Sunday, March 31, 2013
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Some Pre-Race/Event Ideas
With Hell of Hunterdon less than 48 hours away, and Battenkill in less than 3 weeks, the season is starting for me and most of my crew (for some of you, you're already well underway!). With that in mind, I put a few thoughts together for the AE Collective to think about...maybe you'll find something in here to help out a bit.
Since HOH is an hour away, and it looks like there are several ride options being offered, I think travel/transport is an easy thing to check off the list. Add the fact that Sam is getting up at O'Dark-Thirty to get an HB Tent set up and it looks like the morning is relatively easy. Having a place to gather and coordinate, leave bikes, talk a bit, have some coffee and take care of registration takes a lot of stress away from what can typically be a stressful few hours.
Bike Set-Up/Gear:
Clean your bike today. Clean the chain and drivetrain. Lube it. Tighten the bolts. And then don't think about it. Check the weather forecast. Looks like a chilly, but not too cold, start, and a sunny, relatively warm early spring day. You guys know what your knees/elbows and fingers can handle with certain temps, so plan to dress accordingly. For me, it'll be arm and knee warmers with a spring weight compression garment underneath my jersey. I'll wear my usual cap under my helmet, but nothing on my ears. And I'll wear a lightweight shoe cover/boot to keep my feet warm.
Figure out tomorrow today...try to take the stress of any decisions out of the equation. I like to know what my commute/work/family schedule is going to look like...if not specifically, then at least a solid framework. A nice, low stress dinner and an early bedtime is the look we're going for. I DO NOT recommend changing what you've been eating...and DO NOT CARBO LOAD. CARBO LOADING is nothing more than LOADING UP WITH CRAP. And CRAP IN will lead to CRAP OUT, in one way or another.
As for eating on the morning of...I usually look to take in 500 calories in the 90-120 minutes before the start. For me, it's homemade oatmeal with a banana, almond milk, a little brown sugar and agave syrup, some peanut butter and few nuts, dried fruit and coconut. Coffee...of course! I drink coffee every day. Not going to change it up. Then I usually look to get 200 calories in the hour leading up to the start. In the case of HOH, since it's strictly a bike event, I usually take in solids. I'll likely bring a homemade rice bar (thinking almonds, cherries and dark chocolate) or a waffle with peanut butter and nutella. If you're stomach isn't so good with the solids that close to the start, a Hammer gel and diluted drink (I'm a big fan of skratch labs) is a good way to get the calories in.
Time to get started...
ALLEZ
Since HOH is an hour away, and it looks like there are several ride options being offered, I think travel/transport is an easy thing to check off the list. Add the fact that Sam is getting up at O'Dark-Thirty to get an HB Tent set up and it looks like the morning is relatively easy. Having a place to gather and coordinate, leave bikes, talk a bit, have some coffee and take care of registration takes a lot of stress away from what can typically be a stressful few hours.
Bike Set-Up/Gear:
Clean your bike today. Clean the chain and drivetrain. Lube it. Tighten the bolts. And then don't think about it. Check the weather forecast. Looks like a chilly, but not too cold, start, and a sunny, relatively warm early spring day. You guys know what your knees/elbows and fingers can handle with certain temps, so plan to dress accordingly. For me, it'll be arm and knee warmers with a spring weight compression garment underneath my jersey. I'll wear my usual cap under my helmet, but nothing on my ears. And I'll wear a lightweight shoe cover/boot to keep my feet warm.
Figure out tomorrow today...try to take the stress of any decisions out of the equation. I like to know what my commute/work/family schedule is going to look like...if not specifically, then at least a solid framework. A nice, low stress dinner and an early bedtime is the look we're going for. I DO NOT recommend changing what you've been eating...and DO NOT CARBO LOAD. CARBO LOADING is nothing more than LOADING UP WITH CRAP. And CRAP IN will lead to CRAP OUT, in one way or another.
