George Schweitzer's Triathlon Talk

Ironman #8: Wet and Wild in Lake Placid

2008-09-15T16:25:00.001-07:00

(Note: I realize this is the first post in forever, but I'm a PHD grad student now, and I made my priorities. So I'm lucky I found some time to make this post. To those still reading this, thanks for not giving up on me...I'll be back to my regular posting schedule sometime next year once the initial onslaught of grad school begins to fade)

Results
Overall Time: 10:18:27 - 18 min PR!!!
Swim: 1:10:41 (1:51/100meter) - 4 min PR!!!
T1: 4:39 (9/136 in division)
Bike: 5:35:22 (20.04mph avg speed) - 2 min PR!!!
T2: 4:39 (~60/136 in div)
Run: 3:23:06 (7:45/mile) - 8 min PR!!!

Rankings (136 racers in 25-29 men division & 2340 people in race)
Swim: 63rd div, 901st overall-oa
T1: 7th div, 63rd oa
Bike: 20th div, 184th oa, & in 27th/253th div/oa position after bike
T2: 36th div, 285th oa
Run: 9th div, 48th oa

Overall: 97th, passed 804 racers after swim
Division: 15th (top 10%!)

Goals accomplished
-I finished. #8!!

-I PR'd in all of the disciplines!
-Finally achieved Superman goal of sub 10:30 (Swim 1:14, Bike 5:45, Run 3:25)

Goals unaccomplished
-Beating all women (only 5 got me...3 of which were pros!) - my own personal competition....hehe!

-Did not qualify for Kona IM World Championships

Pre-Race: My family all convened in Albany, NY for the 2-hour drive north to Lake Placid. I flew from Ann Arbor, MI, my folks flew from my hometown of St. Louis, MO and my sister took the train from her home in Manhattan, NY. It was great since the whole family hasn't been together at a race of mine since my first Ironman almost 4 years ago. We relaxed around the small mountain town, eating pasta, catching the new Batman flick, and enjoying time as a family which comes so rarely given we all live in different parts of the country now. The morning before was the same as all others...up at 4am to eat, and getting ready to go in the overcast, but rainless transition area.

Weather: To put it simply it downpoured from start to finish...but swimming in the water, you only notice it until after you come out. On the day it was one of the wettest recorded IMs (3+ inches of rain)...one of the wettest days in Lake Placid too..what luck! Fortunately for us racers, it was still warm enough, where the rain didn't chill too bad. However, it really sucked for the fans...and my family!

Swim: I PR'd for the first 1.2 miles (~33min) and got my second best 1.2mi split on the second lap (~37min). Can't do much better than that. Finally a year of focused technique training (+ a bit higher volume) has paid off. It would have been faster if some jerk didn't yank off my timing chip forcing me to wait while i got a new one after the first lap of the race.

T1: I flew the transition recording one of the fastest times of the day. It helps that there is about a quarter mile run to T1 from the lake.

Bike: While I was happy the rain was going to keep things cool and sunless, it still put a damper on the thought of biking 112mi in these conditions, especially encountering Lake Placid's famous fast descent from the moutains to the valley. On this 9mi stretch during the beginning section of the first loop, I averaged 28mph, hitting top speeds of 48mph. I can only imagine what speeds would have been achieved if it were dry. I did a great job of holding myself back on the first lap by spinning up the short hills and taking it easy during the 20mi climb back into town. The only challenging thing was dealing with my nutrition, since I'm not sweating away the large volume I'm drinking. I did lose a bit of steam on the second laps' climb into town, but I never allowed myself to dig to get up the hills in order to save my legs for the run. I was pleased with the results and confident I would have gone 0.5mph faster if not for the weather. But that's the way it goes.

First half - 21.07mph (2:39:26)
Second half - 19.10mph (2:55:56)

Wet Wide...I mean Ride

Bike Nutrition: As per my successful Ironman Wisconsin 2007 strategy, I did not deviate at all. If anything, I drank too much gatorade since I wasn't sweating in the rain...as indicated by my frequent urge to use the restroom.

Calories - (11 gels x 100 Cal) + (5 bottles x 150 Cal) + (2 bananas) = 2050 Calories.

T2: I hopped off the bike feeling ready to go and was ready for a quick transition until i stepped into a huge mud pit, fell down, and found myself ready to be involved in a mud fight. It took a couple extra minutes to clean up. In retrospect, because of the showering rain, I should have probably just let it go and would have be cleaned off early in the run.

Run: I felt pretty sluggish in the beginning and developed a weird case of numbness on my left foot (kinda like the feeling you get when you sit on your foot for a long time). But luckily these feelings lasted only 4-5 miles and I was able to get into my rhythym. I made it my goal to break 7:50miles for as long as I could. Supplementing with powergels and watermelon (actually only a couple pieces) every other mile, this plan worked like a charm.

Watermelon - The "during exercise" replenishment of champions

I realized I can't touch my tongue to my nose.

The best part of the run was that I was finally able to see my family and pass them 4 separate times on the course. They were troopers dealing with the rain. Being an Ironman spectator is definitely harder on them because of the waiting and wondering when and if their athlete will come by. So it means a lot to see that they stick through the crappy weather on top of that.

The only other thing to mention was I did my best to maintain cadence and stride all the way through and it worked with flying colors given my very close half-marathon splits. There is not a whole lot to say when a race goes well; it's the bad stuff that makes for good stories. On this day, I only had the weather to talk about...and it's okay because I arrived at the finish line with the best race of my life behind me.

First half - 7:32/mi (1:38:44)
Second half - 7:58/mi (1:44:22)

Splits not looking too bad!

I felt like a kid plodding through the puddles on my way to the finish!

Number 8! PR! With my best "Yo Adrian!" snarl.

Post Race: Still wet all over, my family took me to get my post-race staple, fried chicken and biscuits!!! They did not disappoint.

Lessons Learned: Training smarter trumps training harder. I put in a minimal volume this year mainly due to my crazy busy schedule as a PHD student. So I made it my mission to do 3 good key workouts each week. And by good, I mean the best quality I can muster. I did the necessary base volume, which was often done with a science article on the table next to my trainer and squeezing in a workout at very weird hours. I think I'll have this same challenge next year, but with a better handle on the schedule. I didn't think I could go faster than my 10:36 from last year, so I can safely say the brain is what needs the most training of all.

The Result: I finished in the top 11% of my age group. Last year, I finished in a best of top 10%, so competition wise, I slowed down compared to the rest of he pack in spite of my 18min PR. The slowest Kona World Championship qualifying time was 9:44 (and later 9:39 at IM Wisconsin 2008) for my age group. Therefore, while the top 5% get to Kona typically get to Kona, the time to get there has drastically improved this past year by roughly 15 minutes. So my "Net Kona Time," was only a 3min improvement. I still have nearly 30 min of time I need to improve to have a shot at the big dance.

To Improve: This swim was the best swim I have ever done. So my goal this year will be to just chip away at this by swimming as many days a week as I can fit in. My biking did not improve much this year so I still need that 1-mph more on the bike. Finally, if I can get 20sec/mi faster on the run which would put me at the sub 3:10 range...that would be very helpful. Basically I need technique in the pool...power on the bike...speed in the legs.

Thank Yous: It was a tough year for me getting used to a new town to train in after all the positive time in St. Louis of having good training partners and great places to do 100mi+ bike rides. But I met some good people since moving to Ann Arbor..

Roomies - for being a strong support leading up to my race

the men of the Cartee Lab - for keeping me in check during my training and always offering to derail it by going out for beers

Doug - Being the best training partner here in Ann Arbor throughout the year and waking up those painful early mornings in the dark to work on the discipline we hate most...the swim
Megan - for not being upset when I had to spend weekends training or dealing with my moodiness if I couldn't get a workout in.

Sam, Peter, Kevin, and the rest of the St. Louis tri gang - for keeping in great touch with me and always being available to train when I visit home.

The family - it was the best feeling in the world to see my family cheering for me on top of the hill at the finish line . Mom, Dad, Kate...thanks for everything.

Post Script: As a kind of last minute decision (a year ago!...I realize that makes no sense, but just go with it), I signed up for the collegiate division of Ironman Wisconsin 2008. My training and preparation this year was not for 2 ironmans, but just this one. And it certainly showed by my less than stellar performance at IM Wisco '08. But it was a solid day with my 9th finish and a time of 11:11:04. It was a great weekend to spend with my college buddy and fellow 2x-IM friend Ben and see a fellow Armo out there, Ani!

Bad Race Relatively, but Great Race Absolutely! #9!!!

Post-Post Script: With only 30min to gain and more time to train...I'm laying the gauntlet now. 2009 Ironman Wisconsin (my 10th iron-distance tri) - I'm qualifying for Kona!

Technology and the Athlete: Do Hi-Tech Gadgets Help Performance?

2007-10-06T15:18:00.000-07:00

If you read my blog at all, you'll see that I have this unhealthy obsession with the Rocky series. I reference it often as great movies as well as highlight its many life lessons.

I will do that again. In Rocky IV, one of the awesomely worst movies of the series, Rocky Balboa takes on the Russian, Ivan Drago. In one of the memorable scenes of the movie, a training montage sequence of the two athletes shows the dichotomy involved in their training regimen. Ivan Drago pumps iron with electronic resistance equipment, is monitored by space-age analyzers, and he tops off his work with performance enhancing drugs, while Rocky simply hacks wood, lifts heavy objects, and climbs a snow-capped mountain on foot to reach his athletic peak. Who won this fight? ROCKY! ROCKY!

What's the lesson for the endurance athlete? Up-to-date technology does not always improve performance. Now let's break down today's endurance athlete techno market and see if the Rocky/Drago phenomenon is just Hollywood razzle dazzle or reality on-screen.

What technology is out there? Last week, I was out on a run and I ran past a guy my age with 3 watches (2 on 1 wrist), two bicep straps with equipment dangling, ear buds for headphones, and a fuel belt loaded with some green fluid. I asked this guy what everything was.

He said one watch was just a regular Timex Ironman stopwatch. Another watch was the GPS output from the GPS receiver he wore on his bicep strap. The third watch was a Heart Rate Monitor receiver from his heart rate monitor (HRM) worn under his shirt. The other bicep strap contained his IPod nano which he told me was giving him run feedback from the IPod sensor in his shoe (it interrupts music with information on speed, distance traveled, and allows for a "pump-up" song to be played instantly).

After the explanation in which this guy half-smiled at me like he knew something I didn't, I gave him a "that's cool," and sped away, leaving him in the dust.

So what's the moral of the story here? First, this guy could shop a little better. You can now buy equipment that combines all these things into a smaller quantity of objects. The easiest example is the Garmin Forerunner 305 is a GPS receiver/watch with a built-in HRM. This would have eliminated two of his watches and one of the bicep straps.

But the other lesson is that it did not appear that this guy was training any better with this equipment than without. Now granted, I was only around for a snapshot of his training and I likely found an extreme case, but the point is clear. Technology wasn't making this gent any faster.

What would make this guy faster is simply training harder, planning & accomplishing difficult workouts, and repeating that process until race day. The ability to analyze the workouts afterwards to see peak heart rates and elevation traveled is not going to do this. This information is only useful for scientists studying physiological parameters in research. Let's take a few popular pieces of endurance tech & I'll give my reason why it's overrated as a training tool.

Heart Rate Monitors: The most popular physiologic analysis equipment out there. Used for zone-training, these gadgets can give real-time feedback on how hard your working and the "bells and whistles" models can be uploaded onto your computer and cross-referenced with GPS information.
What works better? "Feel." Go out for an easy run at a pace you can talk, that's the aerobic zone or Zone 2 for you HR people. Remember that feeling. Now do a 4oo-meter run on a track at about 90% of your max speed. That's the anaerobic zone (high Zone 4 - low Zone 5). Remember that feeling. Do a quick longer distance tempo run where you are going too fast to talk comfortably, but not so hard where you're about ready to pass out. That's the high aerobic zone (high zone 3 - low Zone 4). Remember that feeling.

These three feelings are all you really need to know (easy, hard, medium). Does it matter if your heart rate is 138 verses 137...no. Just remember the feelings.

GPS devices: I won't lie, I like these things. A friend has a big one for his truck and it rocks on road trips when looking for some place to eat. But the personal wrist version for training...is it necessary? It's cool for giving you real-time information on your speed and if you are prone to getting lost on long runs or rides, it might be useful. But like the HRM, I think using the speed information takes away from the feel. I had a training buddy who's coach did not like his liberal use of his Garmin Forerunner. This was apparent during a mandatory watch-less workout when he did not know what running a lap in 70sec felt like.
What works better? For speed measurements, run a familiar course whose mile markers you know and then using your timer, see how fast you were from marker to marker to get an assessment of speed. Sure its not real-time, but chances are...in a race, you won't be able to get real-time speed information. So recreate the situation.

MP3 Players: Are you really that needy, that you can't go somewhere without your 10,000 songs at your disposal. And chances are, you have probably tuned out your music because you've heard it a hundred times already. So why bother carrying around unneeded weight?
What works better? Nature has plenty of noise to keep you occupied, plus you can get a lot of thinking done too. If you really need music, just play it in your head.

Power Meters: This is one of the newest innovations to hit the cycling market. As we all know, speed by itself does not necessarily translate to work output. Winds, hills, etc. contribute as well. However, power meters can now account for those obstacles and tell you how much work you are performing on the bike.
What works better? Just like anything else, "Feel" gives this information back too. Chances are you are using the Power meter to tell you how hard you are working. Well if your goal is to work hard, then why not remember the feeling of working hard and then on the next workout, start working that hard. Do you really need a $1500 piece of equipment to tell you that you're working hard or easy?

New and Improved Bikes: The bike market makes you think that if you don't have a carbon-fiber bike with SRAM components and disc wheels, you are going to be as slow as molasses. But has biking technology really made athletes faster? If you look at the past 20-30 years of Tour de France victor's average speeds, you'll see that speed has not changed all that much. It looks a little faster in recent years, but I could easily argue that was due to performance enhancing drug use as well (notice how much slower 2007 was). Greg LeMond and Eddy Merckx were kicking ass on arachaic bikes back in the day.
What works better? Getting a bike that fits well and training hard on it. As Lance's famous book says, "It's not about the bike."

Now I know there will be some arguments against my old-school philosophy, so I'll address them.

"So what if I use technology? It's not slowing me down." I disagree. 2 points. 1) Anything that diverts attention away from the task at hand (adjusting the volume on an mp3 player or adjusting the HRM strap) takes that much time away from your performance. It may not be bad singly, but those seconds will add up. 2) Just see one of these athletes on a less than ideal weather day...what happens? Things don't work right. In my race at IM Wisconsin 2006, I heard hundreds of people complain that their GPS units weren't working and their HRMs weren't reading accurately due to the horrible rainy weather. How much time was spent worrying about or trying to fix these pieces of equipment and not on the race at hand?

"I don't use these pieces for racing, only for training?" What's that rule that we say about nutrition? Don't race unless practiced in training. The same can be said for training equipment. How are you suppose to learn what it is to race if you constantly had some piece of equipment beeping at you. No time was spent listening to your body.

"I enjoy the technology. It's like having a coach without paying for one." I actually think you'll spend your dollar better by hiring a coach rather than buying all that equipment. Humans are better at giving feedback than robots. Hell, go to a training camp with that money. Buy a book full of tough workouts if you can't think of any yourself.

"Technology helps me determine if a workout was better than the previous without relying on pace and distance as my only measurements." Good point...but would a heart rate monitor showing you're heart rate 2 beats/minute slower than the same tested road run indicate better fitness? Not necessarily. Many things come into play. Temperature, amount of rest, timing of last meal, sleep, humidity, previous workouts, etc. The point is, is that recreating the conditions of a previous workout is extremely difficult. Speaking as a scientist who has conducted performance research, it is extremely difficult to keep testing environments consistent in a lab, much less out in the field. So in reality, you probably won't be able to truly compare workouts. Just train hard each time.

"Professionals use them, so they must work." You want to put money on that? Are you sure you're not seeing them working for their sponsors? Anytime a pro says they use something, they are getting paid for that. Most pros do not use anything other than a speedometer on their bike because they are training on feel. Don't believe me...ask a pro the next time you see them.

Bottom-Line: I may be old school with this post. But so were guys like 6-time Ironman champs, Mark Allen and Dave Scott. Those guys, in 1980s and 90s, still have the two fastest Ironman Marathons at Kona (2:40, 2:41). Their low 8-hour finishes have not been improved upon much in the past 20 years, even with the "innovations" in bikes, shoes, training equipment, etc. It's all out there, because someone is making money on it, not because it's necessary. So save some cash and learn to listen to your body. Leave the bells and whistles for the scientists. In sport, technology comes and goes, but your body is always there. Learn to listen to it.

Ironman Wisconsin 2007 Race Report: Lucky Number 7

2007-09-24T20:18:00.000-07:00

Results
Overall Time: 10:36:20 - 45 min PR!!!
Swim: 1:17:21 (2:02/100meter)
T1: 5:33 (7/201 in division)
Bike: 5:37:55 (19.89mph avg speed) - 11 min PR!!!
T2: 3:37 (60/201)
Run: 3:31:53 (8:05/mile) - 19 min PR!!!

Rankings (156 racers in 25-29 men division & 2209 people in race)
Swim: 111th div, 1095th overall-oa
T1: 7th div, 63rd oa
Bike: 20th div, 167th oa, & in 253th overall position after bike
T2: 36th div, 285th oa
Run: 12th div, 83rd oa

Overall: 126th, passed 969 racers after swim
Division: 16th (top 10%!)

Goals accomplished
-I finished. Lucky number 7!
-Did not completely suck in the swim (completely sucking would have been 1:25+)
-I PR'd the Bike
-I PR'd the IM Marathon!
-I beat my IM Wis 2006 time!
-I PR'd overall

Goals almost accomplished
-hit 20mph avg speed on bike (.1mph or 2 minutes slow)
-Superman goal of 10:30 (Swim 1:14, Bike 5:45, Run 3:25) - so close!

Goals unaccomplished
-Did not qualify for Kona World Championships

Pre-Race: I arrived in Madison, Wisconsin from my new home in Ann Arbor, Michigan to see my mom and aunt at the hotel a stone's throw from the Ironman central. I spent the evening with them and my training buddies from St. Louis. The next day was checking in, relaxing, having lunch with Ben, my college buddy competing in his second Ironman, and then had dinner with Mishele, another college buddy who did IM Wisconsin last year, but would now be a finish line catcher.

Race Morning: Ate my traditional bowl of cereal (honey bunches of oats!) with skim milk, two bananas, handful of pretzels, and Gatorade (~800 Calories). Took care of my business. Saw all the people I wanted to see before the race and wished them luck. Kissed mom and auntie goodbye. And miraculously found Ben in the water before the start. We goofed around until the cannon blast sounded our start!

Marking Up - Pic Courtesy of Tom

Weather: Holy crap...the best weather I have ever had at an Ironman race. Low 70s and clear with overcast skies in the afternoon. A far cry from last year's 50deg and rain. I knew I would be beating last year's time. It was a matter of how much.

Darth Vader at the Swim Start - Proof that IM racers are a bunch of nerds!

Swim: For the first time this summer, I felt like I could actually swim. The calm, still waters helped, unlike last year's heavy choppiness. I knew there was about 100meters between the buoys and i just did my best to get to the next one within 2 minutes. This was largely a function of the amount of times I got kicked and punched, but overall I did well and before I knew it I was out of the water. I was 11 min faster than last year.

Running up the Helix after the Swim - Pic Courtesy of Tom

T1: Last year at this part of the race, my wetsuit was destroyed by overly aggresive wetsuit strippers. This time, I made sure my watch and chip were covered before I allowed a stripper to touch it. The suit came off flawlessly and I booked it up the helix of the car garage into the changing room. I love the indoor transition! I was flying through as I was one of top T1ers of the day...it's the lack of putting on socks for the bike that makes me fast.

Bike: I was so ready to start tackling the famous rollers of Wisconsin's rural landscape. All summer I pounded the steep hills of Wildwood, MO and Jefferson County, MO like I was in the Tour de France in order to prepare my legs to go 20mph. But the strategy would be to never exert myself, even on the hills. I would stay at an effort just below my lactate threshold. I do not use a HR monitor or power meter, so this would be purely on feel. I am old school when it comes to monitoring my body...the only technology I used was my bike speedometer.

First half - 21mph (~2:40)
Second half - 19mph (~2:57)

Crusin' in the country

Bike Nutrition: My nutrition strategy follows the KISS strategy, Keep it Simple Stupid. I see so many people with crazy beverages and concoctions for overestimated calorie requirements that I'm not surprised by the number of GI problems that I hear about following the race. How simple was it? Very...check it out.

Carbohydrate Gels - I ate 11 Powergels on 20min and 50min past the hour
Gatorade Endurance - 5 bottles, drank half at 5min and 35 min past the hour
Electrolytes - None...you get enough salt in the gels and Gatorade Endurance. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
Bananas - I had 3 or 4 halves when I had the need for something normal and if I had any sign of nausea or GI trouble. They help calm things down.

Calories - (11 gels x 100 Cal) + (5 bottles x 150 Cal) + (2 bananas) = 2050 Calories.

T2: I hopped off the bike feeling awesome and knowing that if I could just hold it together, I was going to have an awesome day. I changed out of my tri spandex for my running shorts and opted to not wear my sunglasses which was a great spur of the moment decision because I would spend the next 3.5 hours just soaking my face with sponges and water. After stopping at the sunscreen folks, I began my final leg.

Run: I felt great at the beginning of this run even as I was holding back from going too fast, I hit a pace I've never seen in a previous Ironman. About halfway through the first mile I saw the two people I wanted to see most...my mom and aunt. Mom motioned to me about how good my time was. I was pumped and ready to tear up this race.

IM Lesson #364: Longer hair soaks up water more and keeps you cool. So men...quit Bic'ing your head!

I settled into my rhythym and began my nutrition strategy of a Gel and 2-3miles and water as often as possible. I did my best to resist the urge of the fruit, pretzels, and very solid foods as they would undoubtedly cause me trouble. But I had an orange slice and an occasional grape just to tease me.

Not only is the run my favorite part of a triathlon because its my best event, but its also the time I get to see all my friends out on the course and cheer them on. I like doing this as it gives me a boost too. Plus, the fan support was great as I passed my spectating St. Louis training crew and Ben's family.

Tossin' away an unneeded water bottle. Great Catch Mom!

I had a mantra in the run that came from the advice of a training partner from last year's Ironman Arizona, Kevin J. He had just shattered his personal best at IM Louisville and after asking how, he told me that it was important to "stay in the moment." Don't worry about what's ahead. Just attend to the immediate...nutrition, breathing, exertion, form. Such a simple piece of advice, but easily overlooked.

Everything was great as I plowed through the first half in 1:39:50 (7:37/mi). Nothing had gone wrong yet, and inspite of Kevin J's advice, I grew worried that something bad would happen as it always had done somewhere in an Ironman race. But...

...it never came. Well that's not 100% true. I did start feeling a bit bloated and had trouble burping from mile 15-21, causing me to drop down to high 8's/mile. I tried to keep it at low 8's in order to break 10:30, but I couldn't do it. It wasn't that bad of a problem, but it was the one thing that kept me from doing what I wanted to do.

As you can see, security was poor at Cougar Stadium because of those 2 big guns I snuck in.

Once I hit mile 22, I knew everything was going to be all right and I began thinking about how crazy this was that I was going to finish this run without walking a single step and over an hour faster than last year.

I passed by my St. Louis training partners with a mile to go. I rounded the capital building hearing the finish line crowd, and I ran down the final stretch pointing at my mom and aunt in the crowd, did some high fives, and smacked the finshing tape, ending my greatest race ever. I rounded off the second half of the marathon in 1:52:03 (8:33/mi).

Second IM Wisconsin in a row where my arms are down instead of up! Good finish idiot!

And what made it even more special, Mishele was immediately there as a finish line volunteer to give me a big hug. It was so nice to see her.

Me and Mishele...there's 11 Ironman races in that pic!

Post Race: Mom and Aunt Nancy walked with me back to the hotel where they got me my favorite post-IM meal...Fried Chicken and French Fries! Oh yeah! Nothing like fat and protein to end the day. I know this is the worst idea ever for a recovery meal, but a guy's gotta reward himself a little bit right? I spent the rest of the night calling all my friends finishing the race and everyone (and this is a totally true statement) had a day of PRs and successful first time finishes. It was a good day.

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IM Marathon Run Splits (notice the collapse in the 3rd quarter)

Lessons Learned: My weight training in the off-season consisting of circuit training interspersed with strength-focused weeks laid the foundation for the season. I built upon that by focusing on more speed in the bike and run. I never went over 13 hours of training in a week (this was to avoid overtraining, which I believe every age group athlete suffers in some varying degree). My training philosophy was "less is more" with the "less" part being high quality training...not junk miles.

The Result: I finished in the top 10% of my age group. The previous best has been top 22%. The top 5% get to Kona and for the first time, I believe I have an honest shot at getting there in a few years. By staying healthy, training consistently, and a little luck...it's a possibility.

To Improve...I need to swim a lot better. I dug my own grave this year by not spending a lot of time working on it. Next year...no excuses since I now work in a building with a pool! And I need 1-mph more on the bike and 30 sec/mi on the run. So that means speed, speed, speed!

Thank Yous: Doing these races are the easy part...especially when one has the support like I have had all year. In no particular order...

The family - no son, nephew, brother, or cousin could do these races year after year without you to support him. Seeing you out on the course cheering for me is more memorable to me than crossing the finish line.
Mishele - But you made crossing the finish line this year memorable!
Ben - my college hetero-lifemate. Great 2nd Ironman! See you on the slopes!
Tom, Tracy, Stu, and Michelle: for great sources of inspiration, camraderie, as we all took on an Ironman this year and won
Jen - for balancing our training rides with fancy schmancy dining and scalping tickets for awesome concerts
Shelby - for entertaining bike rides, talking science on the road, and for being the only person who has never said I suck at swimming
Serena - for kicking my ass on the track and never being without a story to tell. Congrats on the upcoming marriage!
Kozi - for kicking my ass on trails and being my marathoning hero
Corky, Anthony, Mike, Nicole - for making 5-hour bike rides entertaining and memorable
Kevin & Mina - When they weren't treating me like a king at their restaurant, or being my lab rats in my exercise physiology research, or pushing me to the limits training, they were some of the greatest friends a guy could have.
Sam & Peter - These two gents get the assist for every achievement of my racing season this year. There was hardly a workout where one of them wasn't there. And there was never a conversation topic that I needed to censor. One of the hardest things I have had to do in the past few years was to say goodbye to these goofy bastards in my move to Ann Arbor. But these are the kinds of friends that'll be around even when I'm not there.
You...the reader - Thank you for your time!

Next up: Long Course Duathlon National Championship (Powerman Ohio) - Sept 30. Followed by the New York Marathon, Nov 4.

Ironman Wisconsin Insomnia Report

2007-09-09T22:38:00.000-07:00

I'm still awake with post-IM insomnia here in Madison, Wisconsin, so I thought I would spend this time on the hotel computer to quickly report the results from my best race ever! Detailed report to come.

Swim - 1:17:22
Bike - 5:37:55
Run - 3:31:53

Overall - 10:36:20

That's a 45-minute PR!!! Woohoo!

Athletic Facebook/MySpace

2007-08-30T06:52:00.000-07:00

For any athlete addicted (or not) to the social networking sites, you should check this one out. If you have entered in any races, chances are you are already listed. You just need to set up an account (for free) to create a more consolidated profile (i.e. eliminate the 30 other John Doe's that come back in a search). It's a great one stop shop for seeing friends athletic achievements without having to remember the exact race and date. Check AthLinks out - http://www.athlinks.com/.

Note: I have no personal stake in this site so my opinion is unbiased.

Beer Mile

2007-08-30T06:21:00.001-07:00

I'm sure you have heard about it, but here is a website devoted to a great event in running. Click the Beermile banner to find out. I especially like the different permutations of the race and the world records associated with them.

Xterra in Arkansas Race Report - Damaged Shifter!

2007-08-26T12:53:00.001-07:00

Xterra Iron Will Triathlon: A couple weeks ago. I went down to Jonesboro, Arkansas with my buddy Sam for my first ever Xterra race. To all that don't know, Xterra races comprise trail-running, mountain bike races, and off-road triathlons. I was competing in the latter. Xterra is the most popular brand of off-road triathlons and they have their World Championships in Hawaii the weekend after the famous Ironman race in Kona.

Having only 1 previous off-road tri on my raceume (haha...yeah right), I was looking forward to seeing how my mtn bike skills have improved. Unfortunately, I had 1 big problem that revealed itself the night before the race...my rear shifter had completely ripped off my handlebar.

It must have gotten damaged in one of my many falls while pre-riding the 10.6 mile bike course full of twisty paths, rocky descents, and logs to leap over. Unfortunately all the local bike shops had already closed, so we headed to our nearest saving grace....Walmart! To obtain what you might ask? You guessed it...Duct Tape! Combined with a piece of wood serving as a brace, I secured my shifter to the handlebar as best as I could. At the end of it all, I only had a little give while shifting. Hopefully it would hold during the race. There was no time to test it out. Check out the pics below to see how it was secured (sorry for poor quality and the black tap on black frame).

Now for the race report:

Swim: Did I mention that the water temp was 90 deg! You think my bad swimming skill would already hinder me...but I actually did all right with my 21min half-mile swim comparatively speaking. Most Xterra races bring mtn bikers as opposed to triathletes.

