version of this and it looks just as crazy and epic.

Female Version (The Primavera)

So whats the overall verdict, it's yet another impressive piece of kit, what one has come to expect from Castelli and especially the Rossa Corsa line.  Great(albeit tight) fit, no extra flappage in the wind, but like most other Castelli, the high price of it's gear will result in most of their stuff going on my wishlist rather than my closet.

Week in Review April 2, 2011

So  as you've probably realized I tend to be really all over the place and write a bunch of little sentence fragments.  I also always have these little things that kinda just crop up and don't really make a full post so they just usually never make it to a full post.  But hopefully with this weekly review I will be able to put them in, and there can be a quick recap of what I've written this week.

So here it is, a nice small summarizing Saturday post, I've started finding that over the weekends I'm more and more busy, which usually results in me dropping the ball for this review post.  So I've got a review post, but not much to review

This week I spent most of working on papers and thus managed to cover a really shiny object and what I did.

Posts this week

Monday - Wishlist: Withings WiFi Scale
Thursday - Training Updates

Random Notes

We got hit by a winter snowstorm today, so shovelling snow was my exercise

Flanders is tommorow morning, should be fun to watch

Tomorrow marks the peak of my long run, 16 miles.... and I'm only 8 weeks out from the big day.  

Scary.

Next week should be a bit better, already have some things planned out.

~Cheers