As for eating on the morning of...I usually look to take in 500 calories in the 90-120 minutes before the start. For me, it's homemade oatmeal with a banana, almond milk, a little brown sugar and agave syrup, some peanut butter and few nuts, dried fruit and coconut. Coffee...of course! I drink coffee every day. Not going to change it up. Then I usually look to get 200 calories in the hour leading up to the start. In the case of HOH, since it's strictly a bike event, I usually take in solids. I'll likely bring a homemade rice bar (thinking almonds, cherries and dark chocolate) or a waffle with peanut butter and nutella. If you're stomach isn't so good with the solids that close to the start, a Hammer gel and diluted drink (I'm a big fan of skratch labs) is a good way to get the calories in.
Time to get started...
ALLEZ
Thursday, March 14, 2013
And We're Back
The first Wednesday Night Group Ride was last night. Sam and Tom like to call it the HB Hammer Ride. I've taken a liking to the WNW's or WNWC (Wednesday Night World's or Championships) I'm kidding, of course. We're a bunch of 40 year old guys, we realize we're only Champions in our own minds. Then again, at some point, it's likely that someone on these rides is or will be a Champion...there are some strong guys in the crew.
Many of the familiar faces were there, though some of them look a bit different than 6 months ago, before their winter's hibernation. As cyclists, many of us accept the winter weight gain as part of the yearly training schedule. The short, cold days and long, dark nights lend themselves to a certain kind of misery that can only be lifted, apparently, by the consumption of dark, heavy beer and even darker, heavier calories.
But it seems that most of the crew didn't fall victim to winter's cold, hard grasp. It looks like quite a few of the guys took good care of themselves. They ate well. They rode the trainer. They put in tough miles during the last 6 weeks of persistent cold and snow (we're all getting a bit tired of it. It was flurrying earlier today. Enough is enough).
The ride was short, only an hour. It was punchy, for sure. Everyone wanted to get at least one good pull in. Some were stronger than others, of course. The kid stood out in particular in my mind. Oh, to be that strong at 17. What a gift it is for him to have discovered cycling at such an early age. I hope we all do a good job taking care of him this summer, he's got a bright future ahead of him.
I heard the aches and pains of effort, of reaching for mid-season form in early March. Of course Johnson Drive made everyone honest. Gravity has a way of doing that, particularly when it's 40 degrees outside and everyone's been in the red for 30 minutes. Fluid pedal strokes went square, some surely felt as though they were going backwards. But it's all part of the ride. No one complains about it. We all enjoy it. We might not admit it in the moment, but we do.
There's a thought in cycling that no one wants to be a February/March hero. It's a recipe for crash and burn. But these guys don't look like they're going to flame out. There's talk of early season goals. A big crew together at Hell of Hunterdon. A day of suffering with all of the other old guys at Battenkill. Triathlons. More Wednesday Night Rides. Ladies Nights. The summer ahead. No one's going to burn out...they're just getting warmed up.
Many of the familiar faces were there, though some of them look a bit different than 6 months ago, before their winter's hibernation. As cyclists, many of us accept the winter weight gain as part of the yearly training schedule. The short, cold days and long, dark nights lend themselves to a certain kind of misery that can only be lifted, apparently, by the consumption of dark, heavy beer and even darker, heavier calories.
But it seems that most of the crew didn't fall victim to winter's cold, hard grasp. It looks like quite a few of the guys took good care of themselves. They ate well. They rode the trainer. They put in tough miles during the last 6 weeks of persistent cold and snow (we're all getting a bit tired of it. It was flurrying earlier today. Enough is enough).
The ride was short, only an hour. It was punchy, for sure. Everyone wanted to get at least one good pull in. Some were stronger than others, of course. The kid stood out in particular in my mind. Oh, to be that strong at 17. What a gift it is for him to have discovered cycling at such an early age. I hope we all do a good job taking care of him this summer, he's got a bright future ahead of him.