Bike: As expected, the race would be won by the best mtn biker. I did all right having only crashed one time. I was a bit more conservative with shifting due to my bandaged bike. The chain got stuck several times forcing me to pedal in reverse (which is crazy-hard going uphil). But in all, I biked well....and made quite a few passes. The heat was getting brutal at around 90-95deg by this time of the day.

Run: My time to shine appeared as I had the fastest 5K split of the day on the trails (Sam got the second fastest). Unlike Ironman races, the fastest runner does not win Xterras, that honor goes to the best mtn bikers who hold their own on the swim and run.

All in all I placed 2nd in my age group (Sam won!) and somewhere in top 20 overall.

Doesn't look like much, but it worked!!!!!

Spirit of Racine Half Iron Race Report

2007-08-26T12:07:00.000-07:00

Spirit of Racine Half Iron: Another great day. Hit my sub 90min half-marathon and 22+mph run and bike goals. But whatever I gained there, I certainly lost it on the lousy swim in Lake Michigan...I'm actually becoming a slower swimmer!!

This is a great race. Good crowd, well-organized (except there were only about 15 porta johns for 1500 athletes?!?), perfect weather, beautiful venue, and personally...great fan support (my family came to watch along with other family that lives in town).

Swim: Lake Michigan - you walk a mile down the beach and its a straight shot into the lake before a right turn and swimming parallel to the shoreline. Could not hold a straight line to save my life...again! (42min - about 2 min run back to T1 from beach)

Bike: This is a fast, rolling course through farmland and a little bit of suburban Racine. I think I only got out of the saddle twice. I held back the first half and turned it on the second coming through in 2:30 (about 22.3mph) PR Split!

I really need to see someone about my "deucing" habit.

I almost hit this guy taking the picture...whoops!

Heading into T2

Run: Although I don't have anything official, I believe i negative splitted this run. Again, I held back until the 2nd lap of the half-marathon and turned on the gas. I hope I feel this strong during my Ironman run in a couple weeks (1:25:59) PR Split! And one of the best run splits of the day.

Starting the 13.1 mile dance. Picture Courtesy of Mr. Wil of Iron Wil Productions

All Done! And seriously man, quit acting like Nixon!

Overall: 4:42:16 (an 8min PR from last month's Half...granted I had a flat tire, longer bike ride, and a trail half-marathon at High Cliff...so I was probably the same speed the whole way.)

Next up: Ironman race #7 at Madison, WI Sept 9, 2007!

New Physical Exercise Guidelines

2007-08-02T00:06:00.001-07:00

I may be preaching to the choir by linking this article, but here's a story about the new recommendations from the leading scientific bodies on physical exercise and sports medicine. As you can see, the recommendations are a little more specific, but it hasn't really changed. I especially like how they gave specifics on weight lifting in addition to aerobic exercise (they are both necessary!). And the info for 65+ people is good to see too! Good job ACSM!

Check out the new guidelines from the ACSM website here.

"The new guidelines call for healthy adults to engage in moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity for at least 30 minutes five days each week, or vigorous-intensity aerobic exercise for at least 20 minutes three days a week. The guidelines also state that exercise above the recommended minimum amounts provides even greater health benefits."

The guidelines called for weightlifting exercise to work on muscular strength and endurance, with eight to 10 different exercises on two nonconsecutive days a week.

The new guidelines offered specific advice for people 65 and older, urging them to consider lifting weights, improving their strength to prevent falls, and working on flexibility exercises and balance training."

2007 Tour de France Perspective

2007-07-30T08:55:00.001-07:00

2007's edition of the Tour de France is certainly memorable for its constant coverage on everything other than cycling. It's too bad because 2007 turned out to be one of the best races I've ever seen with the top 3 men going toe-t0-toe all the way to the end with only 31 seconds separating them. There's no race more exciting to watch than a cycling stage-race up the mountains because of the constant shifts in position, the sudden accelerations, and watching someone fade away. Any other race (including running, triathlon, swimming, etc.) does not have the constant place changing and changes of pace that cycling offers. The guess game on the winner eludes even the most experienced commentators.

But apparently more exciting than mountain climbs in the Alps and Pyrenees is a scandal. With the three big doping inquiries, little else will be remembered from this 2007 tour by a non-cyclist. And that's too bad for every amateur cyclist out there because now we have to answer to our non-cycling friends about what happened like we're some sort of expert on the subject.

I've already had several friends and colleagues tell me "That's why I don't like cycling. What's the point of watching if everyone cheats?" Interestingly, these are the same people who watch baseball, basketball, football, hockey, and golf unabashedly. But no, cycling is the scapegoat on performance-enhancing drug use. This question provokes my opinion that they should stop watching their sports if that's how they feel, but I'm often met with a weird answer. "I don't care if they [baseball, football, basketball players] use steroids." What an amazing, hypocritical double-standard! But interestingly enough, most polls on the subject reflect this opinion. It's okay in some sports, but not in others. You can also see this in the sports news and opinion commentaries of many mainstream newswires.

As a follower and fan of all sports, this really bothers me. But what to do?

I, for one, admire cycling's guts in handling the situation. It's a bit authoritarian and a bit "guilty until your proven innocent," but its drastic times and I'm okay with that. Would baseball pull out future hall-of-famers Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, or Albert Pujols if they avoided taking a dope test out of season? Would football drop Peyton Manning or Brett Farve if they turned out a positive drug test? Would Kobe Bryant and LeBron James be dismissed if they ever provided drug-filled urine samples? With the money and popularity of these sports and athletes, I am doubtful any team manager or league commissioner would have the cojones to take these actions. Apparently the only way to get rid of players from the marquee American sports is to catch them abusing canines.

However, these caliber actions are happening right now in the cycling world. The biggest names in the sport are being thrown out like old parking tickets. The top 10 riders after the Lance Armstrong era are all gone. A no-name 24-year old kid like Alberto Contador was able to win the 2200-mile race. While their overall strategy certainly needs to be improved, cycling is "grabbing the bull by the horns" in fighting this dope disease and other sports should follow suit if they want to say that "cycling sucks" at the same time.

Tri-Bloggers Unite

2007-07-25T07:19:00.001-07:00

Last month, I took a 7.5-hour drive to Appleton, WI to race the High Cliff Half-Iron Triathlon. I was suppose to go to the race with my college buddy Ben, but an injury prevented him from racing. Caught without a place to stay, I was rescued by a fellow triathlete I never met in person except in the realm of cyberspace, Iron Pol (I'm using Blog names in case they don't want their names revealed).

He and I met through the triathlon blogging community that is a great wealth of information and stories about the sport we all love so dearly. There are hundreds of people involved in this information sharing that its no longer the dork gathering it might have first been (even though we all know triathletes are a nerdy athlete).

Anyway, I was given a lunch, a dinner, a place to crash, and most importantly a great chance to get to know a fellow athlete. At this dinner, I also met other tri-bloggers who were racing High Cliff as well: Simply Stu, Iron Wil, and Rural Girl. I had a great time getting to know these Midwest triathletes as we exchanged stories of previous races, people we knew, and backgrounds on our life away from triathlon.

I was also given a Blog-esque name by the group because I am obviously not original when it comes to the name of this site. I was called "The George" at the beginning of the dinner, but after light protest about a "The" being placed in front of my name, they felt another article was needed. "A" or "An" wouldn't do. However, Iron Wil decided to keep it simple and thus I was called "Article George" for the rest of the weekend. Goofy group, but I like it!

Anyway, I had a wonderful time getting to know them and I was also lucky enought to be able to see Iron Pol and Iron Wil at Spirit of Racine this past weekend. The next meeting of all the High Cliff group will be our date with Ironman Wisconsin this Sept. Looking forward to seeing you all.

This link takes you to a picture on Iron Pol's site of the High Cliff contingent before the race.

Reasons to be Athletic #9: Killing Two Birds...Kinda: An ordeal with pennies

2007-07-08T14:07:00.000-07:00

Like everyone else, I'm a busy guy who looks for every chance to save precious minutes each day. Every chance I can, I "kill two birds with one stone." A favorite way of doing this is to incorporate errands into my workouts. This includes getting groceries, withdrawing/depositing money at the bank, and the one I would deal with today, business at the post-office.

I was out of stamps so it was time to make my way to the post-office a mile and half away. No big deal, this would go great with the 30-min recovery run I had planned. One problem, I was out of cash, but the change jar was overflowing with pennies. Combining a bank run with a post-office run would have put me over my 30-min workout, so I decided that the hands of fate forced me to become "that guy." Yes, I was going to buy these stamps with pennies.

I counted them out and got a total of 205 pennies. Perfect because I needed 5 stamps for the 5 bills and letters I needed to mail ($2.05). I group the pennies in 50 cent stacks (no penny pack, I use scotch tape...I'm so classy!). After carefully positioning the pennies in my left hand and grabbing the letters to be mailed with the right, I head out the door.

The hot, humid midwest summer weather combined with running with one hand completely still was not making this run too easy. Adding to the tribulations, I immediately start sweating through the envelopes. To prevent any damage to the checks/bills inside, I start carefully switching the order of the envelopes in an effort to spread the sweat evenly amongst them. As I do this, I realize something...there are only 4 envelopes here! I start to panic that I lost a bill, but then I realize I had set it down next to the table and told myself I would remember to pick it up, but I didn't. Way to go idiot! I'm a mile away from home and so I turn around to make the retrieval.

Current Elapsed Time: 16 minutes (should be only 8)

No big deal...just an extra mile. I grab the missing envelope and head back out. Everything is going great and I start thinking about what I'm going to make myself for dinner when...Bam! I trip on an uneven crack in the sidewalk and Murphy's Law prevails and all the pennies go flying into the grass to the left. The scotch tape did not hold. "Son of a....!" I'm about a quarter mile away from the post office.

In a cursing fury, I throw the letters to the ground and begin picking up the pennies. It didn't help this grass hadn't been cut in a million years. After about 15 minutes of treasure hunting and repositioning the pennies in my hand, I finish the last quarter mile to the post-office and get in line behind the 7 people in front of me.

Current Elapsed Time: 35 minutes (should be only 12)

I got odd stares from everyone in the post-office. I didn't blame them. I was sweating like a pig holding a bunch of pennies. 15 minutes later, it's my turn (they are "so fast" at the post-office). I hand them my envelopes and begin setting my pennies on the table. The woman waiting on me said "Is that all you have?" I just say "sorry, thank you" and she counts out the pennies and hands me 4 stamps. I told her that I needed 5 stamps and she said there was only $2.03 there. "You gotta be kidding me." She said no and I begin to protest before noticing she had already dumped the pennies into the bin and there was no way I could recount them for her. I told her she shouldn't have put them in the drawer already. She responded by saying she knew how to count and she gave me my change of 39 cents and one of my letters back. Thankfully my running endorphins were still lingering and I did not feel like arguing. Instead, I left with a new mission, to find 2 stray pennies.

I run back to the site of the trip and can't find the "alleged" missing two pennies...that lying bitch! I continue on and run to a gas station. On the ground next to a pump, I find one penny. 10 minutes later, I run past a Walgreens and in the parking lot, I find another. Woohoo! I never got so excited about pennies before. I make my way back to the post office and get back in line (only 3 people this time).

Current Elapsed Time: 50 minutes (should be done 20 minutes ago)

5 minutes later, I'm back to the same woman and I tell her to give me a stamp. She sells it to me and I give her my stamped envelope and am ready to leave when she says "I think this one is too heavy." She puts it on the scale and informs me that the letter that held the graduation tassel that my former roommate Laurie had left behind when she moved to Virginia put the postage at 55 cents. I drop an F-bomb, take my letter back, and head back out the door. The only thing left to do was head back home for 14 more cents.

Current Elapsed Time: 55 minutes (who cares at this point!)

I looked down at my watch to see what the damage was, but noticed that it was 4:38pm. I had 22 minutes before the post-office would close. Now my recovery workout became a tempo run as I ran the 1.5 miles back to my apartment. I get home in 10 minutes, grab a dime and a nickel from the change can and sprint out the door and with the events of the day wearing on me, I make it back it in 11 minutes. My watch read 4:58pm and I barely enter the door as they lock it up.

Current Elapsed Time: 77 minutes (I could be eating dinner by now!)

I wait 5 more minutes before seeing the same woman for attempt #3. I slap the two coins on the desk and she affixes my postage to the envelope and gives me my penny change. How ironic! In my effort to get rid of all my pennies, I get one of them back (probably from the same stash I paid with earlier).

I ran back home and realized that my 3-4 mile, 30min recovery workout had become an 8-9 mile run with some intensity and a total time elapsed of about 95 minutes.

In my effort to save time, I lost it. But they all don't go this way and I assure you, your athleticism will help you kill those two birds with one stone more times than it won't. On this day, I guess I was just unlucky, but fortunately I now have a penny for good luck.

Previous Reasons to Be Athletic: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.

Morons at the Associated Press

2007-07-04T20:44:00.000-07:00

I read an article in USA Today by the Associated Press regarding the 1-hr running distance record being set by Haile Gebrselassie. Check out the article here before reading on to see if you can figure out where I'm going with this.

Below is the letter I wrote to the "Accuracy Editor" that basically explains the story. And yes, I sound like a jack-ass in this, but its my nature to be combative when I see people making very stupid mistakes. I would expect the same if I made them.

********************************
To Whom It May Concern:

There is so much wrong with the June 27, 2007 article "Gebrselassie sets two world records" that I think it is a huge embarrasement the Associated Press published this.

The article states that the 1-hour running distance record was set with a distance of 12.77 miles. This sounded wrong to me because the 13.1 mile record (a half marathon) is less than 1 hour.

The article says the new world 1-hour record is 21,285 meters. But whoever is writing this has obviously has never taken a math class when converting meters to miles. But that's no excuse because Google has this ability. See it here. There are 13.22 miles in 21,285 meters...not 12.77miles. Now it makes sense that 13.22miles is the 1-hr record if the shorter distance half marathon record (13.1miles) is 58:35.

There is also another mistake. The article mentions the "marathon record" is 2:44:55. This is 40 minutes off the actual time. It's 2:04:55. Please check your facts better next time. An above-average marathoner can run the time you reported! I can only imagine what is misreported in news that actually worldly implications if simple mistakes are made in this regurgitation of numbers.
********************************

4 in 1: Race Reports Galore (Facial Hair Edition!)

2007-06-29T22:10:00.001-07:00

For races other than a marathon or Iron-distance triathlons, I don't get detailed in race reports. So below is the highlight reel from my last 4 races, effectively making 1 normal sized race report.

Be warned for gratuitous facial hair and throwing the deuce ("cool" vernacular for peace signs) in my attempt to keep from having the same ol' race pictures. And leave your "Yay or Nay" on the facial hair.

Memphis in May Mountain Bike Triathlon - May 19, 2007
This was my second race involving a mountain bike. I borrowed my buddy Sam's bike again. And I might have a sport I'm good at here. But I'm writing it off as beginner's luck for now and will try some XTERRA races next year. Anyway, a 500meter swim put me at my place at the back half of the field before I turned it on for a Mtn Bike leg that covered about 50/50 double track and single track.

Highlights from the bike leg were avoiding barb wire fences lining the edge of the property we were racing on, biking what can only be described as the back of a dinosaur (on the top of a long rolling hill with 75-feet drops off each side), and a mandatory dismount creek crossing in which we had to throw our bikes on top of an embankment and climb out of the muddies creek bed with the aid of roots from the trees. Falls were plentiful, but not debilitating with the exception of a shot in the family jewels as I misjudged the height of my bike when jumping back on. I was down for a ten count. But I completed the 10 miles in one of the top mtn bike splits of the day. Crazy!

Finishing the bike, I did what I do best and ran down a few more competitors in the 3mi jaunt through open fields and finished with a very satisfactory placing.

Mtn Biking in the Open Field

I can't pull off the no shirt run. This guy needs to hit the gym and the fake-and-bake booth.

Memphis in May Olympic Distance Tri - May 20, 2007
This is a great race because it is the biggest and most competitive Olympic Distance Tri in the South/Midwest. Nearly 1800 athletes from all over the country and a strong professional field including the runner up of the 2006 Ironman World Championship, Chris McCormack.

Although I was a little sore from the previous day's Off-Road race, I had a PR day and I also PR'd in each discipline during the race. The swim was my best swim in my triathlon career. I barely hold 1:45/100yd during long swims while training, but this day, I held 1:35s with room to spare. Maybe it was the new wetsuit (wetsuit strippers destroyed my last one), maybe the course was short, but I finally felt graceful in the water and this crappy swimmer never feels that way.

The bike was a PR split by a minute (22.9mph) for a slightly short 40K (24.8mi), but I thought I could have been better. I held back too much and should have hammered a bit more. Nutrition: Just 2 CHO gels with Gatorade in my bottle.

Any bad feeling from the bike vanished as my run was awesome. I had the 15th fastest run of the entire field (including beating a bunch of pros). 6:07 mile splits for the 10K on this very rolling run course put me at a final race time of 2:11:37. And this was all with eating some Memphis BBQ from the world famous Renaissance restaurant the day before!

New Wetsuit (with facial hair)

Biking and Deucing (not that kind sicko!)

Peace!

Watch out for the bearded tri guy cameraman!

The Double Deuce at the finish!

Make Track for the St. Louis Zoo 5K - June 3, 2007
I don't like paying money to race 5Ks. In fact, I don't like paying money to race distances I can run, bike, swim during training (distance up to half-marathons and many sprint tris). Call me cheap, call me fiscal, call me lazy...it's the way I am. But I do realize that it is important to support local racing to keep our sport healthy. So to compromise these two sides, I do this particular 5K race every year because a neighbor of mine growing up is a former director of the event...even if it is $25 and they ran out of "complimentary breakfasts." Jackasses!

Short story even shorter: Mile splits: 5:21, 5:32, 5:40, :29 last .1mi. Giving me a 17:03 PR finish! Bittersweet though as a 16-year old kid out kicked me at the end. Little brat!

High Cliff Half-Iron Triathlon - Appleton, WI (near Green Bay) - June 24, 2007
More on the rest of the weekend, which included meeting some fellow Tri-Bloggers, in another posting.

I haven't done a half-iron in two years, so I was looking forward to destroying my previous best. The swim in Lake Winnebago started out great, but then became nasty as I couldn't swim a straight line to save my life and I came out of the water with the same swim time I had in my previous two 1.2mile swims (37min and change). Post-race talk suggested the course was a little long, but I really sucked it up. Stupid swim.

Troubles continued a half mile into the bike going up the biggest hill of the day...my front tire flatted! My first flat tire in a race. No idea what caused it, but I'll leave that to one of life's mysteries. I was pleased with my quick change....about 3-4minutes and I continued up the hill and began my 56-mile push! Another check mark in my argument against using tubular race wheels for long-course triathlons.

The course was relatively flat with some gradual long hills. The headwind was on the front half and my goal was to hold 19-20mph until the back half in which I got up to 25mph. I felt fluid and in control as I took down my 6 CHO gels and 3 Gatorades. I came back to T2 with a new 56mile PR (including flat tire time) at 2:36...probably could have been 2:32-33. I averaged just shy of 22mph. I was very pleased!

With the earlier problems long behind me, I wanted to light up the run. Breaking 90min was the goal, but that became lofty as I forgot that this was a trail half-marathon. Luckily most of the 13.1 miles were shaded, but the twisty turns, uneven footing, and rhythm-breaking terrain took away any advantage the sunless course provided. I took down 2 CHO gels during this and I probably should have taken down one more as I began to fade the last 2miles. But in the end, I finished it in 91-min and set me a new Half-Iron PR of 4:50:13!

Okay seriously...this deucing is getting old!

All smiles nearing the finish at High Cliff Half Iron

In the immortal words of David Lee Roth and Van Halen...

"Jump! Go Ahead and Jump!"

2007 has been a great year. Happy racing!
Next up: Spirit of Racine Half Iron Distance, July 22, 2007

R.I.P. Kevin Hunt

2007-06-25T10:03:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend, Kevin Hunt, a 28 year-old man from the St. Louis area died participating in a sprint triathlon outside St. Louis, MO. He apparently drowned 50 yards from the finish of a 500 yard swim in Lake Aspen at Innsbrook. Rescue efforts involving 100 triathletes forming a human chain looking for him in the water were unsuccessful. Although I did not know him, it hit closer to home given that he is in my 25-29 age group. Here is a local TV station's report and here is local newspaper's article of the tragedy.

It may be some time, if ever, before it is known what happened. I can say that the event that put on this race weekend is the best multisport event organization in the region. I have participated in many Ultramax races including my first iron-distance triathlon three years ago. I am most impressed by their attention to detail and making the athlete feel like the race is put on for the individual. I always recommend this series of races to beginners because I know how well-staffed and how well-maintained they are. I only hope that Hunt properly prepared himself for this event and he wasn't victim to a lack of training.

This is certainly a sad moment for the sport. And my thoughts and prayers go out to his friends and family. His family is asking for memorial contributions to the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

Fast Food Heaven: A Meal of Super-Sized Proportions

2007-05-16T13:57:00.000-07:00

Note: Do not attempt the following act unless you are deemed healthy enough to engage in such activity by at least two friends who are goofier than you.

Sometime a couple weeks ago, my roommates and I were vegging out watching Heroes, The Office, Scrubs, Grey's Anatomy, Lost, America's Next Top Model, 24, Sex in the City, or another one of the shows that swallow our post-7pm lives during the week. During one of these occasions after an onslaught of fast-food commercials we decided to do the following...

...a fast food buffet pot-luck!

Yes. You read that correctly. Me, Mr. Health and Fitness, decided to join his roommates in a journey to Saturated Fats Street and Sodium Lane in Fastfoodville, USA. Morgan Spurlock, of Super Size Me, would be proud.

So Amee, Laurie, and I each went to 2 fast food restaurants all at the same time and bought $5-8 worth of food and brought it back to our humble apartment for the feast to end all feasts. Here is what we picked up and from where (picture is below).
McDonald's - French Fries, Chicken McNuggets
Taco Bell - Taco, Nachos, Burrito
Jack in The Box - Tacos, Jumbo Jack w/ Cheese, Curly Fries
Sonic - Slushes
Popeyes - Chicken and Biscuits
White Castle - 6 Burgers, French Fries, Onion Rings

Yes...the three of us all graduated from a pretty good school. We all are healthy individuals. But sometimes you just gotta indulge. This also served as one of our last roommate bonding experiences. Laurie is moving to Virginia with her newly acquired Masters in Social Work and to be with her fiance, Amee is heading to graduate school for psychology at Tufts in Boston, MA, and I'm off to Ann Arbor, Michigan for a PhD in exercise physiology. I'm gonna miss these two!

My college buddy and fellow Ironman, Ben, who came down to visit for a weekend of cycling thought we were completely nuts and had the only sense of the group and refused participation. But he happily photographed the event.

So how did we feel after eating all this? You guessed it...like complete crap! But it was totally worth it! Luckily we took this picture as we got started.

Laurie, myself, and Amee feasting on America's Cheapest Foods (I just got done riding...I don't always wear a cycling jersey)

Energy Systems

2007-05-06T22:35:00.000-07:00

This also appears in the April issue of SwimBikeRun St. Louis Magazine.

Last month, I talked about differences between slow-twitch and fast twitch muscle fibers and how the former are involved in endurance activities while the latter aid in power and sprint-focused movement. Everyone has both types, and our athletic abilities are largely dictated by the distribution of these muscle fibers. But what are these cells actually doing? The short answer: they are producing energy from fuel and this energy is ultimately transferred into the movements we make with our body. If we break out our high-powered microscope and zoom in on our muscles, we will see our muscle fibers using 3 primary energy systems (we’ll leave other systems alone for simplicity’s sake). Before discussing these systems, let’s review some high school biology by answering a few questions.

What exactly is the “energy” being produced? It is chemical energy in the form of a molecule called adenosine tri-phosphate (ATP). This ATP provides for our body’s cells’ livelihood. For our skeletal muscle cells, that is contraction. Inside our muscle cells are many tiny rod-shaped filaments that interact in complex manners to generate contraction of the cell. The filaments push and pull on each other causing the mass of muscle cells contracting to lengthen or shorten the whole muscle

How does ATP transfer energy to cause our muscle cells to contract? So you see the T and the P in ATP? The T indicates there are 3 phosphate molecules attached to the A (adenosine). These phosphates contain a great deal of energy and this energy becomes usable once a phosphate is broken off. Think of it like plugging a hole in a bucket of water. When it’s plugged, the water is trapped inside and nothing is happening, but there’s a lot of usable energy from the water inside. Once you remove the plug (phosphate) from the bucket (adenosine), the water (energy) comes rushing out. This water then runs past a turbine (muscle cell architecture) and generates electricity (muscle cell contraction).

Where do we get ATP from? We get ATP from carbohydrates, fats, and proteins from food and our body stores. Oxygen from the air we breathe is also added to the mix in certain energy systems. How these sources bring about ATP involves understanding complex biochemical pathways of the 3 primary energy systems, which I’ll leave for scientists to worry about. For us athletes, read on.

The Big 3 Energy Systems and their Oxygen Requirement:
1. Phosphagen System (PS) – Anaerobic
2. Glycolytic System (GS) – Anaerobic (lactic acid) & Aerobic (No lactic acid produced)
3. Oxidative System (OS) – Aerobic

Note that some systems require oxygen while others do not. When you hear your buddy talking about how he went “anaerobic” during the finishing sprint in a criterium it means he or she was working so hard that no oxygen was being used to facilitate energy use in the body. When this same friend tells you about building an “aerobic” base in the off-season by logging hundreds of hours on the bike, this means he or she is training at a low intensity and longer duration where oxygen is readily available to the energy systems. The PS does not use oxygen, but the OS requires it. The GS can function with or without oxygen, the latter resulting in an accumulation of lactic acid, a molecule that causes the burning and fatiguing sensation as it’s accumulated in the muscles during intense activity. Now let’s talk about each of the systems.

Phosphagen System (PS) – This anaerobic system is used to power very short (0-30sec) and very intense activities such as power lifting and sprints. So what does this description sound like? Fast Twitch muscle fibers, right? That’s because Fast-Twitch fibers are composed of components that produce this kind of activity. The PS system requires a molecule called phospho-creatine (the supplement industry sells this, too). If you remember the water bucket example, the phospho-creatine is a bag (creatine) of extra plugs (phosphates) for a bucket with holes (adenosine missing a phosphate). The phosphate plug is removed from the creatine bag and used to fill the hole of the bucket. Now your body has a readily available source of ATP available. However, this supply is short-lived and if duration of the activity increases, another system is needed to maintain the supply of ATP.

Glycolytic System (GS) – This system is used by Fast-Twitch and some Slow-Twitch muscle fibers for activities of moderate to heavy intensity for durations of 6 seconds to 3 minutes. This system uses carbohydrates from food or body stores to produce a greater amount of ATP than the PS system. The GS functioning depends on the ability of oxygen to enter into the system. On the more intense exercise side of the GS, lactic acid is produced and accumulated because the system is “moving too quickly” for oxygen to enter into the mixture. If the GS system is slowed in lower intensity exercise and oxygen is able to enter the mixture, lactic acid does not accumulate and exercise can be performed longer.

Oxidative System (OS) – This aerobic system is used primarily by Slow-Twitch muscle fibers for activities of low to moderate intensity for durations longer than 3 minutes. This system uses carbohydrates, fats, and protein to produce a great supply of ATP.

Too much science! What should I take away from this as an athlete?
As you can see, more ATP (energy) is produced and available during low intensity, long duration exercise. This is why we can’t sprint a marathon-distance run. We do not produce enough ATP while exercising at a high-intensity state. We are limited by our energy system efficiency and ATP supply. However, with training, the efficiency of these systems is extremely improved.

Do everyone’s 3 energy systems work the same?
The energy system used at any given time is different between athletes. This usually depends on training. A professional cyclist like Levi Leipheimer, is able to cycle at a high clip up a mountain due to a very efficient OS resulting from a strong “aerobic base” (remember oxygen). For an average cyclist mashing the gears on the same course, the OS is not as efficient and the GS is also likely playing a greater role, especially with lactic acid production.

Can I improve these systems quickly through training?
The speed at which training improves this efficiency is genetic in nature, possibly due to muscle fiber distributions. In addition, there are differences depending on one’s training status. An untrained individual may improve their aerobic systems faster than someone trained, like the law of diminishing returns. Research has shown an upper rate-limit to the speed at which the aerobic system can be improved. This is why training in the off-season is important because you can’t rush improvement of the OS during racing season if you sat around all winter. The PS and GS systems upper-rate limits are not well-known, but likely exist. The saying “if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it” is ever-present in developing efficient energy systems.

Is training the only way to improve the output of the energy systems I use?
Diet plays a role as well. “Improve” is not the word, but rather “assist.” Studies have shown that supplementing with phospho-creatine (PCr) can help with sprint and power-lifting performance (It is one of three nutritional supplements, not drugs, that have well-supported scientific research backing its improved performance effects. Caffeine and Bicarbonate are the others). But PCR does not aid in endurance performance. Why not? Only the PS system can use PCr, the GS and OS systems cannot. They use carbohydrates.

Does “Carbo Loading” aid the GS and OS systems?
A diet high in carbohydrates will help provide a lasting supply of fuel for the GS and OS systems. When you “hit the wall” or “bonk” in a race, you have depleted your body’s supply of carbohydrates and they need to be replaced by carbohydrates from food in order to continue racing. Fat is a major fuel for the OS system as well, but interestingly you need carbohydrate present in order for the OS system to metabolize fat. Carbohydrate and oxygen are the vital components for the OS system to function.