I heard the aches and pains of effort, of reaching for mid-season form in early March. Of course Johnson Drive made everyone honest. Gravity has a way of doing that, particularly when it's 40 degrees outside and everyone's been in the red for 30 minutes. Fluid pedal strokes went square, some surely felt as though they were going backwards. But it's all part of the ride. No one complains about it. We all enjoy it. We might not admit it in the moment, but we do.
There's a thought in cycling that no one wants to be a February/March hero. It's a recipe for crash and burn. But these guys don't look like they're going to flame out. There's talk of early season goals. A big crew together at Hell of Hunterdon. A day of suffering with all of the other old guys at Battenkill. Triathlons. More Wednesday Night Rides. Ladies Nights. The summer ahead. No one's going to burn out...they're just getting warmed up.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Everywhere You Look
Or I look, it seems, there's another article on Nutrition. I can't seem to escape it. The New York Times Sunday Magazine featured an unfortunate article on the sorry state of food science and "nutrition" here in the United States. Outside Magazine recently ran their Nutrition Special, featuring articles such as this one detailing what US Olympians "eat to win". NPR is all over it. Our friends over at Bicycling Magazine just gave us their list of Big Fat Lies.
So what's it all mean? Is it the same old song and dance? The same fad diets that we see time and time again? Will everyone jump on the bandwagon, sing the praises but not understand the foundation, crash and burn?
And why does it matter, Mike? Don't you want to train people? Don't you want to coach? Don't tell me what to eat. Tell me how to train. I want to get faster. I want to feel better. I want to get stronger.
OK, here you go. Here's the secret. Stop eating GARBAGE. Michael Pollan puts it a bit more eloquently (and I've taken the liberty of amending his rule just a bit, I don't think he'd mind):
"Eat (REAL) FOOD. Not too much. Mostly Plants"
There you go. That's it. Those 8 words are the KEY to training, in my opinion. You can do all of the Sub Lactate Thresholds you want to. Over/Unders. Big Gear work. Squats. Tempo. Strides. Race Pace. Get your massage. Work on your core. All of those things are going to work when implemented into a periodized training schedule based on a solid foundation of strength and balance. But none of them will yield the optimal outcome if you are not eating properly. If you are not giving your body the necessary energy it needs to survive and thrive, and then to aid in performance and recovery while you pile on hundreds of hours per year of training...then the training is in some sense a waste of time (in some respects, if you're training hard and not eating properly, you're putting one foot into the grave a bit sooner than you would otherwise).
Training is a piece of your life. Food and nutrition are the FOUNDATIONS OF YOUR LIFE. Think about it. Take a week off of training. What would happen? Yeah, you'd get cranky, maybe (because your balance of nutrients is surely improper). You'd likely gain weight (because you're eating too much). But you would have more time with your family. That's not a bad thing. Or some time to enjoy a day. Rest. Start a new project around the house. Maybe take a vacation, see an old friend.
Now what would happen if you tried to take a week off of eating? You'd be cranky at first, again due to an imbalance (in this case a complete deficit) of nutrients. But then crankiness would be replaced with lethargy and an inability to perform many tasks. Free time wouldn't mean a thing because you wouldn't have the energy to do anything. The obvious conclusion to not eating is obvious...needless to say it's NOT the look we're going for.
The whole idea of proper and adequate nutrition should resonate with all of us on so many levels. It should seem so obvious. But it's apparent that many of us are not mindful of our eating, nor do we realize the implications of nutrition ignorance/imbalance on our lives. I'm not calling on all of us to become vegetarians (while I realize the positive lifestyle impacts of a vegetable diet, I did eat baby back ribs this weekend...and I enjoyed them thoroughly). You don't have to give up on food. I love food. I love good food. Food that is prepared in my kitchen. With love and thought. By my wife. With my family.