I noticed overlap in the exercise periods of the energy systems, do they function simultaneously?
At no time, during either exercise or rest, does any single energy system provide the complete supply of energy, but rather certain systems have a greater contribution depending on the exercise intensity and duration. Let’s take the swim leg of a triathlon as an example. Output is low for the energy systems, occurs as you wait for your start. Once the horn sounds, the PS will be in high gear as you suddenly propel your body and dive into the water. As you settle into your stroke down the length of the pool, your PS becomes overpowered by a more influential GS. If the swim section were only 200-yds, you may not be involving much of your OS, but a 500-yd swim ensures that you take regular breaths of oxygen in order to for the OS to power you through this triathlon leg. Otherwise, lactic acid accumulation from a GS in overdrive will leave you exhausted for the upcoming bike section.

How will knowledge of energy systems help me with training and racing?
Now that you know how intensity and duration of your activities cause different systems to function, you can train your energy systems to match your goals. If you desire to be a great marathoner, an aerobic base that strengthens your OS is quintessential and you must provide your body with a steady source of fuel that contributes to this system. If you want to make gains in your one-repetition maximum lifts, steadily increase warm-up lifts before the final attempt in order to make sure all your PS guns are firing.

The take home message: training effects are specific. Improving your OS will not improve your PS and vice versa. The mere action of using your energy systems will improve their efficiency for race day. Good Training!

Boston Marathon 2007 Race Report

2007-04-18T16:04:00.000-07:00

Monday, April 16, 2007

RACE RESULTS
2:50:17 (6:30/mi) ~2min PR!
Overall: 366/20,640
Men: 339/12,567
Open 18-39 Men Age Division: 280/9,200
23,869 registered racers (~3200 racers did not start...stupid weather)
1st Half: 1:23:35 (6:25/mi)
2nd Half: 1:26:42 (6:36/mi)...mile splits below

In short, I had the best race of my life, it was almost the perfect race. I kicked some ass in some crappy weather. I didn't win any big awards, prize money, or had that competitive of a finishing place, but I surpassed all my expectations and because I spent the race weekend with family and friends, I had a blast doing it. For the longer version, read on.

My self-proclaimed start of the 2007 racing season began here on the 111th anniversary of perhaps the most famous foot-race in the world. I used my Chicago Marathon time as my qualifier since my previous sub-3:10 marathon in St.Louis in 2004 had expired. And as shown in my previous posts, the weather was far from inviting. A weather phenomenon called a Nor'easter was beating the crap out of the marathon course the day and night before the race. It was the talk of the town during the Patriot's Day Weekend. Luckily, it was forecasted early in the week and I prepared well for it.

Pre-Race: To distract me, I spent Friday through Sunday with my cousin Anne who goes to school in Boston, my sister who bussed it up fron her home in NYC, and Anne's roomie and boyfriend. This time was spent doing important things such as reliving college glory days, eating, and having an O.C. marathon (yeah, we watched 8 episodes of that goofy teen drama Sunday while the Nor'easter did its thing.)

Over those three days, I spent most of my "thinking time" devoted to figuring out what I was going to wear in the morning of and during the race. For the first time in my life, I empathized with all the women I've ridiculed for taking forever to decide what to wear. Nothing seemed to work. Finally, I figured it out and looking back on it...I got it about 95% correct. In short, I started the morning out with 5 layers on top and 3 layers on the bottom (pants). The rain, cold, and wind wouldn't stop me and it didn't. (See Clothing" at the end of this posting to see what I wore exactly.)

I spent the night at Boston College the night before the race on a comfy couch getting only a few hours of sleep (nerves and college life keeping me up), but I woke up to the storm around 5am to the storm still raging outside. I ate, dressed, and hopped on bus destined for Hopkinton, MA (the start of the race).

Hopkinton, MA (Race Start): Luckily there were tents set up and they opened the school to some people to stay out of the pouring rain. At times the rain let up enough where it was okay to stand in the line of the port-a-jons, but for the most part it was hard and steady, with a whipping wind. The air temp wasn't too bad...mid 40s. But the wind chill killed. I spent the next 2 hours sitting on my poncho under a tent or standing outside in order to give others some time to get out of the rain. Amazingly, people were largely in good spirits.

I made some calls to my sister and home while waiting for the announcement for runners to begin the 3/4 mile walk to the starting line. I dropped off my clothes bag and made my way to Corral #1 where I enjoyed a good view of the professional men. Unlike the New York Marathon, there were no theatrics...just a simple start with a horn. The small crowd that braved the weather cheered us forward.

Goofing around and sporting my St. Louis Blues Cap...That's for you Greg!

Course Layout: The course runs eastward the entire way, not good when you have a wind going westward. The first 16 miles are gradually downhill. The next 5 miles are moderate to steeply uphill, culminating at Heartbreak Hill (mile 20.5) before going back downhill into downtown Boston. This is not an easy course to go for a negative split on given the unbalanced elevation on both halves of the course, but a strategy is definitely needed.

The Goal: My goal was to match my previous PR (2:52:02) since I battled injury and went through PT earlier in the year. A secondary goal was to not get sick as in my previous marathon. However, with the race conditions of headwinds, cold, rain, wearing an air-catching jacket...I would be content with just requalifying for Boston next year with a 3:10 performance. I would just go with my 2:52 race plan and stick with it the best I could.

The Weather: The weather was the story this year and luckily for all the racers, the brunt of the Nor'easter hit the night before. We raced during the tail end of it. The temps were in the upper 40s, but the headwind was steady throughout the course with some 25-30mph gusts at certain points, making the wind chill much lower (upper 30s). Luckily I decided to wear my REI waterproof ultralight jacket. I was dry as a bone, but I still felt the chill as the damp wind hit me in the chest. At around mile 15, the rain finally let up and it was actually comfortable. But not too much later, the weather would reestablish its presence with a slap of wind to the face.

My Plan: A graduate professor who had run this race 10 years ago, achieving her lifetime marathon PR had one piece of advice for me that resonated throughout the first 20 miles: hold back! I pictured Mel Gibson in Braveheart commanding his army "HOLD! HOLD!" as the English calvary charged toward them. He waited to last possible instant before shouting "NOW!" and was followed by an English ass-kicking by the Scotts. Every time I felt an urge to surge, I told myself "Hold!" As seen by my mile splits (below) in the first half, I did that pretty well. I held on until mile 20 at the base of Heartbreak Hill.

Wellesley: Before I get there, the one entertaining thing that happened was our approach to the all-girls school Wellesley College at mile 12. About a half-mile earlier, I suddenly heard a loud shrill ahead in the distance. The headwind easily carried the sound and one of the runners said to all those around, "Keep the testosterone in check, boys." Sure enough at mile 12, we passed a line of screaming college women a half-mile long. Many were motioning for a kiss, but I was focused on the run. What can I say?

Heartbreak Hill: Everyone wants to know about this famous hill placed directly at the point of the race you don't want a hill. The point where most runners "hit the wall," mile 20.5. The hill itself isn't the steepest on the course and it's only a half-mile long, but if you don't plan your nutrition carefully and/or you go out too hard...it will eat you alive. I passed many runners massaging their hamstrings or walking up the hill. Fortunately, I had a good nutrition strategy - eating 5 gels up to this point (see Nutrition below) and holding back for the first 20.5 miles.

The last 5.5 miles: I crested Hearbreak Hill and I heard the voice shout...NOW! I surged forward for the first time ever in a marathon, when I normally fade. I turned my legs over quicker as the final miles passed. I don't remember the exact tally, but I passed at least 200 runners, while no one passed me. The quads were getting heavy, but with each grouping of runners I passed another surge pushed me on.

I turned the last corner, checked my watch, and saw that I was going to PR. Somehow, I overcame the crappy wind, with the crappy temperature, with the crappy rain and was going to put a new mark on my record list. I "threw the hammer" down for the last quarter mile, passing six more, and pumped my arms to the sky as I crossed the finish line. I walked on through the finishing area feeling the best I ever felt after a 26.2mile run.

Below are my splits with my plan based on desired finishing time and course elevation (Green is faster than goal-time, Red is slower).

Check out Miles 20-26.2 and compare with my Chicago Marathon splits. This is a textbook example of Surging vs. Fading at the end of a race.

Final Thoughts: A great race. I wish there was more of a crowd out there, but I was told by other runners that the streets were empty compared to previous years. With the exception of the last mile of the race, the only people out on the rest of the course were college students drinking it up for their day off class. To be that young again!

The race had taken its toll on many runners. I passed many pulled hamstrings and calves. I saw athletes all day shivering their wet, cold bodies uncontrollably from hypothermia. One of them was a training buddy of mine, Andy, who still finished ahead of me inspite of the affliction. Fortunately, I was wise in my selection of race attire even if it wasn't completely aerodynamic.

So is this a race every runner should do? Definitely. I really picked a crappy year to have my first. But results aside, I enjoyed the race. It was well-organized (how you get 20,000+ into a little town with 2-lane roads in a matter of hours is beyond me). The course was scenic and challenging. And with the qualifying standards, the competition is better than any marathon an average Joe will ever run. If there was anything I didn't like about it...it was probably that the race is held on a Monday...but maybe I will be okay with it once I see crazy folks out there celebrating their day off work on the course next year. Yeah, I'll definitely be back next year.

Improvements Needed: I'm a scientist. You can always criticize, even in a good race.

1) Surge Earlier. Start the final surge .5-1 mile earlier. Granted I had Heartbreak Hill in my way, but I probably had another mile of hammering in me.

2) Maintain my strength training regimen. This winter, I trained harder in the weight-room (3-5 workouts/week) than I have ever done and I'm the strongest I've ever been. I felt this by being in full control of my legs throughout the race instead of them being in control of me. I know restistance training is hard for many runners to do, and I'm lucky I work next to a gym where I can sneak away for a workout during my lunchbreak, but you'll be surprised by the results. And no, I did not gain muscle weight for those of you quick to assume...in fact I maintained total weight...so that's not an excuse to avoid strength-training.

3) Keep up the speed work and focus more on form. I did some crazy speed work this year, joining workouts with of one of the best female middle-distance runners in the country, Serena, who recently shattered the course record of the St. Louis Half-Marathon by over 8 minutes (1:14)! My training buddies and I would go to these workouts and she would kick our ass. But we were better for it. During these workouts, I began correcting a "bouncing" problem I have had for years and focused on getting my stride count to 180 touches/minute...I'm at 164 now.

Thank Yous:
--My running training buddies Sam, Peter, Andy, and Serena! Not only did they get me in shape, they helped me enjoy doing so by being great friends.
--Jennifer for being a good friend and for general support while we both raced our first Boston
--My sister, Kate, for making the bus ride from NYC to see her more mature and wiser older brother and family.
--My cousin Anne, her roommate Jessie, and boyfriend Derek for making my first extended trip to Boston a great one by providing me with lodging, food, emotional support, first liquor purchasing denial in 4 years, and a chance to relive college life for a weekend.

Next up: A plethora sprint, olympic, and Half-Iron distance triathons with a mountain bike race or 2 thrown for in for good measure as I prepare for Ironman Wisconsin 2007, this September and the New York Marathon this November.

OVERLY DETAILED INFO ABOUT CLOTHING & NUTRITION TO PREVENT YOU FROM REINVENTING THE WHEEL

Pre-Race Nutrition - Concentrated Carbo-Loading began Wed. I already have a diet high in carbohydrate, so not much change. Fri - partied with my family with many cold ones (couldn't resist!). Sat - big ass buritto from Qdoba, pasta for dinner, lots of cereal throughout the day, some fruit, toast, and a smoothie as well. Sun - omelette for breakfast, cereal, fruit, and pretzels for lunch, and Chinese delivery of veggie delight with some shrimp stolen from the sister for dinner. Monday morning before race (5:30am) - ate big bowl of cereal, banana, gatorade, some pretzels. 8:00am - ate a banana, sipped on water, and ate some pretzels. 9:30am - drank another gatorade and sipped on water

Race Nutrition - Drank only water throughout the course...and just one cup of gatorade. Carried 4 CHO gels from the start in my jacket napolean pocket and picked one up at Mile 17 aid station. Ate them at 5, 10, 12.5, 16, 20 (right before Heartbreak Hill). If you care, they were 3 Powergels (Strawberry Banana, Green Apple, and Vanilla) and 2 GUs (both Vanilla Bean).

Clothing - For the first time in my life, I empathized with many of the women I've met in my life that I ridiculed for taking forever to decide what to wear before going out. Deciding what to wear was the most challenging

Clothing from Race Morning to Before Walking to the Starting Line - From the skin to the surface, I wore
Top - running shirt, sweatshirt, fleece jacket, REI water-proof breathable jacket, thick plastic poncho
Bottom - running shorts, addias pants (warm layer), warm-up pants (water-proof layer)
Hands - bright green thermal gloves from mom's old clothes bin
Feet - smartwool running socks, smartwool mid-ankle socks, running shoes (the ones i raced in...I should have brought a 2nd pair and changed), and plastic grocery bags wrapped around my shoes to keep the water out. The plastic bags were only slightly effective. Once I stepped in puddles, it soaked through...need thicker plastic).
Head - St. Louis Blues skullcap, hood from Poncho

Clothing at the Starting Line - I ditched my clothes I wanted to keep in my bag to be sent to the Finish Line and walked to the finish line with (from skin to the surface)
Top - running shirt, sweatshirt, REI water-proof breathable jacket, thick plastic poncho
Bottom - running shorts, warm-up pants (water-proof layer)
Hands - bright green thermal gloves from mom's old clothes bin
Feet - smartwool running socks, running shoes (the plastic bags were useless)
Head - St. Louis Blues skullcap, hood from Poncho

Clothing During the Race - I ditched all the warming layer of clothes about 4 minutes before the race began and threw to the sidelines (these clothes are donated to charity) From skin to the surface...
Top - running shirt, REI water-proof breathable jacket
Bottom - running shorts
Hands - bright green thermal gloves (ditched at 13.1mi)
Feet - smartwool running socks, running shoes
Head - St. Louis Blues skullcap (ditched at 22mi)

Update on Weather for the Boston Marathon

2007-04-14T11:27:00.000-07:00

Below is an update from the race directors at the Boston Marathon...so much for the wind being at our backs...

FORECAST: The most up-to-date weather forecast calls for a predicted Spring storm on Monday, including heavy rains (potentially 3 to 5 inches), with the start temperatures in the mid to upper 30's. Wind will likely be East (in the face of the participants for most of the race) in the 20 to 25 mile per hour range, with gusts to as much as 50 miles per hour. This will produce a wind chill index of 25 to 30-degrees Fahrenheit.

This is gonna be fun!

You Know You're In for a Challenging Marathon When...

2007-04-12T23:45:00.000-07:00

...the race directors at Boston Marathon send out the following email to all the racers for the 111th running this Monday, April 16.

Wednesday, April 11 - As the Boston Athletic Association continues to make preparations for Monday's Boston Marathon, we are monitoring the upcoming weather conditions forecast for this area. Based on the National Weather Service's most recent report and in cooperation with the Executive Office of Public Safety (Commonwealth of Massachusetts) and the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, together with the eight cities and towns along the 26.2-mile marathon route, we are planning for likely heavy rain and windy conditions on race day. However, all race day plans remain the same. The Boston Athletic Association advises participants in Monday's race to plan accordingly for their run, bringing with them gear and apparel to suit the conditions. The B.A.A. will continue to update its web site as necessary.

Here's to an easterly flowing wind (that's the direction the course runs)!

Response Regarding Supplements

2007-04-10T17:32:00.000-07:00

A recent posting of mine regarding the lack of hard data backing most nutritional supplements was responded with a comment by a supplement company, AGD Supplements. If you want to read the comment click on the link to the posting and scroll down to see the comments on the bottom. I'm not going to give free advertising by copying the comment in this posting. I'm advertising them enough by merely responding to them...which may be their intention and if so...well-played AGD Supplements. Regardless, I'm going to let this posting serve as an example of how I respond to such "inquiries." Warning: I become a bit of an ass when responding to challenges that are in my opinion, preposterous.

Response:
Wow! "AGD supplements" certainly appeared to be annoyed with my post. But to their credit, it must have been a lot of work to copy and paste product information regarding HMB in their response. No doubt this was a scientist scouring random health and fitness web logs looking to challenge decenters.

Clairfication points
1) The main body of the comment illustrated the physiological mechanisms of how HMB works (gee, thanks for saving me a trip to my textbook with the same information) and notes that it's a molecule already present in the body.

I never once stated that HMB was an artificial product. It's true that its a molecule in our own body. However, mere addition of a body-molecule does not automatically generate results. This is a tactic I have often seen from supplement companies trying to sell their products. "It's all natural." "It's organic." "It's an essential metabolite in your body."

2) I never said explicitly that Nissen and Co. are bad people trying to manipulate and/or coerce their customers with a bad product. I am merely saying that researching your own creation and only displaying your positive results while simultaneously disregarding negative results is a flagrant conflict of interest. Until product developers provide and address ALL data, I will always look at these products and encourage others to look at them with the utmost scrutiny and complete skepticism.

3) The commenter appears, although I'm not 100% sure due to the scattered nature of their line of thought, to downplay all of the purported positive effects of HMB and insinuates that their company only recommends the product for certain activities using phrasing saying...

--The hormonal equilibrium is not affected since HMB's effects are slow to accrue over time. This slow change makes it safe since it doesn't disrupt the body's natural state too fast. Yeah... there are no harmful slow-acting componds in the world *cough* common colds, nicotine *cough*.

--HMB does not disrupt your natural equilibrium, but rather HMB acts on metabolism. So bascially I translate that as, "this product won't kill you since it works slowly, and you'll pee it out if it doesn't work." I'm sure I'm oversimplifying it, but oh well.

4) I've been recommended to research leucine (origin of HMB) metabolism and its effect on myocytes (muscle cells). I guess I have homework.

Lost Valley Mountain Bike Race Report

2007-04-09T20:33:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I competed in my very first mountain bike race. This was probably my tenth ride ever on a mountain bike through technical trails. So I went into this race with no expectations other than to have fun and not get hurt. I succeeded in both (well almost both).

The race was part of the the Missouri Mountain Biking Race Series under NORBA. For all you mountain biking newbies NORBA is the National Off-Road Biking Association and they are the governing body of the sport. Basically you pay them a lot of money and you compete in races with some sort of health insurance protection, but not really. Cycling road races do the same thing through USA Cycling.

It took place outside St. Louis in the wine country of St. Charles, MO on a ~8mi loop trail called Lost Valley. This trail has 4 sections. The first section is a double-track (meaning more than one rider can ride abreast) with a long ascent before it dips into the second section, a technical, single-track (only one rider can fit on the trail). This portion has twists, turns, steep descents, loose ground, slick mud, big jutting rocks, and few places to bail out if you start to lose control. This portion finally opens up into the third section, a double-track of a moderate rolling cruise alongside a creek. Finally, you enter the last section of single-track which concludes with 2 creek crossings (the first being very rocky and technical and the second being long and soaking). It's easy from there to the finish line or starting your next loop.

RACING EXPLANATION
So there are many permutations to mountain bike racing. This race had two: a race of a given number of laps on the course depending on the rider's skill classification (Pro/Expert, Sport, or Beginner). The other race is the one I decided to join: Endurance. This race was a 3-Hour Endurance race meaning you had to complete as many laps as possible in 3 hours. However, you can go beyond the 3 hour time-limit if you complete a lap before the total 3 hours has elapsed. For example, if you roll in from your 3rd lap at 2:59, you can go on and complete your 4th lap even though you'll be riding a total of 3:58 minutes. Your final score would be 4 laps - 3:58. And this would be better than someone who did 3 laps in 3:32, but worse than someone who did 4 laps in 3:20. Comprende?

Little did I know that competing in the endurance race would pit me up against the best riders that would be at the entire event. I thought only endurance freaks like myself would do this and the speedsters would settle for the the lap races. I was mostly wrong. Needless to say, I got owned in this race. I didn't mind so much given that I was using a borrowed bike that didn't quite fit and being a rookie. Here are the highlights from the day.

BEING PATIENT - MTN BIKING ETIQUETTE 101
The endurance riders were sent out first and I hung with the lead pack through the double-track but everyone pulled away from me on the single-track. Now I'm not sure what mountain biking etiquette is during racing, but I imagine if you're a slower rider on single track and you have someone on your ass, it's courtesy to move out of the way, especially if they ask. So you pull your bike to the side and let them go. This happened often since the Sport race was started five minutes after our race and those racers were flying through the course. I don't know who was the event directing genius that decided that especially since they only had 2 laps to ride whereas we had 3 hours to ride (~4+ laps).

Anyway, most of the Endurance riders were ahead of me as I took my time through the first section of treacherous single-track. Soon, the lead riders in the Sport race were starting to overtake me. I pulled to the side and let them slip past me without them ever requesting since I was obviously going slower than them. However, I reached a section with a steep ledge on one side and no room to pull over on the other and a Sport rider got on my tail. He shouted, "Get of out the way!" Although a bit rude, I responded calmly, "As soon as I get to a open space, I will." He replied in a pissed-off tone. "What the hell?!? Get the F$*# out of the way." Not taking kindly, I yelled back, "Dude, I'm not going to hurt myself just so you can save 15 seconds in your race. Hold on." That must have pissed him off and he rammed my back tire.

I was about ready to stop cold and have it out with him when I noticed him careening down off the ledge. He had bounced off my tire and fell into a ditch off the trail. I couldn't help but smile and laugh as I heard him cursing a storm. No more than 5 seconds later, I came to a spot where I could safely pull to the side and have other riders behind pass. As that guy wasn't yet out of the ditch, I continued on and sure enough a few minutes later, he caught up and he said very embarrassingly, "Pass, please?" And I let him go noticing that he wasn't pedaling with the same intensity he was going at before. He had probably hurt himself. So, while I don't feel good about being a part of a wreck, I feel he got what he deserved. If only he were a little patient. Regardless...payback's a bit*#!

CREEK CROSSING
In my opinion, there's nothing cooler in mountain biking than creek crossing (both literally and figuratively). One crossing was long and wet as the picture below shows. What it doesn't show is that it was in the 40s so the race was spent pedaling with numb, wet feet. But it was a relatively easy crossing...just pedaling on through. Another crossing was a rocky creek with a steep, slick downhill leading in and uphill coming out. This caused me to drop my feet on three of the laps, but finally on the fourth I pulled it out with both feet on the pedals. The learning curve in cycling is very steep.

CRASHING
I had one minor crash involving a tree branch and a tree. I hit a tree branch that fell onto the trail at an odd angle and was bounced off the trail, smacking a tree with my leg before falling off my bike. It hurt bad, but it was just a smack. Luckily, only minor cuts and minor bruising. This was unlike my buddy who, in his greater mountain biking experience hung with the leaders during the first single-track section, but unfortunately flew over his handlebars on a steep descent in what I can only imagine was a horrific crash. But he still finished the race. At least I can brag for the rest of my life that I beat him in my first mountain bike race. He's okay now.

FINISHING
I was finishing my fourth lap in 2:48 meaning I could have gone out for a fifth lap. But because my buddy was hurting and I wasn't in contention to win anything, I decided to wait by the finish line and let the clock tick to 3 hrs before rolling my bike across the finish line. This is a formality seen at many endurance class mountain bike races. Sometimes, race directors don't like it, so people hide in the trees a few hundred yards from the finish line and wait for the time to tick to the race-end time. Then a deluge of racers all of a sudden break cover cross the finish together.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS
In spite of my story about the jackass mountain biker, I had a positive experience with all the racers there. It's a more laid-back group of athletes who are racing to have fun and enjoy some competition. Unlike many of the criterium road racing full of prima donna, pompous, egotistical assholes who think they are God's gift to cycling, mountain bikers are much more friendly and amicable crowd...stopping to see your condition after a crash, directing traffic in a sketchy spot, and throwing down a few cold ones after a race.

What is also interesting is that you don't need to be in tip-top physical condition to be a good mountain biker. At the starting line and through the first easy section, I noticed that due to my off-season triathlon training, I was in as good as shape as the best riders. What spreads out the field, though, is cojones, balls, guts...whatever descriptor works best. I unfortunately lacked in this department which resulted in my low placing finish. The best riders are certainly the best combination of athleticism and fearlessness. The only way I know how to train the latter is through experience.

So for anyone looking for a new sport, mountain biking is certainly a fun one to take up. I never thought I'd enjoy it, but now I'm addicted. Avoid it if you're in tough financial spots, because it will be another bike to purchase. I'm about to learn this the hard way as I scour ebay for a good rig.

Muscle Fibers

2007-03-13T21:34:00.000-07:00

This also appears in the March issue of SwimBikeRun St. Louis Magazine.

The Long and the Short of the Fast and the Slow of Muscle Fibers

If you take a high-power microscope and zoom in on any skeletal muscle in the body (the vastus lateralis of the quadriceps for example), what would you see? You would observe an array of muscle fibers (cells) with a wide assortment of properties that, when working together, perform the movement of the entire muscle. However, not all muscle fibers are the same. For simplicity’s sake I will refer to the two main classifications of muscle fibers, although you should know that subtypes exist within these categories. They are Slow-Twitch (ST) and Fast-Twitch (FT) muscle fibers. You also may see these referred to as Type I and Type II fibers, respectively. What’s the difference? I’ll explain it in two ways. Pick your poison.

Cellular Explanation of Muscle Fiber Types
ST Fibers – They generate energy primarily through aerobic pathways. They have numerous and large mitochondria (the power-plant of the cells), which make them more fatigue resistant. They contain fewer enzymes (myosin ATPase) involved in contracting the muscle, which leads to a slower and weaker contraction.

FT Fibers – They generate energy primarily through anaerobic pathways. They have fewer and smaller mitochondria, making them less fatigue resistant. They contain a large number of contractile inducing enzymes, which lead to a faster and stronger contraction.

Cycling Explanation of Muscle Fiber Types
In cycling terms think of gear shifting. I like to think of the ST fibers as the small chain ring on your bike and FT fibers as the big ring. With ST fibers, you can spin for a long time, but not get as much distance (or energy output) for each revolution. The opposite is true for the greater distance you achieve per spin with the FT fibers. However, we know that our time is limited on the big ring (FT) before fatigue sets in. On the small ring (ST), you can last a longer period of time and soon achieve a greater distance.

What is the visible manifestation of FT and ST fibers?
FT fibers generate quick, powerful actions such as that would be required for a sprinter or power athlete. ST fibers contribute longer due to their greater fatigue resistance, an endurance athlete’s advantage. 100meter sprinters are full of FT fibers, while long course triathletes are riddled with ST fibers.

What determines the proportion of FT to ST fibers?
That really depends on how you choose your parents. Although not yet discovered, it is highly speculated in the scientific community that your genes determine the relative distribution of FT vs. ST fibers. There is some truth in calling someone a natural speedster or a gifted marathoner. However, keep in mind that no physical characteristic can appear without an environment that nurtures and promotes the development of world-class cyclists (ST) or Olympic weight lifters (FT). A lack of genetic endowment is not always an excuse.

If want to be the best marathoner should I hope I have a greater percentage of ST fibers?
The answer is surprisingly, NO, but the explanation is simple. Let’s face it. To be a sub 2:20 marathoner, you need to be fast. Contrary to popular belief, speed and endurance are NOT mutually exclusive. Evidence of this claim lies in data showing that the world’s fastest marathoners have a larger proportion of FT fibers than one would expect. As expected, shorter distance races produce champions with a greater contribution of FT fibers. But what happens if these runners train to go longer and therefore bring their FT fibers to an ST dominated arena? You get former 10K runners-up who decided to increase their race distance and become some of the best marathoners in the world (Derek Clayton and Paula Radcliffe). Famous exercise scientist Timothy Noakes, MD, author of “Lore of Running,” predicts that the first sub 2-hour marathoner will be someone with close to a 50:50 distribution of FT and ST muscle fibers.

So am I stuck with my FT vs. ST distribution forever?
No. Studies reveal that the number of FT fibers in our bodies decline after we reach our “physical” peak (late 20s/early 30s for men and late 20s for women). Although evidence is not yet conclusive, it is hypothesized our FT fibers shift to become more ST fiber-like. This is evident by the fact that all world-record achieving sprinters are younger athletes in their physical peak while endurance athletes can be world-class competitors long after their physical prime (Lance Armstrong, Natasha Badmann, Peter Reid).

How can I find out my ST vs. FT distribution?
I’m going to recommend against this because the procedure is very invasive (muscle biopsies are needed) and I doubt you will find an insurance company that foots the bill. However, there are exercise physiology departments at universities conducting research studies requiring muscle biopsies of their subjects. While your local scientist will be pleased by your sacrifices for their study, knowledge of your fiber distribution will not be practically useful since little can be done to change this.

So will knowledge of muscle fiber types help me perform better in the race?
Regardless of your fiber distribution, all fibers can benefit provided you train in manners that specifically focus on them. To go fast, you must train fast. To go long, you must train long. Therefore, a well-rounded, multi-sport or intensity varying training program is essential. For example, give your FTers some attention by incorporating bursts of sprinting when hitting the road. Next, take them to the gym and stack up the weights with a more strength and power focused lifting routine. Finally, add explosive plyometric exercises of box-jumping, bounding, and clap push-ups to polish off those FTers. On other days give your STers some love by hitting the pool for that monotonous nonstop one-mile swim. Bring them for a ride by organizing a strong pace-line for a century ride. Don’t forget to give the STers their day at the gym with high repetition circuit weight-training.