We don't need to simply eat. We need to EAT SIMPLY. Eat for living and THEN eat for training. There are some simple ways to get started, I think. I'm a BIG fan of Michael Pollan's Food Rules. It's a simple way to get started. After that, well, the water is deep, as far as "knowledge" is concerned (remind me to share some of the photos I took in the "Diet and Nutrition" section of the local Barnes and Noble). For the sake of the discussion here, let's get to the basics and start to build a foundation of healthy eating. Upon that, we can start to build a better man.
So what's it all mean? Is it the same old song and dance? The same fad diets that we see time and time again? Will everyone jump on the bandwagon, sing the praises but not understand the foundation, crash and burn?
And why does it matter, Mike? Don't you want to train people? Don't you want to coach? Don't tell me what to eat. Tell me how to train. I want to get faster. I want to feel better. I want to get stronger.
OK, here you go. Here's the secret. Stop eating GARBAGE. Michael Pollan puts it a bit more eloquently (and I've taken the liberty of amending his rule just a bit, I don't think he'd mind):
"Eat (REAL) FOOD. Not too much. Mostly Plants"
There you go. That's it. Those 8 words are the KEY to training, in my opinion. You can do all of the Sub Lactate Thresholds you want to. Over/Unders. Big Gear work. Squats. Tempo. Strides. Race Pace. Get your massage. Work on your core. All of those things are going to work when implemented into a periodized training schedule based on a solid foundation of strength and balance. But none of them will yield the optimal outcome if you are not eating properly. If you are not giving your body the necessary energy it needs to survive and thrive, and then to aid in performance and recovery while you pile on hundreds of hours per year of training...then the training is in some sense a waste of time (in some respects, if you're training hard and not eating properly, you're putting one foot into the grave a bit sooner than you would otherwise).
Training is a piece of your life. Food and nutrition are the FOUNDATIONS OF YOUR LIFE. Think about it. Take a week off of training. What would happen? Yeah, you'd get cranky, maybe (because your balance of nutrients is surely improper). You'd likely gain weight (because you're eating too much). But you would have more time with your family. That's not a bad thing. Or some time to enjoy a day. Rest. Start a new project around the house. Maybe take a vacation, see an old friend.
Now what would happen if you tried to take a week off of eating? You'd be cranky at first, again due to an imbalance (in this case a complete deficit) of nutrients. But then crankiness would be replaced with lethargy and an inability to perform many tasks. Free time wouldn't mean a thing because you wouldn't have the energy to do anything. The obvious conclusion to not eating is obvious...needless to say it's NOT the look we're going for.
The whole idea of proper and adequate nutrition should resonate with all of us on so many levels. It should seem so obvious. But it's apparent that many of us are not mindful of our eating, nor do we realize the implications of nutrition ignorance/imbalance on our lives. I'm not calling on all of us to become vegetarians (while I realize the positive lifestyle impacts of a vegetable diet, I did eat baby back ribs this weekend...and I enjoyed them thoroughly). You don't have to give up on food. I love food. I love good food. Food that is prepared in my kitchen. With love and thought. By my wife. With my family.
We don't need to simply eat. We need to EAT SIMPLY. Eat for living and THEN eat for training. There are some simple ways to get started, I think. I'm a BIG fan of Michael Pollan's Food Rules. It's a simple way to get started. After that, well, the water is deep, as far as "knowledge" is concerned (remind me to share some of the photos I took in the "Diet and Nutrition" section of the local Barnes and Noble). For the sake of the discussion here, let's get to the basics and start to build a foundation of healthy eating. Upon that, we can start to build a better man.
Friday, March 8, 2013
All It Takes...
Is an email. A few words. Some input. Some details. Catching up. From a client. A friend.
I was looking through some Power Files earlier today from a client of mine, an AE collective member. I noticed some of the numbers he hit earlier in the week from a workout I prescribed. I was psyched to see such strong numbers, so I dropped him a quick note to let him know I was happy with what I was seeing. What followed from him...it made my day. And it reminded me why I was making some changes in my life to see if I might be able to pull this off.
I'm not going to go into too many details, out of respect for him and the work we're doing. But the numbers speak for themselves. On Tuesday, he put out consecutive 30 minute efforts, with 5 minutes of rest in between, at the same power output that he maxed out at for 20 minutes only 6 weeks ago. These were controlled efforts, not all out, as evidenced by the fact that his heart rate was 5-7 beats per minute slower than during his 20 minute test 6 weeks ago. What's that mean? He's stronger. And more efficient. And in our sport, strength and efficiency are vital to performance. I know he's got more in the tank. A lot more. And so does he. And that's where it gets fun. He's excited. And happy. And proud. I can read it in his words, sense it in his tone. He's excited about eating better, about taking better care of himself.
He's not obsessed, not at all. He took a family vacation to Florida a few weeks ago. It goes without saying that hard training on a Florida family vacation is NOT a recipe for a good time...so we didn't set any goals for the trip other than enjoy the time with his family and ride a bit if he could get a leg over the saddle. He rolled with the punches during February (and now into March), as the weather did more than dictate training, it dominated it. He rode the trainer like I told him to, hit the numbers I asked him to hit. No more, no less. He knows the weather is supposed to finally clear a bit this weekend, but he's got other priorities..."this weekend i will do as much as i can but i'm going into the city both days to watch my nephews run in the high school national indoor championships. they are ranked in the top 3 in the 4x1600 and the older one is leading the country in the 2 mile so has a great chance of winning that. i'll let you know how much work i get in and we'll see if we need to adjust anything for next week."
There are A LOT OF THINGS that are important in our lives. For some of us, cycling is important. But for all of us, I hope, the chance to see our families strive and achieve is even more important than riding bikes, or just about anything else for that matter.
This is where it gets fun. I'm excited. I'm happy. And I'm proud of him. And all of my clients. I've got stories already about how much progress they've made. They have put their faith in me. They have been honest, sometimes surprisingly so. They have asked questions and challenged me. I am grateful. I am doing my best to make them stronger. Not just on the bike or the trails or the local roads. I think they realize I am trying to set a foundation for the rest of their lives. 6-8 weeks in, we're just getting started.
ALLEZ
I was looking through some Power Files earlier today from a client of mine, an AE collective member. I noticed some of the numbers he hit earlier in the week from a workout I prescribed. I was psyched to see such strong numbers, so I dropped him a quick note to let him know I was happy with what I was seeing. What followed from him...it made my day. And it reminded me why I was making some changes in my life to see if I might be able to pull this off.
I'm not going to go into too many details, out of respect for him and the work we're doing. But the numbers speak for themselves. On Tuesday, he put out consecutive 30 minute efforts, with 5 minutes of rest in between, at the same power output that he maxed out at for 20 minutes only 6 weeks ago. These were controlled efforts, not all out, as evidenced by the fact that his heart rate was 5-7 beats per minute slower than during his 20 minute test 6 weeks ago. What's that mean? He's stronger. And more efficient. And in our sport, strength and efficiency are vital to performance. I know he's got more in the tank. A lot more. And so does he. And that's where it gets fun. He's excited. And happy. And proud. I can read it in his words, sense it in his tone. He's excited about eating better, about taking better care of himself.
He's not obsessed, not at all. He took a family vacation to Florida a few weeks ago. It goes without saying that hard training on a Florida family vacation is NOT a recipe for a good time...so we didn't set any goals for the trip other than enjoy the time with his family and ride a bit if he could get a leg over the saddle. He rolled with the punches during February (and now into March), as the weather did more than dictate training, it dominated it. He rode the trainer like I told him to, hit the numbers I asked him to hit. No more, no less. He knows the weather is supposed to finally clear a bit this weekend, but he's got other priorities..."this weekend i will do as much as i can but i'm going into the city both days to watch my nephews run in the high school national indoor championships. they are ranked in the top 3 in the 4x1600 and the older one is leading the country in the 2 mile so has a great chance of winning that. i'll let you know how much work i get in and we'll see if we need to adjust anything for next week."