Jump rope double under style like Rocky Balboa to toughen the FTers and hammer down the long, open road like Lance to strengthen your STers. Train as if you have that ideal 50:50 contribution of FT and ST fibers; the best of speed and endurance. Your PR will follow.

Walkers to Runners

2007-03-08T21:49:00.001-08:00

I've been approached by many friends in the past few months about their desire to train for races ranging from a 5K road run all the way to an Iron-distance triathlon. Interestingly, all of these individuals are newbies to endurance sports who have difficulty running just a half-hour (even the one training for the Ironman). So anyone else reading this that might be in the same boat, below is the basic workout to convert oneself from a walker to a runner. Just find the most challenging stage you can do and start there. This program has been created combining my personal experiences along with other professional sources. Any questions, please ask.

WALKERS TO RUNNERS
Each stage is 4 days unless otherwise indicated. R=run, W=walk, m=min, 5x=complete sequence 5 times

Stage -1: W 20m
Stage 0: W 30m
Stage 1: R 2m, W 4m (5x)
Stage 2: R 3m, W 3m (5x)
Stage 3: R 5m, W 2.5m (4x)
Stage 4: R 7m, W 3m (3x)
Stage 5: R 8m, W 2m (3x)
Stage 6: R 9m, W 2m (2x), R 8 min
Stage 7: R 9m, W 1m (3x)Stage 8: R 13m, W 2m (2x)
Stage 9: (8 days): R 14m, W 1m (2x)
Stage 10: (8 days): R 30m
Stage 11+ increase Run by 2 min for each run after Stage 10.

Customer Service

2007-02-27T19:15:00.000-08:00

One thing about me is that I'm a bit of a hot-head in my demand for nothing less than my total satisfaction when it comes to customer service. Why? I'm not sure. Maybe it's because I'm the son of my father (a hot-head himself), maybe it's because "you should treat others the way you would want to be treated" (so if I'm giving you money, you better be giving me something of equal value in return), or maybe it's because this is America and it's my patriotic duty to demand what I feel is right.

But so often, I get very poor service at restaurants, ignored when I ask for help searching for an item at a local retail store, or flat out embarrassed when I'm trying to enjoy a drink with my friends (I'll spare that story). I have my own black-list of places that I refuse to give my business to because of these circumstances...some of which I almost regret because I enjoyed them once before. But the all-mighty dollar speaks the loudest.

Even in my young life as an American consumer, I have noticed the decline in customer satisfaction that my parents often gripe about. What happened? Not sure. Some blame thankless corporations replacing homely "mom and pop" shops. I don't think this is always the case because some of the good examples of customer service I cite below are corporations. Others think it's a product of a fast-paced and instant gratification laden society, where little attention is given to detail and patience. Perhaps, but often instant gratification is what the consumer demands.

If I had to wager a bet, my guess would be that we are suffering from a basic psychological phenomenon that appears to be growing in our society: narcissism. Maybe it's the cynic or the old soul in me, but I feel like people are less likely to take responsibility for their actions, acknowledge mistakes, accept blame, and see a world outside themselves more often now than in the past. Coincidentally enough, I just read an article about about a study showing a growing trend of narcissism in college students.

So to end on a positive and apply this to my audience of exercisers and athletes, here are a few companies that have given me top-notch customer service and I ask all my readers to give them your business.

REI (Recreational Equipment Inc.): Last weekend, I took a vacation to visit some of my best college buddies on a ski trip in Salt Lake City, Utah. While careening down one of the mountains, I took a spill and ripped a gash in the sleeve of my favorite jacket, a REI-brand shell with all the pockets in the right places and vents positioned even better that could take water from a fire hose and leave me dry as hay. I've had it for 5 years and my poor baby (who has taken care of me during adventures in the American West, Alaska, 5 ski trips, races, and countless other excursions) passed away.

But luckily I had bought this jacket at REI. I took it in thinking I wouldn't be serviced by their return policy since I had lost my receipt, but luckily I was an REI member and they were able to look up this jacket I purchased 5 years ago. Without question, they gave me store credit in the $250 amount I paid for this jacket (yeah I splurged on that one). How about that for customer service? Sure I probably paid some kind of premium on the jacket that keeps their sales in the green, but to get a brand new product after 5 years with another...you can't beat that.

At Solitude Ski Resort in Salt Lake City, UT with my buddies. That was the last day of my favorite jacket. RIP Blue REI Shell.

Jansport: On one of my family trips out to Yellowstone National Park (1994), I bought a blue Jansport backpack. This backpack was used daily as my primary backpack during Jr. High through college and is still slung over my shoulder when I head to work. How did it last this long? Well, these packs are very durable to begin with, but three times during the lifetime of this pack, the zippers became unzippable. Jansport packs comes with a lifetime warranty and so I sent it in to get fixed and a couple weeks later, it came back as good as new. To put icing on the cake, while the pack was gone, I received a postcard written by my backpack. It said "Dear George, I'm having a great time at backpack camp. We are playing all kinds of games like book carrying, tug-o-bag, and my favorite, zipper races. I miss you and will see you soon. Love, your Backpack." How cute is that?

Big Shark Bicycle Company: I'll plug a local St. Louis shop. I have bought all my bikes and associated equipment here for one reason alone. They treat me well, show me courtesy and respect every time I enter, and give me deals on products because they know I'll keep. One example is about a new road bike I purchased last summer that was damaged due to an improperly installed chainlink. During a long ride the chainlink got bent and stuck in the rear derailer and during a pedal stroke, the derailer was ripped in half and a whiplash effect from the chain damaged the frame. I took this month old bike back to the shop and upon examining the bike, they realized the error that was made and replaced my $1600 bike free of charge. That is textbook responsibility taking and standing by your product.

So in the spirit of supporting good customer service, please post your good businesses and I'll be sure to give them mine.

Dietary Supplementation - Be A Smart Consumer

2007-02-10T09:56:00.000-08:00

A previous posting made a statement that intended to dispel the myth that most dietary supplementation will help you make gains in your performance. A comment by "Crash" inquired if i were looking at this from a performance or health perspective. The answer in short is a performance perspective. Only 3 nutritional supplements (Caffeine, Creatine, and Bicarbonate) have clear scientific support on improving physical performance. However, they are not all-encompassing and only show ergogenic qualities in specific sport situations.

-Caffeine (endurance based activity and some evidence of boosting sprint capacity)
-Creatine (only for sprinting and 1-RM lifts)
-Bicarbonate (helps for performance in high-intensity situations of 20-30 sec)

The health consequences of prolonged use of these or any other supplementation are in constant investigation. How many times have we heard that "caffeine is good" and the next day we hear "it's bad." This is the same story for anything we decide to put in the bodies (supplementation, food, drink, etc.). So what should one do...practice moderation. Hell, everyone knows oranges are healthy, but this doesn't mean you should eat 50 oranges/day.

But what about performance-boosting? There are no magic pills in the world. Not a week goes by where I am not asked by a client or student about some new kind of pill that "boosts energy, dissolves fat, builds muscle" (Hoodia pills are the newest craze). I don't mean to bash the sports supplement industry, but little of what they produce does what they are intended to do as shown by science. They are not under any federal regulation to back-up any of their claims or research the efficacy of their product unlike the rest of food industry. Because of this, the supplementation market is a multi-billion dollar industry.

However, there are times when you may come across products that have "scientific evidence" backing their claims. May it be known that this is NOT a get out of jail free card for the supplement. Here's a story to explain why.

I was researching a supplement, HMB (hydroxy-methyl butyrate), that had a good deal of scientific publications supporting its claims of increasing strength by reducing muscle damage from weight training as well as increasing muscle repair, improving VO2 max, and increasing lactate threshold for endurance athletes.

On the surface the scientific publications appeared legit, but upon close analysis a few points became clear.
1. Nearly all research supporting this product were conducted by a scientist named Nissen.
2. Nissen is a part-owner of a company, Metabolic Technologies, that produces HMB.

So here we have a scientist testing a product which he is making a financial profit on. Now, I'm not going to bash this guy, because maybe he's good at heart and maybe he really did find something big here. He's just enjoying the spoils of his hard work.

However, there is one other litmus test that good scientific evidence must pass: a review process. Any good scientific article must be "peer-reviewed" by other experts in the field as a way to validate the quality of their work. Many HMB articles were peer-reviewed. So all is well right? Not until I discovered who was doing most of the reviews...a doctor named Abumrad. Who's he? He's the other owner of the HMB-producing company, Metabolic Technologies

So here we have two gentleman, one researching and another validating their own company's product of which they stand to gain financially. Conflict of interest? It's hard to not consider the possibility.

Fortunately other scientists decided to research the product and the majority have NOT produced evidence that HMB has ergogenic benefits. But Nissen and Abumrad never seem to bring up their work when giving their customer's evidence of their product.

This story is very similar for other products out there and exercise physiologists/scientists are spending a good deal of time examining these products. However, supplement companies can put out products faster than scientists can research them, so new products will continually enter the marketplace and many people looking for instant gratification will continue to buy them.

I don't mean to sound preachy, but just know that I think instead of shelling out much of your hard-earned dollars on these often-expensive supplementation products, your money would be better spent on the best supplementation of all: a well-balanced diet of fruits, vegetables, whole-grains, low-fat dairy, lean meats, etc.

Female Athlete Body Compositions

2007-02-09T11:25:00.001-08:00

At my place of education and employment, the coaches of various female athletic teams charged me with the task of obtaining the body compositions (weight, body fat-mass vs. lean muscle mass) of the women on their team. I felt this was an odd request because body compositions are usually done at a patient's or physician's request in order to gather information for weight-related health problems.

I wondered what a coach would do with these numbers and based on the preponderance of eating disorders and body image dissatisfaction among women, I felt a bit uncomfortable with what I was doing. This was reaffirmed by observing the reactions and conversations of these female athletes all becoming upset by their results even when all of their numbers showed body-fat percentages in a strong and healthy range. It is my opinion that coaches need to forget this kind of information and instead focus on sport-technique development or improving athletic measures (endurance, speed, jumping, agility, etc.). That will make the better athlete.

What is probably the most interesting point is that no male sports team requested me to obtain body comps from their male athletes.

So it was nice to see a NY Times article bringing this issue to the mainstream.

Health and Fitness Myths

2007-02-08T23:05:00.000-08:00

To all my non-athlete readers (athletes should listen too), below is a list of common myths associated with health and fitness that many people have asked about from classes I teach, clients I've helped, and even athletes I train with. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch also ran an article recently that backs up what i said. I published mine in a school newsletter awhile back, so I came out with mine first...I think I got snubbed! That's ok, so long as the message gets out.

MYTHS BROKEN DOWN

Women: You will not gain too much muscle mass engaging in a weight-lifting program. One of the hormones that helps muscle cell growth is testosterone, a molecule at very low levels in women. Do not use this as an excuse to go light on the weights or avoid a regular strength-training routine all-together.

Men: You CAN become flexible and it will NOT weaken your strength. In fact, it WILL increase your strength by making your muscles more elastic. Yoga and pilates are NOT just for women.

Runners: Lifting weights will not slow you down. It will help protect your joints and increase your speed capacity. Putting on a good deal of muscle mass might, but only the elite runners need to worry about this.

Science has not shown ergogenic (helpful) effects of most of the supplementation out there. There are only 3 supplements that have been proven to work
-Caffeine (almost all activities)
-Creatine (only for sprinting and 1-RM lifts)
-Bicarbonate (helps for performance in high-intensity situations of 20-30 sec)
Anything else you find at GNC would be better spent donating to a local charity.

Protein shakes are NOT necessary to gain muscle mass. Unless you’re a vegetarian, you are most likely getting adequate protein intake in your diet. The body can only process so much protein. Taking excessive protein supplementation will stress your kidneys since they will have to work overtime to remove the extra protein via urination.

Good overall fitness requires strong measures in all categories: muscular strength, muscular endurance, cardiorespiratory fitness, and flexibility. Lacking one of these could lead to health problems in the future. Tend to them all.

Don’t listen to anything in a magazine or video that says 8-minutes/day leads to (insert desirable body part here). Throw it away immediately and yell at anyone who tries to tell you about a similar program. Only exercising a couple days a week will rarely help you reach your goals. You need at least 3 days (30min/day) minimum each week to see results of a program. More likely you will need 4-5 days.

If weight loss is a goal...you need to work hard! Cardio recommendations by ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine) are 45-60min/day, 5-6 days/week, of low-moderate intensity exercise. It is also recommended to combine this with a 3x/week muscular endurance based strength training program (high repetitions).

Be skeptical about all nutrition and exercise advice you read about in magazines, newspapers, etc. Consult the source. Are they reputable? Do they have a strong background in the science of their claims? Are they trying to sell something? This is not to say to be fearful and alarmist, but be an informed consumer. Your body is too important to not be.

Training Conversation Etiquette

2007-01-27T15:45:00.000-08:00

I used to train alone during the beginning of my young triathlon career and now I've found some good friends to join me during the long runs, bike rides, and swims with and it has become much more enjoyable. Plus it's a great way to keep yourself focused on waking up early for workouts or getting that evening training session in when you really want to sit down with a bag of chips in one hand and a remote in the other.

Races or organized group bike rides/runs are a great place to meet new people with similar interests and some will likely become regular training partners and friends. For me, someone becomes a training partner not because of their skill or ability, but it's their ability to hold a conversation.

I realize I risk sounding elitist in a post of this nature, but after a talk with a training buddy, I'm not alone. There are many endurance athletes out there who are very awkward to talk with. So during a run, we discussed "Training Conversation Etiquette." In this hypoxic meeting of the minds, we came up with the following guidelines based on our experiences with poor conversationalists while training. Feel free to contribute your own or challenge what is listed below.

Training Conversation Etiquette 101

1. Just because you're with a fellow athlete, this is not an invitation to brag about your racing career. It's okay to speak of your best marathon or sprint triathlon if you're asked about it, but do not volunteer this info.

2. When you are asked about a race...tell the story like an ESPN highlight reel. Avoid speaking ad nauseam about details and get to the good stuff. The story should not last as long as the actual race. The play-by-play should only be offered if there is a direct request for it. Save the details for a web log posting. This gives your audience the choice of whether to listen.

3. When asked about your race performance, don't brag about how great you did. Instead, be quick and humble when sharing your glory with comments like, "I did well." "It was a good race." "I got a PR." Others will ask if they want to hear details.

4. If the race performance wasn't your best, do not be completely self-depreciating. It's okay to be honest, but c'mon...it's just a race. No one killed your dog and you're doing better than 99% of the world out there. Don't force your training partner into the role of a psychologist. Instead, be quick about the explanation, offer what you learned from the experience, and ask for some advice if you think they can help. Ultimately it's up to you to make yourself feel better after a bad race.

5. If you notice the person you're training with is saying "Yeah," "uh-huh," "ok," and they are NOT huffing and puffing...this is probably an indication that you are talking way too much! So try asking a question and don't hog the air.

6. This following is a rule violation that often happens while swimming laps at the pool...but this happened to me while cycling. I was in the recovery portion of a workout getting ready to turn up the tempo. Before I was to begin, I passed another cyclist, who quickly caught me and started a conversation where he immediately began violating Rules #1 and #5. He left me with no opportunity to say I was in the middle of a workout and would be happy to talk after it was done. So my workout was soon ruined after twenty minutes of listening to this guy. But I will give him credit, it takes some guts to try to start a conversation with a stranger...but if you ever feel the need to do it, open with..."Want some company?" or "You got a break now?" or "Am I interrupting your workout?"

7. If you know of a person's race result only one of three things should be said. The first is "Good job" or some variation of that. Second is "How did you do?" The last is "How did you feel about your race?" Only friends or long-term training partners should receive negatively toned statements of "What happened?" or "Not your best day."...but even that is a bit rude.

8. The planned workout takes precedence over the conversation. If you agree to a hard-tempo run before hand, then don't start telling a story about the person you're dating or that funny thing that happened the other night. Save it for a planned easy pace run or wait until after the workout to share.

9. Saliva production is common when talking and exercising and the need to spit often occurs. When this does, spit away and to the side...not straight ahead.

10. If running in a group of more than 2, everyone is part of the conversation...adapt previously mentioned rules to this. At the same time, don't hog the spotlight...unless it's your birthday.

Have I forgotten any? Please contribute.

Ultra-Swimming in the Amazon

2007-01-20T10:45:00.000-08:00

Check out the website of a man attempting to set the world record for longest swim...down the 3,375 mile (5,430 km) in 70 days. Oddly, his support crew will be following on a boat outfitted with buckets of blood to distract the many hungry fish in the water: piranhas , bull-sharks, stingrays, etc. Another predator in the Amazon awaits as well...

"Strel will keep the surrounding water as clean as possible during his journey. Urinating in the water can attract the feared candiru, or toothpick fish, that likes to swim into body orifices, erect a spine and start feeding on blood and tissue."

Read the news story here.

Check out his website: www.amazonswim.com.

Lesson #416 of an Athletic Pet Owner

2007-01-18T19:11:00.000-08:00

I love animals. Although I'm more of a dog guy, I was excited when my roommate Laurie decided to bring a kitten, Mona, into the apartment a year and a half ago. So just as an athletic uncle of a cat should be, I encourage healthy living for her. This is why I spend restless hours chasing it around the apartment, teasing her with an uncatchable laser pointer dot, and playing fetch with her toy mice (as shown below).

A few days ago, I got a gift from mom, a 75cm inflatable fitness ball. I was pretty excited to add some variety to my ab workouts. However, no more than a half-hour after I inflated it, Mona must have decided that she needed to work her core. In the process of finding her center she dug her nails into the taut material and punctured the brand new ball. I tried tape over the hole, but it did not work as I awoke to a deflated, pathetic little pile of rubber the next morning.

May this be a warning to all you athletic feline owners!

South Park - Rocky/Karate Kid

2007-01-13T12:27:00.001-08:00

So it's no secret I have a crazy obsession with the Rocky movies. This extends to South Park as well. And if you haven't seen it...here is the greatest Rocky parody (with a little bit of the karate Kid sprinkled in). So get on your treadmill, bike trainer, or bust out the weights and prepared to be lifted by the training montages in this 22-min episode. You won't regret it.

Race Report: Castlewood 8-Hour Adventure Race

2007-01-09T17:00:00.000-08:00

My buddy Sam and I decided on a random weekday while emailing from our respective offices to enter into a local adventure race, the Bonk Hard Castlewood 8-Hour "just to try it out." We formed the great alliance of team, "Two Wild and Crazy Guys"...its a Steve Martin/Dan Aykroyd SNL reference. Didn't seem like anything too different than a triathlon...just substituting swimming for paddling in a canoe and a map & compass for race volunteers directing you. That and you had to carry a bunch of "in case shit happens" stuff: rain gear, first aid kits, and emergency blankets.

Pre-Race: The race went down this past Saturday, Jan. 6 in Castlewood State Park in West St. Louis County in the Ozark hills of Missouri. The night before, Sam and I had to get out gear checked, sign death waivers, and pick up our map and UTM coordinates. The way this particular adventure race works we is use the maps and UTM coordinates and plot the points on our multiple maps. We then determine the best routes to take and our plan of attack. On race day, we have to find these checkpoints using the mode of transportation indicated (paddling, mountain biking, or trekking [on foot]) and get our "passports" stamped to prove our arrival.

Indulging in my weird obsession with topographic maps and likely past life as a pioneer explorer, I meticulously plotted the points and our route while Sam took care of getting us hooked up with food and booze at Sidney Street Cafe...we're a good team!

Race Morning: The weather was perfect and the ground was a little on the soft/wet side due to rain earlier in the week. Sam and I were competing in the 2-person division with no intentions of winning, but to have fun (and maybe sneaking a beer down during the race). However, our competitive nature got the best of us and when the horn sounded at 7am. We took the lead right from the start ahead of the 54 opposing teams running towards our first of 27 checkpoints: the beach where we would pick up our canoes. This would be the only time we would lead the race as the paddling experts quickly hopped on their canoes and pushed away with their double sided carbon fiber paddles. We grabbed our single-sided heavy-ass plastic paddles and pushed off...this is where our "fun" began.

Paddling Woes: To put it simply, we sucked at paddling. Sam was in the back (the alleged navigator) and I was in the front (the sputtering motor). To our credit, this first stage required a 3.5 mile paddle upstream on the Meremac River...a not so easy first jaunt into paddling. The only canoeing I had done prior was floating lazily down river with a 6-pack of crappy beer and a lot of sunscreen. We paddled like I swim open-water in Ironman races: moving side-to-side instead of a straight line, banging into other racers, and praying that I was almost done. Sam gave me instructions from his navigating perch at the back of the canoe, but in the end, there was little that could be done to improve our stroke. It was still pretty fun. We finished this leg in about 82 minutes (22nd out of 55 teams) on the banks of West Tyson Park, home of the Chubb Trail.

Trekking: It was time to make up ground and using the map/compass we quickly trekked to our next two checkpoints located off-trail on the bases of steep cliffs and hillsides. There was still some congestion with other teams being nearby and we quickly discovered the perils of following another team: they don't necessarily know where they are going. It's best to just listen to yourself.

On the way to the fifth checkpoint, I made our only navigating mistake of the day by turning the wrong way on a trail. This ended up being a 1-1.5 mile mistake and cost us 6 places, but we prided ourselves that we brought a few other Lemmings with us. Because Sam and I were strong runners, this didn't hurt our place standing too badly. We finished hitting the rest of the checkpoints (complete with climbing steep hills, trying not to fall back down them, running in a dried creek bed, and ducking through a railroad tunnel) before getting back into our canoes to head downstream to the next beach landing site. A volunteer there informed us we were in 23rd place.

Paddling downstream is a bagillion times easier than upstream. We were even able to put down some powerbars and gels and maintain our speed. We reached the next landing and by this point the field had spread out. But Sam and I were determined to pick some teams off in this next leg: pancake-flat open-field running with easy to find checkpoints. And we did by running past 7 teams before hopping back in the canoe for the starting line where our mountain bikes awaited us.

Mountain Biking: To preface this, I only started mountain biking a month ago. Sam let me borrow one of his bikes to train and it wasn't pretty. But the learning curve is steep and adding clipless pedals did wonders, so I was an average rider by race day. Sam, however, is a mountain biking machine. He would have done a lot better with another teammate as he cruised up the steep hills of Castlewood rarely having to clip out. He didn't fall once, unlike his teammate's half-dozen brushes with the ground.

Because all the checkpoints in the mountain bike leg were on the trails, they were easy to find since I've frequented this park many times. After the trail riding, we got out on the roads where we discovered that we were amongst a pack of 4 other teams. So we put the hammer down and began picking them off. However, our progress was interrupted by a "mystery event."

Mystery Event: This event required Sam to bike blindfolded slalom style around 7 cones and turn around doing the course again. He was not allowed to touch the ground with his feet. My job was to provide the verbal instructions of "Left! Right! Straight!" Sam kicked ass completing it on his first try.

Finish: The pack was still close, but we finally made our last pass on one of the trails at Castlewood, known as "Cardiac Hill." I was anaerobic the whole way before falling halfway up the hill, but Sam did it all with little apparent effort. We found our last checkpoint, headed to the finish, and crossed the line in 5 hours and 53 minutes (12th place overall, 7th in our 2-person/male category). The winners finished about 90-minutes earlier. Damn!

Recap and Lessons Learned: So in all, the day was fun. A low-intensity, long-duration workout with occasional bursts. I highly recommend this activity to any athlete in their off-season looking for something different and a new way to spend time with the training buddies. It combines the fun of orienteering, but leaves out the sleepless nights and price tag that accompanies the multiple day version of the adventure race. Finally, if you are going to do this...practice paddling before hand. Not only will it help with figuring out technique, but you may not have as sore of a back the next day like Sam and I suffered. It hurt!

Rocky Balboa

2006-12-19T00:10:00.001-08:00

When writing a list of the most inspiring movies, you should be hung if Rocky is not in your top 3. This story of a mid-30s, Italian nobody from Philadelphia getting a shot at the World Heavyweight Boxing championship is the classic underdog tale. 4 sequels followed, each becoming critically worse, but still became a mainstay in American cinema.

The interesting note is how the Rocky story paralleled Sylvester Stallone's own life. He was a small-time actor who had penned the Rocky script in his spare time. He went from studio to studio to find a company to buy the script on the condition that he'd play the lead role. Many producers refused until finally one agreed, and the rest is history. This week, 30 years after Rocky, Stallone releases the final installment to the Rocky saga, Rocky Balboa, in much the same manner. Except this time Stallone is a 60-year-old trying to pass the audience of 2006 his "same-old script," much like his character Rocky is trying to get back in the ring years after being put to pasture. Will it be successful? Preliminary reviews are surprisingly upbeat, but we'll see what happens.

Regardless, I challenge anyone to not get fired up when hearing the Rocky theme "Gonna Fly Now." I challenge you to go to any sporting event and not hear "Eye of the Tiger." Finally, I challenge walk past a long series of steps and not run to the top with your fists pumping towards the sky. You got all this from the Italian Stallion. Here's a preview to get you ready for the final chapter.

When to Drink Sports Drink part 3

2006-12-18T21:17:00.001-08:00

Tri-blogger CT, asked a question: "Is it important to keep the brain 'fed' with glycogen at all times. If the brain senses that there is a lack of glycogen, will it send signals to force us to slow down from any aerobic activity we are in? Basically what we call bonking or hitting the wall."

Just to nitpick, before I answer. You feed the brain with glucose or sugar...not glycogen. Glycogen is the stored form of glucose in the liver and muscles that is converted into glucose when needed.

To address your question quickly...the answer is unknown. There is no doubt that the brain needs glucose to survive and perform its functions and therefore decreasing the amount of glucose available to the brain would cause a systematic shut-down or "bonking" of the body during periods of prolonged or intense exercise. How this happens is still up in the air. Your suggestion of the brain "sensing" a lack of glucose or muscle glycogen in the system leading to a "wall-hit" is a hypothesis put on by the famous exercise scientist, Timothy Noakes, M.D.

He places this hypothesis in his overall theory on exercise performance called the Central Governor Model in which the brain dictates the extent at which we can perform physically as opposed to what many others in the field believe: our body (glycogen content, glucose availability, biochemical efficiencies) is the limiting factor. He makes his case in his famous book, Lore of Running, which is a must read for anyone interested in exercise science AND running. Some of his theories and hypotheses are not supported by many other big leaguers in the field, but there is no doubt he is playing a monumental role in advancing the topic so that all of us can sit here and discuss...much of the reason I'm pursuing a career in it myself.

So sorry I can't give you an answer now, but the truth may not come in the forseeable future with the difficulty of answering such a complex question. Regardless, the point remains that sports drink is certainly a helpful substance to keep glucose steady during exercise and to recover by replacing spent muscle glycogen, but overkilling it is certainly a recipe for conditions the same as if you threw down soda, pop, coke, or whatever you choose to call soft drinks!

See my 2 previous posts related to this topic: Part 1, Part 2.

When to Drink Sports Drink part 2

2006-12-10T10:43:00.000-08:00

Tri-blogger Cliff, made the following comment to my last post: "Interesting note. I heard that some IM do drink gatorade even for short sessions of training just to train their body to utilize the sugar from the sport drink before using the body 's glycogen for energy.What's your thought on that?"

So the last post was the most unscientific, simplified version of the "carbohydrate metabolism during exercise" story. The truth of the matter is that this is an ongoing, hot-bed area of research, where ideas are in constant debate. So keeping this from being grossly scientific, I'll refer those who need science, to a scientific review article by a world leader in carbohydrate metabolism during exercise, Asker Jeukendrup. Go to a university library to access the full-text if you can't get it.

Sports Drink Supplementation During Short Bouts of Exercise: The limited research shows that there IS a performance benefit (small, but sure). The point of my previous post was to highlight some of the exercisers I see that are taking down liters of gatorade while they meander slowly during their workout. The multiple daily-session athlete training at higher intensities is likely to garner the effects of this beverage. On the otherhand, I am currently unaware of research that supports "training the body to handle the sugars" by frequently drinking sports drink during all periods of exercise as Cliff asked. But the sparing effect he asks about is well studied...

Does Sports Drink cause a glycogen sparing effect? Depends what organ you are talking about. Glycogen comes from two places in your body: muscle and liver.

Muscle Glycogen: During exercise muscle glycogen is not completely spared even in the presence of carbohydrate from your Gatorade. It's rate of utilization is slowed. It is suggested that this extra glucose in the system becomes food for the brain and the central nervous system to maintain mental functioning. As time goes on, exogenous (outside) carbohydrate becomes increasingly more important to fueling your working muscles because of the decreasing muscle glycogen. Although there is individual variability, muscle glycogen depletion (in areas of muscle use...legs of runners & cyclists, arms of swimmers) occurs 3-4 hours until total depletion when exercising at 70% of your VO2 max. See Picture Below to show where energy is coming from in the working muscle. This time can be extended if you take in sports drink or other supplementation. So you can't spare muscle glycogen, you can supplement it with more and more glucose from sports drink, but depletion is inevitable. Now this is not to say that eating carbohydrate does nothing. It merely attenuates the glycogen depletion, but does not completely spare it as the definition of sparing suggests.

Liver Glycogen: Unlike muscle, glycogen sparing in the truest definition of sparing is ever present in the liver. If you consume carbohydrate from a sports drink or other source, you will keep the liver from pumping out glucose into the system. This is important for helping your body to maintain euglycemia (normal levels of blood glucose). Advantages of this to the athlete are a maintenance of mental functioning (gotta have a working brain) or a safety net should you suddenly lose all your Gatorade when you hit a bump and drop your bike bottles.