There are A LOT OF THINGS that are important in our lives. For some of us, cycling is important. But for all of us, I hope, the chance to see our families strive and achieve is even more important than riding bikes, or just about anything else for that matter.
This is where it gets fun. I'm excited. I'm happy. And I'm proud of him. And all of my clients. I've got stories already about how much progress they've made. They have put their faith in me. They have been honest, sometimes surprisingly so. They have asked questions and challenged me. I am grateful. I am doing my best to make them stronger. Not just on the bike or the trails or the local roads. I think they realize I am trying to set a foundation for the rest of their lives. 6-8 weeks in, we're just getting started.
ALLEZ
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
EVERYTHING IS IN YOUR HEAD
When you're going through the motions a bit, how do you get yourself back on it? And what happens if it's been going on for a while? Not just a few days, or a week or two. What if it's been a few years? What if you're not really sure where you're at, or how you got here? Or where the hell you're going?
Doubt is a KILLER. It can overcome you. Crush you. Instantly limit you. Not just in your training or during a race. It'll place restrictions on your life. Your family. Your future.
Doubt is in your head. EVERYTHING IS IN YOUR HEAD. Stress at your job? Sure, your boss sucks. Your commute is brutal. There's no more edge. There's too much risk. So do something about it. Quit. Move on. Or stay and get your edge back. Get better. But get it out of your head. Do something about it.
How about things at home? I get it, there aren't enough hours in the day. The kids are hard. Marriage is work. There's not enough money. There's too much to do. So do something about it. Do what matters and don't waste time worrying about the rest. Turn off the TV. Talk to your kids, be a parent. Spend time with your husband or wife. Listen to them. Tell them what's in your heart. Tell them what you want. Spend less, need less, want what matters and don't waste time reaching for the rest.
How about you? Second guessing things, eh? Woulda, coulda, shoulda...I know the feeling. Or maybe you're not as fast as you'd like to be, or as strong. Maybe you're a few pounds more than you'd like to be. Maybe you think things would be different if you'd chosen a different path. Or you've resigned yourself to your limits because of the path you're on.
It's all in your head. It doesn't have to be this way.
Get it out of your head. As long as it stays in there, you've got no shot to get where you want to be. Or it might be so deep...you've got no idea where you even want to be. So start digging. Dig deep. Until you hit something hard. Something SOLID. Something you can pull out and stand on. Make sure it's real. Make sure it can be tested and NOT FAIL. And then start building on it.
Doubt is a KILLER. It can overcome you. Crush you. Instantly limit you. Not just in your training or during a race. It'll place restrictions on your life. Your family. Your future.
Doubt is in your head. EVERYTHING IS IN YOUR HEAD. Stress at your job? Sure, your boss sucks. Your commute is brutal. There's no more edge. There's too much risk. So do something about it. Quit. Move on. Or stay and get your edge back. Get better. But get it out of your head. Do something about it.
How about things at home? I get it, there aren't enough hours in the day. The kids are hard. Marriage is work. There's not enough money. There's too much to do. So do something about it. Do what matters and don't waste time worrying about the rest. Turn off the TV. Talk to your kids, be a parent. Spend time with your husband or wife. Listen to them. Tell them what's in your heart. Tell them what you want. Spend less, need less, want what matters and don't waste time reaching for the rest.
How about you? Second guessing things, eh? Woulda, coulda, shoulda...I know the feeling. Or maybe you're not as fast as you'd like to be, or as strong. Maybe you're a few pounds more than you'd like to be. Maybe you think things would be different if you'd chosen a different path. Or you've resigned yourself to your limits because of the path you're on.
It's all in your head. It doesn't have to be this way.
Get it out of your head. As long as it stays in there, you've got no shot to get where you want to be. Or it might be so deep...you've got no idea where you even want to be. So start digging. Dig deep. Until you hit something hard. Something SOLID. Something you can pull out and stand on. Make sure it's real. Make sure it can be tested and NOT FAIL. And then start building on it.
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