For the Athlete: Sports drink will not totally prevent you from getting tired as we all have discovered. If athletes are using sports drink to train their body to handle the sugar and delay glycogen use, they should know that this glycogen sparing is merely attenuated and may actually serve the mental side of the workout (keeping your brain fed), rather than keeping your muscles "glycogenated." Need proof of this...go and run a marathon and I guarantee you that even if you eat GUs throughout the race, you will still feel those heavy legs (a manifestation of glycogen depletion). Again, there is no research that looks at long-term training effects of continual loading of carbohydrate on, so everything heard is anecdotal...this doesn't mean its not a real phenomenon. There is a slight performance effect for those going the short distance, but I doubt this is a result of sugar utilization training effect of the body, you can only gain so much energy from carbohydrates 4 cal per gram. In fact, many would argue a greater rate of oxidation from a depleted condition, not well-fed...this is a good segue to the next topic.

More on Art: My previous post, although I was not clear in my post, merely highlighted a different opinion on the sports drink debate, one of an economist turned scientist, Arthur DeVany. My problem with this guy is that he is not a physiologist by trade and most of his work are opinion that he supports by finding news reports of health problems from athletes and finding isolated research studies in line with his views. All his work is allegedly going to culminate into a book about Evolutionary Fitness in which he suggests that endurance focused athletics (marathons, triathlons) are risky ventures and that a more strength and power focused routine would serve to prolong health. Furthermore he suggest we should treat diet and health like our caveman ancestors did...only eating natural foods (therefore no Gatorade) and even engaging in periods of fasting so to keep our body bouncing back and forth between a catabolic (breakdown) and anabolic (build-up) state.

While many of Art's points are ideas that are difficult for me to swallow, a scientist must consider all sides of an issue, do the necessary research (whether in the lab or the library), and draw new conclusions before dismissing contrary opinion...this is what sustains science...and gives me a job.

On a personal note: I am currently conducting a study that will hopefully provide additional information to this sports drink and exercise performance question. I'm still recuriting volunteers, so if you're a cyclist and you are from the St. Louis area, drop me a line at georgegschweitzer@yahoo.com. I will keep you apprised on the research as it becomes available.

When to Drink Sports Drink

2006-12-09T12:43:00.000-08:00

Statement: If you're going for a workout of 90min or less, then lay off the Sports Drink (Gatorade, Powerade, etc) and stick with water. Why? Your body is fully loaded with stored glucose in the form of blood sugar and muscle/liver glycogen to provide you with the energy for exercise of this duration...even at high intensity.

The debate is if drinking sports drink during short exercise sessions is necessarily bad for you. If you seek the advice of an academic economist turned physiologist, Art DeVany who is writing a book on evolutionary fitness, he will say that you are not allowing your body to use its own energy systems to replace spent carbohydrate, and therefore not allowing your fat stores to replace your lost glucose. This supplementation may create an insulin insensitive system (metabolic syndrome, Type II Diabetes, etc). Some evidence in science suggests this to be true, but more work remains to be done to say definitively.

Amendment to above statement: If you are doing another workout session within 24 hours, then go ahead and bring the sports drink along...you will need to replace spent blood glucose and muscle glycogen (glucose storage) in order to power you through your next training session. The time it takes for your body to replace lost carbohydrate on its own is ~24-30 hours, so you need to help it out. Not doing so will leave you training on an empty flu tank leading to overtraining conditions and a weakened immune system.

Iron War - The Greatest Ironman Race of All

2006-12-05T21:56:00.001-08:00

A bit of a history lesson for you triathlon newbies. In the men's department for Ironman, there are two names you should be familiar with: Dave Scott and Mark Allen. These two men have each won the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii 6 times, twice the amount of victories as the next closest victor.

In 1989, at Kona, Hawaii for the IM World Championships these two machines challenged each other in the the greatest man-to-man battle in all ultra-endurance sports . For over 8 hours, these two men were never more than 5 feet away from each other. All through the 2.4-mile swim in the open ocean and hammering the pedals on the lava fields for all 112 miles of the bike ride. They entered the 26.2-mile run side-by-side and stayed that way until mile 24. I'll stop the story there and finish by saying that in this race, these two men finished with the two fastest Ironman Marathon times ever in the sport (2:40 and 2:41), a marathon time miraculous if you ran it by itself. To keep from spoiling the ending, I'll now defer you to YouTube for the videos detailing the race (It's in 6 parts). This series of videos also feature 8-time woman IM Champion Paula Newby-Fraser and Team Hoyt, the man racing with his son suffering from cerebral palsy.

Note: I only posted part 1 to save bandwidth. Go to the following links to view parts 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

How To Motivate Yourself (part 10): Be Humiliated or Be Humbled

2006-12-04T17:49:00.000-08:00

One of best parts of racing in a medium sized city like St. Louis is the running scene is large enough for variety, yet small enough where everyone sort of knows everyone else. This past weekend, I had the pleasure of participating in the St. Louis Track Club Marathon Relay. This event had relay teams of 4 each complete two legs of a 3.25 mile course on the roads in Forest Park. Our team was a mixed-gender team comprised of two of my goofy buddies, Sam and Peter, and local women's running standout, Katie. Our competition was a team composed of three friendly, familiar running training buddies: Andy, Mike, and Serena. Last March, Andy, Mike and I won a long-distance relay race, now we were pitted against each other. The last back-story is that Serena got 6th place in the Division I NCAA 10K championships last year with a sub 34-min finish.

Guess who I had to run head-to-head against? Andy and Sam raced each other in the first leg, with Sam edging him out by about 10-15 seconds. I was tagged in and bolted down the road. I peaked over my shoulder and saw Serena get tagged in and she began her chase. Long story short, I maintained my lead on her until 2.5 miles when she reached me, passed me, I held on, but then got dropped as she put a 10-second lead on me to the finish. I don't consider myself chauvinistic, but getting beat by a woman hurt the ego a bit. I take pride in being a fast enough guy to beat all non-professional women in running races. To add insult to injury, Sam, Peter, and Andy wouldn't let me live it down...neither did Serena. I think all those guys were secretly relieved they didn't have to race her.

On my second leg, our team had eventually built up a sizeable lead thanks to Peter and Katie's good runs and I was far enough ahead that no one could tell who won George vs. Serena part 2. Needless to say, all was for naught as our team was DQed for having an imbalanced mixed team of 3 men and a woman. Oh well!

In summary, I never enjoyed losing a one-on-one match so much. It's given me a new sense of purpose and motivation in my continued training. A lesson in humiliation is always a humbling experience. Thanks Serena!

Me, Katie, Peter, and Sam - The DQ'd mixed relay team!

Serena, Mike, Andy, and Hilary (this year's Missouri Girls High School Champ) - The Mixed Division Winners

How to Motivate Yourself Series: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.)

How to Motivate Yourself (part 9): Becoming Dead Sexy

2006-12-03T21:57:00.000-08:00

While I firmly believe that working out purely for aesthetic reasons (i.e. trying to create a smoking hot body) is a recipe for disappointment and certainly a host of disorders for those extremely obsessed, there is no denying that its fun to check yourself out in the mirror following a year of training and being pleased with what you see.

Interestingly, I believe the only time you truly appreciate this change in appearance is at a time you have stopped looking for it and switched your focus to your training. Crazy how the mind works!

How to Motivate Yourself Series: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.)

The Sky is Falling!

2006-12-02T10:43:00.000-08:00

Have you ever ran outside on a clear day and got rained on? Have you ever made it your mission to avoid running under trees? Have you ever finished a run being thankful you came out with only a few scratches and cuts from falling objects? This was every Midwesterner's run this morning.

A few days ago we got hit by a pretty nasty ice storm. This ice coated every tree branch and power line and often times, brought them down. As I watched a movie with my roommate Friday night, we both were startled by a bright and booming explosion from the power lines at the apartment across the street. Checking out the scene after the police had arrived revealed and downed power line and exploded transformer. On this same night, a large tree limb had fallen within a few feet of impaling my car.

This morning I was eager to get a run since it was clear and bright outside. I should have brought some sunglasses because the sun bouncing off the ice on the trees made it hard to see. This wasn't the biggest obstacle as I noticed hard drops hitting me on my back and head. Looking up I saw the ice was melting off the trees and falling in chunks. One particular sharp, baseball-sized chunck clocked me on the top of my shoulder and that's when I decided it was too dangerous to be running outside during this aerial assault.

Gotta love the Midwest winters!

Reasons to be Athletic & How to Motivate Yourself - Number 8: "Ask What You Can Do For Your Country"

2006-12-02T09:04:00.000-08:00

The newest installment to my two series ("Reasons to Be Athletic:" 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and "How to Motivate Yourself:" 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7), fits the qualification for both of these titles. And how convenient that they both happen to make up the 8th edition.

I'm not the best triathlete. At most, I'm average. And there are more of us in this category than there are elite. But one cannot dismiss the middle of the packers (or the back of the pack for that matter). Why? Because we are all contributing to improving the best in the world!

But how the hell can an average runner help out the best of the best? Certainly not directly, but ripple effects going from athlete to athlete push the elite or America's best. How? When you train hard for a race and go out there and try to set a new PR, you are inevitably pushing a rival competitor to a new peak. This competitor is also pushing his next fastest rival. And so on down the line. While you may feel you are a small part of the chain, I think it's realistic to say that an average American runner is a force that eventually produces the U.S. Olympic representation. Don't believe me?

In the past five years, the United States has seen a resurgence in endurance sports with the popularity of cycling, triathlons, and marathons skyrocketing to unprecedented levels of participation. Here are some numbers to help illustrate. In the United States in 2006, over 435,000 people completed an official marathon...a 32% gain from 299,000 finishers in 2000 (Web Marketing Associates, 2006). In addition, United States triathlons (from sprint distance to the iron-distance) represent the fastest growing endurance sport with an estimated 230,000 finishers in 2004 based on race-day insurance licensing and annual membership in USA Triathlon...a 48% gain from 121,000 finishers in 2000 (USA Triathlon, 2006). Keep in mind, the number of finishers represents only a portion of all triathlons in the United States and valid statistics are not kept on these additional races.

Along with this modern boom, the United States, who during the late 80s and 90s have been almost completely absent from placing among the world's best, now have many top finishers in these sports' premier events: Deena Kastor, Meb Keflezighi (Marathoners), Andy Potts (Triathlete), Michael Phelps (swimmer), and Lance Armstrong (do I need to say who this is?). Maybe I can add Floyd Landis to this list soon, as well.

Has this happened before? Certainly. The "Running Boom" in the 70s occurred at the same time as Steve Prefontaine and Frank Shorter lit up the running stage with their Olympic and World Championship accolades. Mark Spitz, 7x Gold Medalist in the 1972 Summer Games did the same for swimming during this decade.

Of course some may argue that the athletes inspired the booms of the sports today and in the 70s. There is no doubt that a correlation exists. But as with most correlations, cause and effect can occur in both directions. To me, pushing myself to beat the next guy in front of me is enough of a reason to be athletic and all the motivation I need to do my part in helping my country become the best in the world.

Carb Burning vs. Fat Burning: Misleading Labels on Treadmills, Ellipticals, Stationary Bikes, and Stair Steppers

2006-11-30T22:09:00.000-08:00

Have you been to the gym during these cold, winter months and hopped onto a treadmill, spun on a bike, work the body on the elliptical, and avoid boredom on the stair-stepper? Have you noticed on some models that there is an intensity gauge with words "Fat Buring" on the lower intensity side and "Carb Burning" on the higher intensity side.

I never paid much attention to this until a friend informed me after 6 months of spending an hour on the elliptical 3x/week, that she has hardly lost any weight. I asked what her intensity was and she said that she had worked entirely in the "Fat Burning" zone and not any higher. She's right, she'll have difficulty losing weight if she only stays in that zone. The source of confusion lies in direct versus indirect metabolism of fat.

The graphic on the machines are correct: at lower intensity exercise the body directly relies on fat metabolism in order to sustain exercise. At this state, our body does not require very quick access to energy and the slower, "fat burning" biochemical pathway is preferred.

As exercise intensity increases to high levels, the body relies primarily on carbohydrate/glucose metabolism to sustain exercise. At this state, our body needs energy fast and efficiently and the "glucose burning" pathways meet this requirement.

The graph below illustrates fat and carbohydrate metabolism at varying intensity levels. Note: FFA & Tryglycerides = Fat, Glucose & Glycogen = Carbohydrate.

Courtesy of McArdle, Katch, & Katch, 2001

This graph illustrates that "Fat Burning" is still occurring to nearly the same degree at high-intensity exercise as low-intensity exercise. It's just that carbohydrate is being utilized in addition and at greater levels.

Another point, you will "burn" more fat if you train at high intensities by indirect means. When you train at high intensities, your body becomes depleted of carbohydrate and needs to be replaced. Where do we get this from? 2 primary locations: the food we eat and our fat stores. This fat to carbohydrate pathway remains active following exercise and becomes longer-lasting and more efficient the more high-intensity exercise you incorporate into your exercise routine.

Have you ever seen a fat endurance athlete? Very rarely I'm sure. That's because these individuals burn fat more throughout the day due to their high-intensity training forcing a steady replenishment of carbohydrate from their fat.

So don't be mislead by the machines at the gym. If weight loss is the goal, go to that "Carb Burning" zone!

Reasons to be Athletic # 7: Create Your Own Hulkamania!

2006-11-29T11:35:00.000-08:00

My first-ever athletic role model (and I know I'm not alone), Hulk Hogan!

Ever since he pronounced his famous "Demandments," I was sold on a healthy lifestyle and athletics: "To all my little Hulkamaniacs, train, say your prayers, take your vitamins, believe in yourself, and you will never go wrong."

As a 4 year old, I was even lucky enough to see him in person in Flordia. I said "Hi Hulkster." He said, "Hey Kid!" Today, 21 years later, I'm a happy athlete. What a defining moment!

Wouldn't you like to have that effect on a little guy? You can and you don't need to have "24-inch pythons" to do it.

Here are the previous "Reasons to Be Athletic" in case you missed them: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

Every Day Is a Good Day

2006-11-24T10:58:00.001-08:00

This cliche certainly resonates when attending a funeral visitation. Today I paid my respects to a friend's father who passed away from cancer earlier this week. Arriving back home and stepping out of my car on an unusually warm and clear late November day in St. Louis, I felt compelled to celebrate life in my own way. I put on my running shoes and headed out on a run without a goal or a destination. Instead, I paid attention to the simple things: the air moving in and out of my lungs, the sound of my feet striking the ground, the warmth of the sunlight, the slight chill of the breeze on my sweaty face, the smell of the autumn air, and the satisfying ache of my body's reaction to the workout. Using my body and feeling these simple sensations is something I appreciate more today. Celebrate your life and your body...your spirit will thank you.

NYC vs. Chi-Town: The Better Marathon?

2006-11-16T11:37:00.000-08:00

In the past month, I ran the two biggest races in the United States, the Chicago and New York City Marathons. I have been often asked which is the better event. Having enjoyed both immensely, this was a tough decision as each race had its own positives and negatives. So I'll temporarily deflect the question, provide categorical comparisons, and give my final answer.

Race Date
Both scheduled in the middle of Fall during times that provide historically ideal weather conditions for their location. An abnormally cold Chicago race day this year is a victim of the famous Midwest weather inconsistencies.
Winner: New York

Entry
Chicago - everyone is first-come, first-serve. The remaining are shut-out. This is the fairest.
New York - Lottery. Early bird doesn't get the worm. Only certain birds in certain running clubs, or the faster birds get in (my ticket). The race also charges a $9 fee for all lottery applicants, meaning it takes over a half-million dollars from the ~60,000 they turn away each year...not very nice!
Winner: Chicago

Pre Race Amenities
Same expo, same companies peddling the same goods and the same services. The same crap in the same goodie bag, which I will henceforth refer to as crappy bags. The crappy bags were better in Chicago because you could carry them over your shoulder. However, they charged $16 to park at their expo. If they want to impress me, they can give me cash discounts off race fees instead of spending all that print money handing me fliers that I donate to the nearest trashcan.
Winner: Tie (for being equally crappy)

Getting to & Waiting at the Start
Hands down Chicago is the better option. Chicago begins at 8am while NYC starts at 10:10am for the open field. The abnormally later time for NYC is due to the logistics of transporting 37,000+ runners to the "hard to reach" Staten Island. Buses from locations in New Jersey, Manhattan, and the other boroughs drive you to the foot of the Verrazano-Narrows bridge from 4:30am through 6:30am. The lucky few of us able to secure the limited access to the Staten Island Ferry (boat from Manhattan to Staten Island), followed by bus transportation to the race start enjoyed about an extra hour of sleep. So yes, you are at the start for a minimum 2.5 hours before the race begins. I suppose if I raced with a group of friends or ran without a time-goal, this would be a fun pre-party. At Chicago, I was able to wake up 2.5 hours before the race, get on a train, and arrive at the race start with one hour to spare and be ready to race.
Winner: Chicago

Starting Corrals
Chicago sets up 6 separate & very distinct corrals: Elite Professionals, Top 100 Amateurs, Competitive Start, Preferred Start I, Preferred Start II, and Open Field. Avoiding specifics, there is a separation of skill level which you indicate during the application process by providing previous race results. This stratified setup not only creates a smooth start with the faster runners at the front, but it puts all your competition around you. The different corrals are clearly demarcated and there is little movement ( i.e. no walk to the start line with your corral) before the race begins.

New York has 3 very rough and barely discernible fields. The Elite Women run on their own a half-hour before everyone else starts. The Elite Men and Open Field are bunched together. NYC attempts to separate the speeds, by giving faster runners lower Bib numbers. However, there is no clear demarcation. In addition, the corrals have to walk to the starting line. This give an opportunity for all the slow jackasses behind me to sneak their way to very front of the starting line by jumping hurricane fences and causing a jam of the faster and rule-abiding runners behind. I internally cursed each one of these lard-asses as I shoved pass them in the first mile. NYC can easily fix this problem and follow Chicago's format.
Winner: Chicago

The Crowd
In New York, you run through all five boroughs, each with their own flavor. The support is literally non-stop. There is music throughout and cheering galore. It was bothersome at times when the crowds converged from each side creating a narrow gap for the throng of runners to get through. But I will never fault a race for having too much fan support! Chicago was great for the first half as we went from downtown to the north city. But as we headed west and went through the south city, the crowds thinned out and were gone completely in certain stretches. But it still was the second best crowd support I enjoyed from a race. With 2.5 million on the streets, NYC Marathon is called the most attended sporting event in the world...was that ever true.
Winner: New York

Race Start Theatrics
To start the NYC marathon, there was an air-force flyover, a huge cannon boom, a boat blaring its fog-horn, shooting water from its water cannons in all directions, and Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York" was broadcast over the loudspeakers as we began the marathon. To start its marathon, Chicago sounded a handheld horn.
Winner: New York

The Course
Probably the most important for all my racers, this is a tough one. Each is unique. Chicago is flatter, fewer turns, and faster. However, wind is almost always a factor. Duh! It's called the Windy City! New York, wind is hardly a factor and is mostly a cross-wind if it exists. There are many more hills and these hills are on their bridges. Yes, they are that long! The largest one is at the very start when climbing the first mile of the Verrazano-Narrows bridge (the largest suspension bridge in the USA). So if I'm looking for a PR day, Chicago is the best bet. But sometimes you want to run a race that measures all your abilities, and hill climbs surely make New York the better test. But c'mon, we all want to get a marathon done as fast we can.

The scenery is better in New York with the Verrazano bridge start looking out into the ocean and at Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Statue of Liberty in the distance. Then you have the diversity of the different boroughs and the many other bridge crossings before you enter into historic and beautiful Central Park. Chicago has the gorgeous Lake Michigan for a small stretch, but then just typical urban landscape during the rest.
Winner: Tie (Chicago's speed vs. NYC's aesthetics)

Competition
This is hard to measure since any race field in five figures will probably create the same type of competition. It's easier to see in Chicago with the obvious divisions of skill level. However, upon a rough estimate of this year's race results, the field is slightly faster in NYC. There are racers from across the globe (120+ countries represented). Plus, NYC gets a deeper professional field than Chicago, so the best come to NYC. Forget that there is a bigger prize purse.
Winner: New York

Race Support
Chicago's aid station volunteers had bright orange jackets and clearly demarcated water/gatorade/gel/medical locations. NYC not so much. I missed a few stations due to this...how the hell do you miss an aid station!?!
Winner: Chicago

Finish
Chicago - Long, straight, downhill 400 meters to the line in an open Millennium Park.
New York - Twisting, winding, uphill and downhill finish in a very shaded enclosed Central Park.
Winner: Tie (pick your poison)

Post-Race
Chicago - had your medal, timing chip removal, gear bag, and very open "family/runner reuniting area" at Buckingham Fountain all within 200 yards in an open, breathable area. Huge food/drink tables were easily accessible and the variety was enormous: apples, bananas, oranges, bagels, water, gatorade, sports bars, cookies, pretzels, etc.

New York - After finishing, you had 100 yards to walk to receive a mylar blanket. Then another 100 yards further to receive medal. Then you had to stand shoulder to shoulder in the huge crowd while being corralled in a tight space for 200 yards to get the timing chip removed. Again you were back standing shoulder to shoulder in the massive throng corralled in a tight space, walking so slowly for the 200-1000 yards to get your gear bag depending on which UPS truck yours was on. The further your last name is on the alphabet will determine this. Next time my last name is Aaron. And at gear check I was finally able to get food and drink (a soft apple, dried bagel, and water). Then finally just a short, slow moving 300 yard hike to the family/runner reuniting area on the closed off New York streets. That's about 1.5 miles of walking after the race and it took about 1.5 hours...Chicago took about 20 minutes with a tenth of the distance.
Winner: Chicago

Aura Surrounding the Race
This is a weird section, but hear me out. For lack of good descriptors, there are races I feel more special being a part of than others. It could be the attention from family/friends/acquaintances asking about the race in the weeks prior or the atmosphere from the racers surrounding, but there is a noticeable buzz at some events. Maybe Lance Armstrong helped this out. Whatever it was, NYC wins this intangible.
Winner: New York

THE CHAMPION
If you've been counting, you'll see the score is tied at 8. So now that I've used my head, it's time to listen to my gut. Because I was sick as a dog in NYC, yet still had a smile on my face all day, and because I'm a Midwest boy at heart yet was somehow swayed to enjoy the Big Apple...New York City, my hat's off to you!
Winner: Run the NYC Marathon!

A Recipe for Longevity in Middle Aged Men...

2006-11-15T11:15:00.000-08:00

The results for one of the largest and longest studies showing the effects of lifestyle on middle-aged men have been released. This study reveals a recipe for long-life.

"Nine factors were good predictors of which middle-aged men would live healthily into their 80s and beyond...The factors: Not being overweight, having low blood pressure, low blood sugar levels, low levels of bad cholesterol, not drinking alcohol excessively, not becoming overweight, not smoking, having a strong grip, achieving a high level of education, and being married."

And for scientific dorks like myself, here is the research abstract from which the article was written. One can assume these guidelines would apply to women as well, but maybe not the married part.

New York Marathon Race Report

2006-11-10T13:02:00.000-08:00

RACE RESULTS
4:08:37 (9:29/mile avg)
14682/38,368 - Overall
11715/25890 - Men
1517/2906 - 20-29 Men Age Division

In February last year, I ran a sub-1:22:00 half-marathon which guaranteed me an entry into the New York City Marathon. Because I had never visited the Big Apple and my sister would soon be a resident of SoHo in Manhattan to begin her career as a journalist, I had no reservations of having already signed up for the Chicago Marathon, which would be raced only two weeks prior. I knew my level of training would allow me to recover quickly enough to put on a decent time. And in the three days prior to race day, I felt great.

I arrived in NYC and was immediately excited. I spent Friday night out with my sister and her entertaining friends and on Saturday, Kate and I walked around the town, the highlight being the view from the "Top of the Rock" (Rockefeller Center) where I saw all of NYC beneath me. From this vantage, 70 floors above the ground, I could see the start of the race on Staten Island before the longest suspension bridge in the U.S. (Verrazano-Narrows Bridge) and trace the race path from there through Brooklyn, into Queens, over the Queensboro Bridge into Manhattan, going uptown through Harlem and into the Bronx, and finally coming back into Manhattan, finishing in the fall colors of Central Park. I would see all 5 boroughs in one 26.2 mile run. I was pumped!

My goal for this race was simple. Beat Lance Armstrong in his marathon debut. However, as I woke race morning I felt something wasn't right. God bless my sister for waking up at 5am with me and leading me all the way to the Staten Island Ferry because I felt like death. As I took my seat on the boat, watched the Statue of Liberty pass by, and finally reach Staten Island, the nausea finally subsided as I ran to the bathroom and released my morning's breakfast and some of last night's dinner into the ferry toilet. Hopefully, that was all I would see, but as I made my way through the bus terminal to take me to the race start, I knew I was in trouble. I had either gotten sick or was suffering some kind of food poisioning. (I think it was a case of flu since I'm just now getting over it a week later).

The vomiting continued the rest of the morning in spite of my vain efforts to eat something. If there was a positive, this constant wretching kept me moving and I wasn't bothered by the mid-40 deg weather everyone was shivering in. It was going to be a warmer, drier, and sunnier day than Chicago a couple weeks ago. But due to my lack of calories on board, this day would be tough. I was mostly upset that my chances of seeing, much less beating, the 7-time Tour de France champion was in jeopardy.

Following my last vomiting session, I heard some jack-ass shout, "That's a scared newbie!" To which I uneloquently responded "yeah a newbie for my 10th marathon." Hearing some laughter and a "sorry dude," I finally felt comfortable enough to follow my corral to the starting line.

Thankfully, I was good for the national anthem and the Air Force flyover as the 38,368 of us stood at the foot of the Verrazano's. When the cannon boomed and Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York" on the loudspeakers sang out to us, my adrenaline kicked in and everything was right with the world.

The start on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge connecting Staten Island and Brooklyn. It's a double-decker bridge (I'm on the 2nd level).
I ran at my own pace and hit the first mile in the middle of this huge bridge around 7:20 and entered my first 5K in Brooklyn around 21 minutes. I was definitely slower than my Chicago Marathon pace a couple weeks ago and throughout the first half my mile splits averaged around 7 minutes. I tried taking down GU's twice and each time ended up in a vomit session to which all the locals gave me the "EEWWW!" So I tossed the rest of my GUs with my hat and gloves and resigned myself to water, the only thing I could take (provided I drank in sips).

I'm pretty sure I just hurled before this pic.
As I traveled through Brooklyn, the crowd support was nothing short of incredible. With over 2 million spectators (supposedly the most attended sporting event in the world), there was not a single stretch (except for bridge crossings) where the streets weren't crowded. Music was everywhere (from home speakers out of the apartments, bands, or choirs singing). It was great to see everyone cheer "FDNY" when firefighter was passing and it shows that this group is still revered many years post-9/11.

Indicating I'm still alive.

I hit the half-marathon mark in Queens in 1:33:00 (7:06/mi pace) and was surprised I was able to get this kind of a speed in spite of my condition. However, I knew the bonk would soon be occuring. Crossing the Queensboro bridge (all the bridges in NYC are uphill during the first half since they are so long), my legs started shaking and I gave everything I could to keep running through the 16.5 mile mark where I spotted my sister and her cheering friends on 65th street in Manhattan. Seeing them powered me another half-mile before my body shut down and I slowed to a pathetic shuffle the rest of the way in.

One of the many bridge crossings
I threw up a couple more times and there were periods when I wanted to quit because the dry-heaving was hurting my torso, but I'm stubborn and there was no way I would quit my double-digit marathon (6 from Ironmans and 4 from marathons). I have never DNF'd (did not finish) and I wasn't about to start today.

I shuffled my way along watching the masses pass me through Manhattan, Harlem, the Bronx, and Manhattan again. I was beginning to be passed by the 4-hour marathoners and I noticed something here that I have never seen since I normally run in the sub-3-hour group. Those in this group were excited and happy. I can't count the number of times these runners stopped when they saw friends/family to give them a hug and kiss. Racing here tended to be about the journey and not so much the destination. It was cool to see in person.

Almost at the finish...feeling relieved and excited!
Anyway, the most relieving feeling was turning into Central Park counting down the last 5k of the race until I hit the line at 4:08:37 (9:29/mile)...(2:35:37 2nd-half (11:53/mile)).

Marathon #10!
An hour later I met my sister and she took me back to her apartment where I spent the rest of my stay in NYC suffering from my bug...vomiting, indigestion, and other nastiness which I'll spare you from. Lance and 14,000 other racers made me their bitch that day and I turned in my worst standalone marathon time and a time of which I beat within 3 of my Ironman races. I also had very little muscle soreness due to my slow speed, so recovery has been quick. So you better believe, I'll be back to the Big Apple next year to have a rematch with these demons.

All in all: a great race, great venue, great crowd, great city, and great hospitality (thanks Kate!)

This closes my 2006 season, my best year as I PR'd in nearly every distance (see the left panel). Too bad it ended in a whimper. Peace!

Chicago Marathon Race Report

2006-10-28T15:33:00.000-07:00

RACE RESULTS
2:52:02 (6:33/mile avg): ~8min PR!
561/33629 - Overall
495/18909 - Men
159/2705 - 25-29 Men Age Division

Leaving early Friday afternoon for the 300-mile drive to Chicago from a Cardinal crazy St. Louis who had just won the National League Pennant the night before, I was in good spirits. I headed north with two running buds, Andy and Sam. Besides the crazy traffic entering the city, the trip was uneventful. We picked up our race packets, dropped Sam off with his crew, and Andy & I made our way to Lakeview in the northern area of the city to my cousin Greg's apartment, our lodging for the weekend. And he was a great host.

After a quick 3-mile run to stretch the legs and a huge pasta dinner with the three of us and my friend Allison, we crashed and spent the next day walking around the race expo, eating pasta, and watching the Cardinals win Game 1 of the World Series. The 26.2-mile race the next morning was looking up.

We awoke at 5am to a drizzle, low 30s, and howling winds. It was gonna be a cold one. Making our way down the Red Line to Millenium Park, we were greeted by the 35,000+ racers who would soon be lining the streets of the Chi-town. Due to being a decent runner, I was able to get away from the majority of racers and start towards the front of the pack in the Competitive Start Corral. However, due to some last minute calls from nature, I was stuck in the throng of runners and had to jump fences and run past security to get to my corral. I arrived with 5 minutes to spare and found a group of St. Louisians sporting Cardinal gear and chatted with them about the Redbirds while smiling at the rolling eyes of the many Cubs' fans surrounding.

Waiting for the gun to sound, I realized how cold this was going to be...the temp at the start was 39 degrees (and that's the warmest it would get for the race). I wore my thin yellow jersey, shorts, black cycling armbands, winter hat, and gloves (with 2 GUs stuffed inside). As the gun sounded, I was pumped and cruised down the side of the field, soaking in the atmosphere. This was the 2nd biggest sporting event I would be participating in (New York Marathon is coming soon).

I must have been daydreaming too much as I saw my 2-mile split at 12:12 (6:06/mile pace)...so I backed off and tried to keep in control...and that I did. As the field worked its way north, I was amazed at how good I was feeling. My time goal of 2:50:00 was well within reach. I kept cruising along and hit good splits (6:10-6:25/mi splits), took my first GU at 6.5 miles, and around mile 8, I executed a QB handoff of my gloves and hat to my cheering cousin Greg, his roommate, and the other third of my fan support, Allison. The good times kept rolling as I hit the half-marathon line in 1:21:55 (my second best half split ever...whoa!). I was looking at a sub 2:44 marathon. I knew maintaining this would be extremely difficult so I didn't get too excited. I was going a little harder than I should. But that was behind me now, so I slammed my second GU and pushed on into the cold, constant headwind (they don't call it the Windy City for nothing) and wishing for my hat back.

Around Mile 17, I heard a familiar voice call to me from behind and giving me a greeting that would make a sailor proud. Sam cruised past me looking like he was going to hit his low 2:40s goal. I approached Mile 19 with my speed dropping down to slower than 2:50 pace, and I took my last energy from the PowerGel aid station and hoped to hang on for the bonk I knew was coming. At Mile 21 it hit. The legs ceased and my head started getting dizzy. It was too late for gatorade or any other remedy. I had mistimed my nutrition or went out too fast...it was probably a little bit of both. All I could do now was put one leg in front of the other and do my best. I tried my hardest to hang on to my goal, but as I hit mile 25, it became official that I was going to lose. Damn!

Lucky for me, this was the same spot, my buddy Andy passed me. This guy is a speedster, but if only his race planning skills matched his speed as he forgot to send in for a Competitive Start assignment and was forced to begin with the massive throng. So when he passed me, he was actually much further ahead. He gave me a cheer, and I tried to hang with him, but the legs weren't listening. So I pushed on to the finish and gave whatever kick I had left and crossed the finish line in 2:52:02 (6:33/mile avg). Although not my goal time, it was still nearly an 8-minute PR (from 2:59:52 at the St. Louis Marathon 2.5 years ago). So I was happy.

Lessons learned: keep it under control during the first half, eat one more GU for maximizing nutrition performance, and I am in more post-race pain after a marathon than I ever have been in competing in any of my Ironman triathlons. This is likely due to the high intensity throughout a marathon as opposed to the moderate level of work throughout an Ironman.

Sam sported a new PR with a 2:41 finish and Andy clocked in at 2:47 in his first marathon of many. As we hobbled back on our stiff and torn legs, we enjoyed a last lunch with Greg and Allison before departing for the Lou.

Next up, my last major race of the season: The New York Marathon: Nov 5, 2006.

Below are my split times to see the collapse second-hand.

"We Are the Champions...of the World!"

2006-10-27T22:42:00.000-07:00

Congrats Redbirds! My hometown Boys of Summer!

Go Cards!

2006-10-20T00:56:00.000-07:00

Tonight, a fellow triathlete and I, watched our hometeam the St. Louis Cardinals defeat the New York Mets in one of the most hair-pulling, nail-biting, down-to-the-wire baseball games that I've seen in a long time. It ended in the way every little kid with a baseball bat dreams. Two outs, bottom of the ninth, bases loaded, Game 7 of the Pennant, two-run difference, the best batter on the team at the plate. Most would dream of being the batter. Thankfully for the Redbirds, tonight was the pitcher's dream, as rookie Adam Wainwright pitched a perfect curve ball past slugger Carlos Beltran. The crowd in the our random St. Louis bar erupted for the Cardinals 17th trip to the World Series.

Watching this game reaffirmed something I already knew about my sport of long-distance racing. Rarely would I, as an endurance athlete, experience the heart-pounding adrenaline rush and the thrills of each decisive moment as I pushed to win my race. In fact, endurance sports can only thrilling if the competitors race back and forth against each other leaving the spectators with only a guess as to the eventual winner. This does not happen often and if it does, it is seldom seen as races are not confined to one easy-to-view location. That is the nature of the sport. In spite of these limitations, there have been some epic races. Probably the greatest of them all was the 5000-m race in the 1972 Munich Olympics where the late American, Steve Prefontaine, created one of the most exciting track races as he challenged Finland's Lasse Viren during this back and forth race ultimately leading to Viren's victory and Prefontaine's heroic defeat. The story was made into a couple of great movies: Without Limits and Prefontaine. Both I highly recommend for any athlete.

Still, you got to give it sports with a ball and a scoreboard...they are infinitely more exciting than a sport without. The Cardinals and the Mets reaffirmed that fact tonight and will keep me inspired as I head to Chi-town for the Chicago Marathon (a race that won't even touch the excitement generated for America's past-time). Congrats Redbirds!

Reasons to be Athletic #6: Dealing with the Unexpected...or expected

2006-10-11T20:51:00.000-07:00

Here are the previous ones in case you missed them: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

Last week, I woke up late for the muscle physiology class I had to teach and I have a 35-min commute to the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville campus. Without packing a lunch or taking a shower, I rushed out of my empty apartment to my car and hit the gas. I was so focused on weaving through traffic to arrive on time that I forgot my mental note from the previous evening: get some gas.

You see my '95 Chevy Lumina is slowly dying from a multitude of problems. Among these is an odometer that no longer functions and an incredibly inaccurate gas guage. But these problems never bothered me because I always had a good idea when it was time to refill. On this day...not so much.

If I stopped to refuel, I wouldn't have made it to SIUE in enough time to prepare for the midterm review that I was giving for their first major exam of the semester, so canceling was not an option. I thought my diligence at keeping the tank full would add up my karma points in reaching my destination. However, only two miles away, my poor baby started sputtering and approaching the last hill, it could go no more. Damn!

I looked at my watch..9:15am. I had to teach class at 10am. So I would not be preparing a midterm review for my students...now the choices were:

a) leave the car here for the next few hours and risk the pesky Illnois police towing my car away while I was gone
b) make it on foot to a gas station with my 1-gallon gas can from the trunk, and get back in time to refill and drive the rest of the way to work.

Even in my nice work clothes which had to be thrown off, leaving only my boxers to cover me in the humid, morning heat...the answer was clear. I ran down the road with my glow-in-the-dark Curious George drawers revealing themselves to a world they weren't used to seeing. Running with a 1-gallon gas can in one hand and my cell phone/wallet/keys in the other is very awkward. I didn't want to think about what a full gas can would be like. Seeing the faces of the locals driving past me was funny. I just hoped none of my students would drive past me.

I reached the gas station at 9:30. It was a pretty good time considering the circumstances. Avoiding the obvious stares from the gas station employees, I filled up the gas can and headed back down the road. Running with a gallon of liquid was very difficult. I switched hands constantly, which was also challenging because I had to also switch the phone/wallet/keys to the other hand as well. I finally made it back to the car greater fatigue in my arms, than legs...9:43am...I can make it! I filled the tank, wiped my sweaty body down with a golf towel I had in the trunk, put my clothes back on, and started the car and finished the rest of the drive.

I was getting ready to turn into the faculty parking lot when I noticed it was completely full! Son of a...! I forgot about Career Day and all the spots were open season. So I had to park in the student lot about a mile away from my building. It was 9:54am. I had to run a 6 minute mile in my nice work clothes and my backpack. I did the best I could and walked into the classroom two minutes late and sweating like a pig. The looks on my student's faces said it all. I simply said..."car troubles" and began class.

So here's how being athletic and in shape got me out of a jam. Forget the fact that waking up on time and going to the gas station earlier would have solved the problem, but unfortunately this lack of good sense is chronic.

How to Motivate Yourself (part 7): Review Your Season

2006-09-25T00:10:00.000-07:00

In my series of self-motivation tips (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6), I am now going through one of the most enjoyable periods of the triathlon racing season outside of the actual events: the review.

Nothing makes an athlete happier to see what has been accomplished throughout the past season of racing. The reward is better when it has been a good year.

This review not only serves as a chance to bask in your own glory, but it can also provide valuable information on improvement. Endurance sports are an endless educational process and the more information you can gather about yourself, the better decisions you'll make when planning your next season. Discovering these weaknesses is often the only motivation needed when figuring out how to fix them.

"But wait, I haven't kept track of my year, what should I do?" No sweat just follow these simple steps.

1) Google the races you did. As of 2002 (the advent of computer/internet based timing), almost every race's results has a permanent home online, whether you want it there or not. Try putting your name in the search with "triathlon" or "race" attached to it and see what comes up.

2) Copy and paste these results in a Text document to ensure a lasting recording of your races should the website owner forget to pay his month domain fee.

3) Group together races of similar distance and look at both your time and standing to gauge your performance

I also recommend keeping a training journal to record not only races, but your daily workouts. Excel is good for this because you can use functions in the program to total up mileage and time. You can also include race-specific information such as the weather, level of competition, or pre-race strategies (nutrition, tapering) to see what may have led to an improvement or decline in performance. Don't have a good training journal or have the time to create one? Don't fear! For a limited time only, I will offer my Excel training journal template. Just email me to request one at georgegschweitzer@yahoo.com.

In my case, 2006 has been my best year...a season full of PRs and significant improvements in my standing against competitors. This was the result of solid training, especially during the winter months where I developed a solid base that carried me through the season. A winter focus would not have been realized if I did not have a 2005 season review (a not-so-great year). I hope to cap off the season with one more PR...a sub 2:59 in the Chicago and/or New York Marathons next month.

So take some time and reminisce about '06. You'll have a better '07

Bad Week

2006-09-22T21:57:00.000-07:00

Last week and this week were bad ones. In no particular order, here is the damage:

--accepted the damage done to my bike case in which UPS gorillas busted a hole in the case during one of the transports to a race this year. After filing an insurance claim on the damage, they denied it because it "wasn't packaged properly." It's a case...how do you package the case?!?
--have not heard from Ironman about my wetsuit damage ($400 value) incurred at least weekend's Ironman Wisconsin. They'll probably ignore me.
--i crashed during an easy 45-min morning bike ride with my tri buddies where I suffered some road rash on the hand, elbow, and upper thigh/ass area. Not sure how the crash happened, but it did.
--this crash resulted in damage to my left shifter/break which to replace will cost me $298. About 1/4 of the cost of the bike
--i am sick as a dog with a cough, stuffy nose, sore throat combo that likely resulted from my cold 11+hr day in the cold of Ironman Wisconsin 2006

But in spite of this material and bodily damage, I know things could much be worse. I have a beating heart and good friends & family. Plus, I'll be better in a couple days.

Ironman Wisconsin 2006 Race Report

2006-09-15T21:38:00.000-07:00

Results in 25-29 Male Age Group
Total Time: 11:45:43
Swim Time: 1:28:21 (2:20/100meter) 156/201 in division & 1627 race position (anti-PR)
T1: 6:27 (7/201 in division)
Bike Time: 6:13:53 (17.97mph avg speed) 61/201 in division & 683 race position
T2: 5:50 (60/201)
Run Time: 3:51:14 (8:49/mile) 38/201 in division (PR RUN SPLIT!!!)
Overall Place: 387/2439 (267 DNF - did not finish), passed 1240 racers after swim
Division Place: 46/201 in my Male 25-29age group (15 DNF)

Goals accomplished
-I finished. That's number 6!
-I PR'd in the IM Marathon!

Goals unaccomplished
-Did not PR overall time
-Did not reach my Superman goal of Swim 1:14, Bike 5:45, Marathon 3:25 = 10:30:00 total time
-Did not qualify for Kona

Play-by-Play
Race Day -2: I drove up to Madison, WI after teaching class at SIUE with my new exercise physiology teaching gig. The parents kindly drove me up and I slept most of the way. I met up with Wash U. college buddies Ben and Mishele. Mishele and I did IM Arizona together back in April, and this was Ben's 1st shot at the race. I've been his unofficial mentor for this race, so I was very excited to see everything getting ready to take shape. The three of us and their significant others all went out to a nice pasta restaurant where we caught up on our lives...this is in stark contrast to our previous college conversations surrounding classes, boozing, and the Greek system (yeah all in attendance were those types, so judge the Greek system now!).

Race Day -1: It was a cold morning (50s). I checked the weather and a 30% chance of rain was predicted along with this temp. I didn't want to think about it and headed back downtown to register. Here I met up with Ben and Mishele. After setting up our gear and wrapping our bikes in trash bags in the event of rain, we drove the bike course. I had only seen the course on Simply Stu's website where he did a podcast taking us throughout the bike and run course. I very much appreciated his work, but I wanted to get my own look at it since his description sounded more optimistic than I had been told by other vets. So on the "Basically Ben" bike tour I was shown the tough hills, bad road conditions, rough corners, and sketchy descents. I quickly knew that I would NOT be PRing on this bike course...Simply Stu made me think it was going to be simple. After Ben got us lost on the drive back (it's his own town keep in mind), we wrapped up the day with a pasta dinner and went to bed.

Race Morning: I woke up at 4am and looked like the rain was going to hold, but the temps weren't...it was low 50s. Ate a large breakfast of cereal, bananas, pretzels, gatorade, and water. I prepped for the race, went to the porta-johns several times, kissed my parents goodbye, and ran into Ben and Mishele grabbing some pics with them.

Ben and I before the race. He was wearing our fraternity's letters...Theta Xi!

Mishele and I at bodymarking with her representing the better looking third of the Wash U. contingent.

Heading down to the swim start the 3 of us found each other again and we goofed off in the cool water waiting for the start. We soon found out from the race announcer that we were going to be racing in the biggest Ironman in history...2439 athletes! Hell Yeah! The three of us wished each other well and the cannon boomed!

Swim: Just as the race began the lake started acting up with big swells producing some white caps. This wasn't going to help an already poor swimmer. But I pushed on, enjoying my punches and kicks to the head and body. One kick sent my goggles flying, but luckily I found them. My watch stopped during this struggle and therefore I had no idea where I was pace-wise in this two-loop course. But I felt sluggish and couldn't get into a rhythm. This combined with the rough lake conditions, I was having an awful swim. My thoughts were confirmed as I saw the time exiting the water.

The result: 88 min swim. Worst 2.4 mile swim ever! By 3 minutes! 2/3 of the entire field was in front of me.

Exiting the Swim...a few seconds later, my precious wetsuit would be destroyed.

Transition 1: To put the icing on the cake of the worst swim ever, I was greeted by rough, unattentive wetsuit strippers who, not heeding my instructions, ripped my left sleeve completely off ($400 down the drain). Jerks! With both pieces of my wetsuit in hand, I took off to the nice parking garage, complete with a carpeted, heated, indoor changing area. We had to run up a helix to get inside, and I did this in a flat out sprint. I saw my parents there and gave a cheer. Grabbing my gear bag, I saw that Ben (who was my "bib number neighbor" coincidentally enough) was already gone. The change went great and ran out to my bike finishing up with the 7th fastest T1 time in my age group (6:27)...eat that you stupid swim!

Weather Update: At this time I noticed the rain and with the exception of a few minutes here and there, it didn't let up for the rest of the race. It mixed between downpours and steady showers. 53 deg (it got up to 58 deg at one point) and rain was going to make this ride so enjoyable. Luckily I put on my arm warmers, but opted not to put on the base layer top. (Although I probably should have, it probably wouldn't have made a difference with the rain soaking everything through). I also added socks when I normally bike bare-footed...this probably made my feet less frostbitten and numb. The wind (although moderate) helped to make sure that my bare hands and toes would go numb by the end of the ride.

Bike: Weather aside, this was a tough course. Turns galore, steep, quick rollers, and long killer hills. I can only think of 4 or 5 spots where you could bike for 2 or 3 miles without turning or climbing. This ride required a ~15mile ride out of Madison to some farmland where we did two loops before heading back in. So this was a very spectator unfriendly course if you had people back at the start. However, the course was well supported by fans on the bike hills and through some of the towns. On one of the killer climbs, I felt like I was in the Tour de France with crowds on both sides cheering for you and getting out of the way at the last second. The descents and corners were some of the scariest moments as you went down slick roads and I saw crashes all day. Ambulances were heard often during the ride.

At the start of the bike ride before the rain got heavy. It was a cold one!

Around 28-29 miles, I reached Mishele who looked pretty strong. After a quick chat, I continued on, reaching Ben a few miles later. We rode together 6 miles talking about how cold we were and reminisced about our rainsoaked, MS150 bike rides in Missouri during our fraternity years. It was very uplifting to see him and he looked great. I had no doubt he would be a finisher by the end of the day. We then parted company when I took off ahead.

I reached 56 miles in 2:54:00 (19.2mph...unofficialy) and I felt pretty tired at this point. Not sick, but actually fatigued. I had either pulled a rookie maneuver of going out too hard or the 3rd Ironman of the season (7 weeks after my second) was finally taking its toll on my body. It was probably a little bit of both. I trudged through the second half...keeping to my nutrition schedule of PowerGels every half hour, bananas at aid stations, pretzels/clif shot bloks spread throughout the ride, and gatorade ad libitum. In weather like this, fluid and elctrolyte loss would be minimal since sweating would not be an issue, but it would be important to keep energy up. Based on my 8 Powergels, 2 bananas, gatorade, pretzels, shot bloks, I had about 1800-2000 calories throughout the ride. Much less than any other race, but this is what the cold weather does to me.

About 30 miles in, the rain had let up a little, but I assure you it was pouring all day!

I talked to many riders on the course who generally kept high spirits. Some were the opposite by describing this as the coldest day of their life. These folks also tended to be from the south. Welcome to the North! Although I was cold, it didn't bring me down. I've been in plenty colder situations on a ride. I felt at a slight advantage. I just hoped I wouldn't get pneumonia.

Finally, the loop ended and we headed back, climbed the longest hill of the day, and coasted in. I came in with a 3:17 (17.0mph) 2nd half. So not a great ride...but for the course and conditions, I took it.

The result: 6:13 bike split (about 18mph). Probably could have gone sub 6 hours if the weather was better...but I'll find out another day.

Transition 2: It was so nice to hop off my bike and shed the wet clothes for my dry running outfit. Unfortunately, i had no manual dexterity in my frostbitten hands and had to wait for a volunteer to tighten my speed laces. This probably lost me a minute, but no big deal. What I noticed the most was the feeling of running on my frozen, numb toes. Hopefully they would warm up soon. Overall, average T2.

Run: Leaving the warm T2 was difficult, but it was time to kick some ass since I haven't done so yet. In my hand was my "no walking through aid stations water bottle." My legs felt heavy, but I tore down the road. I realized I forgot to remove my arm warmers, which ended up being a great mistake as they kept me warm most of the day. I passed by a familiar face from my SIUE Master's program, Tina, who gave me a friendly send-off. Then a half-mile later, it was my parents happy to see I hadn't crashed on the ride. I hit the first mile really quick (7:08) and knew that I needed to be a back off a bit or I'd be walking the rest of the way.

At mile 2, a new feeling presented: hunger pangs. I never felt this during a race before and it was obvious that the lower calorie bike ride was rearing its head. So i upped the calories throughout the run by eating 3-4 grapes at a time, a cookie, or a couple pretzels at every aid station in addition to my Vanilla Bean GUs every 5 miles. Throughout the run, it was interesting to feel my body get low on blood sugar which manifested as a dizziness. I let this be my signal for another GU. Thank God the volunteers stuck around in this weather.

On Mile 3 of the run through the University of Wisconsin Badger football stadium.

The run was very uneventful...which was a blessing. I focused on keeping a good turnover and was careful about eating so that I wouldn't upset my GI system. At mile 3, I finally felt warm in my feet even though the rain was steady and the temps were in the 50s. It was dark and cloudy the entire run, which didn't help most racers' morale, but I love running in the rain so it was time to enjoy myself.

At mile 8, I passed Ben, who was coming from the other direction and he was smiling and happy. He was definitely going to finish. At mile 11, I saw Mishele. She's a warm weather woman who trained in the scorching Texas heat all year, and in spite of race conditions opposite of what she wanted, she looked tough.

I reached the 13.1 mile halfway mark in 1:51 (8:29/mile) which was 2 minutes slower than IM Lake Placid, so my goal of breaking my IM Marathon PR was not going to be easy.

Near the halfway mark of the run...wet from the rain!

At this point, I had a huge surprise. I saw Dave, a college buddy who I had lost touch with a year ago. How he found me out of everyone here in the 10 seconds I pass by is beyond me. Apparently he was going to grad school at UW and volunteering at the race today. It was so cool to see him, and he gave me some encouraging cheers. I wished I could have stopped to catch up, but I pushed on (we caught up over email later on).

On the second loop, I ate soggy pretzels and cookies while maintaining my pace very well. I was only slowing down by about 40 seconds/mile and I knew I would have a new marathon record, so long as I held it together. I saw Ben and Mishele the last time I would see them during the weekend, and I knew they would finish...they looked solid. I walked my only time up the 2nd half of this steep hill on Observatory Road and fended off the smell of hot food from the restaurants we ran passed.

Finally, I hit the last mile and saw that I would have a new marathon PR thanks to my 1:59:59 2nd half (9:09/mile), which was confirmed as I slapped the tape of my 6th Ironman finish!

The result: A 3:51:14 record IM marathon (8:49/mi). An 11:45:43 overall performance, which given the conditions of the race, was a solid time. Timewise, it was my 3rd best iron-distance performance. The best statistic was I finished 5% better in my age group than I had in my previous race: 46/201 (top 22%). Furthermore, it was in the more competitive 25-29 age group. So that was a PR in and of itself!

Ironman Finish #6! PR Marathon!

Post-Race: I never felt better after an Ironman. Maybe it's because of the weather, or maybe I was excited about my marathon, but I didn't feel sick. With the help of my parents, we got all my wet clothes and bike with a brand new rusted chain (stupid weather) and headed back to the hotel. We indulged my post-IM fast food craving at KFC and enjoyed fried chicken and biscuits. Laurie, my roomie and best fan support from home, and my sister called to congratulate me. The next morning, after registering for IM Wisconsin 2007, we headed home!

Sources of Inspiration
The best part of the entire experience was two-fold for me (and it involves my friends): The first was hearing from Ben who crossed the finish line at 13:30 (about 90 min faster than he predicted!) His family and girlfriend greeted him there and I wish I could have been there too. 15 months ago, he mentioned that he wanted to do an Ironman. He was an average biker, but not much of a runner or swimmer. He did what was necessary, put in the time, put in the hard work, made sacrfices, and now the guy who I had partied hard with during the "best years of my life" is now an Ironman.

The second best experience was seeing the culmination of Mishele's Ironman experience. I'm not talking about her 3rd Iron-distance finish in 14:26, a great time in conditions that Texas gave her no opprtunity to prepare for. But it happened when she told me how much money she raised for the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund, $5600!!! She used her partipication in this race to raise money for the OCRF. Mishele's mother passed away from this last year and she was much of the reason why she became an endurance athlete. I'm sure she would happily accept more donations to this cause. Congrats Mishele!

Offseason Improvements to Make:
Swim: After this shitty swim, I will be a daily swimmer. My goal is to drop 1 second per month on the 100m.
Bike: Power focused training
Run: Start running after weight lifting to get used to running on tired legs

Final Thoughts
This race concluded my 3rd season as triathlete and I can say I went out with a bang. Since I started these races, I have steadily improved my race position from 49% to 22%. The top 5% get to Kona. I'm often asked why I do these races. That's a good question without a good answer. Maybe because it would be a great reason to go to Hawaii for the first time. Maybe its because I want to make my first Ironman mentor, former 70-74 age group World IM champion Ed Wolfgram, proud. Or maybe it would help out my career as an exercise physiologist or sports medicine professional, but plenty of these people are successful without even having done a 5K. I don't know. I think the most likely explanation is the simplest one: I love the sport and getting there would be a great way of celebrating that.

Thank Yous
My parents - they have been at all 6 of my finishes and I can't imagine doing these races without them around. My mom makes sure I'm logistically prepared and safe, while my dad keeps me amused and humble. And both provide their son with love and support that very few enjoy from their parents.

Mishele - for being a source of motivation and a good friend since we both realized our love for endurance sports after graduating college two years ago. Look forward to many more as we get older and slower.

Ben - for being my 2nd source of motivation for this race. Of the friends I had in college, he was one that I knew I'd never lose touch with. Doing this race together reaffirms this. I look forward to the next race or ski trip we take together.

Sam, Darin, Kevin, Kozi - all regular training buddies throughout my best racing season.

You, the reader - for making it to the end of this self-centered tale. Leave comments and I'll answer.

Next up: Chicago Marathon on October 22, 2006

Ironman Lake Placid 2006 Race Report

2006-08-05T07:31:00.000-07:00

Click Here to See My Finish! Then type 160 (race #) or Schweitzer under Athlete Search and click on "Watch Me Finish". Just wait one minute for it to get to me. I'm in Yellow!

Results in 18-24 Male Age Group
Total Time: 11:21:14 (PR OVERALL!!!)
Swim Time: 1:16:49 (2:01/100meter) 31/40 in division
T1: 5:35 (3/40 in division)
Bike Time: 5:55:46 (18.89mph) 11/40 in division
T2: 4:36 (13/40)
Run Time: 3:58:28 (9:06/mile) 9/40 in division (PR RUN SPLIT!)
Overall Place: 388/2154 (~90 DNF - did not finish)
Division Place: 11/40 in my Male 18-24 age group (5 DNF)

Goals accomplished
-I finished. That's number 5!
-I broke my Iron-distance PR by 16 minutes!
-I ran a sub 4hr marathon.
-Run Nutrition strategy kicked ass!
-Stayed mentally tough throughout the run by only walking 3 times (they were for about a minute each up these huge ass hills)

Goals unaccomplished
-Did not reach my Superman goal of Swim 1:14, Bike 5:45, Marathon 3:25 = 10:30:00 total time
-Did not qualify for Kona

Play-by-Play
Race Day -3: Traveled with dad. Left St. Louis after it was clobbered by a freak wind-storm knocking out power to a half-million people, including us. I had to do my laundry (all my tri clothes) in the sink with a bar of soap and wate, then pack them wet.

Race Day -2: Registered, walked around Lake Placid, saw a movie: Lady in the Water, watched some of the Tour de France and the Floyd Landis comeback, Carbo Loaded, easy 30min run.

Race Day -1: Rained like crazy all day long (had to dig gatorade bags out of the trashcan to cover my derailers and handlebars on the bike). I did an easy 40min ride, carbo loaded at lunch and dinner, and went to bed by 8pm.

Race Morning: Woke up at 4am and noticed the rain finally subsided. Ate a large breakfast of cereal, bananas, pretzels, gatorade, and water. Prepped for the race, went to the porta-johns several times, kissed my parents goodbye, saw a fellow St. Louisan I trained a day with and wished him luck. Right as we entered the water for the start, it started to rain again.

Swim: The water was amazingly clear, unlike any other race I'd been to. I could see my arms and everything. I started about 4 rows of people from the front and once again, got kicked, elbowed, and pushed under when the cannon fired. Because this was a 2-lap course, it did not ever end. I stayed toward the inside along the buoys which were tethered by a rope that I used as my lane line so I wouldn't have to sight (look up to see where I was going). Unfortunately many other people had this idea to and the punches and kicks sustained probably didn't make this worth the trouble.

The result: I finished the course 2 minutes faster than Arizona (I didn't use my legs again...so I was fresh).

Transition 1: No problem at all. It was a bit of a run from the lake to the transition, but it didn't matter. The only problem was the rain, which had finally stopped, messed up my bike computer, so it was hard to read and didn't record the first few miles. Oh well.

Bike: The bike course is 2 56-mile loops with miles 5-11 being a steep descent and miles 44-56 being a long gradual 1200 feet climb. So breaking this down into 4 quarters would not be feasible. The best strategy (taken from the many race reports I've read) was to go easy the first loop and hang on the second loop. I certainly did this, but not as well as I would have liked.

I'm a light dude with decent power output on the bike. That makes it easy for me to be a good climber and there was never a hill throughout the day that I didn't pass 90% of the athletes on. I handled my descents very well...hitting 50mph at one point breaking my bike speed record by 5mph (furthermore, this was a sustained 50mph for about 2 minutes).

Anyway, the first half of the loop is all descending and the second half is the climb back into town. It was difficult to hold back when I was fresh and could fly. But my discipline paid off as we began the climb around 25 miles in. If I did anything wrong is that I pushed too hard while climbing, but being a course for the climbers, I couldn't resist pushing a little bit. I came around the first lap in 2:46:20 (~20.2 mph) and was pumped for the second lap since I held back a little. As a bonus it cleared up and the weather was a beautiful ~70deg. Certainly the best conditions an athlete can ask for.

Biking with my new aero helmet!

Unfortunately, I got hit with a punch of nausea about 5 miles into the second lap. And it sucked. It was much like the experience of my IM Arizona on the run. The only positive is that I was on the long steep descent for about half of the time it lasted. But I only averaged 40mph going down this time around. As the climbing began, the nasuea passed, but not after a bunch of negative self-talk. In my past 4 races, there is always one period in my races where I have a major period of self-doubt and I'm glad it happened on the bike where it could do the least damage to my overall time.

I took it easier on the long climb back into Lake Placid and came in with a second lap time of 3:09:26 (17.74mph). So as you can see, the nausea slowed me down 25 min. But I was determined to get this back on the run.

Nutrition: I had a very simple plan: On 15-min and 45-min past the hour I had Gatorade, 30-min and 60min was Power-Gel time. These were the high-salted PowerGels so I did not have to worry about taking a separate salt tablet dosage (plus the weather was not hot and sweating was not substantial). At 90min and 3 hours I took a pack of Clif Shot Bloks in place of the PowerGels. The rest of the time following the 3 hours, I took gatorade and PowerGels ad libitum and munched on Snyder pretzel sticks the rest of the way in.

The result: Because of my great first lap, my total bike time ended up being a solid 5:55:46. I always try to break 6 hours. Wish I didn't get the nausea again, and maybe I could have had another bike PR.

Transition 2: Flawless. I changed out of the tight biking outfit to my loose running clothes. It's amazing what a difference it makes.

Run: My legs felt a little heavy as I left T2, but within a mile (where I passed my cheering parents) they came around and a good running form emerged. I've had a poor marathon showing in my last few ironmans, so I was determined to break the slump using a new strategy that I learned training in the ridiculous St. Louis heat: I carried a bike bottle. This helped 2 ways.

a) no stopping at aid stations, since I find it very physically (and mentally) exhausting to stop and start up again when my legs don't want to. So I grabbed water cups and ice on the run and poured them in my bottle.

b) The bike bottle nipple (is that what it's called?) made it easy to take small sips of water throughout the run instead of big gulps at the aid stations which made the GI tract unpleasant before. I would also be able to douse my head with the cold water when I began to overheat.

Starting the marathon...water bottle in hand!

I saw a sign at the 1st mile marker: "In the Ironman marathon, it is often not the swiftest who run the fastest, but it is those who don't stop running." This became my mantra for the rest of the race. And for the first 7 miles I hit an 8-min/mi pace consistenly. I then started to slow to the upper 8-min/mi range for the next 7 miles, but I still felt fine otherwise. At this point, the only part of the course I walked was a 300 yard uphill that was hard enough to walk, much less run. Overall, my strategy was working. I crossed the 13.1-mile halfway mark at 1:49:20 (8:20-min/mi).

But the true test was about to begin. I passed my parents again as I headed out for the second lap. I swallowed Vanilla Bean GUs every 35 min, ate small pieces of fruit when I could tolerate it, downed water at regular short intervals, and fended off the rising temperatures with cold water on my head and neck. I looked ahead to the runners in front of me and made it my goal to pass them. While my pace showed that I was slowing, my passing of runners did not. I then reached the demons of my last race: miles 16-18, where I got horribly sick. But nothing happened and I made the final turnaround, cruised past the Winter Olympic Ski Jump ramps, and headed back towards town.

About mile 15 on the run. It was a beautiful day.

My body was hurting, but my watch kept telling me that 4 hours was within reach. All the strength I could muster could not get me to run up the 2nd biggest hill on this lap, so i power-walked up it and continued the run. I reached my parents at mile 24, who gave me an encouraging send-off before walking to the finish. I walked up the killer hill and then I never looked back. I began to feel the surge of adrenaline signifying the race was coming to an end and looking at my watch, I knew I would break 4 hours. I huffed past a few more people before I made the final turn down the old Olympic speed-skating track and slapped the tape ending my 5th Ironman with a new personal best!

Ironman Finish #5 in my record time!

The result: A 3:58:28 record IM marathon (the second half was 2:09:08 (9:51-min/mi)). And 11:21:14 overall performance, breaking my previous best by 16 minutes on what was the hardest course I've competed on. It was also 32 minutes faster that IM Arizona 3 months ago. I was near the upper quarter of my age group. IM Finish #5!

Post-Race: I was much better than I was in Arizona. I stayed conscious and coherent. I remembered all my post-race conversations. I was congratulated by my parents who helped me to the food tent. Following a half a piece of pizza and coke, I got my first post-race massage at an Ironman and I slept through the whole thing. I can only imagine it was awesome! I met back up with the folks and headed back to our motel. Laurie and Hopie (my roommates) called me to congratulate me and Laurie said I sounded a lot better than when she saw me in Arizona. We stopped for some fried chicken and fries, and later had some hamburgers and soda from our friendly motel manager and then hit the sack.

Click Here to See My Finish! Then type 160 (race #) or Schweitzer under Athlete Search and click on "Watch Me Finish". Just wait one minute for it to get to me. I'm in Yellow!

Improvements to make:
Keep that marathon pace consistent. More training on tired legs.
Offseason: Drop 1 second per month on the 100m, hit the weightroom, and change cycling training program so I focus on power output and not mileage.

Final Thoughts
Although I finally beat my IM marathon demons, I still feel I can run faster. I don't hide the fact that I'm trying to qualify for Kona and looking at my competition, I have about 60-80 minutes to drop. This is no easy task since it took 4 races to drop an hour off my time. Furthermore, my quest for Kona just got harder with my age up to 25-29 group. But I was talking with a former Kona qualifer during the run who told me of his 5 year campaign (14 races) to qualify. He said to look at percentile in my age group to see if I'm progressing. So I've done 4 IM races and the progression has been: 47%, 49%, 33%, 27%. He was right! At this rate and with a little luck, it maybe a handful of races away.

Thank Yous
My parents - for once again being my best fan support and finding a great spot to see me throughout the race. It helped bring back my tired legs.
Sam - for giving me a great idea for Saturday Brick workout training by riding 25 miles to meet him at the start of an organized ride and riding back home.
Andy - for pushing me on some key long runs that got my tired legs ready to roll.
Darin - for showing me Wildwood, MO where I mastered my bike hill climbing and bailing me out when my bike's derailer and chain ripped apart.
You, the reader - for making it to the end of this entry. Leave comments and I'll answer.

Next up: Ironman Wisconsin in Madison, WI, September 10, 2006

Ironman Arizona 2006 Race Report

2006-04-30T20:45:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's late in coming...but I was busy being a good student. So here it is. More Pictures to come.

Results
Total Time: 11:53:21
Swim Time: 1:18:45 (2:05/100meter) 37/51 in division
T1: 5:00 (roughly in upper 25%)
Bike Time: 5:49:47 (19.2mph) 18/51 in division (PR BIKE SPLIT!)
T2: 3:53 (roughly in upper 25%)
Run Time: 4:35:57 (10:32/mile) 19/51 in division
Overall Place: 417/1943 (216 DNF - did not finish)
Division Place: 17/51 in my Male 18-24 age group (5 DNF)

Goals accomplished
I finished. That's number 4!
I beat my time last year in this race by ~29 minutes.
Had an almost perfect Nutrition strategy, see the specifics below.

Goals unaccomplished
Did not break my Iron distance PR of 11:37
Did not go sub 4hr in marathon
Did not break 11hr total
Did not reach my Superman goal of Swim 1:14, Bike 5:45, Marathon 3:25 = 10:30:00 total time Did not qualify for Kona

Thoughts on Race
I'm very pleased with my performance given the conditions. Moderate winds during the bike played some of the role, but the killer was the temperature in the dry heat of Arizona. The temperatures peaked around 90 deg (one of the hottest ever IM races in North America) and yet I still finished almost a half-hour better than last year. These conditions likely played a major role in over 10% of the racers not being able to finish. The average is usually around 5%.

Play-by-Play
Race Day -2: Traveled with my parents to Tempe, grabbed some dinner. Avoided unfamiliar and spicy food this time

Race Day -1: Registered, prepped my bike, lunch and dinner with Mishele (my friend from college competing in her second iron-distance race)

Race Morning: ate a large breakfast of cereal, bananas, peretzels, gatorade, and water. Prepped for the race, went to the porta-johns several times, kissed my parents goodbye, said good luck to Mishele, found my cycling training buddy at the swim start, Kevin (never found the other one: Darin), jumped in the water and waded to the swim start. The best part: the last song they played before the cannon fired was Journey's "DON'T STOP BELIEVING!" (i'm a child of the 80s, what can i say) Today was gonna be my day!

Swim: I started near the front line and immediately got kicked and elbowed. The "best" part was a guy holding me under the water and after realizing he wasn't going to let me up, I gave him a swift elbow to the gut and he disappeared. After 20 minutes of this, I finally found my own space and except for the occasional bump, it was an uneventful single loop in the disgusting "lake." With the help of a swim coach, I learned to swim the entire 2.4 miles without kicking in order to conserve my legs.

The result: I finished the course ~5 minutes faster last year and now had fresh legs going into the bike. Yeah!

Exiting the 2.4 mile swim.

Transition 1: No problem except for dropping my sunglasses under the chair and not finding where I parked my bike. Luckily my parents were right there yelling at me and pointing me in the right direction.

Bike: I told myself that I was going to hold back for the first 30 miles, hold back slightly less the second 30, turn on the engine the third 30, then coast in the last 22. And strangely enough, I was able to do it. I hardly felt I was doing anything that first leg and spent much of time looking at the pretty desert scenery. I passed Mishele about 10 miles in and she told me about her awesome swim. I then left her and began to focus on my nutrition strategy. Gatorade at 15 & 45 min past the hour. PowerGels at 30min and on the hour. 2 Salt Tablets and Clif Shot Bloks every 90 minutes. And in my Special Needs bag at mile 62: a bag of Snyder's Pretzels! This got me at ~2400 calories (~400 cal/hour).

The bike course was relatively flat and very few turns. Certainly a course to set a PR on. The wind was not a huge factor, but it certainly was strong enough to be annoying at times. I was thankful it was not bad as the 20-25mph headwinds of last year's race. I hit the first 30 miles with an average speed of 19.5mph, (1 mph faster than I intended, but I was holding back as shown by my low heart rate (I don't wear a HR monitor...i did it the old fashion way.) I did the same speed for the 2nd 30 miles and was 0.5 mph faster. The third 30 was in 20mph (1mph slower than planned). And the last 22 miles was 18mph (2 mph slower than planned). So the result of this was a time that was 4 minutes slower than I intended. However, I feel that is amazing accuracy in predicting a 112 mile bike ride preceded by a 2.4 mile swim.

The result: I PR'd my bike split by over 7 minutes and nearly a 0.5mph faster than I've ever done. And because I backed off that last 22 miles, my legs felt amazingly fresh. I was pumped for the run!

In the later stages of the 112mile bike through the Arizona desert.

Transition 2: Flawless transition. I changed out of the tight bike shorts into some loose running shorts and a sleeveless dry-fit shirt. While I did give up a minute changing outfits, I felt this would be more than made up for on the run since I was comfortable and felt more in my element as a runner.

Run: With the great day I've been having, I felt the good times would keep on rolling. And they did, the first 16 miles. Then something happened that hasn't happened to me in a race in a long time: I got sick!

Beginning the marathon leg with nutrition in hand.

I was hitting good mile splits in my quest to break 4 hours by going sub 8:00's for the first 7 miles. The next 7 slowed to about 9-10min miles, which was concerning, but I was still looking at a good time. However, I think the Arizona heat finally beat me down as my salt-covered shirt surrounding my lungs and digestive tract simultaneously decided to revolt leaving me with nausea. From mile 16-18.5, I was reduced to a walk and at one point sat down. As I made my slow walk across one of the bridges on the course, I came across a familiar face, my roommate Laurie, her mother, and friends cheering for me. It was great seeing them and I wish I could have given them a better show, but they were forced to see me at my worst moment in the race. I walked on for a quarter-mile and saw my parents. They saw I was in dire straits and as I explained what was going on, the best thing happened to me...I threw up. Three separate bouts of it and it was amazing how much better I felt. It was the color of the gatorade I'd been drinking so apparently my body was not accepting the sugar in the gatorade form, so I swore it off the rest of the race.

After getting a glass of water at the next aid station and talking it over with dad, I revised my goal: to break 12 hours. It would require that I run most of the way, so I did in a slow but steady trot. I saw my day's last familiar face in my cycling buddy Kevin (3 miles ahead), who was on his way for a personal record setting day and we exchanged a "looking good" in our extremely fatigued states. As the sun began to set, I made it to mile 25 with about 19 minutes remaining before the 12hr mark. I picked it up and made the final turn down the finishing lane and slapped hands with the crowd and gave a primal yell as i slapped the tape with 4 fingers raised for my 4th iron-distance triathlon.

The result: A 4:35 marathon, about the same as last year and a 11:53:21 overall performance. 29 minutes better than last year. I was in the upper third of my age group.

IM Finish #4!

Post-Race: The elated feeling of finishing quickly left and things got nasty. I sat in a chair hunched over barely keeping conscious and answering my parents questions with single word answers. I also had a conversation that I don't remember with my roommate, Laurie, who commented that my eyes were rolling to the back of my head. I had a similar one with my sister over the phone who later told me that "you sound like shit." Then I threw up again. Being seen by race officials, they told me to go the medical tent. I refused at first, but they insisted saying that I might need an IV. I was instead given chicken soup, which tasted like crap. In my nauseated and extremely fatigued state, I thought this was a waste of time and so I snuck out and walked back with my parents to the hotel room, took a shower, had a small snack that I could barely stomach, and passed out for the night.

I later found out that my cycling buddies Darin and Kevin kicked some butt in the race. Kevin had a PR day in the low 11s and Darin (in his first IM and battling injury during the last month of training) cranked out an 11:02 on a near perfect day.

However, my favorite story of the day was my friend Mishele's performance. She had competed in the Great Floridian iron-distance triathlon this past October and finished in about 15:50. She had set a goal of 14:30 for this race and while it was certainly possible, it was going to take a miraculous effort. The next morning I thumbed through the posted race results and started at 14 hours and looked onward, but couldn't find her name. I was worried that she didn't finish. I called Mishele and she told me that she finished in 13:39! Over 2 hour improvement! She said it due to her "walking only at the aid station" marathon. Since I woke up in the morning, I began to think that maybe qualifying for Hawaii was a goal that wasn't going to be within my reach. However, her performance gives me hope that I can make a breakthrough improvement just as she did. Now I got to figure out how.

Improvements to make:
Change running nutrition strategy. - I threw up for a reason.
Learn how to run on tired legs! - More brick workouts, more long runs, more weightlifting followed by longer runs.
Mental Game - while i did have a physical reaction during the run, part of that decline prior to mile 16 may have had a mental component. I need to stay tough through the race, just as I did during the swim and the bike.

Final Thoughts
I started my post-college racing career in 2004 with guns blazing. I got into my best shape since my high school running years, and turned in a sub 3 hour marathon and an age-group victory in my first iron-distance triathlon.

My next season in 2005 was mediocre with average finishes in two IM races and battling some piriformis syndrome and foot injury. But, I've come a long way since. I've been PRing in road races from the 5K to the half-marathon. I've hit some breakthrough workouts on the bike thanks to including great cycling partners in my routine. I've learned how to swim without my legs. And I was 2/3 of the way in reaching my Kona dreams. A 3:30 marathon would have put me in striking distance. And I know I can do it. I've got 1 more race before I graduate to the next age-group, where competition becomes better. I look forward to my next few months of training and to see where it takes me.

Thank Yous
My parents - for being my endlessly supportive entourage in these "goofy" races. They have been at each of my finishes and it means a lot to know that they are present during every minute of the 900+ minutes these races last.
Darin & Kevin - for giving me the best cycling training I've ever had and for the camaraderie during training
Ed Wolfgram - for being my IM mentor over the past 2 years.
Mishele - for being there with me as we both transformed ourselves from crazy partying college goofball buddies to crazy endurance athlete goofball pals
My roommates, Laurie and Steve - for putting up with me as I pursue my IM dreams.
You, the reader - for making it to the end of this entry. Leave comments and I'll answer.

Next up: Ironman Lake Placid in upstate New York, July 23, 2006

It's Go Time!

2006-04-05T00:00:00.000-07:00

My 2006 season of 3 Ironman races (my 4th-6th since i began in Sept '04) will begin this weekend. Sunday April 9, 2006, I will join 1800+ triathletes in Tempe, Arizona for Ironman Arizona. As I tell everyone, I train the way I do because the health benefits of the active lifestyle is the best gift I can give myself. And these races are the reward for maintaining this lifestyle. There is no doubt, I would like to be successful in them because I'm as competitive as they come, but it is not the primary reason why I'm here.

Pre-race forecast has it being a hot day in the upper 80s...this should be quite an experience as the hottest day I've trained in this winter has been 70deg. Please body...adjust quickly.

And if you are without anything to do Sunday (or have a few moments), check to see how I'm doing in the race by seeing my status LIVE at www.ironmanlive.com. Just type in my name, George Schweitzer.

This race is also special to me because I'm being joined by two training buddies who hammered out 500+ miles on the bike during long rides this season, Darin and Kevin. In addition, a good friend from college, Mishele, will be racing her second Iron Distance race here. I was a loner during my past 3 IM races, so it will be nice to have some company at the start.

Now it's time to make public the private goals I have had for this race. They are in order of importance.

1. Finish
2. Break my last year's performance at this race (12:21:54)
3. Break my Iron Distance Triathlon PR (11:37:20)
4. To run a sub-4 hour marathon.
5. To break 11 hours total.
6. Swim 1:14, Bike 5:45, Marathon 3:25 = 10:30:00 total time (This has been hanging on my bulletin board since November
7. Qualify for Kona

On each one:

#2 should be attainable given that I suffered a small bout of hyponatremia during the bike portion of the race and was not in as good shape as I am now.

#3 - this is hard to predict since this was done on a different course in a different area of the country (Kansas City, MO). Comparing different Ironman race courses is like comparing apples and oranges.

#4 is reasonable because I have run a 2:59 stand-alone marathon and most triathlon coaches say that if the bike and swim are raced correctly, one should only slow down by 30-45 minutes. And based on my winter road racing, I believe I could pull of a 2:50-55 marathon time, meaning a 3:25-3:45 marathon.

#5 is a good psychological timepoint.

#6 My Superman goal! This is a time that would have qualifed me for Kona last year and are all times I can pull off if I have the race of my life. Again, the competition is better this year, but if I only race myself, I'll win.

#7 - the dream.

Well that's all for me now. I'll write about the experience when I return. Until then, train hard!

Mr. Bonds, meet Mr. Twain

2006-04-04T09:06:00.000-07:00

"It is better to deserve honors and not have them than to have them and not to deserve them." --Mark Twain (1835-1910)

To Shave or not to Shave?

2006-04-02T19:15:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've written, and it's because I've been tapering for Ironman Arizona (a week from today) and being a good student. So the question of the day is an intense debate amongst male triathletes... Should men shave their legs for the race?

My Position: Hell no! I'm proud of my masculinity and that means honoring the same harry legs that my parents, their parents, and their parents before them spent many generations creating and passing on to their sons and daughters. What kind of advantage is it going to give anyway? You wear a wetsuit during the swim which covers your entire body. As for the bike, any beneifts gained from the lack of wind resistance is so slight that it might gain you 30 seconds over the course of the 112-mile ride.

The opposition: Aerodymanics, easier to massage smooth skin, easier to clean up road rash if you crash, and to be part of "cycling club."

My rebuttal: Well the first issue has been addressed. The second response is certainly valid, but that's why lotions and lubricants were invented...right? The last...this is probably the best argument out there. I've wiped out my fair share of times and having some hair on the legs certainly makes cleaning out wounds more challenging. And their is certainly a greater risk of infection. But I'm going to chalk this up as a price to pay for maintaining my masculinity (or laziness, whatever comes first). Finally, the last point. Be your own man. You're a triathlete...not a cyclist!

This leg shaving has to stop!

Biking Woes

2006-03-18T20:14:00.001-08:00

A couple weeks ago, I described a freezing ordeal while on my weekly long bike ride. Last week, thanks to the always inconsistent St. Louis weather, i suffered severe sun burns on a warm, overcast day during my 105-mile ride. I recently just peeled away a previously healthy area of skin.

And today? During my 112-mile bike ride, while adjusting my bike gloves, I took a nasty spill and bruised the hell out of my upper thigh and added a few nice strawberries on my left leg and arm. And the worst part, this was only 5 miles into my workout. But being the stubborn fool I am, I cursed a bunch of times, picked up my gels, bars, and bottles, and got back on the saddle. Needless to say, I was able to finish off the remaining 107 miles without incident except for a frostbitten hand resulting from the torn up glove. Thinking I could finish the day up with a 30-minute run, I took 10 steps and almost fell over due to the soreness in my leg. Crap! Well hopefully, my last long ride next weekend before Ironman Arizona is without incident.

Moral of the story: Concrete is hard and like sandpaper...and wear sunscreen!

Race Report: Got Guts 4hr Endurance Race

2006-03-11T19:11:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday I joined two former collegiate middle-distance runner friends of mine, Andy and Mike, for a rather interesting race that was unlike any other running race we had entered: a relay race called Got Guts 4 Hour Endurance in Cape Girardeau, MO. In this race, teams of 3 run one at a time, tagging the next runner in after completing a 1.76-mile mountain biking trail complete with twists, turns, short steep ascents, descents, and 2 creek crossing. There also was a solo entrant division.

Andy, Mike, and I drove down to Cape from St. Louis friday night and stayed in Mike's sister's dormroom which put my alma mater's residence halls to shame. Following the night of the most comfortable dorm floor I've ever slept on, we arrived at the Delaware Park Mountain Bike Trail to a brisk, dewey morning. There was a small but enthusiastic turnout to the event. After a warm-up on the course we discovered that our ankles and quads were going to be tested during the next 4 hours. Except for the start, there was no place to get speed because a U-turn, steep rise, or a creek would be in the way.

Andy was our starting man and he took the lead right from the start and we never looked back. I was the middle-man and Mike took up the anchor spot and by the end of the 4 hours, we racked up roughly 35 miles consisting of 7 loops for Andy and I and 6 for Mike. Andy, our lead man, also set a single loop course record of 11:03 and he didn't deviate much from that pace throughout. I kept a 11:35-11:40 average and Mike, coming off a recovery period, maintained twelves. This course certainly humbled our road race splits at this distance, slowing it by roughly 2-2.5 minutes.

Highlights of the day included lapping our nearest competition, beer at the end of the race, and my encounter with a thorn brush after taking a turn a little too quickly.

In all, the day was a great long-interval training session for my Ironman next month and I got the best ankle/calf muscle workout of the year. And I had a good time hanging out with these two guys as they have been good training partners and friends. Pics from the race, taken by each of us during our rest, are below. Thanks to Andy for bringing his pimped out camera.

Mike tagging Andy in.

CREEK CROSSING DEMONSTRATION IN 3 PICTURES (courtesy of Koziatek Photography (that's Andy) The approach. Time the last foot before the creek so you don't break a stride.

Leaping! Hang on!

Resume your regularly scheduled running.

Mike gliding over the creek.

Tagging in Mike. Nearly 3/4 done.

Andy leaping over the creek with no show of effort.

Rounding the 8-millionth turn as can be shown by might right arm uncharacteristically crossing over the body.

Me, Mike, and Andy after winning the race, thirteen miles of race-pace running, and a few beers. Awesome day!

"I don't want to get off on a rant here."

2006-03-09T19:12:00.000-08:00

Warning: I don't like talking from a soapbox. But there are times when I can't help but doing so. This is one of those times.

I work in an environment (a research lab) that becomes a battlefield over every arguable subject from our work to politics to relationships. I enjoy this because it fills the void I have when I'm not with my family...our love of bitching and fighting. And call me a sadist, but often I will take a side that I may not agree with, just to throw some punches. I often care little about the subjects we argue, so I don't get as emotionally invested as my colleagues do, but there is one area that always fuels the fire within. This war zone regards health and the individual.

In this matter, I am rather hawkish (if that is a such a side) and often voice my displeasure with the way people take care of themselves in terms of their health. More specifically, a lack of sound general nutrition and little to no exercise. There is know doubt I am biased due to my active lifestyle, but this is a subject I know I'm right about and every dissenter is wrong.

So what is said?

"There isn't enough time." So I guess you don't watch TV, sleep only 3 hours each night, work 3 jobs, and married with 6 kids. C'mon man, is there really not a half-hour that can be squeezed in?

"It's boring." Make it fun. Involve friends.

"I'm very focused in my career." Look at every successful CEO and boss you have, and I will bet a cool one dollar bill (I'm not a gambler), that they exercise and eat healthy because it helps them stay focused and energetic about their work.

"I'm healthy enough." No one is ever healthy enough.

"I'm too tired to do other things if I exercise." Exercise, given a few weeks of initial adjustment, will make you more energetic. So will eating a healthy diet.

"It's too expensive." This is a tough one to overcome I will admit, but if there's a will, there's a way. Shop at discount grocery scores. You don't need equipment (except a half-decent pair of shoes) to run, do push-ups, crunches, pull-ups, etc.

And the one that drives me nuts the most... "Medicine will be there to help me out."

The following opening to the monologue below is brought to you by comedian Dennis Miller.

"Now I don't want to get off on a rant here," but the world is overmedicated. This is not an original statement, but one that bears repeating. The mainstream thinks that medicine and science have the ability to help whatever mental or physical ailment that comes along. And for the most part, it certainly has. There are new therapies for Multiple Sclerosis patients, new insulin regimens for diabetics, drug therapy for cancer, and the list goes on. These acute ailments and genetic conditions need medicine on the front line.

However, the leading killer of people today is heart disease with obesity close behind. And the rate is continuing to shoot skyward. These are NOT acute ailments and often NOT genetically linked...but rather stem from a chronic problem: poor lifestyle choices. Unfortunately, modern medicine has not even begun to help these people. Look at the raw numbers in the past 50 years. Medicine has come a long way in treating the sick, but yet there are more people sick than ever before. How is this possible?

Imagine if people ate well and exercised regularly. In this perfect world, we might actually see medicine doing some good. But this doesnt happen. Why? Because people demand a quick fix to whatever problem they have: lose weight, lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol, help them concentrate, better their mood, etc. So what happens? Pharmaceutical companies meet this demand by researching, developing, and supplying these drugs, increasing health care costs and insurance premiums for everyone.

And when their first drug fails, they go to next drug and then the next. And this goes on while these people do not admit (and in my experience, flat-out deny) that most of these problems can be simply (and cheaply) fixed if they eat piece of fruit instead of the Hershey Bar or walk their ass around the block a few times. In the meantime, the drug companies and academic instutions are not devoting full resources to combat diabetes, the cancers, the genetic conditions, and acute ailments affecting those who were unlucky and got that sickness at no fault of their own. So the point of this rant is to bitch about people screwing other poor folks out of focused research on their genetic condition and a severe misallocation of this taxpayers' health care contributions due to a gluttonous and lazy society.

And yes I realize that there are barriers that I am not mentioning such as some people not having safe neighborhoods to exercise in, the direct correlation between education level and exercise adherence, and socio-economic status being a major influence on physical activity level and the ability to buy healthy foods. However, the people I have in mind while I rant are of the "well-off" demographic. So if these people aren't capable of helping themselves, even with all the tools and hurdle-free path, I can't see how I can be wrong. Good health should be prioritized over money, success in career, and even relationships because health is the foundation on which all these things are built. Prove me otherwise!

I will now step down from my soapbox.

"I'm so c..co..cold!" - A Freezing Hell Ride on the Bike

2006-03-06T21:17:00.000-08:00

My cycling training partner, who is competing in Ironman Arizona with me next month, and I experienced the coldest experience of our entire lives. We decided to go biking for our weekly long ride on Sunday this week. The plan called for 5.5 hours (100-miles) and the forecast called for 38-40deg Fahrenheit and light rain.

They were right on the temperature, but wrong on the degree of precipitation. It rained like a son of a bitc...

Needless to say, we got soaked to the core 90 minutes into the ride when we decided to bag it (this followed 30 minutes of trying not to show weakness to the other, by saying "it's not too bad"). The only problem was that it would take 1 hour to get back going at our best pace and taking every shortcut we knew. Thus, began the longest hour I have ever worked out. Within minutes, my fingers could not move, and I could not feel my toes. Fortunately, my feet were clipped into my bike pedals and all I had to focus on was spinning my legs.

Shifting gears was a hilarious sight if anyone could witness it. Unable to manipulate my fingers, I was forced to use my hand as a hammer and punch the shifters on top of my aerobars to switch gears. This was usually successful after a few misses.

To make matters worse, I completely bonked. Forgetting that being this cold would cause me to use more of my energy stores, I did not fuel myself appropriately and now lost hand capacity to tear open one of my powerbars and gels...or hold on to my bottle of gatorade. I could either stop riding and be stuck in the cold to concentrate on getting the fuel in me, or fight through it so I could get back sooner. I chose the latter and it was the right choice.

And now for the icing on this cold cake. We were riding on the bluffs in Illinois running parallel to the mighty Mississippi River. The quickest way back called for us ride down these bluffs into the river valley. And if the 20mph speed we were averaging prior wasn't producing a harsh enough wind chill, this 300-foot descent over 2 miles certainly would. We averaged 35mph down the seemingly endless descent and I experienced a few scares on the slick roads due to my frozen body's inability to completely control my balance. In this 4-minute descent (plus 5 "bonus" minutes on the flats due to our momentum), I experienced a cold that I previously heard described in the Mount Everest disaster story, "Into Thin Air," by Jon Krakauer. He described a cold that felt like knives stabbing into you, and this wasn't far from the sensation I was feeling.

Although the remaining 9 miles were not as painful, the cumulative effects of this cold began to take their toll. I was beginning to feel sleepy and fought hard at times to maintain focus straight ahead through my fogged sunglasses. There were a few gracious moments when the rain eased a bit, but it always came back back in full force. The only warmth left in my body were in my quads, which were doing all they can to get the rest of my body back to my car.

Finally, we reached the last turn and pulled into the parking lot and silently began the process of breaking down our equiptment to get in the car. If I thought I was in the clear now, I was wrong. With my immovable fingers, I spent 5 mintues trying to pull my wallet out of my back jersey pocket which contained my car key. Another minute was spent trying to put the key in the keyhole and turn it. Then 2 more minutes of starting the car. Once started I ran outside and put the bike inside my car because putting it on the bike rack would have been impossible. And the last obstacle to overcome was taking off my bike helmet and surprisingly, unbuckling the headstrap proved to be the most difficult task of all. Once done, I sat in the car, stripped out of my wet clothes and put on the only dry clothing I had: a t-shirt I had left in the car the night before.

I sat in the car for 30 minutes shivering uncontrollably while the car slowly began to warm up and when i finally regained feeling in my extremeties, I began the 30minute drive home. 50miles were logged, but it may as well been 200, because I never felt pain like this my entire life. If pain threshold is proven to be an adaptable function on the body, then I'm ready for Ironman Arizona next month.

Moral of this story:
1. Bring dry clothes everywhere you go.
2. 40deg weather + rain + 20mph of wind chill from biking = much colder than 40 deg.
3. I'm an idiot...sometimes.

Where to Get Performance Tested

2006-02-25T22:39:00.000-08:00

In my last post, I described all the different measurements you can have taken to assess physiological performance. This can be done by a trained technician at a health club with access to the various equiptment used. Most of these measurements can be quite expensive and you always run the risk of an operator not being truthful with explaining the meaning behind the numbers in order to keep you a member of the club and test you in the future.

So is there a cheap and objective alternative? Yes...and I'll even go further and say there is a profitable and objective alternative. Where is this?

Universities!

Many universities have programs in exercise physiology and kinesiology since they are rising fields in the health care industry. And just like any other institution of this nature, they are operated and funded to complete research. In most experiments, the subject's physiological make up needs to be recorded and this means having your body fat percentage, lean muscle mass, VO2 max, lactate threshold, strength, and flexiblity assessed. Furthermore, individuals are often compensated monetarily for their time donated. So not only are you assessing your machine and making a few bucks, but you are providing for scientific community and helping answer questions that will advance our knowledge about the activities we love so much.

So inquire the kinesiology/exercise physiology departments at local universities and help each other out. For my St. Louis area readers, check out Southern Illinois Univesity in Edwardsville (SIUE) and Washington University in St. Louis.

Physiological Performance Testing - Body Composition, VO2 Max, Strength Assessment

2006-02-23T20:38:00.000-08:00

Sports science has increased at dramatic rates in the past decade. More scientists are choosing to devote their life's work to exercise physiology, kinesiology, nutritional sciences, and sports medicine over other disciplines in medical/biological research. Advancements in engineering and computer technology have produced machines that have provided greater accuracy and reliability in many physiological and functional tests. It has even taken hold of the author of this web log, who wants to devote his career to research in exercise physiology, studying both athletes and those afflicted with different pathophysiologies (namely diabetes and coronary disease).

Along with the emerging science, metabolic and physiological performance testing for the athlete has grown increasing popular. Many gyms now have machines or contract through other facilities to give their members a physical assessment based on science rather than self-report and observation.

Much like you can take your car for a performance test to assess fuel efficiency, you can now give your body to experienced hands and have the following determined...

% Body Fat & Lean Body Mass - once determined with pinching fat with skin calipers, now the gold standard is a device called the BodPod which estimates body fat percentage based on air displacement in a air-tight chamber in a matter of seconds. The DXA (dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry) is also gaining popularity which operates the same as an x-ray and provides information about bone density in addition to body fat.

VO2 Max - This is an abbreviation for the maximum amount of oxygen your body is capable of using to make energy. These levels are lowest at rest (where heart rates are lowest), and increase in a linear fashion as exercise intensity, and heart rate, increases. It is a test that is a good indicator of the level of one's cardio-respiratory fitness. This is given in numbers from 10-86 ml/kg/min. Middle distance runners and cross country skiiers have shown the highest VO2 max, such as running legend Steve Prefontaine, who was recorded having a V02 max of 84 ml/kg/min. Although this number is influenced by gender (male - up, female -down) and age (older - down, younger - up), anything over 40 is considered very good and average is typically in the 30s.

Using a treadmill or stationary bike, a client wears a mask over their mouth that reads the amount of oxygen consumed and carbon dioxide released. As the Graded Exercise Test (GXT) progresses, the treadmill becomes faster and a higher incline, while the bicycle has greater resistance. Depending on the type of test you go until you cannot go anymore (maximal) or go until your heart rate reaches steady-state (submaximal).

Lactate Threshold - Lactate is the burning sensation you feel when you are exercising. It is a chemical your body produces that essentially forces your body to slow down and recharge itself. Lactate Threshold is the point at which there is an abrupt increase in blood lactate levels at a certain level of exercise. This is determined by taking tiny drops of blood during a GXT test at each stage.

Maximum Heart Rate - once determined as 220-your age, the standard now can be assessed along side a treadmill or bicycle ergometer GXT test.

Strength Assessment - Instead of risking injury and attempting to max out on the bench, trained physiologists can use dynamometers, cable tensiometers, and load cells to measure static (no visible movement of joint) strength and endurance. Dynamic (visible joint movement) strength and endurance is assessed using certain protocols with various machines such as leg press, extension, and flexion.

Flexibility Assessment - Goniometers (the protractor-like device with two steel or plastic arms that measure joint angle at the extremes of the range of motion) are used to assess flexibility.

Finding out this information can helpful in that it provides a clear, objective assessment of your state of physical conditioning. In my next post, I will show you where you can have all this determined at no cost...and even get paid to find out.

5-Mile Race Training Prescription for Roller Derby Girls

2006-02-22T23:32:00.000-08:00

Yes, it is not every day I get approached by the St. Louis Arch Rivals Rollergirls Roller-Derby team for a training prescription. Also check them out at their MySpace link. Many on the team are going to participate in the St. Patrick's Day Run and want to be able to complete the race reasonably well. They have roller derby practice 3 nights/week and wanted a training plan that had them running 2-3 days/week in addition to their practices.

Below is my training prescription for the 5-mile run with a few notes beforehand.

If you would like a training prescription for any sport or activity, please don't hesitate to contact me at georgegschweitzer@yahoo.com. Other prescriptions I have posted are a half-marathon and an adventure race.

************************************************************************
I always give people 3 day/week prescriptions with these 3 types of runs:
a) long, easy run (Long)
b) medium, average run (Medium)
c) short, fast run (Fast)

For 2 day/week prescription, I say do LONG and MEDIUM one week and LONG and FAST the next week. However, I do not advise 2 day/week prescription for beginners beause the risk of injury is too great. Running is a sport that needs to be given its due adjustment. However since you are presumably working out with your roller practices, this should be ok.

So here is my recommendation. I will "*" the 2 days to do if you can only go 2 times per week, but i very much recommending doing the 3 days. You will be much better off in terms of preparation and injury prevention. And do these in order of the week as listed. As you can see they all follow the same basic idea each week.

Note: All workouts should be followed up by stretching...this is very important to avoid tightness, cramping, and injury

Week 1
Day 1: *Medium - Jog for 15 minutes straight and every 5 minutes do a 20 second sprint (therefore you should do 3 sprints total - runners call this a Fartlack run)
Day 2: Fast - 6x200meter sprints with 90sec rest inbetween (go to a track or just estimate a half a lap on the track and do 6 sprints of 200 meters, and rest for 90 seconds and do the next. Make sure to warm up before this with an easy jog for 5 minutes and don't forget to stretch afterwards)
Day 3: *Long - Run for 25minutes or 2.5miles (if you get to 2.5 miles before 25 minutes, finish up the 25 minutes)

Week 2
Day 1: Medium - Fartlek for 20 minutes with a 30 second sprint every 5 minutes (4 total sprints) - remember this is an average run...not too fast, not too slow...except for the sprinting, make sure you are working throughout the run.
Day 2: *Fast - 7x200meter sprints - 90 second rest inbetween
Day 3: *Long - Run for 30minutes or 3 miles

Week 3
Day 1: *Medium - Fartlek for 25 minutes with a 30 second sprint every 5 minutes (5 total sprints)
Day 2: Fast - 8x200meter sprints - 90 second rest inbetween
Day 3: *Long - Run for 40minutes or 4 miles

Week 4
Day 1: Medium - Fartlek for 30 minutes with a 30 second sprint every 5 minutes (30 total sprints)
Day 2: *Fast - 9x200meter sprints - 90 second rest
Day 3: *Long - Run for 40minutes or 4 miles

Week 5
Day 1: *Medium - Fartlack for 30 minutes with a 30 second sprint every 5 minutes (30 total sprints)
Day 2: Fast - 5x200meter sprints - 90 second rest
Day 3: *RACE DAY!

The Secret to Training: Timing

2006-02-21T00:25:00.000-08:00

Friends and family often ask me how I have time to train for 3+hrs/day and still maintain work, graduate school, and a social life. And most do not believe how simple I make it sound.

I get up 2 hours earlier than I would if I didn't train and work out for an hour immediately after work...my 3 hours!

Nothing profound, and it hasn't failed me yet. 5:30am rise, 5:50-7:50am train, 7:50-8:40am breakfast/clean/drive to work. Then after work: no TV, no internet, no nothing...just put on my workout clothes and head out the door for hour #3. Then everything else can begin.

I find that many people usually use the time after work to veg for an hour or more in front of the tube. I call this dead time. Maybe it's necessary for someone less Type A than myself (although I never considered myself a Type A), but it's a great block of time that is often missed when scheduling a day.

Now keep in mind, I'm a young, single guy. Much respect to all my married with children readers!

Half-Marathon Training Prescription for a Soccer Player

2006-02-20T19:45:00.000-08:00

A good friend of mine of mine is interested in running the St. Louis Half-Marathon this April and wanted my help in designing a program for her. She is an indoor soccer player in her early 20s and is also a vegan (this nutritional lifestyle is very prevalent among many endurance athletes...most notably the invincible ultra-marathoner, Scott Jurek).

Assuring me she has the nutrional component of training down, she wanted help with workouts and with her permission, I will post this training prescription below. Prior to this, she sent me her time constraints, described to me a well-rounded strength training routine that she completes, and gave me an honest assessment of her fitness level (which I felt was strong, otherwise I would have discouraged her from starting training for a long race that is only 8 weeks away).

Feel free to use this training prescription for yourself or for others. Let me know if you would like me to prescribe something for you. I have a solid resume (also check out Adventure Racing Training Prescription).

NOTE:
-I am going to divide runs into 4 categories and recommend doing each one weekly.
a) LONG RUN - the goal here is distance...not speed. But don't go at a dilly daddle pace either. i even recommend using time as your guage and not mileage...but that's your own call
b) SPEED WORK - on a track where you will do shorter intervals at very high intensity
c) FARTLACK - up tempo longer (basically inbetween LONG and SPEED in terms of effort)
d) WILD CARD (WC) - hill work, combination of FARTLACK AND SPEED

Week 1
M - Run-Fartlack: 35min run: warm up 5 min, Then 5min at up-tempo pace followed by 1min hard effort (repeat until 30min reached, then easy jog last 5 min)
T - swim (30-45min) or REST
W - Run-Speed: 10x200m Sprints on the track rest 2-3min in between each & Lift
R - swim (30-45min), soccer
F - Run-WC:Hill repeats: (Art Hill is good or the road to the north of Art Hill) - 5x with each hill run lasting at least 35-40 seconds. Lift
Sa- Long Run - 6mi or 55min (whichever is longer to do)
Su- active recovery - swim, biking, eliptical, easy lift

Week 2
M - Run-Fartlack: 40min run: warm up 5 min. Then 4min at up-tempo pace followed by 1min hard effort (repeat until 35min reached, then easy jog last 5 min)
T - swim (30-45min) or REST
W - Run-Speed: 12x200m Sprints on the track rest 2-3min in between each & Lift
R - swim (30-45min), soccer
F - Run-WC: 30 min run - 10min easy, 10min very up-tempo, 10min easy. Lift
Sa- Long Run - 7mi or 65min (whichever is longer to do)
Su- active recovery - swim, biking, eliptical, easy lift

Week 3
M - Run-Fartlack: 45min run: warm up 5 min. Then 5min at up-tempo pace followed by 1min hard effort (repeat until 40min reached, then easy jog last 5 min)
T - swim (30-45min) or REST
W - Run-Speed: 4x400m Sprints on the track rest 4-5min in between each & Lift
R - swim (30-45min), soccer
F - Run-WC:Hill repeats: (Art Hill is good or the road to the north of Art Hill) - 6x with each hill run lasting at least 35-40 seconds. Lift
Sa- Long Run - 8mi or 75min (whichever is longer to do)
Su- active recovery - swim, biking, eliptical, easy lift

Week 4
M - Run-Fartlack: 45min run: 5 min warm up. Then 6min at up-tempo pace followed by 2min hard effort (repeat until 38 min reached, then jog the rest)
T - swim (30-45min) or REST
W - Run-Speed: 6x400m Sprints on the track rest 4-5in between each & Lift
R - swim (30-45min), soccer
F - Run-WC: 42 min run - 14min easy, 14min very up-tempo, 14min easy. Lift
Sa- Long Run - 9mi or 85min (whichever is longer to do)
Su- active recovery - swim, biking, eliptical, easy lift

Week 5
M - Run-Fartlack: 45min run: 5 min warm up. Then 6min at up-tempo pace followed by 2min hard effort (repeat until 38 min reached, then jog the rest)
T - swim (30-45min) or REST
W - Run-Speed: 6x400m Sprints on the track rest 2-3min in between each & Lift
R - swim (30-45min), soccer
F - Run-WC:Hill repeats: (Art Hill is good or the road to the north of Art Hill) - 7x with each hill run lasting at least 35-40 seconds. Lift
Sa- Long Run - 10mi or 95min (whichever is longer to do)
Su- active recovery - swim, biking, eliptical, easy lift

Week 6
M - Run-Fartlack: 45min run: 5 min warm up. Then 7min at up-tempo pace followed by 3min hard effort (repeat until 38 min reached, then jog the rest)
T - swim (30-45min) or REST
W - Run-Speed: 8x400m Sprints on the track rest 4-5in between each & Lift
R - swim (30-45min), soccer
F - Run-WC: 45 min run - 15min easy, 15min very up-tempo, 15min easy. Lift
Sa- Long Run - 11mi or 105min (whichever is longer to do)
Su- active recovery - swim, biking, eliptical, easy lift

Week 7 - Taper Week A - Decrease Volume
Note: All lifting should be easy...do more lower weight reps
M - Run-Fartlack: 40min run: warm up 5 min. Then 6min at up-tempo pace followed by 2min hard effort (repeat until 35min reached, then easy jog last 5 min)
T - swim (30-45min) or REST
W - Run-Speed: 4x400 Sprints on the track rest 2-3min in between each & Lift
R - swim (30-45min), soccer
F - Run-WC: Nice and Easy Jog for 30min. Lift
Sa- Long Run - 8mi or 75min (whichever is longer to do)
Su- active recovery - swim, biking, eliptical, NO LIFT TODAY

Week 8 - Taper Week B - Rest Well, Eat Healthy
Note: no lifting
M - 20 min up-tempo RUN
T - swim (30min)
W - 30 min run, nice and easy
R - REST
F - 20 min up-tempo run, Stretch well, Carbo load well today
Sa- REST, stretch well, carbo load
Su- RACE DAY! KICK SOME ASS!

Should I Exercise Alone or With Friends?

2006-02-19T18:31:00.000-08:00

There is an emerging area in behavioral psychology that holds much promise in finding a sure-fire method to get people to be less sedentary and take up an active lifestyle: social influences on exercise.

Psychologists are hard at work to find what are the best methods to get people off the couch and to the gym, park, or around the block in order to increase health. It should not come to much surprise that the most successful intervention to exercise adherence, for us being social creatures, is to involve other people in our exercise routines. According to various research, these groups should consist of the following...

1. Similar level of ability
2. Small in size
3. Having a similar goal

However, one should also note, that those who tend to adhere to an exercise program the longest are those who are able to eventually exercise or train alone just as often as they do with a group.

This is very true in my own experience and found great breakthroughs in my Ironman training this year compared to last because I now join 2 cyclists for the long bike ride once/week, a running buddy weekly for the long run, and a friend for my M,W,F early morning swim and lifting. We all work together, chat it up, and move towards our goals. However, the rest of the week, I'm running and biking on my own.

So the answer to this question...do both.

Note: The information presented here is based primarily on the research of Albert V. Carron of the University of Western Ontario , who is a leader in studying group dynamics in exercise behavior. To read more of his reasearch, type his name in the MEDLINE search engine to get primary research articles.

Super Sunday - Super Calories

2006-02-05T13:10:00.000-08:00

Here is an amusing article that explains the 1-day feeding of America's favorite 5 hours in sports each year...food consumption.

"The average armchair quarterback will munch down 1,200 calories, and 50 grams of fat from snacks alone -- without taking into account any meals or the millions of bottles of beer and cans of soda fans will guzzle."

"'To burn off those 1,200 calories ... it would take three hours of walking around a football field, or one hour and 45 minutes of running,' said Beth Hubrich, a dietician with the Calorie Control Council, a non-political trade association. The Council is advising fans to pick fat free potato chips and dips made from salsa, which is fat free, and reduced fat sour cream and non-fat yogurt."

Many athletes, like every other sports-loving American, will be partaking in this food binge. But then again, many will follow it up the next day with some calorie burning workouts...what will you do?

Get Your Ass Out of Bed

2006-01-30T09:04:00.000-08:00

Nike is currently running a commerical advertising it's Air Max 360 shoes. The commerical shows all different kinds of athletes waking up to their alarm and hitting the roads, pool, gym, tennis courts, football fields, alleyways, etc. for their early morning workout.

I, as well as may other triathletes, can certainly relate to this commerical.

Check it out at this website (It's a Flash site, so you have to navigate to it by clicking on the Big Air Max 360 shoe in the center TWICE, then look below to where it says "View the Commerical."

Also take advantage of the "Athlete Wakeup Call," where you can have famous athletes help you get out of bed in the early morn. I had tennis star Maria Sharapova wake me up this morning. Unfortunately she didn't respond when I tried to spin some game...sigh.

Note: This is not an endorsement of Nike, but merely the author's satisfaction with a good marketing campaign aimed at the early bird athlete.

Go Slow to Move Fast

2006-01-28T12:25:00.001-08:00

Before I ran my first half-marathon of the year, I read a quote that was my internally repeated phrase during the race (along with an Eminem song).

"It is not always about how fast we can run, but, how controlled we can run at speed. Sometimes we have to run slower in order to run faster!"

I think that's a reason for my PR perfomance today. Try it...it's the same idea as Negative Splits.

Grand Slam of Marathons?

2006-01-24T19:20:00.000-08:00

The most popular and most competitive marathons in the world have decided to team up to create a series of races analagous to the Wimbeldon, US, French, and Australian Open of Tennis, the PGA, Masters, US, and British Open of Golf, and the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and the Belmont Stakes of horse racing.

Organizers of the Berlin, Chicago, New York City, Boston, and London Marathon will create a competition to award the best runner of all these races. Professionals will compete in at least 3 of the races to qualify and gain points based on their best finishes. The World Championships and Olympics will be included in this series depending on the timing. This competition, unlike the Tennis & Golf Grand Slam and Triple Crown competition, will span 2 years.

Bottom line: It's a step in the right direction for generating interest in a sport that is constantly listed in a blurb on the back page of the sports section.

"He was a rebel who happened to run."

2006-01-23T17:06:00.000-08:00

Nike commerical and biography on the late running legend, Steve Prefontaine.

Again...no such thing as magic foods including Soy

2006-01-23T06:54:00.000-08:00

It seems like every day there are new stuides coming out touting the goodness or badness of a certain food or micronutrient. Soy is the next victim in that new research has shown it doesn't have the cholesterol lowering effects as once thought.

"Veggie burgers and tofu might not be so great at warding off heart disease after all. An American Heart Association committee reviewed a decade of studies on soy's benefits and came up with results that are now casting doubt on the health claim that soy-based foods and supplements significantly lower cholesterol."

So what the hell is a person to do? Who do you listen to? Where should you get your information regarding nutrition? Those are all questions without good answers. So the only answer to provide is to again follow the 3 key tenets of healthful nutrition...

Variety, Balance, and Moderation

So whether you are a vegan or a meat n' potatoes dude, there is not one good food in either of these diets that will provide everything you need. You need to mix it up in good proportions and moderate serving sizes. Then and only then, will optimal nutrition be reached.

79 days: Ironman #4

2006-01-21T08:36:00.000-08:00

The time for Ironman Arizona, my 4th iron-distance triathlon is about 11 weeks away. The next 8 weeks of training will consist of my longest and hardest workouts of the year. 6+ hour bike rides followed by 1hr runs. 20mile up-tempo runs. Speed work on the track doing 400m and 800m repeats in the double digits on 30seconds rest. Swimming 4+ hours/week (not much to most swimmers, but that's a lot for me). Lifting 3 days/week. Yoga every night before bed. Eating like a pig all the time in between.

And I love every minute of it.

Reasons to be Athletic #5: You Can Have Your "Cake" and "Eat" it Too!

2006-01-19T19:41:00.001-08:00

My workout tonight was on my bike trainer indoors. At the same time, I popped in a DVD and watched the movie and before I knew it, I biked 2 hours.

So for those out there who are like me and can't break away from 24, Lost, Scrubs, Rescue Me, Beauty and the Geek 2, Office, Family Guy, and like my friends who are addicted to Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, Boston Public, Without a Trace, CSI, Law and Order, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, etc...multitask your activities and you will feel good you watched these shows.

If you don't have bike trainer or a treadmill, use free weights or do push-ups and situps during the commerical breaks. You won't lose any of your favorite past time.

Reasons to be Athletic #4: Keep your Head

2006-01-17T20:45:00.000-08:00

A new study shows a link between exercise and delaying dementia. Anyone that knows someone with Alzheimer's can say just how horrible of a condition this is. Check out the article here.

"Older people who exercise three or more times a week are less likely to develop Alzheimer's and other types of dementia, according to a study that adds to the evidence that staying active can help keep the mind sharp. Researchers found that healthy people who reported exercising regularly had a 30 to 40 percent lower risk of dementia."

Reasons to be Athletic #3: Google Yourself

2006-01-16T21:47:00.000-08:00

Want to find yourself amongst the other John Smith's and Jane Taylor's on the internet? Sign up for a race that will display the results over the net. Impress your friends and family by emailing them the link to your performance.

You'll know you really made it when you can type in your name in the Google search engine itself and your name and race event is proudly displayed amongst the first 10 entries.

Try it now...Google, Yahoo, or Ask Jeeves.

(Note: this is not an endorsement of Google or any search engine, it is just the author using the fancy schmancy pop culture lingo)

Reasons to be Athletic #2: No Viagra Needed

2006-01-15T21:12:00.000-08:00

To all my male readers: please read this abstract to a scientific article review. Avoiding the obesity epidemic through exercise is a sure-fire way to maintain that sex life that I'm sure you don't want to give up.

"Epidemiological studies suggest that modifiable health behaviors, including physical activity and leanness, are associated with a reduced risk for erectile dysfunction (ED) among men."

This also reminds me of a recent, but very crude joke.

Did you hear about the new drug that is suppose to be 10 times more powerful than Viagra? It's called micoxaphalin. (ba dum dum ching!)

Reasons to Be Athletic #1

2006-01-14T22:22:00.000-08:00

To deal with life's problems and misgivings as succinctly stated by Tom Hanks in "Forrest Gump" explaining why he was running for over 2 years:

"My Mama always said you've got to put the past behind you before you can move on. And I think that's what my running was all about."

Do Materials that Create Comfort, Comfort?

2006-01-07T17:02:00.000-08:00

This philosophical statement has been constantly questioned and endlessly scrutinized, so it's time I file in and add my piece. My perspective will be from that of an athlete.

Like many, I spent time with friends and family during the holidays. Aside from the usual gossip about love lives and satisfaction with work and school, much of the conversation this year centered around materials. I found myself on the listening end on discussions about the iPOD Nano, the 50-inch flat screen tv, the new BMW, the latest purse from Prada, the digital camera boosting 10 megapixals, designer clothes, the blackberry, the Xbox 360, and my favorite...the jacuzzi complete with a built-in stereo system, light show, and multi-speed, multi-angled jets that can massage just about anything.

It was great to see the faces of my friends light up at the thought of these things and I was happy they were pleased with their new toys. When I asked why they liked them, I was given responses such as "it makes doing this much easier," "it looks really cool," and "it's better because it can do this which my older one couldn't do."

I soon felt that life more difficult and uncomfortable because I decided that a subsidy for a ski trip to Utah to be a better gift. But that would only last a week. I would spend the other 51 weeks without other tools that would readily provide a source of enjoyment. I could be jamming to a Bon Jovi using a device often mistaken for a pack of gum or I could spend evenings shooting at foes over the internet on the Xbox game, Halo. Furthermore, the price tag for the plethora of races I join and the Ironman triathlon races at $450 a pop was sacrificing additional luxuries: a digital camera, payments for a car, new clothes, etc.

When I talk to people about their possessions, I think of my own choices and wonder if I'm missing out. Why am I not investing in these materials, but rather "come and go" experiences?

Then while I'm pounding the gears on an open road in the middle of nowhere Missouri or in a quiet pool at 6am, I remember why.

If you were to ask, I would not be able to tell you what I got for Christmas as a kid, but I could tell you stories from my trips I took as a youngin' out west with my family to see amongst many other trips, the majesty of Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming.

The same idea applies to the athlete. I can remember vivid details of my first Iron-distance triathlon. The smell of the air, the taste of the gatorade and bananas on the bike, the cheering of my friends and family, and the feeling of crossing the finish line after 11.5 hours of exertion. I remember the feeling of coming inside after running through below zero weather to a warm apartment. I remember the taste of fried chicken and a sprite after finishing a century long bike ride.

None of these things would be objects I can pick up and use when I wanted, but they certainly were always available when I needed them.

So when I get together with these friends and family next time, I wonder how many of the objects they said that made them happy still do so with the same intensity as originally before. Most likely, they have been replaced because "it can do this which the older one couldn't do." So it begs the question, do materials make people happy? Do possessions fill in voids in your life? Will certain objects, toys, and the new, latest thing provide you with a sense of fulfillment until the day you die?

If you ask the athlete this question, they'll say the experience of having a good workout or a successful race over the weekend made them smile.

Skiing and Fitness

2006-01-02T21:31:00.000-08:00

Spending a week on the slopes in Salt Lake City, Utah with some friends and a pair of skis proved to be yet another way to maintain the training of the flat and lowland athlete.

Legs
Skiing about 6 hours/day for 5 straight days left me with legs feeling like I was on the bike constantly. The burn was mostly concentrated in the quadriceps and partially in the calves. Whether I maneuvered carefully down a double black descent (most difficult) complete with rocks, trees, and cliffs or cruised down the fast, icy blue slopes (intermediate level), the legs burned and did not stop burning until long after the day was called.

Cardiovascular
Not only did I burn, but I panted…gulping down that “oh so tasty” oxygen proved to be a challenge at 10,000 feet, especially when I was climbing a ridge for 10 minutes on slippery skis just to ski down it in 2 seconds. But riding my bike trainer here at 1000-foot high St. Louis proved to be much easier. This was the case in spite not being fully acclimated to the altitude in Utah. Research shows that it takes approximately 2-3 weeks for the body to create the extra oxygen carrying, red blood cells (among other adaptations) to sustain normal cardiovascular and respiratory functioning at a particular altitude. It’s the same concept as blood doping, but this is a very legal way of doing so.

Workouts
Several times following the long day of skiing, I would go on a run after arriving back at my friend’s house. The feeling in the legs, although we quit an hour prior, was the same type of feeling I have in Brick workouts when I hop off the bike and immediately run. So here is a new type of brick workout to all of my mountain dwelling readers. When you can’t do a Bike to Run brick workout…sub for the unorthodox Ski to Run Brick. You won’t be disappointed.

But for this flat and lowland dweller, this workout will have to wait another 360 days.